I got on a rental car shuttle bus at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport on Wednesday evening, and noticed that the shuttle driver helped people load and stow their heavier bags onto the bus. At the time I thought that was pretty great, and realized tat I hadn't seen that very often lately on rental car shuttles. In the "old days," when each rental car company had their own buses, you would see that sometimes. But now, with buses taking everyone to the common rental car areas, it seems another loss of a Customer Service touch.

I didn't think much more about it until yesterday morning, when I rode the shuttle back to the terminal. There where three of us getting on the bus and the driver helped each of us. Great, I thought. Then we got to Terminal A and the driver, gets off, and sprints to the back door to help the first two passengers with their bags.

He sprinted. And as he walked back to the drivers seat, he made eye contact and smiled at me, making sure I was going to the correct terminal on the next stop.

He sprinted.

He smiled.

He gave great Customer Service.

The lessons?

• There are opportunities for great Customer Service everywhere.
• Customers will notice, even if what you are doing could, should, or used to be the standard.
• Little things make a difference.
• And it appears to me that someone leading the rental car shuttle bus drivers in Houston is doing a great job.

Also appears in Customer Service and Leadership.

"While I still don't buy in to the evangelistic single-approach-for-all, I gained an appreciation for how we can be carried forward with our enthusiasm, and that being careful in how we splash this energy on those around us can serve us well.

I carried this thought into the training session we had that week, and I'll be damned if it wasn't by far the most positive engagement I've had to date with that very large organization . . .

. . . one of the key drivers for the success was the enthusiasm for the topic that the group's planners carried into the session - they had poured the last couple years of their lives into tuning the topic, and it showed. Even though they were relatively low-key instructors, they clearly believed in their message, and knew its adoption would make a significant difference for the group.

Enthusiasm can indeed be infectious in a group setting, whether the team is pumped up for building a cool new product, or making the big sale, or kicking the competition's butt. A few people will get it started and the energy passes along to the others. Generally, once you get beyond a core group, enthusiasm can be difficult to sustain, and you will often need a conscious effort to prevent it from being diluted.

Enthusiasm is not something you can mandate into the group, it requires a common motivation and is something that is best seeded through action rather than words. When you’ve got it, do what you can to feed it, to keep it going. Channel it, never crush it - the output from an enthusiastic team can be absolutely phenomenal."

(You can read his full post here and while you are there - sign up to receive his Compendium email each week)

I could tell similar stories from training situations and in everyday life. Jim is exactly right.

Not everyone's enthusiasm will look the same. I'm not enthusiastic in the same ways as a cheerleader, and you certainly don't want don't emulate my style either. If you want to be enthusiastic, be yourself. Let your passion and interest show. Take action based on that passion and your enthusiasm will grow.

It is completely true that enthusiasm is contagious.

So is the opposite.

The question is... which are you spreading to your team, your Customers, and anyone you interact with?

Also posted in Customer Service, Leadership, Teamwork and Training.

1. Work should be defined in roles that play to people's
strengths. As leaders, part of our job is to recognize the strengths in others and remove the barriers or do something specific (i.e. putting them on a short-term special assignment. As individuals we must understand our strengths and look for ways to use them - rather than to fill boxed in or stifled.

2. Most employers don't need exclusive control. Many people work two jobs. Many prefer to work as sub contractors. If you think you need full control, get over it. If you are wanting to do #1, finding an outlet other than at work might be the best option for you.

3. Design learning into work . Absolutely. We at the Kevin Eikenberry Group are spending a lot of time thinking about this and building models to help make this happen more effectively. As individuals, or being offered, finding ways to do this could be your key to greater satisfaction and work balance.

4. Define work in projects, not weeks or years . Most all the work of knowledge workers are projects. So structure work as such! As an individual, even if the work isn't formally structured as a project, you can do it that way in your own mind.

5. Work commitments can be fitted to phase of life. Not only can they be (witness a mother having a baby) but they must be if you want to foster and support your employee talent. Individually we can recognize this fact, and put your work commitments into a more balanced view.

6. We can choose where we work most productively. Tele-commuting, conference calls, video conferences, IM and text messages. All of these things and one hundred more are ways to take advantage of this fact - both as a leader and as an individual.