Someone recently posed the question to me, "Can we get "jerks" to give good Customer Service? I mean with the overall decline in manners, how can we expect service to be excellent?"

Whew. There is a lot of beliefs dripping around the edges of that question!

My first point would be that if you think you have "jerks" on your team - or think that "jerks" are all you can find to hire, that you are in deep you-know-what before you ever move forward. Leaders need to have a positive expectation of people first and foremost. But let me get off my soapbox there and talk about the rest of the question - which hinges on the connection between manners and Customer Service.

While there's definitely a connection between customer service and manners, good customer service is about a lot more than good manners alone. Good Customer Service requires processes and procedures and tools that will enable good Customer Service. It requires leadership that makes customer service a priority and that empowers employees who work directly with Clients and Customers to make decisions.

Often leaders have expectations about how the Customer will be treated but never share those expectations with employees. They may be thinking "this is so obvious; we don't need to focus on this with our people because they know how to treat others."

Great Customer Service is more than knowing how to treat people; it's more than being nice. It's having processes and procedures in place from the beginning. It's knowing what to do - plus knowing how and when to do it. Customer service declines within an organization when those in leadership positions decline to make customer service a priority.

Those were my initial thoughts to the question posed to me... What do you think?

Also posted in Customer Service, Leadership, and Training.

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I was directed to an interesting blog post by a colleague Stephanie West-Allen (here is her blog). The post at Ancedote.com.au entitled "What are you more aware of - positive or negative stories?" got me thinking about the stories that we hear and/or share in our organizations.

Since I am currently doing a good bit of consulting and helping of organizations with cultural development, this thought hit home for me.

Our culture - whether our neighborhood, our family, our company, or our country, is in part built through the stories that are told and retold. Some of these stories are positive and some are negative. Our first reaction might be that we would only want positive stories to circulate. The post cited above speaks to the balance of negative vs. positive stories and that most people are more aware of the negative ones. This raises the questions - is there value in a negative story?

Certainly... a negative story can:

- be a cautionary tale (be aware of these situations if you want to succeed).
- talk about how things used to be (but are different now).
- serve as a source of learning (this isn't what we wanted, what can we do now?)

But a negative story can also cast a shadow over the organization, leaving people to feel helpless and frustrated, assuming that "the way things are" isn't very good, and there isn't much that can be done about it.

Here is an example. In a recent meeting a story was used as a negative example of culture - it described a decision making approach that appeared to be counter to the culture the organization is trying to build. In my work in the organization I have heard this story several times. After the story was recounted in this group setting, someone asked when event this took place. The answer?

1997.

None of the key leadership team members who are championing changes to the culture now were even in place then. And it was, after all, nine years ago. (And there isn't 25 more stories that cite the same behavior more recently either.)

How much positive value is this story adding in the organization? In the past, not much - in fact it was a definite barrier to forward progress. But now, if people modify the story at the end to say - "and that was something that used to happen here.... 9 years ago..." the overall message of the story is drastically changed!

So a negative story can have a positive influence in an organization, but this isn't likely unless questions are asked and context is given in the story.

As a leader, by position or not, we can help stories contribute to the organization's growth and well being. We can see if the stories are real, or urban legend. If they tend to have some legend to them, we can help to change the message through our own telling of the stories. It is not our role to be defensive or defend the players in the story, but simply to help people use those stories as learning experiences rather than excuses to disengage or be frustrated.

Pay attention to the stories you are hearing because, positively or negatively, they reflect some truth about the culture in which you hear them. Then recognize that you can help the negative stories create growth, rather than promote cynicism or frustration.

Also posted in Leadership and Learning.

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Everyone believes that we will be more fulfilled if we live our passions. And all of us know people who do. Perhaps you look with envy at those people who seem to have found that passion and live it. Shari Caudron felt that way too.

But rather than being envious, she started talking to people about their passions, and it turned into a book. I haven't read the book, called Who Are You People? yet, but I have just ordered it.

Her blog got me thinking about our passions, and the role they play in a highly actualized fulfilling life. Her book and blog seem to talk more about our passions as hobbies, as opposed to finding our passions in our work. In the end when and how we exercise and tap into those passions matters far less than that we do it at all.

Once we find and live our passions, it will illuminate all parts of our lives - making us happier and more productive across all parts of our lives.

It is our responsibility to ourselves to find and live our passions. It is our responsibility to others (those that we lead or are on teams with) to help and encourage them to do the same.

I leave you with the questions... what are your passions....and are you living them?

Also posted in Leadership, Learning and Teamwork.

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If you are a golfer or a fan of golf, you know that Tiger Woods has now won five tournaments in a row. (Even if you know little about the game, I suspect you know that this Tiger Woods guy is a pretty good golfer!)

Last week I was in Niketown in Chicago and saw the lineup of the four shirts Tiger is currently wearing in the four days of a tournament. (You can see them here.) If you don't know, Tiger always wears a red shirt for the final round of a tournament. My understanding of this habit is that it relates to his mother calling it his power color.

This post isn't about clothing though, exactly.

Tiger excels in his profession - excels at the highest level - which means there are things we can learn from him, regardless of our interest in golf. While there are many lessons we could find, I've been thinking about his shirt. His red shirt.

I believe it gives him a feeling of confidence. I believe it reminds him of past successes on Sunday afternoons. It may also help him focus - he doesn't have to waste mental energy deciding what to wear on those days. Thinking about it this way, Tiger's red shirt could be considered a suit of armor - armoring him for success in his profession.

My question then to you is, what is your suit of armor? What can you wear, or carry or have with you that will give you the advantages Tiger gets from the red shirt?

On your most important days - the days of a key presentation or important sales call, or key meeting - do you have clothes or other things that can give you greater confidence? If so, do you use them to your benefit regularly?

If you don't have these things, or don't use them, it's time to take a lesson from Tiger.

Determine your suit of armor, then use it.

Also posted in Leadership and Learning.

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