We were working on a large project recently that involved [...]]]> Lessons From The Team

Leaders somehow are given the impression they have to know all the answers and they need to be fully in charge.  But I write today to prove that it is the team who can help you navigate your leadership best.

We were working on a large project recently that involved a number of various commercial and web visuals.  As we struggled through the process I simply kept thinking…

“I cannot stand what this looks like.”

Have you ever stared at something for a long time trying to figure out what was wrong, but simply could not place it?

Was it the aesthetics bothering me, the layout itself or the whole concept?  I just couldn’t pin it down.

I was close to missing a deadline; I was pushing my team hard; and I have to admit, the whole process was making me grumpy.  Can’t imagine what they must have been thinking, but there were a lot of odd conversations and weird changes I kept asking for that did nothing to improve the project.

One morning my webmaster said… is it coming from your heart, from the depths of who you are and what you believe in?

BINGO

Brilliance lives in your team, listen to them!  All I needed to do was to say to my webmaster…

“I can’t figure this out.”

I teach this to leaders… I spout it in talks and via social media platforms and I tell it to my kids.

Nothing successful arrives at your door without you first calling it out from passion, from the depths of who you are and you must believe in it.

Duh…. It was clear that I was trying to work with “What we had” which was not inspiring the best of me.  I had settled for what was there, for mediocre – and mediocre is NOT my way.

Practicing what I preach, I spent last weekend, (almost a 48 hour exercise) redoing the entire project visuals from scratch…

Success!

I believe that without a brilliant team member and without other team members to encourage and support, I could not find the success I am having in so many ways.

It is the team who leads me through learning to be the leader I aspire to be!

Do what it is you believe in, trust your instincts, never accept less than exceptional and always, always, always follow what you know from the very depths of your heart.

Patti is a strategic advisor in Leadership, Customer Service and Small business.  You can book her to speak at her Speakers Page.

Need Strategic Sense for your business? – hire us only if you prefer to rise above the status-quo, care deeply about employee and customer experiences and truly believe in living and performing with excellence.

Congratulations to all Olympic Athletes – they’ve been training most of their lives, they have competed all over the world with other contenders.  The ‘ski industry community’ is very small – each name comes with a story and athletes are very familiar with one another.  Canadians with Russians, [...]]]>

Photo Courtesy Walt Blackstaffe 2008

Congratulations to all Olympic Athletes – they’ve been training most of their lives, they have competed all over the world with other contenders.  The ‘ski industry community’ is very small – each name comes with a story and athletes are very familiar with one another.  Canadians with Russians, Swedes with Americans; they all know each other and their personalities and reputations follow them all over the world.

Alexandre Bilodeau has his own legacy, one that has followed him around within the industry – and now he has triggered a new legacy as the world congratulates him on winning the gold medal in Men’s Moguls for Canada. What people in the skiing community know about Alexandre is that his older brother is one of his heros.  Frederic has cerebral palsy, and his medal winning brother attributes much of his success to what he has learned from Frederic.  Alex has made his mark.  But it doesn’t stop there!

As of yesterday, Alexandre Bilodeau has just taken on a new leadership position.  He is the first Canadian to win a gold medal on Canadian soil and is a new role model for young athletes’ world-wide.  His job is about to get a whole lot bigger than it has in the past, and he has just boarded a new lift.  He will be inundated with sponsorship offers, event invites and much more.

Alex is about to test his leadership skills more publicly than any of us in business usually do – they will be tested in front of the world for all to see and base opinion.  The stats only tell a portion of the story – he won the gold medal, that’s the stat.  Each step he makes from here will define his leadership and mentorship of a community within an industry that pushes for excellence and hard work. The public will (rightly or wrongly) judge his character and lay expectation before him of how a ‘gold medal winner’ is to behave.

Sponsors he chooses to work with will want their products represented with just the right persona.  All leadership roles take on this kind of pressure and expectation, a bit less public but all people who are being led make assumptions and build opinion about their leaders.

What’s often missing is guidance for the new leader – that ideal element leading to the success of leaders within organizations.  Having advisors to train, coach, or guide them through how to manage opinions, expectations and build alignment with teams and collaborative business units can make the difference between success and failure.

Being a great leader and mentor calls for being authentic. One cannot build a false ‘persona’ for the public then lead a different life in private because they will always be found out.  (I don’t need to share examples here, you know who they are.) Leaders can choose to be a ‘better self’ making their actions a legacy worth sharing with their children and for all others to follow.

Strategic Sense offers a program for new and emerging leaders called “14 Weeks of Managers Making the Mark” teaching leaders to make their mark by leaving a positive leadership legacy in their role as leaders everywhere. Contact us to find out more about our programs for leaders.

First, a little story told to me by a friend – then onto customer service metrics!!

My friend was given [...]]]> Ever heard an employee say, “It was only one customer, what are you so hung up about?”
What if you could keep accurate metrics on the number of customers chased away by your staff?

First, a little story told to me by a friend – then onto customer service metrics!!

My friend was given a gift certificate to a local establishment that provides a Dinner Theatre Mystery Night and 4 Course meal.  Unfortunately, due to the rarity of the number of Mystery Theatre nights (approx 1/month) and the high volume of travel required by my friend’s job, he was unable to use the gift certificate within the time frame of the 1 year expiry date.

Since purchased, Alberta law changed on November 1, 2008 stating that all gift certificates and gift cards issued will no longer be allowed to state an expiry date.  That law also includes gift cards purchased before November 1, 2008 so long as they did not expire before the Nov.1 date.

They phone to finally book a dinner on one of the available Mystery Nights, but were greeted with a sour Food and Beverage Manager who simply asked the date the gift certificate was issued, then abruptly stated;

“The legislation did not come into effect until after that gift certificate was bought so it’s valid for a year only, sorry, it’s expired. If you would like to purchase two tickets, I will need a credit card number.”

That is it, not only did she misinterpret the legislation, she was rude and curt!  My friend would have accepted a courtesy of at least being listened to, or considered he was a customer, especially since the tickets are valued at 75.00 each.  A single 150.00 purchase is worth something to the business, no? It is to me when I shop!

My friend says:

She could have offered to extend the certificate, give us a discount to another function or even just said “I’m sorry, the certificate you have has expired; we can’t honour it but would still be happy to have you as a guest for dinner…”

Lets look at the metrics!

2  =       Pissed-off customers this week

8  =       The number of people they told (say each of those pissed off customers tell 4 people – conservative estimate.)

10 =      2 pissed off customers + 8 good friends. Lets say those 8 share it with 1 person each.

26 =      2 pissed off customers+8 people they told + the additional individuals those 8 shared with.

Multiply that by how many weeks your business is open to the public (typically 52)

1352 =  2 pissed off customers per week chased away from your business x 52 weeks a year.

A similar encounter every week will  guarantee 1352 people within their marketing reach WILL NOT do business with that company or organization due to a story of poor customer service told by someone, and people always listen to those they love and trust.

How does a 21st century consumer make a purchase?

• They shop from emotion
• They want a relationship with the business.
• They want to feel good about how hard they work
• They want their money going to an organization that deserves to receive it
• They want a positive experience.

Are consumers really buying your goods or services – NO!  They are buying the experience and the relationship. We have all the ‘stuff’ we need, consumers shop and spend because they can and they want to feel good doing it.

If you are not clear with your front line staff as to what that looks like, then I can guarantee you will be suffering –
Let’s take it a little farther – let’s say only 5% of that total number would really have purchased from them based on referrals from satisfied and happy customers.

68 = approximately 5% of 1352 customers.

$5100.00 = per year of lost sales on an average 75.00 purchase.  Are you okay tossing that money in the trash?

Now let’s consider that those 68 people may very well have a spouse or friend they would prefer to attend a Mystery Dinner Theatre Night with.  WOW, are you as a business willing to toss a potential of $10,200.00 a year down the drain?

So, when an employee says, “It was only 1 person, what are you so hung up about?” That person is NOT suited for frontline service delivery, customer complaints or technical support, (certainly not without training).

Is it worth an investment of 20-50 bucks to gain a loyal customer – you tell me!

Care for your customers and train your staff! Leadership is directly tied to customer service – for every loyal happy customer, you could be making the difference between surviving this economic downturn or closing the shop!

NOTE: I called the organization my friend was talking about – mainly to find out about their gift certificate policy.

1. They did say gift certificates no longer expire and there are no other conditions.
2. They told me if I wanted to purchase new ones I best do it at next year’s prices, as this year is getting filled up
3. When I asked how often they had the theatre, they said once a month, but less this year because there has been a huge slow down (really?)
4. They were very curt and not at all interested in listening – only ‘telling’
5. This is NOT the first time I have heard poor feedback on this particular organization

Need I name them?  No, they are doing enough damage to themselves!

One of the most difficult situations is when a coach or mentor is trying [...]]]> Have you ever taken training or coaching where someone was working hard to gift you with gems of wisdom or a different way of looking at things?  Do you know if you were truly open to the information being given?

One of the most difficult situations is when a coach or mentor is trying hard to move you forward and your door is closed!

A great way to tell if you’re being receptive is to listen to your own response.  The next time someone – a coach, boss, trainer, or mentor – is making a concerted effort to encourage change, try to acknowledge that they have a different view you might not be seeing.  Then ask yourself if you are actually leaving the door open enough to receive the gems of wisdom they offer.

1. Are you taking time to hear what they are saying and turning it into a lesson to be utilized in your own life?
2. Do you respond by defending the behaviours that keep you from moving forward?
3. Do you use expressions such as “I DO that, but it never works.” Or “I try, but….” or “I AM…”
4. Do you leap to conclusions about what others think of you, even though it’s not actuallywhat they were saying?
5. Do you hold tightly to beliefs that are clearly holding you back?

If so, then you might very well be trapped in a cyclical thought pattern based on buried beliefs and while you think the doors are open to hearing and recognizing opportunity and growth, they may very well be closed.

So, what’s really going on here?

Neuroscience has performed studies on an area in the brain called the Reticular Activating System or RAS.  The RAS acts as a sort-of connector between your conscious and unconscious mind and filters information by “listening out for” things that are relevant to your conscious thoughts and focus.  Basically, it controls our ability to pay attention. For example, when you are walking down the street there are literally hundreds of thousands of noises.  You might hear a vibration or hum of noise in the background but you do not hear each and every individual sound, only those for which your focus is attuned, but it has it’s limits.  Your brain is programmed to take in approx 5-9 individual items at a time and you hone in on those items because focus on them has been programmed by your conscious mind providing the “attention radar” for your unconscious mind.

A car horn signalling danger; familiar music coming from a store; your name being called from the other side of the street; all of these are items your subconscious will listen to because they are out of the ordinary in a typical walk and your conscious mind has made them a relevant focus in your life. Equally so, inadequecy or feelings of being persecuted or judged will fly into the face of a discussion if your belief system has been built under the experience of having to continually defend yourself. Basically you are ‘looking for it’ and so you will find it.

What great information for all of us –the beautiful thing neuroscience teaches us here is that the Reticular Activating System can be reprogrammed, or you can change what you are ‘looking for’.  This is why setting goals, saying affirmations and visualizing ìn the conscious are the beginning of the journey to realizing our dreams because they speak to our unconscious mind, the place-holder for our belief systems.

Learning how to listen and embrace information with an open heart and mind can be done with practice and by learning strategies and techniques for reprogramming your RAS. The first step is in recognizing if you are listening openly, take a few minutes to evaluate your recent conversations against the above list – are you truly open?  If not, then you will benefit from learning strategies for discovering and challenging belief systems that hold you back and practicing techniques to reprogram your RAS thus putting the “attention radar” on that which will help you grow and move forward.

Strategic Sense is a Leadership Development, Customer Service, Plans of Action and Facilitation organization who’s mission is to change the world for the better for leaders and their employees everywhere.  We believe each individual comes with their own unique talents and skills that can be enhanced and utilized to help them become the very best leaders only they can be while providing exceptional service to their customers.

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Perhaps we’ve [...]]]> Do you ever feel like an interruption when you enter a business?  Ever stand there wondering why you’re being ignored or otherwise treated like you’ve ruined their day rather than staff being excited to know their pay checks continue to arrive so long as more people like you walk in the door?

Perhaps we’ve had such a long running boom-time that businesses have become process heavy or laden with doing the “work of the biz” and forgotten about the customer.  When money is flowing in good times, there’s less need to search for leads or seek to figure out how to bring people through the doors. Customers are ready and willing to spend, spend, spend, without concern because times are good.

The environment has changed significantly in the last 10 months and all businesses large and small are affected as shown by special offers, deals and coupons never heard of before from both large and small companies everywhere.  Marketing efforts have been evaluated, budgets altered, staffing and salaries re-evaluated, costs cut, and benefits pulled in tighter. I ask, have the companies focused on what brings in the dollars, the customer?

Re-evaluating how staff is treating, dealing with and keeping customers is the front-line focus that will make or break a lot of businesses in this environment.  Here are a few tips to help small and large businesses give their customers a reason to choose to spend money on their products or services.

1. If a consumer has entered your business, the hardest part of gaining their interest has already been achieved.  You have their attention and they’re ready to spend.  Give them staff time. Customers wandering around asking 3-4 people if someone could help them is not the way to get sales.  I spent almost 2 hours in a Walmart recently listening to page after page of “ALL associates” being called to manage a company process, but a minimum of 4 customers in that section were wondering if anyone worked there at all.  At least two of these customers were so frustrated they left the store to shop elsewhere.
2. If you are a restaurant, hair salon, golf course or other business serving customers in a specialized niche, your best bet is to remember, they spend at your place of business because they want an experience.  Focus on WHO your customer is and how to make their experience stand out against your competitor.  What makes you unique that a consumer will select your business over another?  How have you trained your staff to make customers feel like they are truly justified in spending their money with you rather than the competitor down the street? I was in a local restaurant the other day where employees were so busy catching up on their antics the night before they missed my walking in and let me sit for over 20 minutes before offering me a menu. I will never return.
3. If you are a large corporation you have no doubt been given the difficult task of cutting costs.   Time, energy, and money have all been applied to that very tough job.  How much time and money has been spent securing the current customer base and kicking up your customer service efforts while building stronger client relationships? If you say you don’t have a strategic plan for making the customer feel like their relationship with you is worthwhile in both service and customer attention, you have left out the most important plan in down times. Evaluate your customer base and your prospective customer leads, choose to get creative in how staff pays careful attention to understanding, serving, building relationships and valuing  customers.  You care about the bottom-line for shareholders, right? Contributions to that dollar figure come directly from customers and how staff works with them!
4. Training and motivating the staff with a vision of how to best serve the customer is a priority right now.  Think about the experience YOU would like to have when you walk in the door and make certain each and every customer or potential customer is treated with respect, dignity, great service, and top-quality products.  Teach staff to provide an experience that is second to none by creating internal campaigns for employees to follow.  “At ABC Company, no customer waits longer than 5 minutes for exceptional service.” Post these reminders where employees can see them, mention it at staff meetings, get staff involved, and give them a reason to understand the value of your customers.

The long and short of it is that if your staff attitude consists of; “This would be a great job if it weren’t for those pesky customers!” Then your customers will feel it!  In this year of lessoned sales, dipping margins, and short cash-flow, give your company a reason to thrive!

Strategic Sense is a Leadership Development, Customer Service, Plans of Action and Facilitation organization who’s mission is to change the world for the better for leaders and their employees everywhere.  We believe each individual comes with their own unique talents and skills that can be enhanced and utilized to help them become the very best leaders only they can be while providing exceptional service to their customers.

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With all that going on, you [...]]]> In this time of economic strife and angst there is a lot going on.  I don’t have to tell you much about the global economic crisis, you are being bombarded on a continual basis by the media with statistics and results that are scary and leave you uneasy.

With all that going on, you have a company to manage, a business to run or an organization to lead and you need to get the best out of the people working for you.  Here is what you need to know:

1. Each one of your employees is probably frightened for their jobs.
2. You need those employees to get you through these tough times.
3. The trickle down of the crisis affects everyone in every industry!

The emotional flavour of every company culture is breathing fear and anxiety about the economy.  People are being laid off by the thousands and you just want your company to do business and your customers and employees to do well, rally to the challenge and move forward.

Here is the reality, what they need right now is a transformational leader with emotional intelligence and heart to get them through.  More-or-less you need the ‘Barrack Obama’ of your environment.  His skill in rallying the troops and going to places where people converse and his understanding the people at their level has helped him build a relationship rarely seen in politics and certainly not seen very often in the business world.

Right now, leaders of every kind of organization from non-profit, small business and corporate are feeling the sting of the economy.  You have people who are volunteering or in your employ who are aware the dollars are not flowing and they are doing their best in an atmosphere of dread wondering what the smaller cash flow will mean for their jobs, volunteer efforts and business as a whole.  Businesses that are suffering through the after-effects of lay-offs are trying to deal with the morale of the teams they so desperately need to get them through this crunch.

There is a great quote I have never forgotten from the movie ‘Remember the Titans’ (2000):

“Attitude reflects leadership, captain.” – Big Ju

That states it in a nut-shell.  Attitude of the staff at this moment in time will reflect the leadership they are experiencing.  That translates to; If you want your employees to behave and act a certain way you must not only model it but you must promote, communicate and celebrate the behaviour you desire.

Not every leader knows just how to do that when in essence they’re going through all the same fears and anxieties the rest of the organization is going through.  Here are some practical suggestions to help you (the leader) along the rickety path of our economic strife.

1. If you are avoiding the ugliness of tough decisions by leaving the conversations up to HR, you may very well damage your leadership effectiveness in front of your remaining teams.
2. Putting your face in front of all difficult decisions will encourage trust from your staff at all levels
3. Preparing a well-thought-out communication plan to inform employees of actions necessary to move forward may subdue rumour and unnecessary fear.
4. Honest portrayal of the state the organization is in and how the economy is affecting its functions is very important; people want to know where they stand.
5. Avoid the RAH, RAH   in an attempt to rally troops with “We are great” if that is clearly NOT what they are feeling, you will only serve to alienate people by not being compassionate to their fears, and worse yet – out of touch with them.
6. Get down to where the people are, find out what their fears are and walk about the building having conversations with people at every level of the organization.  Ask questions and listen intently, you will begin to get a better read on the general attitude of the population.

We work with people to help them find leadership solutions specific to their organization and understand the significance a transformational leader makes.  Working one-on-one to ensure those solutions are custom to the personality and strengths of the leader are integral to reaching the unique situational leadership challenges specific to that leader and their organization.

Why is this important?  Time is of the essence right now, you don’t have time for generalized training, you need plans of action specific to right now, where you are with the people who work for you and in the unique situation you find yourself.  You need this, because you need to get through these really tough economic times.

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Strategic Sense is a Leadership Development, Plans of Action and Facilitation organization who’s mission is to change the world for leaders and their employees everywhere.  We believe each individual comes with their own unique talents and skills that can be enhanced and utilized to help them become the very best leaders only they can be.

Are you a leader, or emerging leader in your craft or technology?  It’s not enough to be very good at what you do; leadership requires a whole lot more of you.  Having spent a good many years in technology, and a little more than 5 [...]]]>  

Are you a leader, or emerging leader in your craft or technology?  It’s not enough to be very good at what you do; leadership requires a whole lot more of you.  Having spent a good many years in technology, and a little more than 5 years in a global IT company, the geek in me wanted to take a look at the area of social media, an emerging industry in itself changing the rules of how we do business.

Whether you are on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin or the many various blog sites, you will see industry giants such as Starbucks right down to home businesses leveraging the large reach available to them via some of these networks.  Business pages, profiles and connections are occurring in the hundreds of thousands daily!  So who are some of the leaders in this new business era?

If you frequent my Blog, you’ll notice I have a link to the blog site of Chris Brogan in my blog roll.  On his contact page it will tell you that “Chris is President of New Marketing Labs, a social media agency that helps businesses understand business strategy around online communication tools like blogs, social networks, listening tools, and community platforms.” Chris is becoming a true leader in his craft.

What it doesn’t tell you is what kind of a professional you will find in Chris.  I follow him on twitter, I read his blogs, I check out his website and I think quite highly of him.  Now I would like to tell you why.  There may be half a million people out there claiming to be social media experts, but Chris and his pirates are the real deal and Chris takes leadership seriously.  Long before there was anyone else working with him, Chris understood that having a following means performing like a true leader. 

Chris recognizes his responsibilities as a role model and does so with professionalism, courtesy and respect.  In all the running conversations I have seen thus far, he exhibits the four signs of a good role model.

1.       Selective with people

2.       Upholds core ethics and values

3.       Exhibits consistent behaviour toward others

4.       Does what he preaches.

His blog has a very large following, and he is exceptional at keeping it updated with very relevant and informative information.  His following on Twitter is (as of this writing) 33,119 people!  I kid you not, this man has a long list of followers all wanting to learn and find out more about his success in social media and how it can translate to them or their business. 

What’s so special about Chris is he understands the importance of this role for the many people who are listening to him.  He refrains from negative comments but will occasionally challenge another person’s negative comments to draw the best out of them and he is an example of a great leader.

Another case of media professionalism is Guy Kawasaki, he doesn’t get as involved in conversation as much as Chris, but he does show great professionalism.  I have not witness him be rude, rudely criticize an individual or say anything that would alienate people from following him.  He, like Chris, has a good sense of humour and is enjoyable to listen to.

This is not the case with all of the top followed social media experts.  A few of the social media ‘phenom’ believe that saying anything they want to their followers is fine, and they do so in any form; including:

·         personal insults ;

·         vulgar language;

·         broad generalizations;

·         and Rude responses.

Perhaps this is an example of success too quickly or at a young age such that the fundamental teachings of the planet have not yet settled in. 

1.       It is a very small world, we are global and what you say will have a lasting impact for the rest of your career and maybe your life.

2.       Your audience looks up to you and deserves your respect, whether it’s 4 people or 40,000 people.

3.       In the end, all you have is your reputation.  If you’re building a business on your knowledge, how you treat people directly affects your reputation.

I could go on and list multiple examples of poor behaviour from a couple of the social media giants, but I’d rather highlight the folks who are making a positive difference to the many people who follow them.  We all know what poor behaviour and rude comments look like, we all know what it’s like when a “celebrity” of sorts throws disrespect out to their fans, no need to describe it here.

Suffice it to say, there are some lessons the truly great role models show that every young and new emerging leader can follow, regardless of your industry:

1.       It does not matter how bright or ingenious you are, the people who look up to you deserve respect.

2.       If you wish to be treated as an expert or leader in your field exhibit the behaviour of a good role model.

3.       Be careful of your words, they are being heard by many and will have a much larger impact than you realize.  In many cases, they will return to haunt you or celebrate you, your choice.

4.       You pull your pants on the same way as everyone else, how much money you earn or how successful you’ve been is determinate to your hard work, but does not make you better than any other individual on the planet.

The first sign of a great role model is being selective with people.  This means being selective with the company in which you keep; the leaders you choose to follow fit within that category.   If you are interested in social media for you or your business, I would suggest you follow Chris Brogan’s blog and pay attention not only to the great information and help he offers in the social media realm, but pay attention also to his exceptional leadership qualities.  He models these lessons every day in a very unassuming and genuine manner.

You’ll find Guy Kawasaki’s blog “How to Change the World” a great read and will love his company Alltop for the streams of news information he provides.  Although you may not get into many conversations with Guy his respectful treatment of the many people trying to connect with him is worth paying attention to.

If you have even one person listening to what you have to say, you are in a leadership position.  Leadership is not a title, it is an honour and responsibility handed to you by the people who follow you.  Take it on with integrity, respect, compassion and open honesty for if you do, it will provide you with the many benefits of a truly great leader. 

 Strategic Sense Inc. is a Leadership, Plans of Action, Facilitation and Communication company changing the world one manager at a time!

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