Making a Choice

I recently read this somewhere:

Being right is less important than being successful.

This isn't the first time I've heard this idea, but when I read it this time it hit me as profound.

Consider:

- A leader who takes ownership of an idea of a team member, frustrating the team member and damaging trust.
- An argument with a customer that becomes counter productive because being right becomes the primary concern.


I could list other examples, but I'm sure you have thought of your own.

We all have the opportunity to make a choice in these situations. This quotation reminds me of the importance of this choice.

When you feel yourself focused on being correct, ask yourself if that focus is serving your biggest goals.

A Remarkable Learning Event

Last week I attended the 2007 Author Pow Wow sponsored by 800-CEO-Read. At the end of the two day event the participants were asked to share a single word that encapsulated their feelings and thoughts about our time together.

Words included: fun, invogorating, energy, relationships, genersoity, memorable, learning, and fattening (that was right on Ben). I chose the word Remarkable. The group chuckled at my choice, but it truly is the best word I could have chosen.

Consider this - a highly creative and fun environment thanks to The Catalyst Ranch in Chicago, over 20 business authors working to hone their craft and learn about the publishing and marketing of books, along with experts and gurus from across the expanse of publishing, as well as the 800-CEO-READ team. This group included:

The Authors

Erika Andersen - Growing Great Employees

Greg Alexander - Topgrading for Sales

Jose Castillo - an incredibily smart and creative guy.

Phil Gerbyshak - 10 Ways to Make it Great

Joanne Gordon - Be Happy at Work

Jackie Huba Creating Customer Evangelists

Joe Heuer - check out several of his books, including Business Daffynitions

Mike Kanazawa - Big Ideas to Big Results

Alexander Kjerulf - Happy Hour is 9 to 5

Steve Little - The Milkshake Moment

Ben McConnell - Citizen Marketers

Pamela Miles and Jack Mitchell - Hug Your Customers, and soon, Hug Your People

Robert Mintz - The World According To You

Susan Quandt - Sudden Impact on the Job

David Meerman Scott - The New Rules of Marketing and PR

Michael Stallard - Fired Up or Burned Out

Dan Roam - The Back of the Napkin

John Rosen and AnnaMaria Turano - Stopwatch Marketing

Rajesh Setty - Life Beyond Code

Bill Welter - The Prepared Mind of a Leader

Steve Yastrow - We - The Ideal Customer Relationship

The Gurus

Ray Bard - Bard Press

Mark Bloomfield - Harvard Business School Press

Shelley Dolley - Leap7

Barbara Cave Henricks and Dennis Welch - Cave Henricks Communications

Mark Fortier - Fortier Public Relations

Nick Morgan - Public Words

Gerry Sindell - ThoughtLeaders INTL

Les Tuerk - BrightSight Group

Susan Williams - Jossey-Bass (my inital editor for Remarkable Leadership)

The 800-CEO-READ Team

Jack Covert
Melinda Cross - Concepts Content Copy
Sally Haldorson
Jon Mueller
Kate Mytty
Joy Panos Stauber - Stauber Design Studio
Todd Sattersten
Aaron Schleicher
Dylan Schleicher
Rebecca Schlei

I want to thank everyone involved - the efforts of everyone form the staff at the Ranch, the the 800-CEO-READ team, to the speakers and gurus, to my fellow authors. Each one helped to create this amazing learning experience. All of my expectations for the event were met and surpassed thanks to everyone else.

The lesson here for everyone?

When you have a chance to hang out with and learn from other cool and smart people, make sure you do whatever you have to do to make it happen - it the experience will expand your thoughts, infuse you with energy and change your life if you let it.

A Customer Service post script - the staff and facility at The Catalyst Ranch is amzing - yes, the facility is fun and refreshing, but it wouldn't work without an incredibly customer focused staff. If you are ever having a meeting in Chicago, consider The Catalyst Ranch.

Words Matter

That was the title of the sermon J.K. Jones gave at Traders Point Christian Church yesterday. While in this post I won't include the scripture references, I believe the five points he made are extremely relevant to all of us as leaders, team members, and professionals (and as human beings).

He suggests asking these five questions regularly:

Are my words true?
Are my words helpful?
Are my words inspiring?
Are my words necessary?
Are my words kind?

If you take the first letter from the key word in each question: true, helpful, inspiring, necessary, kind; you get THINK.

Asking these questions, and adjusting our actions accordingly will make us better communicators, better team members, better leaders . . . and better at just about anything else you can think of.

In short, words matter, so THINK.

We are All Accountable to Make a Difference

I have a new hero - Denny Flanagan. Denny is a pilot for United Airlines and was the focus of a a front page article in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal. You can read the article here.

Captain Denny does a variety of things for his passengers - and none of them are in the United employee handbook. Here are just a few examples:

- he takes pictures of people's pets in the cargo area and show them to passengers.
- when there are long delays he buys McDonald's hamburgers or fruit for all the passengers.
- he hand writes notes to passengers in first and business class, thanking them for choosing to fly United.
- he calls the parents of unaccompanied minors on his cell phone if there are delays.

The article states that the airline reimburses the pilot for his expenses for these unique services, and I'm sure they would do it for others as well.

Captain Flanagan is taking personal responsibility for his Customers. Captain Flanagan is leading, without a leadership title. He is making a difference for hundreds of passengers everyday.

And guess what?

Because of his proactive approach, I'm sure Captain Flanagan enjoys his work far more than most of his colleagues.

All of these things are a choices this pilot, who lives on a farm in Ohio, makes everyday. These are choices that are making a difference for his company, his co-workers, his customers and himself.

You don't have to be a leader to make a difference; Captain Denny Flanagan proves it.

And that is why Captain Flanagan is my hero.

Rental Car Customer Service and The Remarkable Leader

Diane Brady, in a recent Business Week blog post commented on a Customer Service horror story. She recounts how on trying to return a rental car 10 hours early, they (Avis) attempt to charge her an almost 50% premium on her rates!

While she did negotiate those rates back down, it leaves me thinking about what I would do if I was the leader at Avis and at the counter at that location. Maybe more to the point,

What would a remarkable leader do?

Before we answer that question, read the post for yourself.

There are issues at at least three levels here:

Policy level
Empowerment level
Customer Mindset level

These levels are intermingled, but let me unpack a couple of thoughts for you.

Perhaps there is a policy in place to handle these situations (however inane it sounds). If so, a Remarkable, proactive leader would be working to change, abolish or remove this policy. Yes, even if that leader is the night counter manager in Newark - a policy that makes no sense and is detrimental to customers requires change!

Since in this case, the charges were changed, it is clear that even if it was a policy, the person at the desk had the ability to use their judgement and change it. This is an empowerment issue. While Diane had to wait too long and work too hard to make this happen, some "justice" was done. As a remarkable leader it is your job to empower people to make those decisions, based on organizational goals and values. As importantly, to make those decisions quickly when working with Customers, which leads to the third level . . .

Remarkable leaders set the pace in creating a mindset that is focused on Customers and meeting/exceeding their needs. If leadership had created the right mindset, Diane wouldn't have had a blog post to write, and neither would I. What is the mindset in your organization in relationship to Customers. Is the end of Diane's story ("hey, she got the rate changed") good enough?

All of us have these Customer service horror stories. The question is, as a leader what are you learning from them?

Lean Towards Your Customer

While reviewing a new program from Charthouse Learning called Leader Fish! (a program for leaders based on the Fish! philosophy, I heard a phrase used by Southwest Airlines people on the DVD. They talked about leaning towards the Customer.

This comment was made talking about encouraging people to try new things and not to be afraid of making mistakes. The comment was that no one will ever get in trouble for a decision if they are leaning towards the Customer.

Which led me to some questions . . .

Did I lean towards my Customers today?
Did I encourage my team to lean towards a Customer?
How can we lean tomorrow?
How can we lean next week?

Leaning towards Customers. It obviously works for Southwest. There is every reason it can work for you too.

Go ahead...

lean towards your Customer.

Speaking Their Language

To be the most effective as a communicator, it is our responsibility to communicate in ways that work for the other person. We must become adept at seeing the other person's perspective, their skills and their style. One of the best short pieces I've read recently on this truth was written by Guy Harris (who calls himself the Recovering Engineer) this week.

This communication truth applies to us in all areas of our communication - in working with Customers, leading others, being a part of a team and more.

His article really hit home for me, and I believe it will for you too. It is titled Speaking Their Language, and I highly recommend reading it.

Customer Loyalty Guaranteed!

I had the distinct pleasure of reading a pre publication copy of Chip Bell and John Patterson's new book entitled Customer Loyalty Guaranteed. This book comes out this fall and I encourage you to put it on Amazon wish list today. The book delivers on its promise on helping you to create, maintain and lead for Customer Service and it's a book that you want when it is published by Adams Media in September.

How did I get to read a draft of the book? I was asked to give a testimonial for it, and here is what I wrote:

"Read this book, and put the ideas into action and you will do exactly as the title suggests, you'll guarantee customer loyalty. If you have customers, read this book."

PhotoReading and Thoughts about Promoting, Selling, and Communicating

I am a customer of PhotoReading - a product of Learning Strategies. You can check out my reviews of both the book and the full system as written about in my newsletter, Unleash Your Potential.

I also recently, partnered with Learning Strategies to promote this product to our Powerquotes list . . . which is why I write this post.

A couple of my readers emailed me expressing concern about me "hawking" this product to my list. I replied to these readers with my thanks for their notes and I addressed their concerns.

I wasn't hawking a product, but promoting something I feel is of great value. I wasn't selling it to make a commission, though I will make one. I was sharing the opportunity with people because I see the value and benefits to them. If you are interested in learning more, you can go here.

The lesson for all of us is that it is important that we make our true intentions clear. When we are transparent and truly working from a position of providing value and benefit to the other person, we can't just assume the other person will see this perspective.

As you communicate with others make sure you message and your intent is clear, and you will have much greater success in the communication process and in building the relationship.

The Power of Gratefulness

It seems everywhere I look, turn or listen I find messages about gratitude. I've always been a person who tries to "count my blessings" and be grateful for the wonderful (and even the not-so-wonderful) things in my life.

I believe that when we need greater lessons and understanding of a topic or idea, if we listen, those lessons will be made available to us. The more I "notice" lessons on gratitude, the more I'm convinced I was ready for deeper lessons.

I have in the past few months become more disciplined about being in a state of gratitude and reminding myself of the things I am grateful for each day. There is no question that this practice is making a difference in my life.

This is not just a personal "feeling better about myself and my world" topic either - there is loads of research that shows that when we are more grateful we build relationships more effectively, communicate more positively and are more effective and efficient. Note this recent post in Curt Rosengren's wonderful Occupational Adventure blog.

It describes a fascinating study of the tangible benefits of being grateful. I encourage you to read it.

Here is an exercise to try today. Before your next meeting, take 2 minutes to write down five things you have to be grateful for over the past two weeks. These can be small or large things - it doesn't matter. Notice how you frame issues and communicate differently in the meeting.

Once you have done this for yourself a couple of times, take a bigger risk (it really isn't a risk but it might feel like one right now) and ask everyone in the meeting to do the same thing.

This isn't a sharing exercise - reassure people that they won't be asked to share what is on their list - it is a personal gratitude exercise.

Taking this action will create a new energy and focus for your meeting. You will create more ideas, and more positive, encouraging conversation.

This is just one example reflecting on your gratitude. (If you are immediately interested and want some other ideas go here.) In the coming weeks and months, I might well have more to share in this area. But even if I don't, this one exercise can make a positive difference in your life when you do it.

What Could I Stop Doing?

I met with a new friend today. He is the Vice President for Business Development at a bank. He told me he made a decision about six months ago. His decision?

"I decided to stop selling banking solutions."

He isn't a slacker - he hasn't stopped working or drawing a paycheck. But rather than trying to sell a banking solution he has been trying to connect and help people - to build relationships.

His results?

Production was double of the first six months of the year and he topped his annual target by 25%.

Reminds me of my new question - How can I help you reach your goals in 2007? (see post here.)

Here's a question for you - what could you stop doing today that would help others more and therefore give you greater results with more fun?

Helping Others Reach Their Goals

In an organizational context, there are may connections between our work and helping others reach their goals. Consider:

- It is our responsibility and opportunity as a leader to help others reach their goals.
- As members of teams we have the chance to help others reach their goals.
- As a trainer you are in a unique position to help people reach their goals
- When serving Customers, by definition, if in only a small way that is what you are doing.

Perhaps because of all of these factors, I have been ending emails with "Let me know how I can help you reach your goals in 2007" for a few days now. Since doing so, several interesting things have happened.

1. On the day I decided to make this a regular part of many emails, I sent a note to a colleague and friend, ending it that way. Her response included: "Oh baby - I love that question "please let me know what I can do to help you reach your 2007 goals". That's awesome and right back atcha." She added that a friend of hers had asked her the same question the day before and was also resolved to ask people that question everyday.

2. I added it to my basic email signature yesterday, and a person I didn't know emailed me a question. My inclusion of that line caused him to send a note asking for some help which I was able to provide. (It also led to me finding out that one of my articles was reprinted in a very visible place I was unaware of).

3. Several people have replied, asking me what they can do to help me.

4. Perhaps more important than these occurrences is that I am now much more consciously focused on helping others reach their goals. Not only is that good business, given the business that I am in, but it feels great.

I urge you to ask this question of others in your own way in the coming days. And let me close by saying...

Let me know what I can do to help you reach your goals in 2007.

What We Can Learn From Rosie and The Donald

It is hard to avoid it - even if you don't read the tabloids or watch tabloid TV, you probably know that Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump are having a spat. If you need a recap you can go here. I call it a spat, but they'd call it a conflict.

And in the "conflict" is where there is at least two lessons for us.

Lesson 1: If you want to resolve a conflict, you must know where the conflict comes from, and what is in it for the other person to remain in conflict.

In the case of Rosie and Donald, I don't believe they want to get out of this conflict (or really, that it is really even a conflict) at all. What is in it for both of them is the same thing - publicity.

Rosie replaced Meredith Vierra on The View, and while ratings have gone up (I heard last night), the publicity certainly helps. Donald get publicity for his Miss Universe brand, and the fact that the on-air tussle comes when the new season of The Apprentice is arriving, makes it all the better.

Lesson 2: If the other person doesn't want to resolve the conflict, don't escalate it.

Improve Your Results with a BIG Goal

Today is the final in my series of Seven Ways to Improve Your Professional Results in 2007 (or anytime). The first six suggestions are:

- Create more energy in your life.
- Commit to better working relationships.
- Project a contagious, positive attitude.
- Talk less, listen more.
- Mentor someone.
- Keep a journal.

I've never been very good at those "which five CDs would you want on a desert island?" kinds of questions and so I'm not sure I could pick just one of these suggestions, but I could make a passionate case for today's suggestion:

Set a big goal.

The reason this one might be the most important is that if you set a big goal, the other suggestions might well become tactics to help you achieve that goal.

Simply setting a goal would be a good tactic, but setting a big goal is a better tactic. If you have, in the past had trouble getting started, read this article - it will help you take away all of your excuses.

Your goal could be about your application of one of the other suggestions above, but more likely it will be about a skill you want to develop, a financial position you'd like to be in, a possession you'd like to acquire, a promotion you'd like to secure, or any of 1000 other things.

Whatever your goal is, setting it provides you greater focus and raises your intention for success. That is fine.

But if you really want to accelerate your results, make the goal big. Make it outrageous. Stretch yourself beyond where you think you 'should' be.

Create a goal worthy of your potential.

Then go out and achieve it.

You can do it.