Take a lesson from a kid...service with a smile!

Yesterday, I took my kids to the local Lego Land - aside from the crowds of insane crowd and bus loads of camp kids I was given one of the best experiences ever, and it was delivered by a young girl!  In a pack of anxious kids and parents feverishly building cars for jumping or the hour's challenge (my son won the spaceship challenge during the four o'clock hour) we found that many needed pieces were missing.  Upon searching for wheels with two frustrated kids, I finally approached one of the employees for help.  Now my expectations were low, I expected a shrug of shoulders and an apology.  But I was surprised in a good way!  She not only heard my issue but jumped on it immediately.  She apologized and went to the store where she pulled new wheels from inventory.  Not only one set, but six sets so both my kids and I would have some options!  It blew me away!  In a sea of folks, many of whom treated her less than stellar, she jumped up like it was nothing.  I've been in the service game for years and I'm always impressed when people jump to action in unexpected ways.  So don't be blind to new places to find inspiration in serving your clients!  You never know when greatness may jump up and get you a set of tires!

What's impressed you?

Cutting Corners - really just cutting benefits

In light of the recent proposed changes from the airline industre ry, it makes me think that other changes are bound to happen.  If you haven't seen it, some discount airlines are considering standing room seats for economy flying.  NO SEATS!  I mean they've taken food, drinks, and room and now they're looking at making us stand!  all in the name for a 44% savings?  no seat...just a bike like seat connected to a bar...SERIOUSLY!  How long until corporate America will be a BYOC - bring your own chair policy?  Oh you want a better PC...bring your own!  Want access to the printer...again bring your own or pay extra!  In today's working world, we as leaders, need to fight for basic tools.  Sure you can save a boat load of money pushing a BYOB policy...but what kind of results will you get?  I'm sure the airlines are going to see a massive backlash of customer satisfaction.  Sure we crave cheap products but standing room seats?  Is that really a reaction to cheap seats or just their attempt to squeeze more people into a small space...So keep your folks in first class...pay for the big seats!

Ready for the big time...but are you?

I am always impressed with the efforts of a team member that is motivated to get a promotion.  It seems like another gear is reached.  Focus is sharp, measures are strong and well the praise should be pouring in.  However, sometimes the timing required doesn't match the efforts of our teams.  At the end of the day we are employees and work at the pleasure of our respective companies.  That means, it decides when we're ready for promotions, it decides when raises are given out and as a leader you must be mindful of this! Motivating employees can crumble if efforts are not rewarded.  If that employee mentioned at the top of this note pushes for months and falls flat without reward you risk losing that person to another job or just mediocrity for months or years to come.  My advise to you is to make sure the company is ready and open to rewarding your folks before you start pushing results!

Let your team reward themselves!

One of the toughest things to do is decide when and what gets a team member recognized.  Awards are a great way to get a team motivated...or I should say portions of a team motivated.  As we've noted before here - folks are motivated by very different things.  But Awards normally can touch each type - recognition is something most folks like!  But trying to figure out who gets them can be the tricky part - don't want to reward the favorites each week.  But that path can breed trouble!

But avoid the trouble - let the team vote on it themselves!  I put together a small box (bought of ebay) that allowed the team to recognize themselves.  Slips of paper and what they did to earn the reward were all that was needed!  Boom instant HIT!  We'd pick the winner - each week in our Team Meeting and DONE!  When entries got slow - I even began to reward the writers of the nominations - four winning nominations got you a prize as well!

So stop stressing about who wins!  Let your team do the heavy lifting!

Like Johnny Cash...Walk the Line!

When individuals begin to walk the path of a leader the landscape changes almost immediately.  Things you've never considered or thought would be a problem suddenly shoot up out of no where.  When you take the role of a manger or a leader you don't have the luxury to be off in any way.  Sad, happy or angry you have to keep an even keel.  Reacting is a sure path to failure.  It will alienate the very people you need to be successful.  So work your inner Johnny Cash and Walk that line!  This means being too nice as well.  Avoiding confrontation, coaching or having tough conversations will also lead to a path where you will fail.  While we'd like to believe that our teams are family, we are not.  Work relationships should mimic those family feelings but at the end of the day, you are the boss.  Your people are paid to be there and while you'd like HR to be in your homes...they are not, they are in your work place.  Employees need leadership, they need guidance but they also need a fair leader who understands where the line is! 

Tell us a story where you've walked the path...or possibly haven't and paid the price!

Wanna join me for a cup 'o Joe?

Some of my greatest coaching sessions weren't in an office or a conference room...they were actually on the way to get a cup of coffee across the street.  When set coaching sessions are scheduled everyone's anxiety increases...defensive memories of being told they're doing something wrong flood the memory banks...Managers these days have a mountain of things to-do and having another meeting just seems to be more of a problem rather than the positive one on one time they should see them as.  That is why I love to make these meetings on the move or over a snack or a meal...and definitely away from the floor...making sure items are always private.  As we know these sessions are not created equal!  Some of your folks will require minor tinkering while others will need 30 minute long sessions filled with emotion and pleading and reasoning.  It's part of the things that motivate me as a leader.  Helping make a group of different folks, with diverse backgrounds march together towards a common goal.  Each person will require a different amount of love, hate and candy to get them to march...but when you get there...and the marching hits the mark...there is nothing like it in the world!

Where is your favorite spot to performing coaching?

Keep your eyes open...You might just learn something!

One of my favorite pass-times is borrowing tricks from folks trying to serve me!  When I get blown away by a company, store or person I make sure to recognize what about the experience I enjoyed and try to make that apart of my future offerings...Traveling is a big part of the fun  Even on a camping trip!  I just have arrived back from a family camping trip to Wisconsin.  First of all, if you've never been to Wisconsin, you've never felt a group of people that are universally nice.  I mean smiling at strangers, bender over backwards, stop what they're doing to help brand of people.  My wife, a native Californian, was blown away by the repeated "niceness" of the people we encountered.  From waiters to retail folks, we were so satisfied because everyone seemed to actually care.  They seemed genuinely interested in helping up and how we felt about our experience!  Are you kidding me?  In a world of bare bones service and a push to cut costs, these folks almost talked to us too much? 

Now that is something I can use in my Whistling World!  Treat everyone like they are a long lost cousin or friend!  Take the time to make your customer, coworker or anyone feel like you care not only about the job at hand but them personally!  That is what will separate you from the pack and drive your success like no one around you!

Go Ahead...Toot your own horn!

In today's world, we're surrounded by folks who seem to have larger than life amounts of self confidence.  Everyone thinks their own lives are so interesting that they need a reality show.  If you flipped the channel you can see that we seems to be watching them in heaps.  I'm personally shocked that we don't filter more of it, but what can you do!  We love our grumpy cats, our dancing cats...we love people falling awkwardly on their funniest videos.

With all that said, why do we have a hard time tooting our own horns in the work place!  I have fallen into that trap over the years.  We believe that a job well done should be rewarded.  But more times than not, our managers see a job well done as an opportunity to give more work.  Let's face it, these days big companies are pushing more responsibilities on fewer folks.  It's important that we as leaders learn how to toot our horns.  More importantly, don't be afraid to publicize the efforts of your team members.  You will be rewarded not only personally but also as a team!  Upper management is dying for positive stories and opportunities to acknowledge their people!

So do yourself a favor, take some time each week to find places to promote your people and even yourself!  Take control of your success and it will start by highlighting the great things YOU and YOUR people do!

Free time...Myth or does it exist?

I'm always amazed at how I believe there isn't enough time in the day for many things I need to do.  However, when a hot problem comes to my desk I always have time to solve it...and still get work done.  Know the same feeling?  Why is it we seem to reach another gear when things get "scary" or "critical" - I'd say human nature!  When things get more difficult we naturally rise to meet the challenge.  Energy soars, the blood gets pumping and boom things get done!  Knowing this is a factor, how do we as leaders utilize these hidden pockets of productivity?  Creating a sense of urgency and/or an atmosphere that helps your team access this upper level of effort.  Of course fear, is an option but I will warn you against that because it tends to burn folks out and will break down any sort of positive work place you've built up.  Rather, it comes from an ability to push yourself into the trenches and pitch in.  When employees see a manager doing "their" work they take it on personally and want to take the work back...so that you can do more "manager" things!  I'm telling you it works! 

Give it a shot!  Pick a project or task that would normally be taken on by your team and keep it - let the team know you've got it and get ready to see the efforts and numbers grow!

Coaching....Not just for sports!

When I think about coaches, many of us think about sports coaches.  Ditka comes to mind for me...cause well I'm a Chicago guy!  But we as leaders need to think of ourselves as coaches.  Like a good coach, we should be working with our folks to improve themselves in every way.  Like we used to say in basketball camp when I was a kid... "Every day in every way, we get a little better."  Even the best folks have rooms to improve.  Do you think for a second, Jordan didn't accept coaching?  Like an athlete, these coaching sessions need to be consistent and regularly scheduled.  I'll be the first to tell you, that when times get busy, these sessions seem to be the first to get bumped.  However, it's important to do your very best to stick to them.  It' snot the end of the world if you miss one, but it's important to not miss more than one!

Get over yourself...

Breaking news...you are human!  You have emotions and have bad days and things WILL make you mad!  But as a leader you don't have that luxury...when you hit the floor you must be on.  Like an actor, it's showtime!  But again..you are human.  It's gonna happen, it's going to bring a moment when you want to scream.  Don't beat yourself up when it does.  But it's critical you don't stay in that place.  Move past it, change the tone and message quickly.  GET OVER YOURSELF!  The team is also human, they have their own things, not to mention one of them is dealing with you.  So if you're in a bad place, it's going to push them to bad places.  At the end of the day, it's key to stay focused and keep your team focused on the job at hand.  Eliminate those distractions and even do something to get everyone mentally past the issue.  Ice Cream, Treats, order lunch, watch a goofy video (HR appropriate of course) - but make a gesture to move the group past the issue!

Give 'em space!

One of the greatest wins I've ever had was doing something so simple it amazed even me!  Like many of your workplaces, a policy written some time ago commands that desks are to be sterile and without personality.  Do yourself a favor, challenge this!  Think about it - we spend more time at work than we do at home.  We cover our walls at home with pictures, posters, fun things that represent us as people!  When I was tasked to take on a company's most notorious tough teams, I left nothing untouched in trying to improve morale.  As I've talked about before, food, meetings, personalized motivational activities were unleashed in the initial weeks.  However, nothing made a difference like opening the flood gates for folks to bring in their personal items.  And I need t be honest, I led the charge which created an atmosphere from the top down that decorating was safe, despite the office having a no personal items policy.  Slowly but surely desks started filling with not only pictures, but bobble heads, rugs for the cube floors, plants, etc.  Best part was that each person took pride in what they chose to share with their coworkers.

So do yourself a favor, unleash the personal items, of course always follow HR policies for what is appropriate.  It will be a big win, I promise!

A fresh coat of paint...or paper?

Like many of you, I've not had complete control of the walls where my team and even my desk sat.  So if you can't change the colors your self...try putting up some paper!  I'm talking about posters, or even get creative!  I was faced with plain drab white(ish) walls so what did we do to change the vibe?  bought some simple plastic wall coverings from #orientaltrading and instant loft with brick!  I'm not here to say it was perfect but it shook things up and the team loved it!  Mix that with some home made crafts highlighting your team and your team will be hard pressed to feel unmotivated!  But as I've said before, it takes many different types of motivation to move a team forward but activity of almost any kind will help show that you care as a leader!  So take some time, get some crafts and get your space spiced up! 

Please share pictures of your best ideas!!

never burn a bridge cause you may need it sooner than you think...

Since I was young I've always tried to keep friendly with all walks of life.  I give that knack to my mother!  She always instilled in me that I needed to be kind and helpful to anyone.  Although we were particularly religious, we always walked the path of someone who was.  To this day, I've had many different jobs over the years and I've always tried to make sure I had friends at all levels of the job.  When you get to climb the corporate ladder it is going to take favors and tricks to get along the path.  These favors will come from all kinds of folks.  Friends in low and high places are critical to any leader.  So next time that person in Accounting frosts your hide...remember they may be needed in the future.  That Sales person that over promised and toss it to you to handle...they are going to have to keep plugging away if you want to keep your lights on.  The annoying gal in fulfilment, yep gonna need her too! 

Personal feelings are natural, between you and I, I have many folks that simply drive me crazy.  But it's up to me to keep that a secret.  Becuase if they feel my frustration, they will turn off to me in the future.  Possibly to my whole team as well...So keep it cool!  "Gotta rocket in your pocket?"  Cool it!  your career and success rely on it!

Have a good story about avoiding the fight?  Share it!

When the going gets tough...smile

Stress is bound to crawl into your team and life at some point.  Pressures to make more with less is an ongoing problem for leaders across any business.  But when the toughest times hit, it's important to not let it show, especially if you're the leader of the group.  As Memorial Day came and went this year, I was reminded how critical leadership is in our world.  Stories of heroics on the battlefield in WWII, WWI, and most any other war were shared across many TV channels and social media.  The common theme in many of the stories came down to a person that stood above the rest and kept their cool and stayed focused on the win.  Now don't get me wrong.  I am not comparing War to business.  The men and woman that protect our country are above any corporate workings.  But the leadership traits are very similar.  The most important factor is staying cool under pressure.  Boil down the situation to the basics.  Cut them into parts so it doesn't seem so daunting....now you have bite sized chunks of a problem instead of the whole thing...

Being a leader is about showing the path as well as walking the path. Get your hands dirty, join the fight and make things right as quickly as possible.  No problem gets better with age!

Share your best story about overcoming a problem!  

The buck stops with you...but does it have to?

Troubleshooting is one of the most critical parts of any leadership role.  This is especially true when the stakes are higher than normal.  You know, when the customer is bigger, the deal is bigger and the pressure seems to grow right along with it.  In those times, it's best to be diligent in getting the facts and allow yourself to include the team in the decision making process. Because our teams work with these folks more frequently it's critical to get their take.  In most cases, they have an action plan, well they should, because as a leader it's important that you guide these folks to not only bring problems but include an action plan.  I have learned that my front line employees are normally more conservative when offering discounts or "peace offerings" to disgruntled customers.  This is because they know the effort, trouble and customer history better than we as leaders will.  So my advise here is while the final word ends with us as leaders it doesn't have to be solely on us!  We should be using all our people resources to make that final call.  Account Managers, your team and your peers can be called upon to lesson the load...the pressure and the stress of making sure we're right!

However, with all this said, it is critical we make these calls quickly.  Customers will appreciate your due diligence but more often they will appreciate prompt decisions and answers!

Until next time friends!

Keep Your Eyes Peeled

Some of the best ideas aren't born solely out of our own imagination...They are a collaboration between many ideas.  Sometimes they are taken from ideas meant for much different things.  As a leader you owe it to yourself and your people to be willing to utilize ideas of all kinds and not just those we create ourselves.  Some of the best ideas in my career have been when working with another manager in my office.  We'd pool resources and then take the ideas in our own way but the root was a mutual plan!  That takes much of the pressure off!  Google Images is full of ideas...it's also full of very naughty things so watch out!

Creativity is the way to success of all kinds!  Let the world help you find it! 

Let's get this party started

Employers across almost any industry is in buesiness to make money.  Either for themselves, their shareholders or a cause.  To make that money grow a constant effort to shrink costs to their bare minimum.  That means, managers and leaders need to be creative in their efforts.  Do more with less has to be our mantra.  Not only that but we'll be motivating employees who are also being pressured to do more with less!  Now that is tough duty!  But if you're willing this blog will help explore new ways to think about motivation and exploring the world of creative thinking!

 I am passionate about motivating people...getting the very best from individuals in all walks of life.  When leading a group of unique individuals it is critical, we as leaders, understand that one type or style of motivation will not work for everyone.  Like any team in any sport, it takes many different types of players to be successful and truly special!

More than twenty years in the corporate and retail management world...I've got the experience and have seen success across many different markets and industries.  I hope you're willing to join us in this journey to making each other better!

Welcome!