Fred on People/Customer Service

A couple of weeks ago I closed out my 2008 reading list by reading The Fred Factor, by Mark Sanborn.  As I was reading, there were some thoughts/quotes/ideas that stood out to me specifically related to some areas that I care a lot about.  I decided to do a short series of posts (i.e. 2-3) with some of these ideas.

For today, here are some thoughts that stood out related to dealing with people and customer service:

“Success is built one relationship at a time“

• This is true for any type/sphere of relationship (personal, customer, vendor, co-worker)

“Remember that the quality of a relationship is related directly to the amount of time invested in it.  Make sure you give some of your best time to your relationships.”

• Questions:  Are you giving your best time to your best relationships?
• In an organizational setting, are you giving your best time to your best people and those that have the potential to be your best people?

“Uninspired people rarely do inspired work.”

• If your font line employees, volunteers, advocates aren’t inspired your customers will know it, and sooner or later you’ll know it too.
• Where are there signs of “vision leaks” in your organization?

“Customers don’t have relationships with organizations; they form relationships with individuals.”

• People often try something for the first time, because someone else invited them or told them about their positive experience (restaurants, cars, vacation spots, new cell phone company, church, new dry cleaners, etc.)
• People often stay around, keep coming back, etc. longer than they normally would, because they feel a connection or have built a relationship with someone in your organization
• This can either be a help or a hindrance – it depends on the people you have in your organization

“Do the right thing, because it’s the right thing.”

• Even if it’s costly

Supporting the Next Generation

Mark Batterson posted this quote on his blog yesterday:

 
Evotional.com – Originality, Authenticity, Creativity via kwout

It reminded me of a point that Andy made during the last sessions at both the Drive Conference, and the Catalyst Conference.  In his talk, “Recent Random Thoughts on Leadership,” he quotes Al Reis from the book Focus – “The next generation product almost never comes from the previous generation.”  According to Andy, “If you’re an older leader in your organization, your job is to recognize ideas and give younger leaders the margin to pursue their ideas.”  The takeaway is:  “Be a student, not a critic.”

Are you a student or a critic of the next generation leaders in your organization?  Do you view them as the future of your organization or as a bunch of crazy, immature quasi-contributors that may not amount to anything?  Were you on the cutting edge five years ago, but now find yourself opposing new ideas?

Podcast Resources

In the interest of being helpful, I thought I’d take a minute a list a few of the audio resources that I find valuable.  Enjoy.

Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast – I’ve mentioned this before, but you really should be subscribed to this monthly podcast.  There are lots of ideas that make you think mixed with practical, actionable steps.  You can subscribe here.

Marcus Buckingham - Take Control of Your Career and Your Life.  This podcast has eight (8) sessions approx. 20-30 min. each that give a great overview of his teaching on strengths.  You’ll get a good “big picture” view of the information you find in his books:  First, Break All the Rules; Now, Discover Your Strengths; The One Thing You Need to Know; Go, Put Your Strengths to Work.  Subscribe to the iTunes podcast here; or, if you prefer a more in-depth approach, you can go through all the material as an online workshop, complete with downloads, here.

Quick and Dirty Tips – a new favorite of mine.  These are short podcasts (4-7 minutes) with quick, helpful tips.  There are currently about eight (8) different ones each week.  Check out the website for all the quick and dirty tips network podcasts – there’s at least one podcast that you’ll find informational or interesting.  My current favorites are:  Grammar Girl, Get-it-Done-Guy, and The Public Speaker.

Harvard Business Review (HBR) Idea Cast – These are relatively short (15-20 min) and packed with information.  The content will definitely make you use your brain.  Thanks to my friend Ryan Fitzgerald for the tip on this one.  Plus, there’s a little something for everyone, past episode topics include:  Creativity at Pixar, How to Keep your Job in a Recession, Singapore Airlines Great Customer Service, and Should Managers Have a Green Hippocratic Oath.  Subscribe now.

“Book Bytes”

Mark Batterson is giving previews of his new book Wild Goose Chase , which comes out this Tuesday, August 19th, on his blog.  He’s calling them book bytes.  They’re worth the read.  Here are a couple that he posted this week.

 

Evotional.com – Originality, Authenticity, Creativity via kwout

Read the rest of the post here.

 

Evotional.com – Originality, Authenticity, Creativity via kwout

Also, check back here on Tuesday for a review of the book.

Generosity

Lately I’ve been thinking more about giving and generosity.  Last week I heard Dino Rizzo’s One Prayer message on extreme generosity (you can watch it and other One Prayer messages here), and several things he said got stuck in my mind:  

• The selfish world gets smaller and smaller
• “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give” – Winston Churchill
• God didn’t give second rate – he gave everything – he gave his own son
• We need to release to refresh  (see Proverbs 11:24-25)

 

What would our world look like if we lived this out?  What would our churches look like?  Our cities?  What relationships, opportunities, and ideas are getting smaller for me, because I refuse to give freely.  How can I give not only my financial resources, but also my time and my talents to refresh others?

 

There are many more questions right now than answers, but I’m excited the opportunity to try and figure this one out. 

 

 

What are you releasing currently or willing to release for the benefit of others?

The Jerk

This guy I know has this saying, “An unguarded strength is a double weakness.”  I’ve heard him say it several times, but recently this concept is beginning to hit home with me.  I usually get into trouble with detail orientation and analysis.  If I’m not careful these strengths can turn into a huge weakness.

I work with numbers, systems, and communication.  I essentially manage a hub of information, and because of this I end up critiquing and looking for problems all day long.  My work needs to be mostly error free and the information I pass on needs to be correct.  The problem occurs when I forget about harnessing these strengths for good, and they start to become faults.

Constantly when my wife and I go somewhere, especially restaurants, I’m always critiquing the service.  Before we even walk in the door I’m evaluating.  I have a friend who’s much the same way, and we’ve actually left restaurants before – yes, walked out and yes, restaurants plural – because we weren’t happy with the initial service.  I’ve given my “expert” opinion many more times than I was asked for it, burned a few bridges, and would’ve burned even more had my wife not saved me from doing something stupid.

I could tell story after story of my dissatisfaction with all kinds of things.  However, that really would not get us anywhere.  I think I’ve realized I’m critical, because it’s much easier to point out all of the problems than it is to be part of the solution.  It’s really simple to point out a lot of problems in organizations, but it takes a lot more time, effort, and energy to dig in and try to fix them.  Then, what if you buy-in and start to become part of the solution – what if things don’t work out?  What if you can’t fix the problem?  What if you try everything you know how, exhaust all your resources, and it still fails?

I’ve found the best way for me to guard against these weaknesses is to jump in anyway.  Get on board.  Usually in a few weeks or a month I forget about how worked up I was about it taking 4.7 seconds too long to bring my water to the table, poor song choice at an event, or somebody not calling me back for a few days.

How do you fight being The Jerk?