We have a special guest on the blog today. Shep Hyken, Shepard Presentations, LLC, has written a terrific article that we’d like to share with you.

Are You the Owner?

By Shep Hyken

At many of my presentations, I’ll leave time at the end for the audience to brainstorm the ideas and take-aways they plan to implement as a result of what they heard in the speech. At a recent presentation for the Vail Valley Partnership in Vail, CO, Clark Walsh an employee at Old Forge Pizza made a great comment:

“I want to be so good that my customers ask me if I am the owner.”

Why would a customer ask that? Because of Clark’s positive attitude, the excellent service he delivers, the way he treats fellow employees, and more.

At least several things are happening here:

One, Clark respects and admires the owner.

Two, Clark finds the customer’s comment to be a compliment.

And three, the owner of the restaurant has obviously set a good example, one that Clark wants to emulate. By the way, this one is important. An owner must be a good role model, a mentor and leader. I’ve seen plenty of owners/leaders who don’t set good examples with a “do as I say, not as I do” management style.
 
Regardless of the size of your company, it doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, act like an owner.

Reposted with permission: ©2011 Shep Hyken All Rights Reserved If you want to re-post or republish, please Shep Hyken directly.

Shep Hyken is a professional speaker and New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling business author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For information on Shep’s speaking programs, books, and learning programs please contact (314) 692-2200. Email: shep@hyken.com – Web: www.hyken.com – Click here for information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs (www.TheCustomerFocus.com).

We have a special guest on the blog today. Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach, has written a terrific article that we’d like to share with you.

Success in Two Words – Be Memorable.

By Kate Nasser

Starting a company? Looking for a job? Attempting to sell your house? Trying to change careers? Get noticed by being different but …

to achieve success — be memorable.

Memorable is not just what makes you different.  Memorable connects you with others in ways that matter to them.

Success in Two Words – Be Memorable.

Memorable affects others.

Memorable creates a story.

Memorable builds a trust.

Memorable sparks an insight.

Memorable fosters respect.

Memorable eliminates doubt.

Memorable comes back to you.

Memorable keeps you present.

Memorable changes their reality.

Memorable reflects value.

Memorable brings you into their future.

Be Memorable!

Do you have noticeably good planning skills? Add and use foresight to be memorable. Prevent a problem on a project or discover and open an opportunity for your customer, your boss or your organization. Outstanding skills get you noticed. Using them to help others makes you memorable.

Are you a remarkably fast learner? Your boss can hand you anything new and you can do it? That’s good. Learn before the skill is needed and you increase your value. Start today to be memorable tomorrow.

Do you have a special talent for teamwork? Worthwhile in today’s collaborative workplace. Excel at it during times of stress, low morale, or critical change and you will be memorable to every leader.

Are you a people person? Sales or customer service is your sweet spot? Certainly a plus. To be memorable, deliver wonderful service recovery with urgency. Offer customers compensation even for the smallest inconvenience. It builds phenomenal trust and reaps gratitude. You will be memorable!

Kick Start Your Success

The suggestions above are just a few examples. Try these questions to discover how you can be memorable:

1. What three things do most people notice about you? Why? The answer will uncover ways for you to be memorable.
2. What is one strength that people don’t notice in you? Start using it in ways that matter to others.
3. What are two areas in your work or personal life where you see a need, a void, pain, fear, or doubt in others?. Fill the need/void or remove the pain, fear, or doubt. You will be memorable.

How have you been memorable in your work or personal life? Please share your story in the comments section below to inspire others.

To our continued mutual growth,
Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach

Reposted with permission: ©2011 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. If you want to re-post or republish, please email info@katenasser.com. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.

Kate Nasser is smart, feisty, wise, down-to-earth, funny, and just wild and different enough to inspire growth in professional people-skills and improvements incommunication, customer service and teamwork. “I have a natural GPS aboutpeople and have used it for 20 years to spring them to greatness”.

As a speaker on professional people-skills (also known as soft skills), Kate captivates and provokes audiences with energy, humor, caring and realism. She inspires them to action. “Your teams will take my messages of service and teamwork and act on them. I combine facts, insight, humor, and logic to deliver keynotes on customer service and teamwork that produce real change in behavior.”

As a trainer, Kate is the best at inspiring and teaching professional people-skills(changeability, customer service and teamwork).

You can visit Kate at: http://katenasser.com.

I started to get an idea that something was different when, a few weeks before the event, one of the branch managers shared that she and her entire team look forward to the annual meeting every year. Weird.

I also noticed a difference when, a few days before the event, I picked up the phone for a conference call with the senior management team. Nobody realized I was on the line and all I heard was laughing, giggling, and then the VP of Administration saying, “Hey, hey, now we have to behave. We’ll be talking to our speaker here shortly.” Laughing? Senior management? Surprising.

The difference almost stunned me when I walked into the presentation hall. All of the employees were there and they were smiling and laughing. Many were hugging their colleagues from the branch offices who had only just arrived. They were congratulating one another on specific accomplishments they’d achieved. They introduced themselves and each other to me. In doing so, they’d say things such as, “Liz, this is Terry. He is the manager of our Juno branch. He has completely turned that operation around. He’s done a great job for us.” And this introduction would be made by one of their peers—not one of their superiors! They appreciated each other as team members. Amazing.

Weird? Surprising? Amazing? Not really. Because when I asked how they’d achieved such a cooperative, collaborative, and positive environment, they answered: “Our people—we hire right, we train right, we retain the right people.”

Here’s how they really do it:

First, they’ve learned over the years that having people with the right attitude is key. If their employees want to be there and want to learn, they can train them how to do just about anything necessary. Because of that, they have a 3-step hiring process: telephone interview, 3-person management team interview, and finally a 2-person interview with the candidate’s prospective peers. This has got to be an incredibly time-consuming and expensive process, right? Yes. But it’s amazing what will slip by the professional HR screeners and management team. Candidates often “let their guard down” when they talk to prospective peers.

Second, they orient every prospective and new employee to the organization’s Corporate Values immediately and continuously. These “House Rules” are then used on a regular basis to help guide the employees’ personal and professional growth, development, and overall performance. The organization has made it very clear, what the expectations of behavior and performance are—and they stick to them. They’ve earned a reputation in the community for being a very “select” employer. But they’re the employer everyone wants to work for.

Third, they work hard. They’ve got a strategic plan that’s shared with the entire employee population. Each employee knows how he or she fits in to the overall plan. Everyone has goals. Everyone is important and they know it.

Fourth, they play hard. They relish challenges—and beating their challenges means they can celebrate them. Several employees had prepared a video that chronicled this past year’s celebrations. They celebrated reaching a set of goals with two managers shaving their heads, kicked off a new sales promotion with male managers dressing up as cheerleaders to “send the team off,” and for those employees who were celebrating their anniversaries, they had a group of employees sing a congratulatory song.

This organization is different. Its leadership style is different. It loves to play. It loves to work. It loves its people. It has worked hard to create an atmosphere that challenges yet rewards its employees. Because of that, the employees love it. Because of that, the organization is successful. That’s the power of people.

Copyright 2004 & 2011 – Liz Weber, CMC – Weber Business Services, LLC – www.WBSLLC.com

There is a great analogy for businesses that, over the years, I have shared with many clients. Its originator is unknown to me, but when a company needs help putting the magnitude of their behind-the-scenes administrative stuff into perspective, this is a great place to start.

First, think of your company as an iceberg floating in the sea. Now think about the visible, above-the-water portion of the iceberg as the elements of your company easily seen by others (i.e., facilities, service or product quality, employee attitudes and behaviors, office or production areas). The final step is to think of the vast, below-the-surface segment of the iceberg as representing the elements of your company not as easily seen by others (i.e., personnel, policies, office and production quality control measures, internal company communications and procedures).

Based on the observable tip of the iceberg, your customers often determine if yours is the type of organization they want to do business with. These visible indicators convey tangible images of your company to your customers. Are your prices fair, employees friendly and knowledgeable, schedules met, and products or services of high quality?

Floating below the surface are the elements of your company not as easily seen by outsiders and, just like an iceberg, what’s below the surface of your company is the larger part of the whole and it is potentially more damaging.

If your company projects itself positively to the outside world, it’s usually safe to assume that below the surface the bulk of your company/iceberg is in order. Systems are in place so things run smoothly and your employees can focus on doing their jobs. This means employees are motivated; standardized procedures are in place; deadlines are met; receivables, payables and overall cash flow are controlled; and you and your employees generally work together as a focused team. You are not complaining about their lack of teamwork and they are not complaining about your lack of leadership.

However, if your organization projects a less-than-positive image to the outside world, it may mean there are larger issues beneath the surface creating damaging and detectable effects. Issues like: poor financial controls, inadequate communication, inconsistent office and production procedures, lackluster quality controls, unfocused and ineffective leadership, poorly trained staff, failed teamwork, and/or haphazard employee policies.

An organization that projects itself well normally has fewer negatives hiding below the surface. An organization that does not present itself in a good way usually has enough disorganization, chaos and damaging elements weighing it down to sink the Titanic. If you don’t want your company to go under, make the time to take an honest and objective view of your entire organization. See if it is bottom heavy with internal problems that can interfere with success. I am warning you, “The unseen cannot be ignored.”

Take action now to address the hard issues dragging your company down. You will benefit, your employees will benefit, and your customers will, too. The initial positive effects may be slow to recognize, but the long-term impact of addressing those below-the-surface negatives will ensure your organization doesn’t end up sinking itself.

Copyright 2002 & 2011 – Liz Weber, CMC – Weber Business Services, LLC – www.WBSLLC.com

Too often, we leaders fail to clarify for our employees how OUR actions tie into and align with the overall strategic plan. To employees, our actions tend to have, what I call, ‘The Moth Effect.’ Have you ever tried to catch a moth that’s flitting around a light bulb?  There’s absolutely no pattern to its flight path as it bobs and weaves all over the place trying to get to the light. For me, catching it becomes a true and tiring challenge—ultimately, I just want to let it go.

When we, as leaders, project The Moth Effect, our employees and team members see us as unfocused, scattered, and out of control. They see no strategy management, no pattern to our actions and no connection to the overall organizational goals. As they chase after us, trying in vain to follow our ‘lead’ and support our latest priority, they tire. Not surprisingly, through sheer frustration, they ‘let us go.’ They detach from us; they detach from their jobs; and, they detach from the organization. That’s the ultimate in leadership failure, because (as the Dragon Lady of Accountability keeps telling you) you can’t be a leader if no one wants to stay connected with you and follow.

So how do we as the leader keep them engaged, attached, and connected? We need to ensure that the employees know the strategic plan of the whole organization and their department. They need to be clear about their individual part in the plan and what OUR part as the leader will be. Further, when we show employees how we follow the plan, it sets a solid example to them as to the value of strategic planning.

Clarity and alignment in our role, as well as theirs, is vital. Letting employees know what our responsibilities are and then fulfilling them also lets them know that we are willing to be held personally accountable for our position’s responsibilities. We’ll be held accountable just as we hold them accountable to fulfill their positions’ part of the plan. And fewer chaotic and misaligned actions mean fewer chances for confusion, lost productivity, and disconnected employees.

Avoid the moth effect. Let your employees know what you’re doing to help the organization succeed. Act as one of the team by clarifying your role and helping the team stay connected. Hold yourself to the strategic plan. Hold yourself accountable. Hold yourself up as a leader.

Copyright 2003 & 2011 – Liz Weber, CMC – Weber Business Services, LLC – www.WBSLLC.com

From my more than two decades of experience working with really good and not-so-good leaders, a number of skills stand out, but for now I will focus on these (magnificent) seven:

1. Strategic Thinking – The ability to think beyond the day-to-day and override the natural tendency to see the difficulties that proposed strategies might cause. Strategic thinking requires (a) leaders to focus on what’s right for the organization, the employees, and the customers now and into the future and (b) a willingness to deal with intangibles, unknowns, and risk. Strategic decisions are more often than not based upon experience and instinct, with enough research to hope projections hold true. Strategic thinkers think about the whole organization, instead of just the individual department previously managed. Strategic thinking requires continuously pushing forward to ask, “What’s next?” instead of saying, “Ahh, we’ve finally arrived.”

2. Opportunity Identification – Business development, business acquisitions, sales, mergers, product lines, service lines, etc., all fall in this category of opportunity identification. What is appropriate given what our organization is, does, and should be in the future? Closely linked with executive team strategic planning, opportunity identification often takes on a more individual approach and is done through the leader’s personal readings; tracking of world, regional, and local news events; observations during conversations over lunch, in the bank, with colleagues, etc. It is the leader’s individual ability to put the various puzzle pieces together into a probable picture of future opportunities.

3. Infrastructure Development – The ability to realize that any solid house needs a solid foundation. Infrastructure development requires ensuring the boring and not-so-sexy things such as policies, manuals, procedures, protocols, facilities, equipment, land, etc. are all in place to allow the organization to effectively handle current operations and, at the same time, to be well-positioned to accommodate future, more sizable work volumes. Infrastructure development is a delicate dance of not over-acquiring or over-building (and thus creating too much overhead) while at the same time, ensuring internal capacity to operate now and grow into the future.

4. Financial Acuity – The ability to understand what the organization’s numbers are telling you in terms of where you were, are, and where you are going. Leaders obviously understand the basics of cash flow, profit and loss, and balance sheets. However good leaders understand how business actions and inactions can cause the direct and indirect shifts in the numbers, as well as how to enhance the overall capital strength of the organization though business revenues, acquisitions, divestures, etc. Good leaders understand that cash is king and that big does not necessarily mean better—if you can’t pay your bills. Smart growth is more important that growth for growth’s sake.

5. Professional Networks – The gut-level understanding that strong, reliable networks of professional advisors, colleagues, competitors, associates, and friends will provide tremendous support, insight, and solid sounding-board opportunities. These networks and associates are outside the organization and will often provide straight answers and insights that internal staff don’t see or are afraid to share. Professional networks provide opportunities to gain knowledge quickly and to acquire various opinions to evaluate while holding no real decision-making power or authority over the leader. They are sources of information. What’s more, a good leader often provides more to the network than is ever taken away.

6. Brand/Goodwill Development – The understanding that without a solid reputation, your organization’s value diminishes. Every sale becomes harder. Every employee recruitment and hire takes longer. Every meeting with colleagues becomes a bit strained. Protecting and strengthening the organization’s name, reputation, and value becomes paramount to good leaders. Without it, they are leading an entity no one wants to follow.

7. Development of Others – The understanding that knowledge transfer and developing skills in others is crucial to any organization’s long-term success. We’ve all heard, “Our employees are our strongest asset.” Yet many of these same organizations refuse to spend more than the bare minimum on employee training each year, and few have focused direct daily effort on developing their organization’s prospective future leaders. Good leaders have long realized the need to develop the above skills in their employees with leadership ambitions and abilities. Good leaders have for years been focusing on helping their organization’s future leaders prepare for personal and professional success. The success of the next generation of leaders will help ensure the organization’s success.

The above list isn’t all-inclusive, but it provides a sound basis to build upon. If the above skills were easy, every leader would possess them. They’re not easy. They are somewhat innate and most assuredly strengthened with practice over time. On that 1 to 5 scale, how strong are you?

Copyright 2007 & 2011 – Liz Weber, CMC – Weber Business Services, LLC – www.WBSLLC.com

Thank You!

On the other hand, if you’ve never had anyone tell you, “Because of you, I’m here too.” What the absence of those words may be telling you is:

* Because of your leadership, they don’t want to be a part of the organization any longer
* Because of your leadership, they feel under-appreciated, used, or ignored
* Because of your leadership, they aren’t challenged to learn, grow, and enhance their skills
* Because of your leadership, they’ve lost respect for you. They don’t consider you a leader.

Because of your leadership, others determine their future. Will they come to you? Will they stay with you? Will they go to get away? Or will they go because you’ve helped them grow?

What will others say about you as a leader – because of your leadership?

Copyright 2010

• When the rubber meets the road;
• The proof is in the pudding; or
• Actions speak louder than words

the truth is, we will never know who will be an effective leader until that person is given power. Then the test of leadership begins. As Abraham Lincoln said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

You see, even though an individual with leadership potential may possess numerous desirable leadership attributes, from incredible vision to great communication skills, those attributes fade into insignificance if the “leader” fails to remember the role of a leader.

A leader is only a leader when others say she is one. A leader is only a leader when she keeps the primary responsibility of leadership clearly in mind, and that role is to lead a team, company, organization, community or country toward its future- not hers.

We’ve all experienced working with someone who changed once she was given a taste of power. Suddenly, the person who used to work so well and openly with us, becomes controlling, uncommunicative, and egocentric. She is now entitled, all-powerful, and right in her interpretation of strategic issues. The team’s insights and support she had sought and welcomed, are now wrong and unwanted.

Power is an amazing test of character. Power is an amazing test of leadership and it’s an amazing test each of us as leaders needs to undertake ourselves every now and then. So the next time you hear your team members or colleagues say, “You’ve changed” or they seem to “block” your actions as they never used to before, stop and ask yourself a few honest questions:
- “What have I done as the leader to cause such conflict and frustration?”
- “Have I changed or have they?”
- “Is what I’m trying to accomplish truly right for the organization or just right for me and my legacy?”
For solid, effective leaders, the answers to the above will probably indicate a need to communicate more clearly or renegotiate strategies. However, for a leader corrupted by power, the answers to the above – the honest answers to the above – will indicate a loss of leadership purpose and focus. It’s time to acknowledge the test and become the leaders others need us to be. It’s time to appreciate the test of leadership power.
Copyright 2010 – Liz Weber, CMC – Weber Business Services, LLC.