The Ride of the Valkyries saves the day!

“This guy on the phone is really upset” said one of my staff as she ran into my office. “He wants to talk to the manager and you said that whenever that happens we should send them right over to you!” “Exactly”, was my response, “now what’s the issue?”

She explained that it was a really a simple issue where the customer was refusing to submit the proper paperwork to support his request. I took the call and this person was indeed very irate and nearly unreasonable. After several minutes I was still having difficulty connecting with him. Then his personal cell phone rang in the background. The ringtone was Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner. I recognized it from a cartoon I had watched when I was a kid.

I commented on what a unique ringtone he had chosen. His response was that he doubted I even knew what it was. I told him the name of the piece and the composer and what followed was several seconds of complete silence. And then we began a discussion about Wagner and opera. I don’t know much about opera, (that wasn't covered in the cartoon) so he did most of the talking.  It concluded with him saying “I’ll have my assistant get that documentation over to you by the end of the day”. All made possible by being aware and of course Wagner.

Now I know that there have been hundreds of blogs on listening and dozens of books written about the subject. However I’m not just talking about hearing the words, using active listening and being sure to let the upset person vent for a moment. I’m talking about inflection, tone and in the story above, background noise. All these add up to give you clues about person speaking. Are they really listening to you, are they being pumped up by someone else in the room? Maybe they are on a cell phone trying to pick up their child at daycare. It happened to me!  

All these clues combine to help you understand what it will take to make the communication truly successful. I’m convinced that whether it’s leadership in an office or sales in the field, really listening to what is happening around you is a critical element of effective communication, connections and developing authentic relationships. And it’s those relationships that lead to increased sales, more engagement and a happier workplace. 

1+1=Success!

I glanced at those around me and the chilled look of panic was in their eyes. We had gone past the deer in the headlights directly to the gazelle noticing the hungry, charging lion. All these people were terrified. There was no movement in this room; each person was absolutely still, frightened to make even the slightest sound. Eyes dilated, adrenaline pumping, fight or flight response ready to kick in. Time stood still. We were terrified. It was obvious that the situation was grim. It was nothing like we had ever seen before. There were beads of sweat breaking out on the foreheads of some of those near me. This was strange stuff, really strange. The hair on the back of my neck was standing straight up and my palms were cold and clammy. At the end of the hour long presentation you could almost smell the burnt brain cells in the room.

I was seated among a group of parents at an elementary school being introduced to a new math learning program.

 Now I myself am about as good at math as I am at swimming, I can save myself, but would struggle trying to save someone else. The question first on my mind and the first question asked was…How are we supposed to teach this new type of math to our kids? We can barely understand it ourselves!

The answer was quick, clean and wonderful. “Your kids”, said the presenter, “will teach you.”

The understanding was almost instant on my part. Kids teaching the parents, exchange of information, bonding, an authentic relationship created, trust building, empowering the kids, a level playing field, mutual respect, making them feel proud that they could teach someone who is supposed to have knowledge and power, more buy in to the new process. I love it.

I being a management minded person made the correlation to manager/staff relationship was just as quickly. Take out “kid” and insert “staff member”. Take out “parents” and insert “manager”.  Absolutely perfect!  I have seen the greatest growth, staff engagement and satisfaction for all in the teams that have the highest collaboration between management and staff. In those offices where you can’t tell who has what ranking on the company flow chart. The teams where when the manager gets stuck, they have no fear about asking a staff member for some help. In fact it is encouraged!

No one really wants to be parented, not even kids, (just ask them) and no one wants to be micromanaged either. Give up that key to the executive restroom, park out in the farthest corner of the lot with the troops, drink coffee from the same pot and you will build a strong engaged interconnected staff where helping each other and shared learning is the norm, not the exception.

 

When we all learn together, we all win.

Who cares?

Bill, our building security person, showed up in my office one afternoon with a very concerned look on his face.  He said he was worried about me and wanted to be sure that I was alright.

I was puzzled by his question and assured Bill that I was fine, rather busy but feeling fine. I asked Bill what made him think that something was wrong. Bill explained that as long as he had been in the building he had seen me take a brisk walk at 2:00 every day. Sunshine, rain, snow or wind he saw me walking around the outside of the large parking lot at work. Always at 2:00, he explained that he could just about set his watch by me.

However today there was no Clark. Not at 2:00, 2:05 or 2:10. Bill said he knew that I was in the office and he thought that something must be wrong so he came to check on me. I thanked Bill for his concern and let him know that I would be walking today, just a little later than usual. I was impressed by how a simple change in my behavior could trigger such change in the behavior of others.

This very short conversation had an impact on me. I was touched by Bill’s sincere concern for my well-being, (we all should be so concerned about each other). It was sincere and authentic.  I really don’t know Bill that well, just from seeing him doing his patrols and chit chat about the weather and what not. I found myself trying to recall the last time I had shown that level of concern about someone I knew like I knew Bill. Sure, I do my best to help out my friends, but what about the people I don’t know so well?  

I went out to eat with my son a few days after I talked with Bill. A local seafood restaurant. Not a fancy place, paper plates and styrofoam cups, that type of place. As we left, I was carrying the leftover food in a to go container, my son noticed a homeless person, that I really never saw, sitting on the sidewalk.  I asked my son “Do you think he’s hungry”? “Ahuh” was the reply as my son nodded. So we offered him our left overs. He quietly accepted and began to eat. My son and I walked on without saying a word. He broke that silence whispering to me “That was cool Dad, I feel good inside”.

Show some compassion, reach out to someone when there is no benefit to you, do a random act of kindness. Show the same kind of concern for another that Bill did when he looked in on me.

Do something that’s cool and makes you feel good inside.

Crawtators with a side of WOW!

One of the more colorful folks I have met in my contracting career was Vicki. Baton Rouge born and bred, she was very quick to try to help this Yankee learn more about Louisiana culture and more specifically, Baton Rouge.  Vicki is a great example of Southern Hospitality. She taught me about Mardi Gras, hot sauce and gumbo all in that wonderfully rich southern accent. I took a particular liking to a seasoning called “Slap Ya Mama”. The name was a bit much, however the taste was fantastic. When my contract ended, she made sure that I had a proper southern sendoff complete with a to-go package of Slap Ya Mama. Vicki went out of her way to make me feel at home and to be sure that I would never forget my Baton Rouge experience.

Some two years later, I finally ran out of Slap Ya Mama and sent Vicki a quick note to let her know that it took a Northerner that long to use up the seasoning. She responded quickly and promised to send me up a new package. I thanked her and felt, (just a little), that the package would never show. We all get pretty busy with life and this was such a trivial thing.

 Two weeks later a box showed up in my mail. A big box, big enough for a toaster, and it was from Vicki! My first thought was, “Just how much packaging do you need to wrap a salt shaker size of seasoning in to keep it from breaking open”. But this box was heavy. I eagerly tore into the box to find it full of Southern Louisiana goodies! Gumbo mix, Mardi Gras beads, southern rice, hot sauce, southern potato chips, seasonings and yes…right up front… a new package of Slap Ya Mama!

 I was totally blown away. This exceeded every expectation that I had. I felt that I might never see my favorite seasoning again, and to be sent a whole collection of southern yummies in the mail blew my mind. This wasn't just seasoning, this was a care package! What a great feeling!

 It’s this kind of feeling that I’m referring to when I talk to my staff about delivering the “WOW” to our customers. It’s going beyond expectations, doing a little extra and doing it with the right attitude. Have a genuine smile on your face when you deliver. I have always coached my staff to be sure that there was a little unexpected something for our customers each time we touched them. I ask them; does it really take that much more time or cost the company that much money more to deliver a product and experience that the customer will truly remember? The clear answer is no. Do more than is expected, sooner than is expected each time, and you will build a rock solid relationship with your customer. And you managers out there remember that your staff members are your customer as well.

 After eating a couple of bags of Spicy Crawtator chips I reached out to Vicki and asked her what I owed for the box. Her response was, “A single man, good looking, 40-50 who loves southern cooking”.

 Now that’s going to be a tough expectation to exceed!

You did what last Saturday?

On a Saturday in late July my daughter and I will drive three hours, don our hiking gear and climb to the top of a 6288 foot tall mountain, all to benefit people we have never met. Each year we spend a couple of months raising money for our climb to benefit a non-profit organization. There are plenty of unique things that folks do to raise money for charity, we happen to climb mountains. I’m happy to say that this has become an annual traditional for us. As well as some great daddy/daughter time, it raises money for a worthy non-profit. We both look forward to this and get pretty excited when the climbing day finally arrives.

However, there are other, more valuable things to be gained by this event. Not prizes, goodies or trinkets. It is instilling the idea in my children that giving back is part of what our family does. It’s building the understanding that there are greater things in our lives than us. I believe that by my daughter’s example she is inspiring someone, somewhere to do something that does not directly benefit them. It’s the concepts of volunteerism, personal effort to help a worthy cause and a sense of the greater good that I’m trying to develop within my kids. And for me, it goes even further than that.

The way I look at it is that each of us needs to give back to our communities in someway. That’s what makes where you live a better place. A social responsibility if you will. You pick your thing, whatever that is. Be a Scout leader, coach a youth sports team, do a road side pick up, volunteer for a board, run for a small town office. Even things as simple as buying Girl Scout cookies, going to breakfast at the firehouse or dropping a couple of bucks in the kettle as you walk by all contribute to the communities greater well being. You pick your way, what means something to you, and then go for it.

Now I’m not suggesting that you have to support each and every charity that comes to your door. But find something that triggers your passion. Donate a little money or even more importantly, some of your time if you can. You find the one thing that means the most to you, gives you that warm fuzzy feeling inside each time you do something that supports it. I’ll bet that you’ll find you benefit just as much, or maybe more, than your cause does.

So if you happen to be on the top of a mountain on a Saturday in late July and see a sweaty, dirty and tired looking dad and daughter climbing team, that both have smiles on from ear to ear, you’ll know exactly what they feel so good about.

Keeping it Simple

In my mind, keeping things as simple as possible is the best way to work with both staff and customers. There are enough confusing things going on in our world that there really is no need to make business more difficult. We all enjoy watching the Rube Goldberg type of devise that uses marbles, dominoes, levers and ramps to flip on a light switch, however no one wants to do business with company that operates in that fashion!

Recently a friend of mine who is in a management position asked me how to deal with problematic staff members. She was having a fairly consistent issue with those who were repeatedly demonstrating behaviors that were just a little off the mark. She wasn’t talking about major issues such as insubordination, theft or excessive absences. She knew how to handle indiscretions of that magnitude. It was the little things. The dress code being stretched a little too far, lunch breaks that were five or ten minutes too long, production just a smidge too low and customer service that was ok, but not up to the company standards.  

This manger was looking for a simple set of guidelines that she could follow each day that would help remind her of best practices for dealing with these borderline behaviors. Most folks in management know that dealing with really poor behavior is not that difficult, it’s the daily minor issues that give managers and supervisors the real headaches.

Initially I struggled to develop a simple set of rules that my friend could easily remember until I received inspiration from a sign I saw in a kindergarten classroom.

Elegant, simple, concise.  It was perfect! I was little envious that I had not come up with these wonderfully simple rules all by myself.

I showed my friend the picture and explained that “Method” was spot on for her difficulties. When a minor issue occurs… state the rule, identify the incident, use prosocial teaching and finally, be sure to reengage the staff member. There have been entire books written that could be reduced to these phrases.  As for the “Class rules”, they should apply to everyone in the department. A smile spread across her face as she said to me, “Clark, I can do this!”

I circled back with my friend after a week or so and she was quick to let me know that the method was working. She was seeing slow, but steady improvement. By keeping her management technique simple and consistent she was eliminating the issues and developing engagement.

As mangers isn’t that what we all want?

Finding the right position

I really can’t think of anything more challenging than being a person in the wrong role at work. Staff members at all levels can end up in a position that they just don’t seem to fit in. The introvert who struggles in their forward facing sales role or the extrovert whose daily tasks are repetitive and do not interest or excite them.  

So how do we make sure that our staff gets into the roles that they can thrive in? I heard the best answer to this question from my daughter’s soccer coach. I asked Coach Rob how he decided which player would play which position. I mean, all of his players were quite young, different skill sets, different levels of maturity. There was over a foot difference in height between some of them! “It’s easy”, Coach Rob said, “I asked them. I asked them and they told me. They taught me who could play where.”

That was not the answer I was expecting. I was looking for a highly technical answer that took into account  hours of drills and performance observation. I was sure it was some type of skill demonstration grading done on each girl and then run through a sophisticated soccer algorithm to match skill sets to positions.

No, nothing like that, Coach Rob just asked them.

What coach Rob knew is that by asking the girls where they wanted to play he gained instant buy in and engagement from his players. The fact that the girls weren't being forced into roles that they may not enjoy or feel passionate about helped them maintain a positive attitude even when they didn't win. They loved their roles and were happy to be on the field. Over the course of time many of the girls switched positions, (with a little encouragement from Coach Rob) as they found the position that their skills best matched. This makes perfect sense. The girls tended to have more success in the positions where their natural skill set matched the position. We all tend to gravitate to success and these 8 and 9 years olds were no exception.

Now I’m not proposing that we ask each staff member what they would like to do and then move then as they would wish. Business just doesn't work that way. However, we as managers need to be alert to what we hear and see from our staff and make efforts to get our people into the positions that they will exceed in. As we see talents start to emerge it is incumbent upon us to encourage these people to move into roles that best suit their talents. We may even have to redesign an existing role for a better fit.

It’s best for everyone. You’ll have a more satisfied, successful staff member. One who feels that you have their best interest at heart. They will be more productive, have lower absenteeism and far less likely to turn over.  From both the staff member and company perspective it’s a win – win situation.

Beside, who am I to question Coach Rob, his state champion team went 11-0 last season!