In metro areas with large corporations, there are regular service opportunities for employees, and their outreach is encouraged. But if leaders are to improve productivity and motivate people to improve the bottom line, should they really allow these efforts on work time? Of course. The best leaders know that service efforts are not only helpful … Read more
When someone dies in an emergency operating room, it is the moral obligation of the doctor to report this to the family: “We did everything we could possibly do.” Before leaders remove team members for non-performance, they have the same obligation. Ask yourself: “Did I do everything I could possibly do?” It’s easy, especially when … Read more
Links: Previous post on this topic. Jayson’s blog.
The essence of leadership is service. Robert Greenleaf paved the way for opening minds to this concept a few decades ago, and now it is quite widely accepted. Peter Block does a fine job of refining it by calling it Stewardship, but the essence is the same: When approaching any individual, any team, any organization, … Read more
If the two-word definition of leadership is “Meet needs,” then you have frequent opportunities to be very explicit about that mission by taking three seconds to ask some variation of: “Is there anything I can do to help you with that?” This was referred to in a previous post as the “cherry on top” of … Read more
Last fall, I spent two blog posts discussing how effective leaders stay organized. At that time, I was referring to your actual to-do list, which typically won’t have the actual words “pay attention to John on Monday.” But maybe you should consider it. A colleague of mine was telling me about a car salesman who … Read more
Sometimes, servant leadership calls for relinquishing power. Insecure leaders look for opportunities to take power, and we know this on some level. Here’s an opportunity to let others steer things. Ignore caller ID. Pretend it doesn’t exist. This means two things: 1) If you’re free to answer the phone when it rings, answer it. No … Read more
Yesterday, while working in my home office, workers from a local store came to install a new appliance. I overheard a shocking conversation that struck me as inappropriate. I selected a typical excerpt, and posted it on my personal Facebook page to see what conversation would ensue. I was not disappointed. This was an interesting … Read more
As promised, this week’s blog is inspired by Veteran’s Day last week. These are two stories of veterans that I told at a local Memorial Day service this year. What’s the lesson? There may be more than one, but let’s lift humility out of this. No war hero brags; in fact, they share the credit … Read more
This week, five posts that will help you understand the value of great customer service, everyone’s role in it, and some ideas to make it happen. Disney’s Magic Trick Dig the Little Things Pause and Listen One of my favorite bad service stories… Non-leaders can lead, too… The plus one: Check out the Unsecret Shopper … Read more