Would Your Employees and Customers Recommend You?

May 21, 2011 -- 10:13 am

The unusual thing in today’s intellectual economy is the questions you need to ask customers are the same you must ask employees. Both the service event and the workplace now are “human-based” – these events are personal and emotional – both benefit from questions that ask about our humanity, and our feeling connected and important.

Consider asking these questions of both customers and employees to assess and ultimately activate their emotional connection. Emotional connection inspires loyalty; loyalty drives performance and results.

1. Would you recommend us to a friend? To a customer, is your service so exceptional you would put your reputation on the line to recommend the company? To an employee – is the workplace dynamic, engaging and personalized enough to suggest your friends work there as well?
2. What is the best thing we do for you? For both, knowing this allows the organization to repeat successful behaviors.
3. What is not working for you right now? For both, inviting the discussion to share negative experiences can lead to meaningful changes and improvements.
4. At our company, we focus on making others feel like family; how have we made you feel like our family? For both, activating the sense of connection to family and belonging is key to creating personal relationships and activating loyalty. Behaviors identified in the responses can be repeated.
5. What information do you hear from your social networks and do you see in the world around you that would help us be a better company? Customers and employees are the eyes and ears of all great companies. Loyal employees and customers openly share what they hear, think, value and see. Organizations dramatically expand their connection to their world by using engaged and loyal customers to observe and assess their worlds. This keeps companies informed, current and aware of what is truly important.

Customers and employees both require a personal and emotional relationship to activate their best performance and loyalty. The more connected management is to employees, and employees are to customers, the more important and valued each feels.

In a service workplace, success is built on relationships. Valued employees create valued customers. Disconnect from employees and customers, and performance, innovation and loyalty suffers. Develop a culture that constantly asks each great questions and uses the information to improve, engage and activate loyalty.

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What M&M’s Tell Us About Hiring and Voting

October 31, 2010 -- 1:16 pm

With the election on us, I am reminded of a lesson I teach when working with organizations to define, attract, hire and retain the best talent – the wisdom of M&M candies.

An M&M’s real value is in its filling, not in its candy coating – the inside matters more than the outside. It is the same with hiring employees and voting for candidates.

You can’t tell by looking at someone if he will be a good or poor fit for a role. As with the M&M (the candy coating on the outside doesn’t add any particular value to taste or to the candy), a person’s age, gender, ethnicity, religion or even sexual preference has no direct correlation to his/her ability to be great in a job. An extraordinary customers service employee is one who is a great listener, empathetic, problem solver and solution-focused. An extraordinary political candidate must be visionary, strategic, a great listener and a consensus-builder. These attributes could be in a 65-year old woman, or in a 23-year old man. These attributes could be in a black employee, or a gay white middle-age Greek man. Greatness is not based on the exterior.

We can’t assess who is a good fit if we don’t hear meaningful dialog about what candidates (political and employment) believe and think. In the workplace we host interviews. We ask talent-based questions to determine how candidates would handle actual workplace situations to assess their thinking and fit – their “filling.” We then hire those who have the talents, passions and strengths to be successful, and celebrate their “candy coating” – whatever it may be. We hire the best. Great organizations hire for the “inside” and celebrate the “outside.”

I am reminded of this as I watch our electoral campaigning. Candidate debates and speeches are our way of “interviewing” candidates for “fit” – to assess their talents, passions and strengths and to see if they are the right for the role. When all we hear are attacks on other candidates we do not have the necessary information to choose wisely about a candidate and we allow our biases to limit our options – so many Americans still have a problem with a black president, gay cabinet members and women on the Supreme Court. We are in an age where the best person for the job is the one that has the talents, passions and strengths (the filling) to do the job – CEO, customer service, senator or judge. I see a constant focus on candy coating instead of filling in the workplace: I also see it in government.

As you hire employees or go to vote, focus on a candidate’s ability to do the job in an extraordinary way, make a difference and add value. You’ll find when you hire or vote for “fit” you’ll get a more passionate, engaged and productive employee or candidate. Things get done. Progress gets made.

One of the reasons I think we are stuck in “average” is we continue to use outdated thinking in both who works in our companies and who works in our government. Shouldn’t we demand performance greatness from both? Shouldn’t we require both to be fully accountable for results? Shouldn’t we improve this process by hiring for fit – by hiring for “filling,” not candy coating?

Maybe if we learn from the M&M, we’ll elect and hire those who show up committed to making a difference. Maybe if we realize it is what you know, what you are good at and how you use what you know to handle today on today’s terms that generates results, we’ll choose wisely about who we want on our team. Who knew there would be so much wisdom in an M&M?

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Seven Things To Do With Your Prosperity

October 6, 2010 -- 10:30 pm

“Prosperity-induced padding,” a term used by author Gay Hendricks in his book, The Big Leap, refers those extra 10 or 20 pounds many of us carry around on our frames because we are part of a culture of plenty. There are few places on the planet that have access to the amount and choices of food and resources we have. And though a recession has challenged this for many, we still have more than most.

“Prosperity-induced padding”– how interesting? Prosperity is the thing we work hard to achieve. “Padding” is the thing we work hard not to achieve. What does this tell us about how we use our prosperity? What does this tell us about our choices?

Prosperity brings us:
Time – many have enough resources not to need to work.
Talents – many have the ability to develop their personal greatness.
Treasure – many have great financial resources.

How do you use these to bring something more significant to the world? Consider using your prosperity to:
1. Reorganize and redesign your space to commit to recycling 100% of what can be recycled to tread more lightly on the planet.
2. Donate to and support a charity you find personally valuable and meaningful.
3. Buy healthy food for those who don’t have enough, or any – locally, nationally or internationally.
4. Sponsor a child’s education – locally, nationally or internationally.
5. Mentor a child, peer or someone older in what has helped you achieve your personal or professional prosperity.
6. Invent something new and valuable that advances the quality of life, the respect for the planet, improved health, or something else significant for humanity.
7. Educate about tolerance, acceptance and respect for differences.

Having access to so much doesn’t always make us better. Many times it makes us less healthy, less charitable and less concerned. “Prosperity-induced padding” is what I now call using my “extra” for me instead of for others. And I am committed to ending it – for health and for impact; I know I can’t be just aware of me.

So consider returning some of your prosperity back to your world. A little more time, talent and treasures shared with the world can help others improve their lives. Absolutely celebrate your success and prosperity. But then share this prosperity with others. Another way to say this is, be great, then share this greatness with the world.

Please share this with someone who can benefit from it. And The Greatness Zone is finally here. Starting Monday, October 11, 2010 you will be able to order it at the new and robust www.TheGreatnessZone.com, and at Amazon.com. Learn how to live in your greatness zone; it is the end of average…

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Life Without Blinders

September 30, 2010 -- 5:53 am

Too many times we plow through life with blinders on – so focused on what we are doing that we rarely see anything (or anyone) around us. Besides missing some amazing things about life, we also miss gathering important information about who we are and our place in the world.

I believe that we invent our lives – and our best lives are invented around our talents, strengths and passions. Though these attributes are part of who we are, they aren’t always initially obvious to us. They show up in the way we feel, what we notice, what matters to us and what moves us – and this requires time and good attention. We don’t notice these things about ourselves if we are moving at 100 miles an hour with our heads down and blinders on. We miss a lot of our world and our reactions to it. It is in these reactions that we get connected to who we really are. It is in these reactions that we know ourselves. And this is critical information we need to live a great life.

So what do you get if you lose the blinders and become more self-aware?

o You can better choose work environments that play to your talents and passions; this allows you to be more effective and more successful. Besides, you’ll like it more.
o You can choose better about life relationships and how you use your time; this allows you to be involved with people and events that move you, inspire you and engage you. Your performance again is better and you’ll enjoy it more.

Your life’s quality is based on your choices. And the more aware you are of your core talents, strengths and passions – your gifts – the more you can build your life around what makes you feel successful and happy. It is up to you to do this – others can’t do this work for you. It’s your life; you create your happiness.

So, lose the blinders. Start to notice everything. Because in each thing is information about you and how you respond. Get to know yourself to make decisions that help you live your best. Then bring that best to the world.

Please pass this on to someone who can benefit from it, and we are just one week away from the arrival of my latest book, The Greatness Zone – Know Yourself, Find Your Fit, Transform the World; to be available at www.TheGreatnessZone.com and at Amazon.com. Great information delivered in a great story.

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Do “Just A Bit More”

September 23, 2010 -- 5:41 am

There is a terrific short book from Sam Parker titled, 212: The Extra Degree (click here to see the inspirational movie). In it, he says, “At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. And with boiling water comes steam. And steam can power a locomotive. One extra degree makes all the difference… And the one extra degree of effort in business and life, separates the good from the great.”

Ken Blanchard of Raving Fans fame calls it +1; chef Emeril Lagasse calls it BAM! The point is they realize that achieving greatness in life is by playing to what you are good at and whenever possible, doing just a bit more – kicking it up – doing the stand out – committing to greatness.

In business, studies show that customers are more loyal when employees get things right and, whenever possible, do the extras – they do just a bit more.

Relationships soar when both sides do their best to add just a bit more to relationship, showing the other person how valuable and cared for he/she is.

At work, we improve our performance, achievement and impact when we do what is expected, then a just a bit more.

So, in what environments can you do just a bit more – how can you be a little more loving, forgiving, encouraging, supportive, disciplined, personal, caring, strategic, or innovative? How can you be a little more available, responsive, thinking, committed, kind, interested and flexible? You choose.

What you get when you do just a bit more?

o A look of love and appreciation from a spouse or partner.
o Applause from a colleague or friend.
o Greater achievement, performance and impact.
o A deeper relationship, purpose or significance.

I am motivated to always do “just a bit more” when I see the impact my writing and speaking can have on the lives of others. For you, it may be in how you make others feel, how you challenge your personal performance, or in visualizing the impact you intend to make in the world. The motivation is personal.
So, look at your life. Align yourself to things that play to your talents and passions – this helps you be good. Then, whenever possible, do just a bit more. This helps you move from good to great. And our world could definitely use more of us doing “just a bit more…”

Please pass this on to someone who will benefit from it, and watch for my new book, due out in 2 week – The Greatness Zone – Know Yourself, Find Your Fit, Transform the World. It is a tool to help you discover and live in your greatness zone. Sign up for all the events at www.TheGreatnessZone.com.

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Something Important You Should Know

September 16, 2010 -- 5:38 am

“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.” This quote by A.A. Milne of Winnie the Pooh fame says it all. You are more than you realize. It is time to get acquainted with how great you are.

We all spend more time considering what we are not rather than what we are. We always compare ourselves to others – to who they are, what they have and what they think. Instead, we should check in on ourselves – to understand ourselves and use our voice, not the voices of others, to direct us in work and in life.

My work has me speaking to audiences and writing about discovering and playing to our talents, strengths and passions. I always find that we are all infinitely more capable and more connected than we initially believe, but don’t know this because we don’t invest the time to self-discover. When we are unfamiliar with how capable and competent we are, we allow others to direct us into areas that do not play to our greatness – we pass the wheel to another driver. And we end up on a road that is not always right for us. Life is too short to spend any time on the wrong road.

As I like to say, and is part of my personal belief, that someone larger than you thought you should be you, and equipped you with gifts that show up as your talents, strengths and passions. And when you play to these gifts, you see how capable you are.

I feel empowered with that news. That makes me want to discover my talents and build my life and work around them. This is how I connect to what I am naturally good at. This is how I feel capable and competent in a constantly changing world. This is how I invent my life in the way that makes the greatest sense for me. And inventing our lives is the greatest gift there is in life. And to do it well it requires that we “know ourselves.”

The first thing I always recommend for people starting to reconnect to who they are is to journal. Spend 10 minutes each day writing your thoughts.

Here are some good prompts to get you going:
o What am I doing when I am happiest?
o When I feel like I am making a great difference, I am doing…
o Two things that I love about my life are…
o What surprised me most about today was…

The goal of the journal is to help you start to notice you – how you think, what you believe, what you feel and what you notice. This is a great way to get introduced to your talents, strengths and passions. This will tell you a lot about you.

Journaling may be difficult to start, but once you start, you will look forward to the time each day to get connected to yourself, share your thoughts and be in the moment. The more you learn about yourself, the better decisions you will make about life and work. In the process, you will see how brave, strong and smart you really are. And this is something important you should know…

Please share this with someone who can benefit from it and watch for my new book, The Greatness Zone – Know Yourself, Find Your Fit, Transform the World, due out October 1. Sign up at www.TheGreatnessZone.com to hear of our events and resources, and friend us on Facebook at “The Greatness Zone.”

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Do Some Personal Maintenance

September 9, 2010 -- 5:01 am

To keep a car running well, you stop driving it and get it serviced.

To keep your garden tools working effectively, you spend a morning changing oil in the lawn mower and cleaning debris off the rakes, shovels and other tools.

To keep the air conditioning system working effectively, you shut it down and clean the filters.

Nothing works all the time without maintenance, repairs and updating. This process improves the impact and extends the life.

What a great life lesson. What personal maintenance do you do to amplify your impact and extend your life?

Through the traditions of Lent, Yom Kippur and Ramadan, we are reminded of the need to recommit to self-inspection – to assess where we are, to recommit to where we need to be and to own the process of realignment – of doing periodic maintenance. Life is complicated. Without some regularly planned self-maintenance, we can get easily overwhelmed, off track and burned out.

To start your regular (monthly, quarterly, yearly) self-maintenance checklist, consider the following- modify as you want:

o Am I doing what I love and making the difference I want to make?
o Do I treat my family, friends and colleagues well, and am I aware of the gift that they are?
o Who needs me to be more open, more caring, more charitable or more generous?
o Do I eat well (healthy), and understand how to exercise for someone my age and in my current health status?
o Do I take medical issues seriously and promptly address changes in my body that need attention?
o What am I learning and how am I growing in knowledge and wisdom?

This is not a period to be critical where critical means fueling those negative voices that critique and blame what we do and how we do it. It is meant to be critical where critical means being self-aware and focused on realigning to be your best.

We all have busy lives that allow us to become easily distracted. At some regular point we must commit to reviewing and assessing how we are living our lives – we must take the time to do some maintenance. This can create the opportunity to stay on track, get back on track, improve your impact and extend your life.

Please pass this on to someone who can benefit from it, and watch for more information on my new book, The Greatness Zone – Know Yourself, Find Your Fit, Transform the World. Sign up to be notified when the book is released at www.TheGreatnessZone.com. And friend us on the Facebook Fan Page The Greatness Zone.

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Ten Things To Do To Be Healthy And Happy

September 2, 2010 -- 5:46 am

I read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert several years ago after hearing her on a radio interview. I loved the premise in her book – about finding your true self and the hard work it takes – and her eloquent explanation. That told me that the book would be both important to read and, for someone who loves language, an enjoyable book to read. I found it to be both.

This is not a book review. Rather, a reminder that wisdom is all around us and that when we tune in, we learn things about ourselves, our lives and our world. The renewed interest in Eat, Pray, Love because of the movie has brought Elizabeth Gilbert and her thinking back into view. I recently saw her list of ten things to be happy and healthy; her perspective is that when these are taken care of, everything else seems to take care of itself.

First, I really like her list. Second, I like that she created a list. So even if some of these things do not encourage you to live healthy and happy, fill in with the things that do. This is a reminder that we invent our lives in the way we want them – we own how we approach our day to make the most of our lives. Develop your list of the ten things to be healthy and happy, and to love your life. (The comments in parentheses are mine – because I always have an opinion about everything.)

Here are her ten things:
1. Talk a walk (invite a friend to enhance the experience).
2. Write something (journal what you think and feel each day, you’ll be amazed what you learn about yourself).
3. Read something (there is too much to know not to stay connected to other people’s ideas).
4. Don’t eat too much (I think she learned this after her time in Italy).
5. Spend some time in silence (I like to spend this time outdoors).
6. Stretch (I like to think this is both body and mind – both atrophy without movement).
7. Send a message of love to someone (great idea – and why not send it to several people?).
8. Drink water (I like coffee better but she has a point).
9. Mess around in the garden (touch nature and be connected to the planet).
10. Floss (stay healthy and show up ready to face the world each day).

The number of things doesn’t matter. Develop your list so life is great. I didn’t present them because she has become a celebrity. I presented them because they are wise. I hope they inspire you to play to your greatness and have a life that is healthy and happy.

Please forward this to someone who can benefit from it and watch for my new book, The Greatness Zone – Know Yourself, Find Your Fit, Transform the World due out October 1. Sign up at www.TheGreatnessZone.com for more information about the book and learning how to find and live in your personal greatness zone.

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If You Blend, You Lose

August 26, 2010 -- 5:57 am

In today’s workplace, if your service or product looks like everyone else’s, then no one remembers you – you just blend. And if you blend in today’s competitive economy, you lose.

There is a life lesson in this same phrase, “if you blend, you lose.” Your greatest happiness, impact and success will be in living your true life, not in following the crowd.

We are truly unique – different from everyone. This distinction is both external and internal. We look different, we think differently. Our brain biology predisposes us to be good at some things and not others. We love some things and not others. Our greatness is in the unique combination of talents, passions and strengths that came hardwired in our DNA when we were born. We were born to be unique – not to blend.

To take advantage of this greatness, we must take the time to know ourselves – to learn about what we are good at, passionate about and what matters to us.

Most of us have a loud “committee” – those internal voices that tell us to play it safe, blend, don’t stand out, do what everybody else does, be concerned with what others think and say. Then, we conform. We listen to voices that steer us away from our abilities, our dreams and our best contributions. When we don’t know ourselves well, we trust the perspectives of others more than our own – others’ voices become louder than ours. We follow the herd.

When we blend – when we act like everyone else even though we are different – we really do lose. We lose when we don’t play to our greatness – when we don’t develop our talents and strengths, and live our passions. We lose when we miss out on the things that move us, inspire us and engage us. And when we say no to these, we give away our greatest gift – the ability to invent our lives as we want them.

So, to develop the courage to stand out and be who you are,
1. Identify your talents.
2. Next, identify your passions.
3. Then, review your life to see how much of your talents and passions you include in the way you live and work.
4. Change things to live what matters to you. Turn down the volume of others’ voices.

My personal perspective is that when we realize our personal greatness, we bring our best to our world – we transform our world. So, if we blend we don’t live authentically, then we cheat the world. When we blend, we all lose.

As has been said, “We don’t get harmony when we all sing the same note.” We are supposed to find our own voice and sing our part. Discover your part and sing it in your way. What a concert it will be.

This perspective is presented in my new book, The Greatness Zone – Know Yourself, Find Your Fit, Transform the World. Join our mailing list at www.TheGreatnessZone.com to be notified when the book is available, and please pass this on to someone who can benefit from it.

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Be Someone’s Hero

August 19, 2010 -- 5:21 am

New England winters can be terrible – because of the cold and snow. I was probably 17, running an errand for my parents. The roads were icy and poorly plowed. I came from a store to its small parking lot to find a car stuck in a rut caused by the snow and ice. The driver was an older woman. No matter what she tried, her tires spun ineffectively on the ice. She was going nowhere.

I gently knocked on her window and asked if I could help. The window lowered. She was sobbing uncontrollably. Between sobs she told me she stopped to buy flowers for a sick friend. This friend was in the hospital and was all alone – she had no family in the area. She had been trying to get free for the last half hour, growing increasingly afraid that she would not be rescued and would miss the visiting hours in the hospital. She continued to cry. I took her hand and told her not to worry, that I would help her get on her way. She called me her hero – imagine.

To show her appreciation, she reached into her purse for a wallet and tried to give me some money. I refused but told her she had to do two things for me: first, once we start to get her car moving, she must keep going and not stop until she was back on clear roads. Second, that she had to be her friend’s hero. She promised to do both.

The way to get out of an ice rut is to rock the car back and forth. After four tries, and my pushing at the right moment, the car crested the rut and she was on her way. She waved through her open window and continued cautiously though the bumpy parking lot out onto a cleared street. I watched her drive away and never saw her again.

I think of this often, and other events like it. I didn’t plan on being someone’s hero – I know I just did what we were taught as kids – to always be there for others. Sometimes what seems to be the smallest thing can have an amazing impact on another’s life.

What have you done to be someone’s hero?

When called on to help, do you step up or step away?

Life requires us to be fully present. Sometimes we need help, sometimes we provide help. And in the process we realize we have a responsibility to and in this world. We invent our world in this very moment – and having a profound effect on someone else’s life – to be their hero – is one way we improve life for all of us.

Watch for my new book, The Greatness Zone – Know Yourself, Find Your Fit, Transform the World, due out October 1, 2010. Sign up to be notified when it is available and to be included in our Greatness events, activities and resources at www.TheGreatnessZone.com.

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