Is Your "Service Radar" On The Wrong Setting?

Meet Jason. He's my new hero.

Jason works at World Market in Columbus (specifically the one near Tuttle Mall) -- the only store I braved during Black Friday.

I was on a mission: to seek out and purchase a chair that was at an insanely low, "one day only" price. I entered the store with purpose, made my purchase, felt great about my self-control, and then made the mistake of looking around "just for a minute."

Well, when my minute was up, I found myself holding about 16 small items in my bare hands...and I was still browsing. Darn you, Black Friday fever.

Then, as if by magic, an empty basket appeared between me and the shelf full of, um, well, I can't even remember what I was looking at because the basket grabbed my complete attention.

I turned to see the very friendly face of Jason, who also owned the arm offering me the basket. "You need this," said my new friend. He was right. My hands were full. If I was going to take advantage of any more bargains, I would need a basket.

Sure, Jason knew that if I had a basket I was likely to buy more stuff, therefore ensuring a healthier bottom line for his store and more job security for him and his co-workers. But, honestly, I didn't get that vibe from Jason. What I felt instead was that Jason had my back. He saw that I had a need and he proactively did something about it. In fact, I wasn't even quite aware I had the need until Jason offered a solution. He didn't wait for me to drop something, or until I started desperately screaming "WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE BRING ME A BASKET FOR MY BARGAINS????"

Believe it or not, as great of a customer service story as this is, I want you to apply this to how you serve your team. Do you ever notice a co-worker who could use some help and you think to yourself, "I'd like to help, but I'm kind of busy right now." Or you wait to see if they'll figure it out themselves, which of course completely lets you off the hook guilt-free if they succeed.

We all have a "service radar." It has two settings: Proactive and Reactive. The default setting for our radar is reactive mode - "if they ask, then I'll help." What I love about Jason is that he has tuned his radar to proactively look for customers that need help. And it didn't take much effort at all to make a noticeable difference in my shopping experience.

When people think of the greatest team players in an organization (and the greatest service people anywhere), they don't think of people who only help when asked. They think of people who help freely, unselfishly and, most importantly, before they are asked.

Oh, did I mention Jason is the General Manager of his store? I noticed a similar helpful vibe from many of the other staff members. Coincidence? Not a chance.

The Top Five Things I'm Thankful I DON'T Have This Year

As you sit around the dining table on Thanksgiving -- right before you pass out from that extra bite of turkey or tofu -- be sure to give thanks for all the wonderful things you've been blessed with this year.

Oh, and don't forget to give God a big 'ol high five for the things you DON'T have as well. Because sometimes those are the best gifts of all.

Here are the top five things I'm thankful I DON'T have in 2011:

1. Debt. Nothing has created more possibility in my life than being debt-free.
2. An ex-wife. I'm still quite happy with my first (and last) wife, thank you.
3. Disease. I've got a lot of contribution I still want to make to this world. Disease would kinda put a damper on that.
4. My 12-year-old piece of doo-doo mini-van. Never knew how bad it really was until I replaced it with something much, much better (paid for with cash, by the way...see item #1).
5. Lame employees. Been there, done that. Business is a whole lot more fun when you work with people that "get it." 

What's on your list? I'd love to hear what kinds of things you're glad you DON'T have in your life right now. Share with the world by leaving a comment.

Happy Thanksgiving! See you next week!

A WAY Better Golden Rule

Every once in awhile, a thought pops in your head that bounces around inside your brain and ends up affecting everything you think, say, or do. I had one of those thoughts this week.  I was facilitating a workshop with a group of really smart leaders when someone mentioned "The Golden Rule". As you know, The Golden Rule encourages you to "Treat others the way you'd want them to treat you." As a human being, I've always tried to live by that rule, just like you have. And it's a good rule to live by. But as a leader, my job isn't to put good karma out into the world and hope it returns to me. My job is to positively influence my staff, my business, our guests, our clients my family, and my community.  Enter my brain-rattling thought: What if we rewrote the Golden Rule to make us completely accountable for the influence we have on others? And what if we wrote it...and spoke it...and lived it...out loud and often to those we lead instead of a hopeful mantra we quietly whisper to ourselves? What if our new golden rule sounded like this: "Treat other people the way I treat you." Imagine if you said that out loud to the people you lead or even those you work side-by-side with.  Makes you think hard about how you treat the people around you, doesn't it? You can even modify it to fit multiple situations: "Treat our customers the way I treat you." "Treat your teammates the way I treat you." "Treat our vendors the way I treat you." "Treat your friends the way I treat you." "Treat your sister the way I treat you." "Treat the dog the way I treat you" Ok, the last one is probably unnecessary because we all treat our dogs better than most of the people in our lives. But for the rest of the statements, you have to ask yourself "Would I really want my staff/friends/family to treat other people the way I treat them?" I'm pretty sure most of you answered "Absolutely, I treat people GREAT!" But research tells a different story. 40-50% of people in America are not happy in their current jobs AND the majority of people who leave a job don't leave because of the job itself or the company as a whole. They leave because they don't like their BOSS. So, ask yourself again...brutally honestly this time..."Would I really want my people to treat others the way I treat them?" It's a good question to ask whether you consider yourself a leader or not. Let it rattle around in your brain today. I'd love to know how you feel about this challenge! Leave a comment and share your ideas & insights with your fellow readers & leaders. One last thing: If you're a leader and someone forwarded you this article or left it anonymously on your desk, read it with the spirit in which it was likely given: your people want you to be the best leader they've ever worked for. It all starts with how you treat them.

Change Your We Into Me

One of the most dangerous words in the workplace is the word, "we".

You see, too many people toss around the word as a way to disguise their complaints as suggestions. 

"We need to communicate more effectively."

"We should have summer hours like ABC company does."

"We need to stop wasting money."

The word "we" absolves individuals of accountability. If "we" are supposed to be responsible for something, then who exactly is responsible? We implies everybody. And if everybody is responsible, then nobody is responsible. 

What most people mean when they say "we" is "anybody but me". And many times, they really want to say "our leadership", but they don't have the nerve to say it. 

If you want change to occur, you have to change "we" to "me". You are the only person you have complete control and influence over. You can wish other people will change. You can even try to coach & develop others into the people you'd like them to be. But you and I both know that's like pushing an elephant on rollerblades up a hill. 

Try changing your we to me when you'd like something to change at work and see what happens. When you hear the word, "we" in a suggestion, simply ask yourself, "Who, again?"

Example: 

We need to communicate more effectively. 

Who needs to communicate more effectively?

Oh yeah, I meant ME.

Just so you know, your very next thought will be "Crap, now I'm accountable." Sorry. But if you want change, YOU need to be part -- or the start -- of the change.

Now if you say "we" when you really mean someone specific (other than yourself), knock it off. Go straight to that person and tell them. "Bob, you and I seem to have a communication breakdown, can we talk about it?"

By the way, context is everything. "We" is  a great word to use when discussing battles, losses, and victories because it says we're a team, we fight together, and we win and lose together. That's a phenomenal attitude. Go team! You are given full permission to use "we" in such cases.

Pay attention to your language this week. See if you slip a "we" in there once in a while. We all do it (see, I just did it, too). When you hear yourself start a sentence with something like "We should...", stop right there, turn that W upside down, and accept the challenge that positive change might end in we, but it always starts with me. 

What Have You Missed?

Our community of followers has grown like crazy this year, and I am very thankful for that. It means more and more people are creating positive workplaces, building better teams, and serving their companies and their customers better than ever before.  But it also means that many of our newer followers haven't received all of the great articles we've published in the last year. So, I thought this might be a nice time to play a game of catch-up. In case you missed them (or just want to read them again), here are links to our ten most popular articles from 2011 so far: Surround Yourself With Positive Nouns  What Do You Need To BE This Year? The Half-Crazy, Uber-Positivity Generator The Top Five Causes of Negativity At Work Two Things Every Meeting Needs What Does Your "Next G" Look Like?  Don't Avoid The Rain Newsflash: You Are Not A Cat The Most Powerful Positivity Tool Ever Invented Do What You Hate Champions Vs. Cavemen  As always, we love it when you share the articles with your team, spouse, friends, bosses, colleagues, and complete strangers. And you always have our permission to republish the articles any way you wish. Spread the positivity, baby. That's all we care about.