Posted: April 1, 2020 | Categories: Customer service, Leadership, Self-Improvement

Dale Carnegie spent over 40 years working with teams and individuals in their efforts to become stronger leaders.  As he reflected back on his career, it was his belief that giving honest and sincere appreciation was the most overlooked principle of leadership.  When we fall short in this area, relationships can suffer.  Here is an example.

I know someone who loves to do little things for others.  If she goes on a trip, she buys something for each of her co-workers.  She remembers birthdays, and takes pride in giving special cards and a little gift.  She is also involved in a group, and just two weeks ago made cupcakes for a member who was celebrating their birthday.   She was excited going in, but not coming out.  She did not receive one thank you for the cupcakes of her efforts to make them.  Had this been the only time this had happened, she could have probably shrugged it off.  She reflected on all the things she the little things she had done this year, and could not recall one person saying thank you.  She also realized that not saying thank you is a new trend.  Just think of your own experience:  For me, when I buy something at the store, about half the time the clerk says thank you.  Where I come from, forgetting to say thank you is rude.

Now that many of us have some extra time brought about by this Corona virus, how about making a goal to strengthen our relationships?  Did you enjoy the musical performance?  Take the time to say thanks.  Did someone take the time to smile at you today and brighten you day?  Let them know it.  Did someone make something for you or send you a card or nice email?  Take the time to thank them sincerely.  Your star will shine.  Let’s end with the immortal words of Dale Carnegie referring to those who take time to appreciate:

“The rare individual who honestly satisfies this heart hunger will hold people in the palm of his or her hand and even the undertaker will be sorry then he dies”

Posted: February 7, 2020 | Categories: Leadership, Management

Have you ever been in a situation where you needed to address someone for making a mistake or not following through, and you realized this was not the first time?  I’ll bet you have.  Once a mistake or oversight has been repeated we to move away from the specific infraction and address the pattern.  Here is an example:

When I was in my early 20’s, I worked as manager in the lodging and hospitality business.  I loved my job and was given a pretty free rein in decision making.  My boss lived nearly 1000 miles away, and would come to visit about every 2-3 months.  I remember one particular time when one of those visits wasn’t so pleasant.  He asked me to report on a project he had directed me to do in one of his previous visits.  The specific project was an unpleasant and tedious one, and I procrastinated.  My boss (Mr. Lunt) realized that this was the third time he had asked me about the project, and each time I had come up short.  It was time to shift gears.  Mr. Lunt knew he now must address the pattern-not the incident.  He asked me one direct, appropriate, and chilling question:  “What can I do to get you going on this, Steve?”  He asked calmly and respectfully.  He said so much with just one questions.  I knew I had better turn things around and “get with the program” fast!  I did.  Mr. Lunt and I worked together for many years after that.  I have always appreciated the way he held me accountable.  The leadership lesson I learned:  If it is a mistake, address the mistake.  It it is a pattern, break it!  You will help the other person grow.

Posted: January 17, 2020 | Categories: Customer service, Leadership

“The rare individual who honestly satisfies this heart hunger will hold people in the palm of his or her hand, and even the undertaker will be sorry when he dies”

-Dale Carnegie: How to Win Friends and Influence People

For many years I was a training facilitator for The Dale Carnegie Course.  The above quote was one of my favorites.  It encapsulates what I believe is the most important thing to know when building relationships and leading others:  Making the other person feel important.

Once I worked with a fellow named Don.  He had a way of making people feel special.  He would greet people with a warm, sincere smile, and immediately begin to ask questions that enabled them to talk about themselves.  Remember, that is everyone’s favorite subject!

Don was an avid fisherman, and one time he went on a trip way up north in the Canadian wilderness.  In his experience, he interacted with the guides and staff at the lodge.  As usual, he showed his genuine interest, and was able to find out things about people that were very informative and entertaining.  The conversations Don had with them was one of the highlights of his trip.  When Don checked out, the host said, “I keep hearing from my staff members about you.  They want to know when you will be coming back.  They have never done that before!”

What Don did was what many of us don’t feel we have time to do:  Find out what makes others feel important and listen to their story.  If we do, we will brighten people’s day and make them feel important.  We may never know what a difference that will make.

Posted: December 3, 2019 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building

You may have noticed a couple of pervasive buzz words going around in the business world today:  Synergy and/or collaboration.  It means teams getting out of their silos, putting all their heads together, and solving problems.  The first and most important step is defining the problem.  By defining a problem, it means that you have simply stated the situation in a factual, non-blameful way.

As simple as this sounds, I find that people struggle with this step.  Too often in problem-solving team members start out with blame or just a symptom of the problem.

Several years ago, I was teaching a management class, Ralph was one of the class participants, and he decided to apply this fundamental with his team.  He asked for a statement of the problem, and he heard comments like, “Sam didn’t do the quality check in time”, or “the belts were not changed in time and the machine broke down”.  Ralph stopped them right there by saying, “That’s not the problem”.  He stuck with it, and they finally came up with a simple statement they could all agree on:  “The problem is we had a late delivery to a key customer”.  Now we are cooking!  Instead of getting into blame and finger-pointing, we can work through the next three steps of the problem solving process.

2.  What are the causes of the problem?

3.  What are the possible solutions?

4.  What is the best possible solution?

The team agreed on the best solution, laid out their action steps, and were well on their way to making the changes to improve delivery time.  Ralph said that had he not insisted they define the problem, they would have gone round and round.  Remember, if you have a problem to solve, begin by defining it.  Consider the old maxim, “A problem defined is a problem half solved”

Posted: November 12, 2019 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building

A good leader cares about his team.  Who would want to work for someone who didn’t care?

I have a good friend who is a caring leader and a successful businessman.  I was talking with Jim a couple months ago, and he talked about a challenge he accepted a month before while attending a trade convention.  The challenge was this:

“Imagine that someone contacted you, and wanted to buy your business.  They made you an offer that was hard to refuse.  You quickly realized that you could retire early if you accepted this offer.  It was in cash, and you accepted.

After about a year, you received a call from the same person, and things weren’t going well.  They were desperate, and wanted you to know if you would be willing to buy the business back for 10 cents on the dollar.  You were twitching to get back to work, and you took the offer.  Here is the question:  Now that you own the business again, who would you hire back?  Is there anyone you would not hire back?  If so, why is this person still working for you?”

It was a day of reckoning for Jim.  He did have a manager that he would not hire back in that scenario.  He knew what he had to do.  He let him go.  The person who has since replaced the dismissed manager is doing very well, and the business is doing much better.  Jim, like many I know, said the same thing after he let a sub-performer go:  “I wished I had done it sooner”.  If he had, it would have saved him a lot of grief and money.

Here is the message:  If someone is consistently under-performing, and he or she has been given ample opportunity to improve, it is usually wise to part company.  It can actually turn out to be a “win-win” rather than a “lose-lose”