Posted: January 9, 2024 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building, Time management

As we approach the middle of January, many businesses and organizations find this to be their slow season. Restaurants, retail, hotels and charitable organizations typically slow down after the holidays while many tighten their wallets to pay their Christmas charges. If you are a business owner or manager, this is a time you may want to use to get closer with your team and more in tune with what is important to them. This can help prevent a dip in morale and possibly impact turnover. Here is an example:

One of my clients has just come off a very busy season. They ended 2023 with strong momentum. When January 1st came business dropped off like a cliff, and it wasn’t long before I noticed the team was getting restless. When business is slow, that means more idle time. You may remember the saying, “Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop” (Proverbs 16:27-28). It is so true. Back to the team…I noticed they began complaining and criticizing their fellow teammates. As we know, such behavior is corrosive to team trust and performance. In this situation, the owner has taken this slow time to focus on training and teamwork. If there are any issues, they are quickly resolved and not allowed to fester. They have kept all their people and when the busy season starts up again in a couple of months, the team will be strong and ready to take on the challenge

Years ago the director of an organization shared an observation with me: He said that when his team was working on a big project with a solid deadline, everyone knew what to do and the team excelled. When the project was over and there was a lull, the team engagement suffered. We need to keep our teams busy in the slow season.  Doing so will help ensure the most profitable season.

Posted: December 19, 2023 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building, Uncategorized

We have 13 days left in the year.  Unless you have the rest of the year off, you will still have some work days.  Here’s my suggestion:  Think about the coming year and your strategy to obtain and keep good people.  Turnover is far more costly than we probably think.

In my coaching of owners and managers, I have found that weekly communication with a boss and his or her direct reports makes a huge difference.  It seems that the team members who are most valued know where they stand with the boss, and vice versa.  Conversely, I have noticed that employees that hit their boss broadside with a 2-week notice are usually not in regular productive communication with their immediate supervisor.  There are two specific situations I am thinking of where the individuals tended to do things their own way, and when the boss finally discovered it the gap was too large to bridge.  It these folks had been communicating weekly with their supervisor along the way, there is a good chance the boss could have effectively “re-directed” the employees and get back in alignment with them.

So if you want to increase the probability of keeping good people, follow these steps;

1. Select the right person for the job.
2. Set clear, measureable goals under key categories of their position.
3. Have weekly meetings or conference calls with the person focusing on the following questions:
   1. What did you commit to?
   2. What specific action did you take?
   3. What happened?
   4. What did you learn?
   5. What is your next step?

I encourage you to stay in their with your people.  Think of good team members like they were your teeth.  Remember what they said in the old toothpaste commercial:  Teeth:  Ignore them and they will go away!

Posted: October 17, 2023 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Self-Improvement, Team Building

Many years ago I was working for a company that put a big emphasis on mentoring.  As a senior account rep, I was approached by my supervisor (Bill) to mentor a team member who had just been hired.  With my natural love of coaching, I eagerly agreed to take on the mentor assignment.  The first thing I did was ask Bill, “What are the most important areas of professional development you would like me to focus on?”  Bill replied with a predictable menu that included prospecting, tracking, learning specific terms, and sales language.  Then Bill concluded with, “And I want you to work with him on the weekly forecast sheet we turn in every Monday.”  I looked at Bill and saw a twinkle in his eye.  I thought, “You son of a gun”.  You see, I was not consistent at turning in my weekly forecast sheet.  I knew that was going to change immediately if I wanted to lead by example – and I did.  Bill knew it too.  How sneaky!  He tricked me!  No, he didn’t.  Bill was just being a resourceful leader.  His delegation was well thought out.  He designed it so that both me and person I was mentoring would grow.

Instead of nagging me about doing my report every week, Bill put me in a situation where I would naturally want to do it.  I did become consistent with my reports and I didn’t feel manipulated.  Bill created a “win-win”.
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Posted: August 25, 2023 | Categories: Customer service, Sales, Self-Improvement, Team Building

Have you ever talked to an excellent customer service rep regarding a product or service-related problem?  It is amazing how kind, caring and helpful a good rep can be.  They must talk to their share of angry and irritating people, yet they have sense of equanimity about them that is fascinating.  They have learned to “think right about people”, not take things personally, and focus on solving our problem.

When I was in my 20’s, I managed a property for a national lodging chain.  I remember a specific customer we’ll call Mr. “K”.  He was demanding, abrasive, and treated the front desk staff poorly.  It wasn’t long before the team saw Mr. “K” as “persona non grata”.  I could tell Mr. “K” was beginning to affect the morale of my staff, and decided to follow the philosophy of Mark Twain:  “A sense of humor is a sense of proportion.”

I have always been good at impersonating others, and I developed a good impersonation of Mr. “K”.  I captured his voice and mannerisms and began to act in character.  I would wander around the front desk area with the stern look and intimidating voice of Mr. “K”.  Each time I needed to tell the staff something or correct them on an error, I played Mr. “K”.  The staff loved it, and we had a blast.  I must admit that at first we were mocking him.  Then a change occurred that we would not have predicted:  We began to like Mr. “K” and looked forward to his visits.  We were thinking good about him, and it showed up in our tone and facial expressions.  This change in our thinking resulted in a change in our behavior.  You see, abrasive people are not used to being treated kindly.  Being nice to them can be disarming.

Mr. “K” became one of our favorite guests.  He raved about our place and referred his friends to us.  He was a walking commercial.  The lesson here comes from author David J. Schwartz:  We should “think right about people”.  When we do, we strengthen relationships and become more influential.

Posted: August 25, 2023 | Categories: Customer service, Leadership, Self-Improvement, Team Building

If you are a parent, there usually comes a moment when your child needs to deal with a bully.  I also believe that adults in the workplace must sometimes deal with a bully.  According to the dictionary, a bully is, “A person who habitually seeks to harm or intimidate those who they perceive as vulnerable.”  In other words, a bully is a coward, and they enjoy picking on someone who lets them.  Please note the word enjoy.

I can truly say that I cannot recall allowing myself to be bullied in my childhood or adult life.  Many have tried.  I learned a valuable lesson early:  Bullies like to bully, but only if it is a pleasant experience for them. My commitment was to make sure any bully who tried to pick on me would find the experience unpleasant and not worth repeating.  We don’t need to be Chuck Norris, we just need to make sure that bullying us is not a pleasant experience

In adult life we can also be bullied.  When someone says something mean to us, we can take a time out with that person and say, “You just said _______.  I am not exactly sure what you meant by that.  Please elaborate” I would politely and respectfully put them on the spot rather than absorb the hit.  They soon got the message that bullying me was not going to be an experience worth repeating.

Many years ago, I was talking with a player on the Chicago Bears, and he mentioned he often had to face Walter Peyton in scrimmage.  He said he dreaded having to tackle Walter Peyton.  I said, “Gee, I thought he was a nice guy”.  The player said, “He is.  It just hurts to tackle him.”  Tackling Walter Peyton was like trying to stop a ton of bricks.  It wasn’t an experience you would want to repeat.

You may be a victim of bullying in the workplace or you may know someone who is.  If so, do your best within good reason to make the bully not want to try again.