Monthly Archives: August 2010

It’s your Choice; what will you do?

By John on August 24, 2010

We all have choices to make every day; the question is what choices will you make?

When we go to work we can choose to be productive or lazy, we can choose to do the best job we can or we can choose to just get by.

If you are a supervisor you can choose to take an employee under your wing, train and develop them or you can choose to fire them if they will take too much of your time.

You can choose to put your career first; yourself first or you can choose to put your family first.

You can choose the approach of what will the world do for you or what will you do for the world. You can choose to do for others or you can choose to wait for others to do for you.

You can choose right now or what’s right for now. Will you choose to be part of the problem or part of the solution?

A story to ponder:

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:

‘When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.
Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?’

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. ‘I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.’

Then he told the following story:

Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, ‘Do you think they’ll let me play?’ I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, ‘We’re losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.’

Shay struggled over to the team’s bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.

In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay’s team scored again.

Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do the others let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay’s life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.

The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.
As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman’s head, out of reach of all team mates.

Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, ‘Shay, run to first! Run to first!’

Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, ‘Run to second, run to second!’ Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.

By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball and he now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher’s intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman’s head.

Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, ‘Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay’

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, ‘Run to third! Shay, run to third!’

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, ‘Shay, run home! Run home!’

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team

‘That day’, said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, ‘the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world’.

Shay didn’t make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

We all have thousands of opportunities, choices, every single day to help realize the ‘natural order of things.’

So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice:

Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process? You have a choice.

A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it’s least fortunate amongst them.

Not everyone will have an opportunity as glorious and special as this one to make a choice. However, you do have a choice everyday to do the right thing; to make an impact on someone’s life.

It’s your Choice; what will you do?

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Who’s controlling your Thoughts?

By John on August 16, 2010

One of the biggest challenges we have in life is that we are breathing, thinking human beings. Sounds odd perhaps, but because of this fact we think. We think all sorts of thoughts; good, bad, positive, negative, pleasant, scary, dirty, clean, and nice or mean thoughts. Sometimes our thoughts can make us winners and sometimes they can be our downfall.

Sometimes we think so much, actually over thinking things and situations that we can make ourselves sick for no reason. Thoughts can make us worry over the smallest issue, or they can make us think that we are invincible.

When you think about what you should say or how you should act, are you thinking about what you think you should say or do, or are you thinking about what someone else thinks you should say or do? Well guess what little pony? Buck up! Unless you are a robot, a slave or a cult member you have the power to think for yourself. Use that power!

You can change your life by changing your thoughts. Everything in this world started with a single thought, a single idea. Think of anything around you right now; the phone, chair, table, lamp, computer, your shoes, pants, shirt, your pen, your office or home all started with a thought.

Knowing that your thoughts can create I think is a pretty cool gift to the universe! By our thoughts we are able to influence the world and our lives and we can create our own destiny.

Everything you are today is a direct result of our thoughts, past and present. Your feelings, emotions, desires and the words you choose all come from your thoughts. Remember some adult in your past saying ‘think before you speak’? They were talking about controlling your thoughts. Any time you encounter something that you like or dislike in your life, you can acknowledge the fact that our past and present thoughts might have something to do with this.

Once we understand that we have created everything in our life, good and bad, we realize that we also have the power to change anything in our life by merely changing our thoughts.

Thought Is Energy!

When we think a thought, it is projected into the universe. Thoughts are also magnetic and attract energy of the same kind. This is the universal ‘Law of Attraction’. The phrase Law of Attraction is used widely by New Thought writers and refers to the idea that thoughts influence chance. The Law of Attraction argues that thoughts, both conscious as well as unconscious can affect things outside the head, not just through motivation, but by other means as well. The Law of Attraction says that which is like unto itself is drawn unto itself. Chose your thoughts well my friends, for ‘like attracts like.’

In 1937, Napoleon Hill stated in his famous book, Think and Grow Rich, that ‘thoughts are things’ and that ‘whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, he will achieve.’ You are an achiever!

Your thoughts have energy! Use them wisely!

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What makes a Good DM?

By John on August 12, 2010

What are the characteristics or attributes or qualities that make for a good District Manager?

In the Wizard of Oz, Glenda poses the question “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?” I could pose the same question but I will change it to “Are you a good DM or a bad DM?”

There will be many and varying thoughts and opinions here depending on if you are currently a DM or if you are a Manager wanting to be a DM.

So what does make for a good DM? Is it the ability to recognize talent and built a team?

Is it being Conscientiousness? Is it the ability to influence and lead?

Is it having integrity? Is it being a really good listener?

Is it being power hungry? Is it the ability to boss people around?

If you are currently a DM what are the skills and qualities that you possess that lead you to think you are a good DM?  Would your team agree with you?

If you are currently a Manager with DM aspirations what are the qualities and attributes that you possess that makes you think you can be a DM? Would your current DM agree with you?

I have found that most DM’s are not as good as they would want to be, some are not as good as they should be or could be and some are not as good as they think they are. Where do you fall?

What about Training? How much training are you receiving as a DM to improve your skill set? I would imagine that most of you have some sort of corporate meetings once maybe twice a year. That is great but what about the rest of the year? As a DM, what sort of training are you providing your team, especially those who want to be a DM to prepare them for that journey?

From my 30 years of experience as a Retail Executive I have encountered many different types of District Managers.

The Climber: This DM has little interest in their current position. They are more concerned and interested in imitating a Hoover for the big shots that they have little if any time for their subordinates or their peers. You know the type; they could suck the water out of Lake Michigan without even trying. Their only goal is to get promoted as quickly and effortlessly as possible.

The General: This DM likes to yell and scream and execute as many people as possible. They go with the ‘if I yell loud enough and talk fast enough and am demanding enough I will get my way come hell or high water even if I’m wrong’ approach. They like it when you are afraid of them. That way you won’t ask questions or seek out logical explanations. Left, left, left right left. Black is black and white is white and there is no in-between. I am not interested in your opinions; you are not paid to think. It clearly states in the manual, section 3, page 37 paragraph 4, sentence 3…blah blah blah, just do as you’re told.

The Comedian: Everybody loves this DM but unfortunately few actually respect them. They are always a good time, have lots of jokes and tell great stories. Always an easy visit because they don’t actually do anything except talk and maybe take you to lunch. They are always fun to be around as long as you don’t want to learn anything or grow in your position.

M.I.A: Calling Mr. /Ms. DM, where are you? You don’t see them and you don’t hear from them except for the occasional email. You might hear ‘I don’t need to come and see you, you are so good and your store always looks amazing.’ How do they know your store looks amazing when they haven’t seen it for 6 months? You might indeed be good but how are you going to get any better if you never receive any direction or feedback?

The Silence of the Lamb: They come, do their checklist, leave notes, no communication and no feedback. They leave. They seem to have no personal interest in the team, everyone is just a number. Why bother?

The Hero: This is the sort of DM that I always loved working with; The DM that everyone wants to work with and be around. All the other Managers say ‘I wish they were MY DM!’ This DM teaches, trains, educates, inspires, shows by example and is a true mentor. They know the business inside and out and can teach and explain it to the associates. They know how to have fun while getting the job done. They know the employees, what makes them tick and who they are and what they are about both at work and outside. They know how to be personable and they know how and when to draw the line. They know the rules, policy and procedures, but they also know where there is wiggle room and when and how to wiggle! This is the DM that does the job because they love it; they love the challenge and being able to grow and develop their teams. THIS is the dream DM!

All of these types above have certain characteristics, attributes and qualities; some not so good and some great.

If you are a DM what qualities or attributes do you feel you possess to separate yourself from the mediocre pack and make you stand out as a leader?

If you are a Manager have you worked with any of the examples I gave above? What was that like for you?

If you are a Manager with aspirations of being a DM, what characteristics, qualities or attributes do you possess which makes you believe you would be a DM?

Please give me your comments as I am very interested in what you think! Remember your email address does NOT show on the comments. If you don’t want to use your real name out of embarrassment or fear you can make one up. How about Cher, Madonna, Billy the Kid or Batman?

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Customer Service is a Leaders Responsibility

By John on August 9, 2010

If you are a retailer, or in business of any kind in any industry how do you increase and improve customer service? How do you get the word to your teams that customer service is the #1 most important aspect of having a successful business?

A great deal has been written about customer service. There are magazine articles and books, e-books, white papers, research reports, classes and blogs on the subject and it’s safe to say there is no shortage of advice on giving quality customer service. Serving the customer is an important topic, and given the importance of keeping customers engaged, it’s amazing how many organizations still don’t get it. Too often the sales teams dealing face to face with the customer and support staff taking the calls either are not empowered to make decisions, they are not properly trained or they just don’t care. It’s sad to think that a company with a great product would not make customer service their highest priority.

Despite all that has been written about customer service, research by TARP (an organization which researches the effectiveness of customer service) and the American Customer Satisfaction Index (which ties customer service to profitability) indicates a continual decline in customer service. So, what’s the problem? Doesn’t anybody get it?

In order to ‘get it’, you have to take a serious look at how you treat customer service within your organization. In that vein, three important considerations must be looked at:

# 1: Customer service must be thought of as a leadership issue. In my opinion customer service has been on a rapid decline for the past 10 years. That being said, employees who are in their 20’s and early 30’s have not experienced good customer service, therefore they have no idea how to deliver good customer service! Reading about it, being told about, even attending training about it, are not the same as personally being on the receiving end of good customer service. So, it becomes a leadership issue. It becomes incumbent upon leadership to ensure that good customer service is modeled and rewarded. People grasp what they experience.

#2: Leadership thinks they are too busy. I think most leaders start out emphasizing great customer service. They hire people to promote that concept. But then, they get so tied up with the financial side of the business, trying to grow the business, and enjoying their success that the key to that success, great customer service gets diluted and overlooked. The Leader assumes it is happening on the front lines but they fail to ensure that it actually is.

#3: Customer service is a marketing issue. It always has been, yet often it is set aside as a separate issue. Marketing is, after all, everything you do to reach and keep customers. Therefore, any organization that commits to making customer service the focal point of its marketing strategy has an opportunity to gain a great competitive advantage. Today, organizations that understand and deliver effective customer service will stand out in a customer’s mind when compared to the poor customer service that is delivered by many organizations, even when both are selling or promoting the same items. Jeans are jeans, coffee is coffee and towels are towels.

In almost every case, when customers feel they received substandard customer service, they automatically blame the person across the counter or on the other end of the phone. However, the culpability ultimately rests on the leaders of the organization. What happens at the customer point of contact is the responsibility of upper management. If they want to keep customers the Leaders , being the Owners, District Managers or Managers need to have a better handle on what is actually happening on the front lines and they need to lead the efforts to elevate customer service.

Following are six leadership practices for improving customer service that I feel are essential:

  • Be the Leader: The leaders of an organization must decide that customer service will be a top priority. They need to establish this culture at all levels. The decision will come from the top of the organization and permeate through all levels. It must be done intentionally, and with the health of the organization in mind.
  • Hire the right people: The leaders will hire people who know how to work with customers. They will look for people with experience at helping customers understand the products and get the most value from their services. Leaders will look for people with a proven track record of doing the right thing for customer (which occasionally might mean referring them to another company’s product). Leaders looking to hire the right people will do everything in their power to ensure that they hire the people who will place a priority on customer service.
  • Give Proper Training: As you establish a culture of customer service and hire the right people, train them to effectively work with customers and teach them how to handle difficult situations. Identify a few of the top performers and put them to work coaching others in the company. This infuses the service culture more deeply and promotes a more unified approach throughout the company. If you do not yet have people in-house who are capable, hire a coach to train your teams, and work with the coach to identify people within the organization who can extend the right principles throughout.
  • Follow Up: You lead the team, you have the right people in place to do the job and you have given them the proper training. This is the point that a lot of organizations fail; there is no follow up to ensure that the plans you put in place are actually being effectively implemented. Too many leaders think that because a customer service program is on the books that it is actually being properly practiced. Follow up and evaluation is essential for success!
  • Inspire them: Motivate the people in your organization — at all levels — to want to serve others. Establishing the culture of inspiring others to give outstanding customer service is a key ingredient if you want to have a successful company. Financial incentives and career advancement only go so far. When the leaders of the organization place customer service as one of their top priorities, they have the prerogative to expect everyone to do the same. Let your actions and behaviors inspire others.  As Ralph Nader said: “The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.”
  • Power to the People: Finally, grant people — at all levels of the organization — the authority to make decisions. The scope and magnitude of decisions will vary by title and responsibility. The people on your team are representing the company, no ifs, ands or buts’ about it. Every person at any level should be empowered to make decisions on behalf of the organization. Start by asking leaders at all levels to make a list of five things their people can do without having to escalate to their supervisor. Place appropriate guidelines around the actions that can be taken, and trust your people to make the right decisions. When people know they work for a customer-focused organization they will give much more to their individual efforts.

Quality customer service has taken a serious backseat in organizations that are trying to stay alive and it must become more important as time moves forward. Each of these steps is critical for true customer service. It must come from the top and permeate the entire organization.

What are you doing within your business, store or organization to ensure that the customer service you give will set the standard for all others to follow?

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Communication Over Kill

By John on August 2, 2010

I recently received this question on Ask John:

“Is there such a thing as over communicating? Daily, I receive tons of work e-mails from Store Managers, Assistant Managers, DM’s, RM’s, HR, DLPM, supervisors, etc. etc.! Many e-mails include the same information from the previous guy. It seems that everyone wants to be the chief. Not to mention information that does not pertain to my scope of work. I have created folders to try and organize important information but at times, I still get a bit overwhelmed. Believe me when I say I don’t want to spend over half the day in my office reading e-mails. It’s worse after a day off. What is the best way to deal with this?”

What a great question! It is indeed a difficult question, and a dilemma that many people struggle with.

Is there such a thing as over communicating? Short answer is YES!

As far as the rest of the questions, the short answer is DELETE key!

Computers in general and email in specific were designed to make our lives easier. Unfortunately in many instances such as what you bring up, they have complicated our lives due to inappropriate and excessive use by many.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you state that everyone wants to be the chief. People want to feel important. They don’t want to be left out of the communication flow. People tend to want to put their own spin on things. The real problem is that spin often causes confusion and misunderstanding.

Remember the game of Telephone? You whisper something to the person next to you; they whisper the same thing to the person next to them and so on. By the time the circle of information gets back to you it is often completely different than what you said to begin with. This is exactly what happens when too many people are sending out what is supposedly the same information.

Over communicating especially in email form, also causes a lack of personal contact. We rely on email to deliver news or information so that we don’t have to deal with the person directly. We just send off an email and say our job is done. There is no follow-up, no ensuring understanding.

People don’t stop to think if what they are sending is applicable to those they are sending it to. They just send it out and it is up to the receiver to determine if it is information they need. They problem lies in that we get so many work emails that they all too often just become noise, static on a poorly tuned radio station. It also results in the old Cry Wolf situation. People send so many emails that people just start to ignore them. Then when something is actually important it gets over-looked.

It is assumed that if we talk a lot or send out a lot of emails we are communicating and nothing could be further from the truth. More is not always better. Sometimes stuff is just stuff. Communication over-kill is just that; over-kill.

The other problem that occurs, because people are so busy and sometimes unconcerned with other peoples work load, is that they don’t take the time to see who the original email was sent to. They just glance at the information and hit ‘forward’. Big problem!

These would be my suggestions:

  • Over the course of two weeks record all of the time that you spent in your office on emails.
  • Over the course of two weeks track and print all of the emails you receive. Put them into two groups; those that are duplicates from different sources and those that don’t apply to your job function.
  • After you have the two week documentation request a meeting with your District Manager. Show them your information with all of the duplications, non essential information and the time that you had to spend in the office to deal with all of this. Hopefully this will clarify your frustration and your D.M. will step in to help resolve this issue.
  • If this doesn’t work check to see if your company has a suggestion page on your Intra-net. You could suggest that perhaps a gate keeper of sorts is needed to eliminate this waste.
  • If you need to go further, hopefully you have a confidential contact in your H.R. department. Have a conversation with them, telling them the steps you have already taken. See if they have any further suggestions for you.
  • When you get duplicate information emails I would write a short, polite response simply saying “thanks for the information. I received this same information from Person X and have already replied”.

If none of this works, go back to the DELETE key!

Have any of you experienced this same issue and frustration?

How did you handle it?

What comments or suggestions can you give us?

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