Tag: management

The Roots Of Greatness

How well do you execute on the following:

  • Returning the client's call-same day.
  • Slowing down to admire a fresh snowfall or beautiful sunrise.
  • Seeing people as a source of connection.
  • Trusting those who work for and with you (this is a big one for those "in-charge".)
  • Involving yourself in something bigger than yourself.

The answers to the above will reveal two things:

Your true values (the type you would deny or hide)

Opportunities for growth

I don't recommend seeking greatness if your motives are suspect.  But if you are aligned with motivations around changing the world, it can be a good thing…just make sure you have people around you that aren't impressed-by you.  I firmly believe that most people want to leave a mark before the clock runs out.

In the end, the roots of greatness are nestled in doing the small well.  It's the stuff of obscurity, humility and authentic love/care.  If those situations disappoint, you may have issues with self-worth or identity.  Needing the applause of others is a dead-end road.  Eventually, the "crowd" moves onto another show.  Believe me, I know.

So start working on doing the small well.  Slow down, be ok with coming in second, let someone else have the last piece of cake (figuratively speaking), find someone to love/care for.

Here's the secret:

    If you won't do the small things well, you'll never be able to do the great things well.

Emotional Control

Regardless of the business you're in, or a owner of, it's vital that you control your emotions.  Specifcially, around how you treat your customers.  Way too many organizations are led and operated by those who allow emotions to rule the day.

For example, if you're a retailer and a customer returns a shirt because the quality and fit are not up to their expectations, don't frown with disgust because their at the return desk/department.  It's an opportunity to grow the relationship.  Maybe there's a problem with QC at the factory where the shirts are sourced.  Don't wait until there's three boxes of returned shirts to get clued into a problem.  Customers do want to engage about your product-if you let them.

Sadly, most employees forget (if their thinking about the customer at all) that the customer comes in expecting to be treated…less than warm.  When you or an employee confirm that expectation, the customer convinces themselves that another store is there better option.  If the employee taking the return would have been prepared (or been trained/developed) in the art of restraint and vision, the result might be radically different.  Controlling our emotional urges requires practice.

A friend once told me that you'll know how much a service/product provider really cares about you when a problem arises.

Maybe you should start a program around training/developing emotional control (EC).  Yes, your manager/leaders will have to engage with the staff.  But that's what they should be doing anyway.  Think of what you might discover?  Your customers might discover something remarkable in a landscape full of the "unremarkable."

Don’t Make Excuses

A few thoughts ruminating through my head tonight:

  1. Is your organization bureaucratic?
  2. Is your organization run like a cult?
  3. Is your organization bloated?
  4. Is your organization relying on cutting expenses to give the appearance of growth?
  5. Is your organization paying you for your time or your results?

If the answer is yes to any of the above, then summon the courage and be creatively discontent.  Point out what's wrong and be outspoken (in a professional/respectful manner) about how to create a new paradigm.

By the way, this only works if you're an asset.  Mediocrity earns you no rights.

The Problem With Small Getting Large

One of my favorite merchants in the town I live in, is not one of my favorites anymore.

They once were small and engaging, but now world domination seems to be the order of the day.  No more "we'll search and see if we can get it" or "haven't seen you in the store lately."  I miss being Eric to them. 

The problem with some entrepreneurs is they are trying to fill a void by being "uber-successful."  What is forgotten is what get's left behind-the customer.

By the way, the void above is rarely filled by getting large. 

I'm appreciating small these days.

Hidden Costs

One thing that drove me crazy when I was paying for my sins in corporate America was all of the hidden costs inside the organization.  As a corporate manager I was always asked to cut expenses.  However, I was rarely asked to look at those hidden costs.  The costs that were silent killers.  For example:

  • Meetings.  Need I say more?
  • Training events that were the equivalent of a U2 concert.  Entertainment versus learning here.  Feels good in the moment, but forgotten when it counts.
  • Employees and their organizations who don't fully understand the difference between time and results.
  • Outdated policies and procedures written 20 years ago that are as relevant as a powder blue tuxedo.
  • Hiring practices that are driven by HR.  The hiring of talent is not a legal process.

If your organization really wants to be efficient and lean, then take a look at the hidden costs. It could lead to a new curve.  Failure to look always leads to atrophy.  And as we know atrophy lives next door to extinction.

A Life of Imitation-Updated 2010

I wonder about the identities of high-level executives in today's corporate world.  To be fair, I wonder about your identity.  This is not meant to judge you, but to express my concern.  Sorta like, if you knew I was planning on driving drunk, you'd tell me to hand over the keys.  Identity isn't always that straight forward, but it is as important.

Maybe like the CEO, you're someone who became what the organization demanded or seduced you with.  What about that burning desire to perform?  Regardless, somewhere along the line, a career of imitation began.  Now before you say that I'm picking on executives or corporate types here, these statements are for all of us. 

Are you who you really are, or are you an imitation?  What does the face-behind-the-face look like? 

Being authentic requires a willingness to be real.  It requires the courage to say, "I don't believe in this crap."  Pardon my frankness, but maybe that's where authenticity begins.  Saying what we really feel.  I'm not recommending that you just blurt something out just because you "feel it."  I am recommending that you be honest with yourself by admitting and doing something about it. 

So what gives with the imitating?  Find the vision and you'll realize that you don't have time to be anyone other than who you are. 

In the end, the only people who matter are those who dig the authentic you.