The Loudest Person In The Room

Have you ever been struck by a line in a movie? You know the kind of line I’m talking about; a line that had profound meaning for you perhaps like the ones below:

• “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” (Coach Carter)
• “Writers are meant to write for readers who are meant to read.” (Finding Forrester)
• “Your heart is free, have the courage to follow it.” (Braveheart)
• “We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion.” (Dead Poets Society)
• “Either get busy living or get busy dying.” (The Shawshank Redemption)

Last week, I witnessed another line that spoke volumes about organizational values and could be identified as one a very profound statements for the workplace. Denzel Washington spoke this one.

“The loudest one in the room is usually the weakest one in the room.” (American Gangster)

You know that this quote is bang-on truthful. You know the people that this quote describes. They are the loudest ones in the bar trying hard to be popular. They are the loudest of critics voicing their displeasure at your choice of new car. They will insult you – but say it’s just in fun. They will attempt to bring others on-side to create an “us versus them” situation. They brag about their expensive clothes and lifestyle. They attempt to make you wrong when they themselves don’t understand.

You have worked with people like this. They are the know-it-alls in the room. They poo-poo everyone else’s ideas. They pretend that they work with idiots and attempt to control the work of the group. They think themselves superior and believe that no one else is capable of contributing anything of meaning to a project. No one wants to work with them because they shoot down the ideas of their co-workers. They hate to be challenged. They dislike opposing ideas.

But the truth is the loudest one in the room is usually the weakest one in the room. Real confidence requires no proof so those with confidence don’t feel the need to prove themselves. People who feel the need to be loud usually need the attention focused on themselves. Attention seekers have low self-image and a big ego as their defense. They compensate for low self-image by looking for attention to fill them up inside. They outwardly point out your faults so that the attention is not focused on their own. By tearing you down, they believe that they somehow elevate themselves. That is the classic definition of the workplace bully. Bullies hate to be found out.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Every organization needs confident leaders: those with a good sense of self-worth. Sending the loudest person to management training only feeds their desire for superiority. Sending the loudest person to management training only creates tyrants for managers.

Bullies need to be challenged by the rest of the staff. In group projects, outvote the tyrant in every opportunity. Calmly and confidently challenge every insult immediately. Refuse to back down from a bully’s barbs because deep down, bullies are cowards who use insults to make you feel inferior.

The loudest person in the room has a need to be the loudest person in the room. Take that power away from the bully and he or she will either leave on their own or be labeled as a non-team player and be removed by management as not being a good fit.

The Service-Leadership Attitude™ says that you, as a leader, give people a reason to follow. Fear is not a reason to follow. Bullies use fear as a tool to deflect criticism on themselves. Leaders use inspiration and ideas to give people a reason to follow. Bullying, tyranny and conflict will sink an organization quickly. Leadership has difficulty surviving in this environment. That's why bullies need to be fired - even at the cost of expensive legal bills.

Does It Matter?

When you see your doctor, does it really matter to you what place he finished in his class or is it more important that he have compassion for you and be able to explain your situation clearly and with caring?

When you hire a lawyer, does it matter that he was fourteenth in his graduating class or is it more important that he be good at reading people, be willing to spend a an extra few minutes with you explaining your options and looking out for your best interests?

When you hire an accountant, does it matter which school she received her degree from or is it more important that she be well-versed in changing tax laws, understanding your business needs and be willing to help you set yourself up for maximum success?

When you hire a Realtor, does it really matter that he barely passed his licensing course or is it more important that he keep up to date on market changes, spends time getting to know the properties in your neighborhood and is willing to work hard for his commission?

When you hire a new employee, does it matter that they come to you with the highest marks or is it more important that the new employee is willing to learn, accept guidance, work well with the rest of the team, accept that he or she has a lot to learn and shows determination in helping develop better customer relations with your clients?

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: The truth is your education doesn’t really start until you leave school. It’s in the real world where you are forced to deal with the ever-changing economic realities. You are obliged to adapt to change, correct your course and handle adversity as it shows up daily – both personally and as an organization.

You rarely get the choice of who you work with. You are thrust into an environment of diverse people, genders, racial backgrounds and incredibly diverse opinions. Your marks aren’t going to help you here. It’s your “people skills” that will make or break your team. It’s the attitudes of your people towards “service leadership” that will separate the winners from the losers.

Every career, every position and every employee must understand that the job – regardless of what your title might be on your business card – is service. Everyone in every job in the world serves someone else. There isn’t a job that doesn’t serve someone else. Customer Service reps and salespeople serve the customers. HR serves the employees and senior management. Marketing serves the sales department. The CEO serves the employees and shareholders. Every employee serves every other employee by being able to get along, accept people’s foibles and idiosyncrasies and move forward toward the common good. Everyone serves someone else. That’s the definition of Service Leadership – taking the lead in serving others.

Those who can’t or refuse to comprehend Service Leadership will fail miserably. Service is an attitude. Customer service is a department. If you’ve hardly picked up a book on how to be a better, more compassionate, empathetic, genuine service to your community and clients since you left school, well then; you’re likely to wallow near the bottom of your success potential for years to come.

You want to work with people who have people-skills. You want to hire professionals with good people skills. You want to feel valued and respected in every interaction. It’s the people with excellent people-skills who will excel in life. Credentials on a wall don’t make you a decent human being. Your education has just begun. Yes, it matters.

On Life’s Journey With A GPS

“Would you like to add a GPS to your rental today?”

It’s a question I was asked at the Rental Car counter. I think a GPS is great, especially the ones with the voice prompt that tells you to turn in 500 meters.

That’s a safe way to keep your eyes on the road. But a GPS can be a bit distracting when you already know the shortest and most expedient route to get where you’re going and the electronic voice wants to send you another way.

“Turn left at Main Street,” the voice may say but you drive right by because you think you know a better route. That’s when you hear the voice prompt announcing, “Recalculating,” as it recalculates another route to get you where you want to go.

How many times do you drive right by the opportunities in your life because you think you already know the better way?

You gave the company your loyalty in the Boom years and now you’re being downsized? Recalculating.

You got a university degree in a discipline that offered too few opportunities in an “Off-Boom” market. Recalculating.

You believed that employers hire the “highest marks” so you gave up networking opportunities to concentrate on your work and now you find your lower-achieving co-workers are being promoted ahead of you because they developed the necessary social-interaction and communication skills. Recalculating.

You thought that the Boom years would last forever and spent like a drunken sailor only to find yourself behind and the money train is leaving the station. Recalculating.

You believed that finding a job and working for a large company was the safest way to job security and now you learn that while the 500+ employee companies are laying off their people, small businesses under 20 employees are growing. Recalculating.

You still won’t make the move to start your own business even though now is the perfect time to strike out on your own giving you more security and freedom. Recalculating.

You refuse to shed your comfort zone even though the world, the economy and your life is changing. You refuse to stretch yourself which leaves you further behind every day you don’t adapt to the changes – all because you’re afraid of failing. Recalculating.

You live your life trying desperately to fit in with the rich people only to finally realize that you gave up who you are in the hopes you'd end up rich. Recalculating.

You grumble about others getting ahead, even in a normal economy (compare 2009 to 2002’s economy and you’ll see we’re at “normal”) and you still think that you’re entitled to have everything just handed to you. Recalculating.

You refuse to accept that others may know better than you how to get where you want to go but you don’t ask their opinions because you’re afraid you’ll look weak. Recalculating.

You condemn and criticize others who have the courage to chase their dreams in the hopes of somehow elevating yourself. Recalculating.

You know everything. Recalculating.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: There’s always another way to get where you want to go. Pay attention when others offer simple directions and stop making life so hard on yourself. Every road map has more than just one street.

Training – Necessary or Perk?

Are you treating training as a perk? If your organization has chosen to forego training sessions for your people at this time in our economy, then you are telling your people that training is not really necessary. You’re telling them that their improvement on the job is a perk. And that’s a horrible message to be sending your people at this time.

Employees are looking for reassurances right now: that they are valued, that their contribution matters and that business continues in spite of what the economy may be doing. If you’ve pulled your training programs until the economy gets better, you’re saying that you want your people to be nervous, to be frightened, to be uncertain and that is the message your people will pass on to your customers.

Training, the right kind of training, is not a perk – it’s necessary. In fact, training your people to become more confident, more resilient and stronger individuals is exactly the kind of leadership these times require. Not hosting continuing training sessions for your people because you may be scrutinized in the same light as AIG (after they were handed bailout money) is a follower’s way of doing business - not a leader’s way.

You need confident, resilient and strong individuals on the job right now. You need individuals who are not afraid of a turn in the economy away from the Boom times. You need individuals who, in spite of what the media may be saying, are confident that they can get a leg up on the competition.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: When the economy starts to rebound (and there are glimmers of that happening right now), will you choose to be ahead of the competition or lagging behind the competition? Second place is not leadership. Tenth place is not leadership. Leadership is an attitude of busting through the difficulties and not allowing reasons, excuses or justifiers to stand in your way.

Anyone can be a naysayer. That’s easy. But not everyone can say to their staff, “In spite of what’s happening in the world, we think we have a great shot at taking extra market share. We think you’re the people who can do the job and we’re going to make sure that you have the right tools, the right products and the right attitude to be successful regardless of the circumstances.”

Professional athletes are still being coached even if the stands are not full of fans and gate receipt revenues are down. The coaches of these teams aren’t saying, “We’re not coaching you to be any better until the economy is better.” No way. It’s “game on” right now. So how come you’re not coaching your players?

Training is not a perk. If you’ve pulled your training budgets, then when it does come time to train your people, they won’t take it seriously because you didn’t take it seriously when your people needed it most. In leadership, it’s not what you say that matters – it’s what you do. Your actions determine your outcome.

If you want your people to take their jobs seriously, to take their contribution seriously and to take you seriously, then you had better take them seriously. Your people are the one asset that never depreciates. Treat them like the investment they are. Invest in them and they will invest in you – regardless of where the economy is at. You will get what you give.

Emergency Or Brain-Fart

So what constitutes an emergency? Is it only an emergency if you don’t deal with the signs? Could your emergency today be chalked up to stupidity yesterday?

Such were the questions that fluttered through my head just a little after midnight on a cold winter night on a desolate highway. I was making good time driving to my next destination but the cold weather was causing more fuel than normal to be used. I had made this drive many times before with plenty of gas to spare at the end but now the low-fuel light was lit up on the dashboard and I was still about a half-hour away from my destination. Based on the fuel consumption so far, there was no way I would make it to the next big city with all-night gas stations.

I pulled into a small town and right up to a set of gas pumps but the station had been closed for over three hours. I had been driving five hours since my last fill-up and had passed several 24-hour gas stations – not bothering to stop since I was still relatively full. The last three hours of the drive however, not a single gas station was open at this hour.

I carry a CAA (AAA in USA) membership and the car even has a Roadside Assistance guarantee. But I wasn’t on a roadside. And I wasn’t stranded. I was in front of a fuel pump at a gas station that was closed. Was this an emergency or was I here because I wasn’t paying attention earlier?

The sign in the window of the gas station had a number for 24-hour towing. It was a local number and I was guessing that by the size of the town, the tow-truck guy could probably see me from his house. I called the number and in just over ten minutes, my car was being fueled from a jerry-can on the back of the tow truck. Forty dollars (tow truck call) plus the cost of gas and I was on my way in under five minutes.

I realize that I could have called CAA and they would have found someone (maybe the same guy) to come and put gas in my car. Then there’s the requisite paperwork, the verification of membership and the motivation of the driver who has to decide whether he’s in a hurry to jump out of a warm bed on a cold night, bring a can of gas to some schmuck sitting at a gas station and maybe get paid for it a month or two down the road.

I just decided to adapt to my situation and cut out the middle man for expediency. It was late. I was tired. And in fifteen minutes I was on my way. I wasn’t going to expect someone else to bail me out. It wasn’t an emergency. It was simply bad judgment on my part. I created it. I could fix it.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: How often do you expect others to bail you out of your situation when you are completely capable of handling it yourself? When you expect someone else to fix your predicament, you no longer take ownership of your situation.

Are you taking stock of your situations? Is what you’re going through right now a real emergency or is it just an inconvenience? Are you now expecting someone else to get you out of the predicament you put yourself into?

A flat tire in the middle of nowhere, or a broken fan belt, an overheated car and a dead battery all constitute being an emergency. Then you use the “insurance” you have. Running low on fuel because you ignored the open stations earlier – not an emergency. Fix it yourself. You created it.

Don’t whine “that’s what you pay the membership for.” No it isn’t. You pay the membership to help you out in an emergency - not to come running like a staff of servants whenever you don’t want to do it yourself.

If it’s your mess, and you’re completely capable of fixing it yourself, then fix it. Don’t make someone else do your work just because you can. That’s just selfish. Trust me; you’ll feel better just getting it done yourself.

Globe And Mail Feature

Sarah Boesveld, a reporter with Canada's largest daily newspaper The Globe and Mail, asked me a few questions this week on whether or not I think it's OK to be laughing during the economic downturn. My answers appear in her story in Monday's edition of the Globe And Mail.

I will endeavour to post the full story here on Monday.

UPDATE MONDAY MARCH 9: OK, so the story went in a different direction than what I was commenting on so my comments don't appear. Sorry for the false alarm. (KB)

It’s Not The Economy Stupid

Driving past the electronics store yesterday, a roadside billboard caught my eye.

“Watch the recession in high-definition.” That was how the billboard read.

My first thought was that the store manager obviously had a few leadership abilities himself. In an effort to stop his employees from becoming de-motivated by the doom and gloom of the media about the current economic crisis, he injected a little levity. In doing so, he sent a strong message to his people: “we’re still open, you’re still getting paid and people are still buying big TV’s. So let’s remember that the economy isn’t an excuse for not being good at what we do.”

At the same time, he sent a very strong message to his customers. “You’re also still getting paid, the world isn’t upside-down and now is a great time to be making a major purchase with some of the best pricing ever.”

I spoke with a real estate agent today who tells me that for the month of February, real estate sales are up in Calgary and the median price per sale is also up. Some people, when the economy was on fire, got greedy and snatched up some overpriced properties in an effort to flip them for a quick profit. Research says that by the time amateur real estate speculators get involved in the market hoping to make a quick buck, the market boom is usually over. And such is the case for a few greedy-wannabes.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Are you really any worse off this year than you were this time last year? Honestly. If you are worse off, is it the economy or your own decisions that have caused you to be worse off? If you’re about the same as last year, has the economic situation affected you directly or are you just thinking that it’s affecting you? Did you overspend your means when the economy was robust and now you have to play catch-up?

It’s time to take stock and really tell yourself the truth of whether you are any worse off today than you were yesterday. For the 92.8% of Canadians who are still working, it’s really no different today than it was this time last year. For some people though, well they made some bad decisions about their own personal finances and it got away on them.

If you overspent in past and now it has caught up with you, it’s not the fault of the economy. If you over-extended yourself in past and now you find yourself a little behind, it’s not the fault of the economy. If you got greedy when the economy was hot and perhaps thought you could buy up some real estate and flip it for a profit and now you’re stuck with it, it’s not the fault of the economy.

There is only one common-denominator in every bad job, bad financial decision, bad judgment and bad luck. That one common-denominator in every bad thing in your life is you. Change you, not the economy, and you change the results in future.

Fear-Mongering And Its Results

Two big news stories came out yesterday. These stories were a perfect opportunity for the media to instill a little confidence in the public if done right. But good news stories don’t sell ratings.

One story told of how retail sales were down to their lowest level in fifteen years during Christmas 2008 compared to December 2007. The truth is most of the decline was caused by skidding car sales (right after the automakers bailout request) and lower gasoline prices (lower world oil prices). Excluding the automotive sector, retail sales were down only 1.8 per cent. But that part was glaringly absent from the news report.

In fact, one retailer interviewed even suggested that in December 2007, it was a stupid buying frenzy. Customers were hungry for anything they could get their hands on and would simply throw money at the retailers. “We couldn’t service our customers this way. It was awful,” he said. That part of the news story was buried.

The second story featured a recent survey by Harris Decima Research which showed consumer confidence in the economy at its best level since August. 27% of consumers felt that they would be better off in a year from now – up from only 20% who felt that way a month earlier. A whopping 41% of consumers felt now is the perfect time to make a major purchase – up from 35% a month earlier. This story wasn’t even featured in the TV news last night. The news outlet chose instead to feature a story about a woman who clips coupons to save money on her groceries – a story they featured as their third story overall. Clipping coupons is a news story? Really?

In fact, even the good news angle of the first story was ignored by the media last night. They chose to focus on the “worst numbers in fifteen years” which is at best a half-truth. The second story about you and me feeling more confidence in our economy was ignored because good news doesn’t sell commercial-time.

Now before you get to thinking that I was watching Fox News, let me set you straight. I watched Canwest Global news.

Canwest Global is in its own predicament right now. If Canwest Global can’t secure a financial lifeline before the end of this month, it will be forced to seek bankruptcy protection. And yet it still chooses to run the “sky is falling” stories which keeps advertisers and investors away. They are forcing their own demise. There’s no news department without money to run it. You’ll never sell advertising time to people while you’re telling them it’s an awful time to be spending money. That is not leadership. That is fear-mongering. And what goes around comes around.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: If you keep telling your customers how bad it is your customers are going to find another company to buy from. What you need to be doing is talking to your customers and your employees about how good it is. You need to be instilling confidence.

Now is a time for leadership. Leaders don’t scare their people to death and expect them to be able to confidently serve their customers well. Leaders look for opportunities while others cower in their corner offices waiting for the sky to fall.

Make sure you’re instilling confidence in your customers and employees. You have two choices: to instill confidence or to instill fear. What is the good news that your organization should be telling your people and customers right now?

The Fine-Print Attitude Adjustment

So what do you think would happen if you stood up in a public forum and announced, “Our Company is in trouble and we now need a big injection of cash to keep our company going. If we don’t get the cash injection, we will be forced to lay off a lot of our workers, we will have to consider closing some of our plant locations and our future as a viable company will become tenuous at best.”

Do you think that a public declaration like that would inspire customers to continue doing business with you?

Well that’s exactly what the big automakers did in late 2008. And guess what? The report came out today saying auto sales dropped substantially in December. Now who would have ever thought that people would stop buying cars when the car makers say that they’re in trouble?

Has your organization stopped spending because of the media-induced, economic-crisis hysteria? Many companies say that they have stopped spending but not for things they need. If your computer crashed today you would be buying a new one tomorrow because a computer is necessary to get the work done. So companies are still buying. They’re just ensuring that they get value for their money.

Many companies have ceased their training and management meetings and conferences – yet continue to pay the Meeting Planner on-staff who is planning no meetings. That seems like a senseless waste of a good salary. Ceasing training at this time is just about the most ridiculous idea an organization could follow.

It’s right now that your people need reassurances that your company or organization is solid. It’s right now that your workplace needs a shot of courage and conviction. Many of your competitors have rolled up their sails and are waiting out the “storm.” But there is no storm. It’s a media-induced frenzy. And if you’re buying it, you’re hurting your own bottom-line.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: So what message are you sending your customers? What message are you sending your people? You see, whatever you say to your people is going to be the same thing your people say to your customers.

Let me repeat that one: whatever you say to your people is going to be the same thing your people say to your customers.

So stop catastrophizing (or making up words).

So how bad is it really out there? Well, outside of car sales, retail sales fell 1.8 per cent in December. 1.8 per cent. Are you kidding me? The mass hysteria is about a 1.8 per cent drop in retail sales in December – which is compared to December 2007. That was the month, if you recall, that retailers were surprised by how much we were spending. We overshot expectations in December 2007 and evened it out in December 2008.

Do not let your organization suffer from the media-induced, ratings-grabbing, hysterical headlines. Read the fine print. Get the information for yourself. Pay attention. Don’t panic and for goodness sake, don’t panic in front of your people or your customers.

Now is the time to give your people a shot in the arm – not a kick in the teeth. Now is the time to arm them with confidence – not uncertainty. Now is the time to give them an attitude adjustment on what’s really happening in the marketplace – not rumours and supposition. Now is the time to rise above the cowering competitors and take a bigger market share.

Now is the time for leadership. Leadership is an Attitude.

The 2% Economic Attitude Adjustment

I’m getting fed up with the media hysteria of the state of our economy. Sensationalism and ratings-grabs are leading the news these days and it’s sickening. Companies and their “Chicken Little” CFO’s are buying into the hysteria while sitting on piles of reserve cash. The sky is NOT falling. In fact, we’re perhaps better off than we were two years ago. How so? Think this way: the Canadian economy for the past three years was running too hot. When you run a car too hot, you do more damage to the engine than when you run it at a constant speed within the “moderate” range. When a machine gets too hot, it needs to slow down to allow the engine to cool a little. In other words, what we’re experiencing right now is a simple push of the “Reset” button. That’s how Canadian Business Magazine has described this time in our economy.

Now if you want to witness an economy out of control, let’s go back to Canada in the early eighties. The unemployment rate was over 12%, inflation was 12.5% and interest rates were over 20%. Twenty percent! Compare those figures to today (January 2009): unemployment at 7.2%, inflation at 1.07%, and the Bank of Canada Rate for January was 1.25%.

So, because the interest rates and inflation rates are so low right now, let’s just take a look at just the unemployment rate and talk about it. On average in Canada, for the last ten years or so, the unemployment rate has run around 5.2%, which means that 94.8% of people who wanted to work were working. Today, 92.8% of people who want to work are working. That’s a two percent difference folks. Two percent! How would a drop of two percent affect your business? No really. Seriously answer that question. Is your business on the brink of financial ruin with a drop of two percent in the employment rate? Seriously?

Interest rates are so low that borrowing money is almost free. Inflation is so low that you can almost guarantee that the prices you pay today will be virtually the same prices tomorrow. The market is consistent with its own performance over the past five years for the most part. So what’s with the panic?

Many people think attitude training is hokey and it's a soft skill that you can do without. But the truth is that if your people are quoting chapter and verse from the media about the sky falling and your people end up passing that uncertainty along to your customers, your customers are going to be uncertain about doing business with you. The attitude of your people transfers to your customers.

US President Obama has recently made a commitment to reduce the US deficit of 1.3 trillion dollars by half within the next four years. In doing so, the plan is to stimulate the economy by creating new jobs. When President Bill Clinton did the same in the nineties, he got rid of the deficit. And guess what happened? He produced 24 million new jobs. The US had eight years that were the most successful in the second half economically of the 20th century.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: The truth is Attitude, in this time of economic uncertainty, is far more important than fluff like Time Management. It's the attitude of your people, when they speak with customers, which will make you a winner in a “down” economy. It's Attitude that keeps your people's perspective in check when they hear the media say the sky is falling. It's Attitude that will cause your people to realize that business is in the toilet if you "believe" that business is in the toilet. If your people accept that they can't be successful while times are supposed to be hard, then you may as well close your doors until the economy gets better because you are going to bleed red ink.

Attitude is perspective. Change the perspective and you change the results. You can't do the same thing the same way everyday and expect to magically succeed. But once you change someone's perspective, once you change how they see problems, once you change how they believe things can be, you change results.

There are companies around the world who are succeeding in spite of the "economic downturn." Would you be willing to take the time to find out their secrets? I'll save you the trouble. Companies become successful when they don't allow excuses, reasons or justifiers to stand in their way. The Economic Downturn is nothing more than a convenient excuse for companies doing poorly. That excuse lets business off the hook for being mediocre. That's simply "Attitude" in play.

Leadership is an Attitude. Service is an Attitude. Safety is an Attitude. Success is an Attitude. Winning is an Attitude. Perspective is an Attitude.

None of it is measurable or tangible. But you won't find a single successful organization without it.

If your people are scared when they work or deal with clients, you're doomed. If they've got Attitude, there isn't a single thing that will ever stop them from achieving.

So, what's your next step?

Memo From The Customer

I think I missed a memo recently. I must have. The memo I missed apparently stated that if you are a cashier, a salesperson or even a “sandwich artist,” feel free to have conversations with your co-workers, your friends and other complete strangers while “serving” your current customer.

When exactly did the person with the money (the customer) become the least important part of a front-line worker’s day? Recently, it seems that almost every store I have gone into has someone at the front counter who needs to have a conversation with someone else (not work-related) that is more important than accepting my money. How can everything in a cashier’s day be more important than my willingness to exchange goods and services for money? Did I miss that memo?

In response, here is my memo.

Memo to: The front-line staff of all organizations
From: The Customer
Re: Performance review

It has come to my attention that you have been ignoring me lately. Although nothing has been said directly to me, your performance in the role of customer service has become suspect. I wish to address that here.

Your willingness to make eye-contact with me and to acknowledge that I have chosen to part with my hard-earned money has made me feel as though you really don’t care that I am in your establishment willing to purchase something. I am simply asking that, for the few minutes I am in your business, that you keep your conversations focused on what I would like and, most of all, be thankful for my willingness to frequent your work place. I feel compelled to address this issue as I have noticed it lacking of late.

I am becoming incredibly frustrated at being ignored while I am in the midst of purchasing something. I (the customer) am the revenue source for your business. I (the customer) am the guy who keeps the lights on in your business and gives you the revenue stream to pay for silly little expenses like … oh I don’t know … staff!! I (the customer), in this so-called economic downturn, am the difference between your business going down and your business thriving. Unless there is a fire, ask yourself, is there really something more important that you feel you must handle before you handle my transaction?

Do you really need to create conversations with others about how tired you are, how long the day has been or how many minutes are left before you can head to the bar to hang out with your friends? If I were your boss would you ignore me as I stood in front of you so that you could carry on meaningless conversations with friends or co-workers? Well, how about you think of me as your boss – simply in the fact that I pay you indirectly.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: The secret to customer service is to simply be present in my dealing with you. I don’t want to feel like I’m imposing on you when I buy something from you. I want to hear “Thank you.” I want you to mean it when you say it. You can tell me to “have a nice day” or not – that’s really not important to me. A simple “thank you” is all I require.

For this performance review, I need you to improve in only two areas: 1) your attitude of gratitude when I choose to part with my money in your business, and 2) your focus and attention on me for the few moments I stand in front of you.

Failure to comply with these performance issues will cause me to fire you as a company I do business with. You have been warned.

Careless Is Careless

On her fifteenth birthday, my daughter asked me if I would buy her a car on her sixteenth birthday. After I picked myself up off of the floor from laughing, she looked at me and said, “But Dad, lots of my friends have parents who buy them cars.”

“I know Honey,” I replied with caring. “I’ve seen those cars in the parking lot at your school. Most of them really aren’t looked after at all. It’s what happens when people don’t earn their possessions. Look, I’ll pay for your schooling after high school, but I’m not buying you toys. If you want a car, you’ll have to go out and earn it.”

And she did – around seven thousand dollars over the next year. She paid cash for her first car – a real money pit that depleted her savings rather quickly. It was a huge life-lesson for her.

Recently, I spoke to a group of natural gas installers. The focus of my presentation was “Safety Attitude.” Although the numbers of safety incidents as it pertains to working with natural gas were within an acceptable range, the numbers of incidents while driving was up – numbers that the management team wanted brought back down.

Several of the workers in attendance were awarded with five, ten, fifteen, twenty and twenty-five year safe driving awards. But not all of the workers received awards. So it begged the question: what separates a safe driver from a careless driver? My answer is attitude.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: A person who is careless with other things in his or her life will be careless behind the wheel. Careless is careless. You won’t find a person who is careful and meticulous with his or her own personal possessions and be careless behind the wheel of a company vehicle. Carelessness is a personality trait. Safety is an attitude.

Carelessness transcends all things in your life – including driving. If you’re careless and regularly lose your safety equipment, you will be careless behind the wheel. If you’re careless in ensuring that the quality of your work is your best effort always, you’ll be careless behind the wheel. If you’re careless about where you leave your car keys, you’ll be just as careless behind the wheel.

Watch how people treat a rental car and you’ll see similarities in how they drive a company vehicle. When you see a vehicle that is filled with fast-food bags, needs a wash (for a long time) or has several dings or fender crunches, you’ll see that same person being careless while driving the company vehicle.

There’s a sense of ownership and pride that comes with achieving something. When you are personally invested and earn your new car instead of just having it handed to you, you treat that new possession with a little more respect. If you won’t secure your own personal belongings, your own vehicle or your quality of work, you won’t really care about how you drive. It’s simple really. How you do one thing is how you do everything.

If you’re a department supervisor, Health and Safety manager or the CEO and you are considering bestowing a company vehicle on an employee, here’s the simple way to find out whether or not the company vehicle you are about to give to an employee will be treated with respect. Check out that employee’s own vehicle first. If it’s a mess – your vehicle will end up the same way before long. And if your vehicle ends up being a mess, so will the safe-driving record of that employee. How you do one thing is how you do everything. Careless is careless.

So how’s your driving? I’ll bet it’s about the same as your work quality, your own car or your relationships. If it’s messy elsewhere, it’s messy on the road.

New Car Attitude Adjustment

Sales are slumping in the auto sector right now. The big car makers are feeling the pinch of an economic slowdown. Personally, I don’t believe that the economic slowdown is as bad as the media are making it out to be. In fact, I have yet to meet or speak with one person who has directly suffered any hardship at the hands of the economic slowdown (I’m not saying they don’t exist – I just haven’t met any of them).

Granted I live in Alberta and yes, we have a pretty strong economy still. And in the same way that you can’t run a hot engine forever without letting it cool down so you can do some repair and upkeep, we are in a cool-down period right now – as we gear up for the next rush. There are a lot of companies and organizations who are hiring right now. These are the same companies who are thriving in a “down economy.”

If you want to buy into the doom and gloom of how the media is portraying the economy right now, well then that’s your choice. Just remember, that you bring about what you think about.

Do I think you need to rush out and buy a new car to help the economy? Nope. In fact, if you don’t “need” a new car, why on earth would you saddle yourself with extra debt just because it’s on sale or the financing is cheap? I could sell you one of my speeches right now and you would be able to use it (the learning) for years to come but do you have the extra cash just lying around to pay for it?

I was walking across the parking lot of a conference facility last week on my way to my car. Now, let me tell you about my car. It’s a 2001 Hyundai Elantra with 5-speed transmission and a little rust forming around the fenders. It’s not a pretty car. It’s not an extravagant car. It’s a useful car that just happens to look a little weathered. It gets me 47 miles to the gallon on the highway and drives quite well. But it’s a little ugly.

I was asked once, as I was crossing the parking lot of a conference center, which car was mine: the BMW, the Lexus, the Mercedes? I simply said, “the Hyundai Elantra.”

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: I guess the perception is, as a professional keynote speaker, I am supposed to be driving a brand new luxury vehicle since I supposedly speak on success. Well, the truth is, I don’t speak on success. I speak on Attitude – Leadership Attitude. Leaders don’t waste their money on cars that they don’t need. Leaders don’t need to impress people – they could care less what others think of them. Leaders do what needs doing and buy what they need.

So here’s the truth of what I do with my car. My car sits for days on end in airport parking lots, hotel parking lots, conference center parking lots and rental car parking lots. The car is ignored and left alone for days on end. The doors get dinged, it’s exposed to elements and little care is given to the car because there are no parking lot attendants. It’s a surprisingly comfortable car to drive and has high reliability ratings.

Knowing that your car is going to be exposed to carelessness and weather, would you buy an expensive car that you would need to “baby” or would you buy something that thieves wouldn’t look at a second time? I still have my car because it’s never been stolen. It’s a little ugly but it’s incredibly reliable. I owe nothing to a bank because I paid cash for it. The car owes me nothing. My car and I have the perfect relationship – it gets me where I’m going safely and I don’t expend a lot of energy worrying about it. Perfect.

Be Smarter Than The Smart Phone

My friend Brian is a brilliant mind. Every time that I get to visit with him (not as often as I would like), I come away with a few new ideas, a few new opinions and a few new article subjects. I know that Brian is reading this right now so thank you Brian for the contribution to make to my life and the lives of others.

Last week when I was sitting in Brian’s office, he had said something that sparked a great idea (or so I thought at the time). I could take this idea and I would find myself being more efficient and successful. Just as I was beginning to process the thought, my Blackberry went off – an incoming email as well as an appointment reminder. Although I didn’t look at the Blackberry, it chimed away three times for each of the notices.

Although I didn’t look at the smart phone, there was a little piece in the back of my mind that was just curious as to what reminder I was being given. It distracted me. My normal practice for meeting with people is to shut the Blackberry off completely – but this time I forgot. Not only did I forget to turn off the phone, I forgot the great idea that was sparked in my mind from my conversation with Brian.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: There’s a reason that the MC of the conference you attended recently reminds you to shut off your cell phone while you’re in session. It’s so you don’t forget the great ideas that come to you when people who have something brilliant to say speak to you. I learned my lesson.

So how about you take the learning from me on this one and shut the phone off completely when you’re having a meeting with someone or just want to give someone your undivided attention so you don’t miss something important – like I did. Be smarter than your smartphone.

Make A Decision To Make A Decision

Louise Hay’s book, “You Can Heal Your Life” is a bit of a mind-bender when it comes to understanding that every disease or physical ailment has a psychological root. I first read this book about eight years ago and it opened my eyes to the possibility that physical ailments are nothing more than the manifestation of psychological problems – not that I'm saying you have mental health issues but instead it's about the stuff you have been thinking about but done nothing about.

Now before you go off and think that the reason you have a bad back is because you’re crazy, let me explain what Hay is offering.

A nagging sore lower back, according to Hay, is the result of experiencing financial problems. A sore upper back comes from difficulty in your current relationship (that doesn’t give you the right to tell your partner to get off your back). Colds and the flu are the result of too much going on – too many balls being juggled. A toothache is the result of not making decisions. A stiff and sore neck comes from not being willing to be flexible.

If you follow the logic, you can use your body to assess what is going on in your head at any given time and to adjust your attitude accordingly.

In essence, from what I read, Hay is saying that if you start making decisions on the unresolved issues in your head, you can start moving forward with a solutions-based focus and that many of your physical ailments that manifest as a result of a current crisis can be lessened in their severity.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Nagging thoughts, indecision, analysis paralysis (not making any decisions for fear it may be the wrong one) and worrying about change and not embracing it may be the reason you’ve got little aches and pains. Trying to treat the symptoms and not the root cause of aches and pains will leave you in a long battle with that stuff that just never seems to go away. Putting a heating pad on your lower back may bring you some short-term relief but tomorrow you're likely to still have the same sore back because you didn't deal with the underlying issue.

Make a decision to make a decision. That’s the answer. If there is an issue that you have been resisting making a decision on, simply set a date and time for when you will make the decision. For example, you could declare, “I will make my final decision next Thursday at eleven o’clock in the morning on whether or not to pursue that job opportunity I’ve been thinking about.”

I can almost guarantee that the missing piece of information that you need to make the final decision will show up between now and then. When you make a decision to make a decision, you set the wheels in motion that attracts the answers and information you require.

Now before you go off half-cocked thinking this is some sort of new-age fluff, why not test your attitude on it and give it a try first. After all, you’ve been putting up with aches and pains from not making decisions. Why not give this a try. Worst case scenario: nothing changes – you still have pain – but you’ve finally made a decision on something you’ve been avoiding and can move to the next step. Honestly? This process has worked for me for eight years now so I thought I'd bring you a little relief too.

The Résumé Is Dead

What is a résumé? It’s nothing more than a collection of things you’ve done in your work life – a sort-of “eulogy” at work. Oh sure, it may also point out some skills that you were allowed to use while on the job but it really gives no indication of your aptitude, your natural talents nor your values and attitudes toward the work world.

Michael Bloomberg, NYC Mayor, once said, “You are not paid for what you have done in the past. You are paid for what you’re about to do in the future.”

Isn’t it interesting that you (boss or HR professional) decide who you want to interview is based purely on what your candidate may have done in the past – not what they are about to do in the future.

Why is the résumé dead?

• There is no indication from a résumé of what heights could have possibly been reached – only what someone has been given the opportunity to do.
• There is no indication from a résumé of what a candidate is capable of learning – only what they have learned in the past, what school they graduated from and what pieces of paper (degrees) they may hold (relevant or not).
• There is no indication from a résumé that a particular candidate could be the next great leader for your organization – especially if never given the opportunity to lead.
• There is no indication from a résumé of how brilliant a mind may be when hidden behind average grades and average positions in an organization – especially if the candidate was kept down by a tyrant boss.
• There is no indication from a résumé of values and ethics being paramount – especially if only ever given a lowly entry-level position and no opportunity to provide input.
• There is no indication from a résumé that a candidate is a decent human being – credentials on a wall don’t make you decent.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: The workforce is changing. Baby Boomers are retiring and Gen Y is here to stay. In a few years, Gen Y will be taking over management positions and leadership roles and the organizational structure that we know today will be dead – along with the résumé.

The great leaders of tomorrow and those who will change the world, including your organization, will be the people with ideas and those who will challenge the standard workforce strategy. They won’t be hired because of their résumés. And as long as you continue to believe that the résumé is the best way to find a suitable candidate to fill a position, you will be eating the dust of the organizations who have found a way to attract people with brains, ideas, values, ethics and a shared-effort philosophy. These people are found in chat rooms, blogging, e-networking, texting and hanging out with those of like-mind.

Who do you think would bring your organization a higher degree of greatness: a person looking for a job (armed with a résumé) or one who is already sharing ideas with others (armed with a Blog, followers and a huge network)? Which of the two choices do you think would give you better results in the future?

The résumé is dead.

Listen Up

“If you think the person behind the counter is dumber than you, you’ll go out of your way to prove it. But what if he’s not? Can you see a very frustrating day coming for you? But if you believe the person behind the counter may offer you an amusing story to tell, you’ll go looking for that. In over twelve years, since I started doing this, I’ve yet to find a day where I didn’t have an amusing story to tell at the end of it.”

That’s a direct quote from my Attitude Adjustment keynote presentation. I go looking for the amusing stories and I usually find them. This was not one of those days.

I was searching for a shirt. I don’t like ties. I don’t understand ties. In fact, I think a tie is just a fancy noose (perhaps I need to change my attitude on that one but perhaps not). So, instead of “expressing my individuality” through a tie, I wear an open-collared shirt – usually something that makes a statement and is normally one-of-a-kind. I have consulted with some very good clothiers and found a look that feels comfortable for me and yet is not what everyone else is wearing.

I entered the men's wear store where I encountered Earl, the sales clerk. Earl wore the requisite sport jacket, dress pants, patterned dress shirt and a tie. I told him I was looking for a shirt that was unique, one-of-a-kind, not boring, not white nor any shade of red or purple (I look very pink wearing reds and purples) … oh, and I don’t wear a tie.

He became indignant and began to challenge me on not looking like everyone else. He chastised me by explaining that a tie expresses my individuality.

“Not if everyone else is wearing one,” I added.

He argued with me, in a sort of polite way. In essence, he was telling me that he knew better than me what I should be wearing. His condescending attitude was beginning to become irritating.

He pulled down a pure white shirt, a purple shirt and a couple of shirts with red running through them and asked if this is what I was looking for. In my mind, I couldn’t help but think that he didn’t hear a word I said, so I reiterated my “non-negotiables.”

Shirt after shirt came out, each looking just like the last with small variations. They all began to look the same. The colors were boring. The styles were boring and honestly, this experience was becoming boring. So I left.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Do you attempt to push your personal tastes on your clients or do you consult with them? If you’re a manager, do you already know more than your people or is there an opportunity for them to teach you something? How often do you actually just sit and listen to your customers’ wants, your co-workers ideas or your spouse’s dreams?

The art of listening isn’t really all that complicated. It simply requires you to clear your head of all of your pre-supposed fixes, opinions and beliefs that you know better than they. Better that you come off as compassionate more than arrogant.

Every single person you come in contact with can teach you something so long as you trash the belief that you already know everything. You don’t know everything. I don’t know everything. I especially don’t know everything about selling clothes but I do know what I like to wear. Maybe cut me some slack that I have a handle on dressing myself and keep the opinions to yourself. Maybe you’ll be more successful if you listen to what I want before you tell me what I need. Listen. Did you hear me?

Hope I Didn't Complain Too Much

I spent a little time with Bill recently. He’s in his eighties now and lives alone. He spends most of his days in front of the TV as he needs a walker to get around. He has a boarder who lives downstairs and she is supposed to fix his meals and keep him company in exchange for a substantial reduction on her rent. Meals are mostly frozen prepared dinners from the grocery store. She never spends more than five minutes at a time with Bill and he complains about it. And I understand that. For a man in his eighties, he’s being taken advantage of.

Our conversation lasted about an hour. We covered a lot of things including some regrets he has in his life, his loneliness, his estranged family and his quality of life. There’s no one to talk to. His meals come out of a microwave. He can’t drive anymore. He’s bound to his house. It’s kind of tough to be upbeat about life when those are the results you have near the end of it.

As I was walking down the front walk after our visit, he simply yelled out, “Hope I didn’t complain too much.”

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Perhaps Bill’s last words to me that day should be the last words you leave people with. Instead of saying, “goodbye” or “so long” perhaps you should close with, “hope I didn’t complain too much.”

What different conversations you’d end up having with others if you knew you were going to end the conversation with, “hope I didn’t complain too much.”

In fact, I think ending a conversation with “hope I didn’t complain too much” would actually cement the conversation you had with someone else. Both of the talk partners would be forced to reflect on the conversation to see if one or the other did complain too much.

But it will never fly. People just don’t want to be accountable for their conversations. People just want to complain. They want to whine and moan about how tough their lives are and use it as an excuse for not doing better. They don’t want to get out of their ruts and routines and enjoy something better. They don’t want to improve their circumstances or their lives because, well, it’s hard work and they already work hard enough. No. You’ll never hear those words at the end of a conversation because no one really would mean it.

So I guess life will just go on the same way, getting the same results and complaining about the same things. It’s easier to be lazy and complain than it is to fix a sorry life. So feel free to make your choice. It probably won’t be any different anyway.

Hope I didn’t complain too much.

Is Stress Really The Problem?

The Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health conducted a survey to determine the Top Ten Stressors at work. Here they are:

• 10. "The treadmill syndrome" - Employees who consistently have too much or too little to do create a lot of stress.
• 9. "Random interruptions" - Keeps employees from getting their work done - telephones, walk-in visits, supervisor's demands.
• 8. "Pervasive uncertainty" - Created by constant, unsatisfactorily explained or unannounced change.
• 7. "Mistrust, unfairness, and office politics" - Keeps everyone on edge and uncertain about the future.
• 6. "Unclear policies and no sense of direction" - Causes additional uncertainty and undermines confidence in management.
• 5. "Career and job ambiguity" - Creates a feeling of helplessness and of being out of control.
• 4. "No feedback - good or bad" - People want to know how they are doing, and whether they are meeting expectations.
• 3. "No appreciation" - Generates stress that endangers future efforts.
• 2. "Lack of communication" - Leads to decreased performance and increased stress.
• 1. The greatest stressor in the workplace is "lack of control" - Employees are highly stressed when they feel like they have no control over their participation or the outcome of their work.

In reading this list, I was struck by a single thought: there really is only ONE stressor at work – lack of control. The lack of control is really the one constant in every one of the other nine stressors. Lack of control in workload, interruptions, change, mistrust, direction, job security, feedback, appreciation and communication are what are causing the stress.

Now it’s been said that stress is a killer. I don’t buy that. Instead I believe that our inability to handle stress is the killer. It’s not the stress. It’s our in ability to handle it.

It’s not the job. It’s our inability to handle all of the issues that come up in the job.

As I wrote in a recent Blog entry, there’s a difference in the outcome of the work you do when you take on the attitude that your job is your career, even if it’s only your career for now. It no longer becomes just a job. A career is something you manage. A job is just something you grumble about having to do.

Change your attitude on your work and your work will begin to improve. Don’t argue with me on this one. I am right (been there done that). The moment you change your attitude on your “job” being more than just a job and instead being a career, you will begin to see the “job” in a whole new light. And believe me, there is a whole lot less stress when you start taking control of where you work, how you work, the quality of your work and the contribution you make to your work.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Are you feeling out of control on the job? It’s likely because you’re letting every one else decide your career for you. Stop it. Take back the control.

You may need A job but not necessarily this one. Are you working because of the pension you’ll receive at retirement? Then you’ve already checked out mentally and are counting the days until you retire. That’s no way to manage a career. That’s a prison sentence.

I’ve said it before and I perhaps need to say it again: the more valuable you become on the job, the less likely you are to be replaced. Increase your value. Get better at communicating, thinking, sharing ideas, focusing and embracing change (it is a good thing most times). Read the Leadership books. Listen to the CD’s. Go to the seminars. Get better. Get stronger. Get more valuable. And if you choose to NOT do the work to improve yourself and your value, well then sorry. There is no one then who can possibly guarantee that something drastic won’t happen to you. That should stress you a little.

Career Or Job?

I met Wendy years ago when I took a job as a restaurant manager. For me, the management position was a job. It wasn’t my career as I hadn’t prepared myself to become a restaurant manager. Heck, I’d never even worked in a restaurant prior. But I had eaten in plenty of restaurants. I had a good sense of what customer service at the restaurant level entailed. Make the plates look good and the meal would be good. Make the experience good and the restaurant was good.

Presentation is everything in a restaurant – from the way the wait staff presents itself, to the décor to the presentation of the meal on a plate. Make it visually appealing and it will be good.

Up to that point, I had been in radio some sixteen years but had been downsized from my job as morning show host. My career had ended. And for a variety of reasons I didn’t want to leave the geographical area to search out another radio station to work at. So I found myself looking for a job. My career was in radio. The restaurant was a job.

Wendy is one of the people I worked with. She was a cook – and not really a very good one. Wendy became involved in restaurants as a last resort. She was under-educated. She had few transferable skills. She was willing to work long hours for pay just over minimum wage (minimum wage is another way of saying: if we could pay you less we would.). Wendy overcooked most food she prepared. She didn’t really take pride in her work because it was just a job – not a career.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Is what you do each day your job or your career? What difference would you experience each work day if you began to view your job as your career? The work you do each day doesn’t mean that you are stuck in your career for life. It simply means that you have made a series of decisions over your lifetime that has put you exactly where you are today. And if you got to where you are by your series of decisions, then this must be the career you have chosen for yourself – for right now.

Accountability of your life-choices is key in finding satisfaction in your work. You will find your satisfaction levels increase as well as your engagement level. It’s easier to take pride in what you do when you feel as though the work you do is a career. If you view your work as simply a job, you won’t give any more than enough effort to not get fired.

In the same way you can test-drive a car before you buy it and be saddled with five years of payments, you can test-drive a career before you commit to five or more years of employment. The trick, when test-driving a career, is to get out of it (if you don’t like it) before you begin to despise the work. If you despise the work and grumble about it, your lousy attitude will follow you to your next “job.”

Unless someone shows up at your house each morning and points a gun at your head, you are NOT forced to be there. If you go “willingly” (by choice) to work each day, then start thinking of your employment as your career choice at this moment. Do whatever you need to do to advance yourself within your career. The more valuable you become, the more valuable you will be perceived. Those who are valued by their employers always seem to fare better than those who aren’t. Change your attitude from “job” to “career” and watch your results change.