From Tom Peter's excellent book "The Little Big Things" - a rant about customer service that just nails it...
- My local Starbucks stayed open a few minutes late - and the barista fetched something he had already put away to fill my order
- When I handed the barista at my other local Starbucks my thermos, she filled it up without question, even though at the time it was a nonstandard order. They undercharged me - a two cup price for what was probably three cups - and they washed the thermos before filling it, with my asking - or even imagining!
- My local Whole Foods usually opens at 8 AM. But because several of us were waiting, they opened at 7:45 AM. Their folks define helpful.
- Replying to my graduate school MBA reunion, I filled out the questionnaire and when I got ready to mail it, found that the questionnaire didn't fit the accompanying envelope. I tore it all up and tossed it. That's what's wrong with most MBA programs - lack of attention!
Do you bend over backwards to go "a little" beyond the book to help customers?
Do you authorize-encourage everyone (100 percent) to break the rules "a little bit" so as to stretch for the customer?
The 25 companies that made BusinessWeek's first "Customer Service Champs" list in 2007 are very, very, very, very serious about the "little things" and the frontline service providers who make or break a Little Things Movement.
And you?
Personally?
Your team?
Your company?
How do you know?
For Sure?
What are you doing about it?
To encourage more of it?
To reward it when it happens?
Today?
Now!
Don't make the mistake of thinking this doesn't apply to you if you don't run a business - it does.
Church leaders - please take note of how important "customer service" is to your church - and do something about it!
At Elevation Church, Pastor Steven Furtick's sermon last Sunday was entitled " Why Do Dreams Die?" The short answer to the question: they die in the beginning, when doubt kills your dream; they die in the middle, when distraction kills your dream; and they die in the end, when discouragement kills your dream.
At our community group last night, we had a great discussion on the topic from many different vantage points - 20 somethings who are on the front edge of their dreams; 30 somethings who are in the first stages of doubts about their dreams; and 50 somethings who have dreamed again and again.
It brought to mind something I have been rereading this week: George Barna's "A Fish Out of Water." Barna was an early influence on my understanding of vision, and his comments from this book on the difference between God's vision and ours seem to be a fitting part of my group's discussion. Here's what Barna had to say:
How can you tell if a vision that moves you is from God or something of your own creation? Here are some hallmarks of God's vision:
- Human vision is based on trying to maximize our resources and skills. God's vision is based on using us beyond our capacity.
- Human vision is based on accomplishing the most appealing dream. God's vision challenges us to accomplish an impossible or improbable dream.
- Human vision is often based on what brings us delight. God's vision is a reflection of what brings Him delight.
- Human vision is dangerous because it inflates our ego. God's vision is dangerous because it demonstrates His power at work within us - and our complete inadequacy.
- Human vision drives us to push ourselves to the limit. God's vision drives us to our knees in submission, humility, and obedience.
- Human vision represents a commitment we develop and pursue until we tire of the battle. God's vision becomes an obsession we embrace until He enables us to fulfill it or He brings us home.
- Human vision reflects our cultural obsessions: size, speed, status, and success. God's vision reflects biblical obsessions: people, holiness, love, and transformation.
What about your vision or dream? Is it yours, or God's?
Even though I like sports, I have the distinction of being the third true "fan" in our family of three still at home. My wife is a bigger sports fan (especially pro and college football) than either my son or me. My son has a wider base of sports interest and knowledge, and I bring up the rear.
So it was with great anticipation that we watched the first two days of the recent NFL draft in its entirety, and checked in throughout the third day. Being Carolina Panther fans, and living through the ups and downs of recent seasons, we wondered which way the Panther's organization would go.
As the entire first round went by, and 15 selections in the second, the improbable suddenly became possible. Jimmy Clausen, the highly rated quarterback from Notre Dame, was still available. Having recently released our quaterback from the last few years, and wanting to have a backup (and potential starter) in place quickly, the Panthers chose Clausen. Most fans were excited about the choice, and it seemed a solid decision for the immediate and longer-term future of the team. All the scouting, combine results, and just plain luck fell into place and allowed the team to draft a highly talented player for a critical spot.
What if church organizations had to "draft" their leadership?
... or discovering the talent within your own organization?
That's the question that Chip and Dan Heath explore in the May issue of Fast Company.
The business world is oten obsessed with "talent" - hiring it, retaining it, rewarding it. People are pursued to come and work at a certain place, with high expectations of immediate success. If you move from one place to another, the high level of performance should stay the same.
Not really.
The Heaths discuss a new book by Harvard Business School professor Boris Groysberg - "Chasing Stars - the Myth of Talent and the Portability of Performance." By tracking a group of professionals known for the portabilty of their talent - Wall Street research analysts - Groysberg demonstrated that the top analysts who switched firms paid a steep price for the move. Their job performance fell off sharply and continued to suffer for at least five years after the move.
Based on this study, talent is not perfectly portable. Yet how often do we expect to "hire" a rock star or gunslinger to come in and make everything great from day one?
There are certainly different levels of talent in individuals, and we should recognize that. But what if there were a way to take control of increasing the talent in your organiztion?
How about growing it from within?
What if the next great talent you are looking for is already in your organization, waiting to be discovered, nurtured, challenged, and encouraged. Could that be the answer?
Creating leaders by developing them from within is a worthy goal for your organization. What steps will you take today to create a culture that actively grooms leaders internally, and moves them into areas of greater performance and responsibility?
Today I am taking part in the National Church Purchasing Group's "Great Adventure Road Show." The NCPG is hosting the event in 19 cities across the country, bringing tons of great information to churches and their leaders.
Charlotte is their third stop, and the event is being held at Huntersville UMC, one of our recent projects. I will be manning the JH Batten exhibit and making a presentation during one of the breakout sessions.
My assigned topic - "Creating Leaders" - is part of an ongoing leadership development series that I am continually updating. Last year, I wrote a series of posts that I will be referring to today at the session. Take a look here to start the 5 day series.
I close with this visual to remind us of potential leaders:
Alan Webber, cofounder of Wired magazine and former editor at Harvard Business Review, published a great book last year: "Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self." Since this week's posts are about leadership, here is Webber's Rule # 41:
If you want to be a real leader, get real about leadership.
Leadership isn't attached to any single job title. It doesn't come with a diploma, a degree, or a program. Leadership is a way of thinking and acting, a way of being and doing.
If you want to get real about leadership, you can boil it down to four things:
- How leaders are - confident and modest, authentic, and good listeners
- What leaders do - attract and grow talent, lead by example, and challenge others to do their best
- How leaders act - give others guidance, not answers
- What leaders leave behind them - passion, a great team, and most importantly, more leaders
How are you doing at the real work of leadership?
Ask yourself daily:
What did I specifically do today to be "of service" to members of my group or team? Was I truly a "servant" to them?
Robert Greenleaf, writing in the classic "Servant Leadership" challenges leaders to be servants. To help leaders understand the concept, he had two "exam" questions that leaders should ask concerning the people on their teams:
- Do those served grow as persons?
- Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?
Tom Peters translates these questions as follows:
- Leaders exists to serve their people. Period.
- A team well served by its leader will be inclined to pursue Excellence.
Use the word "Serve." (That's what you do.)
Use the word "Service." (That's what you provide.)
Use the word "Servant." (That's what you are.)
