The Stern Truth

I recently facilitated a Leadership Mastermind group.  I mentioned to the participants that in order for true growth we must step out of our comfort zone but only within our strength zone.  This was challenged by one of the members in the room. They asked if that means that if we have not tried something before and therefore not very good at it we should not step out of our comfort zone and try it?  I struggled with an answer. 

After reflecting on the meeting and the question the answer came to me.  It is absolutely okay to step out of your comfort zone and try something new that you may not be good at if the task that you want to try is within your strength zone. For example, I wasn’t the most seasoned public speaker but my strength zone is helping others get unstuck and have a more fullfilled life.  Part of this I do through public speaking.  Therefore I am stepping out of my comfort zone in order to public speak but it is within my strength zone.  I am growing by working on my public speaking skills.

Having said all of this, I thnk it is ok to try something new that is not in your comfort or strength zone but if you want real explosive type growth then stay with the areas that you are strong at. 

Today try stepping out of your comfort zone in an area of strength.  See how it goes and let me know if what I am saying is wrong.  Although this is the “Stern Truth”.

I recently took my family on a vacation to Palm Springs and Disneyland.  During our stay in Palm Springs we met one of the lifeguards named Jose.  Jose was not your ordinary life guard.  He was more like a Life Coach.  The reason I say this is that although he was only 19 or 20 at best he exempllified something lacking in most of us….gratitude.  Jose had gone above and beyond the call of duty in not only helping our kids feel comfortable in the pool area but also at a camp that the hotel had for kids.  When we thanked Jose for helping with our 2 children his response was  ”no thank you…if it wasn’t for people like yourselves coming here I wouldn’t have a job!”  I couldn’t believe my ears.  Did he really say this I asked myself?   After thinking about his comments for a while I realized that if more of us were like this and showed this kind of gratitude our lives and the world would be a better place.  Jose was simply thankful for his job.  He didn’t expect anything in return.  How cool is that?  In customer service we all need to be thankful for our customers.  When the phone rings it shouldn’t be an interuption of our day but an opportunity to show our gratitude for them calling.  If the phone never rings…where would we be?

Next time your phone rings at work or at home or someone says hello to you face to face, be enthusiastic and authentic.  Be grateful for the opportunity to make someone’s day better.

I attended my 7 year old daughters first ever soccer game yesterday.  Needless to say the team needs practice as they were beaten 9 -1.  The score was actually flattering because the other team tried to let up in being a good sport.  In competitive sports all too many times teams get a big lead and then get comfortable and sit back a bit.  They loose momentum and the opponent comes back and wins.

In business this too happens time after time.  Think about it… Haven’t you ever acquired a large client or contract or made a big sale and then felt a sense of success, relief, comfort?  We then stay in that comfort zone enjoying our own success while loosing our momentum.  We stop prospecting and marketing.  We stop networking.  We stop calling our customers.  We know that this is not intentional.  Just like in sports this is human nature. The key is to keep pushing for more. 

Another situation happens with many small business owners.  cially those who sell the product or service and then personally need to fulfill the order.  The more sales we secure the busier that we get.  The busier we get the less we have time to do the do the things that brought us the sales in the first place.  Then we fill the orders and look at our new sales guess what?  That’s right we have been so busy working on the filling or managing the sales orders that we are back to square one with very little new sales. 

Again like in sports we must keep pushing.  Don’t let up for any reason.  Ensure that you have the tools and if necessary the people in place to allow you and your company not to let up.  There are too many competitors out there that are willing to fill sales orders for you while you celebrate your recent success. 

Start making a plan right now to keep pushing.  When you find the success formula bottle it up and keep and keep using it.  Your success depends on it.

As I sit here enjoy my morning coffee I look back at the previous 7 years since my children were born.  Many things have changed since the birth of my daughter back in 2002.  Not only have she and her little brother grown and enriched the life of my wife and myself the world around us has changed.  The change actually began well before their birth but really took off in the past 5 years.  I am speaking of technology and more specifically Social Media. 

I may sound old but when I was growing up (in the 80`s) if we wanted to chat with our friends we would actually phone them, meet with them, play with them IN PERSON.  That is not the case now.  Now you simply login to Facebook and you can chat in real time, play games with them and share comments, stories, photos and videos.  Now all of this can be good especially if you are in a different city which may of us are these days.  But at times Social Media is abused.  Inappropriate comments are made for everyone to see.  Sometimes we all get lazy and rather than phone someone we IM them or Text them.

In business this is the same.  Sometimes as business people we do the same thing.  We get lazy and rather than phone our customers to see how they are or follow up on an order we simply email them.  Don`t get me wrong email and Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and even blogging like this can be a very useful tool.  As long as it is done properly and we don`t forget the personal approach.  Sometimes it is just best to talk with someone face to face or even over the phone.

After you ready this blog do yourself a favour.  Next time you were going to FB, IM, Email or Text someone….pickup the phone and call them.  Try it….it`s kind of fun…maybe a bit Retro for some of you but try it anyways…….let me know how it went!

I recently found out that the crossing guard at my kids shcool is retiring.  This is very sad news for all of us parents and kids and happy news at the same time.  You see this particular crossing guard is very special.  Why you ask….he smiles and says hello to everyone.  He reminds me of the guy in the movie “Bad News Bears Go to Japan”.  If you are old enough you probably remember it (or not).  The kids baseball team were off to a tournament in Japan.  They had no coach and the parents did not know this so they had the 70 year old greens keeper stand by the bus and simply smile and say “hello…goodbye” to all the parents.  You see he was to be the coach in the parents eyes.  They felt comfortable leaving there kids with him as he seemed friendly.  Yes he smiled and said hello and goodbye.  Sounds simple but many don’t bother to do either.

Now back to our crossing guard.  He has been with our school for 10 years and apparently worked the first 5 for “FREE”.  Wierd I know.  You see this particular happy person immigrated from Russia in 2000.  He is actually left a 38 year career as a Math Professor to come to Canada and be a crossing guard.  Not just a crossing guard but a friendly happy one. 

Now we all know how it is getting the kids ready for school right?  Some days just seem like they will never go the way you want them.  But then you get to the school and are greeted by this extremely happy and friendly guy who is responsible for your safety.  He smiles and says hello!  When you head back to your car again he smiles, waves and say “goodbye have a nice day!”  It does this to everyone.  Funny thing is when he says it to you it feels like you are the only person he says it to.  He really means it.  It comes from the heart.  He really loves what he does…that’s the secret.  Now how do we get our employees, our kids and most of all us to do the same.  You don’t have to love what you do to smile at people and say hello.  Next time you see a stranger or maybe even just another parent at your kids school or you walk into a business try this….smile and say hello!  See what happens to you day when you consistantly do this….

How much is a smile worth?  Yesterday I was having a fairly ordinary day.  I walked into my bank (TD Canada Trust) and my ordinary day was transformed into an extraordinary day.  Why you ask…because waiting for me at the service counter was 3 happy smiling bank customer service representatives.  Yes I said bank!  I know most of us rant over the service charges banks force upon us.  We feel like they don’t appreciate our business.  All they care about is the bottom line.  We I use to feel like that as well. That is why I left one Financial Institution and moved everything to TD!  Now I don’t work for TD please know that.  The only reason I am mentioning their name is that this is a real story that needs to be heard.  Credit Unions here in Canada apparently have the same happy smiling people.  This is wonderful. 

Back to my story.  Most people of the 50 and under generation prefer to use ATM machines for many transactions.  At times I do as well. But if I can I will go to see a human being at TD because “they get it”.  Wow did they ever.  They were all so happy and smiling.  I can’t remember a day that they weren’t.  They made me feel important, appreciated, valued.  Although I still get service charges out the you know what…the value they give back in their service…a simple smile and warm greeting…well that is added value.  You can say it in a mission statement or fancy tag line but if you don’t walk the talk (like most) then you look bad for it.  TD talks it and walks it. 

Today go back and simply smile to someone.  A customer, a coworker, friend, family member or a complete stranger.  Acknowledgment is completely under-rated.  We all want to feel acknowledged.  We all want to feel appreciated.  If each and every day all of us do that for someone else can you imaging how this world can be……

Early on in my business career I worked for a GM dealer as their Customer Relations Manager. Okay maybe it was a bit of a glorified title but my role was critically important to the business growth and success of this automobile dealership. Basically I was responsible for 2 areas.

· Handle all customer complaints
· Achieve 83% CSI.

Okay you are probably wondering what CSI is. Before we get into that lets discus the first area of responsibility. My role was basically to deal with disgruntled customers. This was usually from the service department. They would have an issue / complaint and be referred to me. My job was to first calm them down, gather all the details and then look into the situation. Hopefully I could then somehow turn an angry customer into a happy one. I was able to do this more times than not so I guess my job was needed… right? At that particular time (1984) the dealership unfortunately needed my position. I was the fireman, put out the fires. I did this everyday but without the red hat and fire truck. Too bad, it would have been cool to drive to work.

Read More