Walk The Talk #2

WALK THE TALK #2The human spirit is nurtured by praise, as much as a seedling is nurtured by the soil, the water and the sun.-- Mario FernandezThe purpose of life is a life of purpose.-- Ralph Waldo EmersonLife can be seen through your eyes, but it is not fully appreciated until it is seen through your heart.-- Mary XavierToday’s Topic:  Keep Your Commitments
Dependable. Reliable. Trustworthy. Do those words describe you? If asked, would your team members say that your word is “good as gold”? The answer to each of those questions needs to be a resounding “yes” if you are going to be the kind of leader that others will follow.

All successful leaders place a premium on keeping their promises and commitments. If they say they’ll do something  – whether “important” or seemingly insignificant – they remember it…and they DO it. They count on the fact that people can count on them. And they understand that statements like…
I was gonna,
I meant to,
I haven’t forgotten,
I’ll get to it soon…
all translate the same way: I JUST DIDN’T DO IT!

Those are excuses. They’re close to meaningless. Each time they’re uttered, they chip away the trust and confidence employees have for their management. And when those two factors are gone, so is your ability to lead.

The good news: With few exceptions, all leaders really do intend to keep “their word” and their promises. The bad news: Good intentions alone won’t take you very far. You get no “points” for them. Points come only when you deliver.

So don’t make promises lightly…don’t make ones you can’t (or really don’t intend) to keep…don’t mislead the people that ultimately will determine your success. And when you do make commitments, write them down, check them frequently, do whatever it takes to make good on them.  Earn the right to expect others to keep their word by keeping yours.
 You earn the right to expect recognition by giving it! It’s that simple. -- Eric Harvey I can live two months on one good compliment! -- Mark Twain  

There is only one boss–the Customer. And he can fire anybody in the

 

company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money

 

somewhere else. -- Sam Walton  

It’s not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money.

 

It’s the customer who pays the wages.-- Henry Ford  Today's Topic: What Business Are You In?

Ever stop to really think about what business you’re in? Ask most people, and they’ll say things like: manufacturing, sales, healthcare, banking, insurance, computer software, food service, hospitality, retail, etc., etc., etc. If that’s the kind of answer you’d give, you’d be only half right!

Here’s a one-question test: If all of your customers went away for good, would you still have a business…would you still have a job? Of course not! Well, that’s your clue to the more important half of what you do:
YOU’RE IN THE CUSTOMER SERVICE BUSINESS.
And that means you not only need to know the right way to fix cars, write programs, run equipment, or whatever, you also need to know the right way to serve customers. You need to know it, and more importantly, you need to practice it.

When you look at what most organizations say nowadays, it’s obvious that they recognize the importance of good customer service. It seems that everywhere you look you find businesses proudly touting statements and slogans like: “Customers come first,” “We’re here to serve,” and “We go the extra mile.” Sound familiar? Sure! And the irony is that while all this noble, well-intended talk is on the rise, it’s apparent that the quality of service, in general, is on a steady decline.

Businesses are losing customers every day because they aren’t walking the customer service talk…they aren’t treating customers the way they say they will. That needs to change. It needs to be turned around – 180 degrees. You, your organization, and your customers will greatly benefit if everyone learned how to walk the customer service talk
 

The game of business is very much like the game of tennis. Those who fail to

 

master the basics of serving well, usually lose.-- Unknown  

When did you last evaluate the tasks you do every day against what’s most

 

important to you?-- Sam Parker Never stop. One always stops as soon as something is about to happen.-- Peter Brook Excerpted from The Richest Man in Town:Chapter Titled The Source of Happiness:At times Marty made it sound too easy. On a visit to his home I heard him say, “People need to decide to be happy.” I pressed him. “What do you mean by that?”His face took on an incredulous look. “You have to ask me?”At that moment I felt a little foolish. Complex human problems, at least to me, often prevent people from being happy. To Marty it was a matter of common sense. I wondered, what was I missing?“C’mon, Marty,” I said, “do you really think people can actually decide to be happy?”“Who makes decisions for you?” Marty asked me. “All my life I’ve watched people waiting for someone else to make them happy. The way I got it figured, the only one who can make you happy is you.”As I considered his point, my mind began to wander. Strangely, I thought of an old “Peanuts” cartoon–the one in which Lucy asked Charlie Brown, “Why do you think we were put on earth?”Charlie Brown answered, “To make others happy.”“I don’t think I’m making anyone happy,” Lucy replied, “but nobody’s making me very happy either.” Then Lucy screamed out, “Somebody’s not doing his job!”I smiled at that moment, thinking Marty had something in common with Charles Schultz, the creator of the “Peanuts” cartoon. Both seemed to be saying that it was silly to expect other people to have such an influence over our lives. That was Marty’s lesson: Only you can make you happy.Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.-- George S. Patton

Many of life’s failures are men who did not realize how close they were to

success when they gave up.-- Thomas Edison

Today's Topic: Ask for Feedback

Two of the most important keys to job success are: 1) Keep doing the things you do well (your strengths), and 2) Correct the things you don’t do so well (your weaknesses) – a.k.a. “developmental opportunities.” And in order to do both of those, you need to know exactly what your strengths and weaknesses are. To be sure, you’ll want to periodically do a self-assessment on where you stand. But the best and most accurate information on your performance must come from others – from your boss, your coworkers, and your customers.

If you happen to work in an organization where feedback is frequently provided to you, great! You’re fortunate. Pay attention to what you hear and ACT on the information. If you’re like most folks, however, you’ll need more performance evaluation data than is given to you. That means you’ll have to ASK for it.

Make a habit of posing the How am I doing? question to someone at least once a month. Solicit information from your manager, a trusted coworker, or a customer you’re serving. To pinpoint specific areas to work in, try asking:
“What one or two things can I do to be more successful?”
“What can I do to serve you better in the future?”
You’ll be amazed at how many people will be more than willing to tell you what you need to hear. And when they do, be sure to thank them. They truly will have given you a gift.

Triumph often is nearest when defeat seems inescapable.-- B.C. Forbes

 The human mind is the last great, unexplored continent on earth.
-- Earl NightingaleWe become what we think about.-- Earl NightingaleExcerpted from The Strangest Secret:

Why do people with goals succeed in life…and people without them fail?

Well, let me tell you something that, if you really understand it, will alter your life immediately. If you understand completely what I’m going to tell you, from this moment on, your life will never be the same again. You’ll suddenly find that good luck just seems to be attracted to you. The things you want just seem to fall in line. And from now on you won’t have the problems, the worries, the gnawing lump of anxiety that perhaps you’ve experienced before. Doubt… fear… well, they’ll be things of the past.

Here is the key to success and the key to failure: We become what we think about. Now, let me repeat that. We become what we think about.

Throughout all history, the great wise men and teachers, philosophers, and prophets have disagreed with one another on many different things. It is only on this one point that they are in complete and unanimous agreement.

Consider what Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman Emperor, said: “A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it.”

Benjamin Disraeli said this: “Everything comes if a man will only wait. I have brought myself by long meditation to the conviction that a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it, and that nothing can resist a will that will stake even existence for its fulfillment.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson said this: “A man is what he thinks about all day long.”

Well, it’s pretty apparent, isn’t it? And every person who discovered this believed (for a while) that he was the first one to work it out. We become what we think about.

While we may never be completely free of all bias, we can work toward

 

communicating in bias-free ways.-- Leslie C. Aguilar

 

While we may never be completely free of all bias,


we can work toward communicating in bias-free ways.
-- Leslie C. Aguilar

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