This post is the fourth in a series devoted to creating an inspired workforce. I will share additional posts over the coming weeks to support leaders, managers, and supervisors in this effort. In summary, the first three steps are to 1.) discover the total job role, which consists of both
I recently received a delivery of a weightlifting system by a local fitness equipment company. I met the delivery truck in my driveway and gave the foreman a quick orientation about the best door to use, location of the weight room containing the old universal weight machine that required dismantling
I recently developed a learning activity for a client who wanted his team of 60 commercial property managers to recognize the influence that biases, preconceived notions, and assumptions had on the quality of their tenant interactions. My client was motivated by the recurring conflict that arose whenever property managers had
This evening I received the following question on LinkedIn and thought I’d address it here as well: Question: Given that experts say employees should smile, treat customers politely, and show enthusiasm, how do you suggest dealing with employees who are affected by personal problems at work? This is an important
During a recent interview, I received this question: How do you handle customers who, once they’ve been “delighted,” now expect that level of service and even feel entitled to it? To me, the best illustration of this dynamic is frequent flyers. When airline customers first join a frequent flyer program,
From time to time, seminar participants ask me, “What’s the best way to deal with difficult customers?” My standard answer is: “They’re only difficult if you’ve labeled them that way.” I prefer the adjective “discriminating” in place of “difficult.” Consider the definitions of each: Discriminating: discerning; noting differences or distinctions;
The week before Christmas, I brought my car in for maintenance. The dealership offers both a waiting area as well as a shuttle service to take you to local destinations while your vehicle is being serviced. While leaving my keys with the service department, I inquired about the shuttle driver
If you studied management anywhere along your journey, then you may recall the seminal Harvard Business Review article by Sterling Livingston titled Pygmalion in Management. Essentially, the article dealt with the self-fulfilling prophecy (or Pygmalion effect from Greek mythology) in management—a supervisor’s expectation of a subordinate’s performance that directly or
Our clothes dryer stopped working late last week and the part I ordered from GE was not scheduled to arrive until Monday. Having four kids, a functional dryer over the weekend is a must! So we washed our clothes and, afterward, brought them to a neighbor’s house to dry in
Proudly sharing Steve’s vision of delighting customers: Digital Opera
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