Do your leadership skills need a tune-up?

Everyone, meet Watson.  Watson, meet everyone.

Watson is what we affectionately call our Honda Element.  (Element… elementary… Watson).  It’s a great car that has served us well.  Recently we had to get the brakes redone and transmission flushed, but that’s all part of owning a piece of machinery like this.

It’s like my Dad would say… if you want something to last, you have to take care of it.  If we want Watson to be ready when we need him, we’ve got to take care of him.

See where this is going?  If we want our employees to last and be ready when we need them… I’ll let you finish that statement.

In all cases, this takes people who are qualified to perform the work. For Watson, that’s a mechanic.  For your employees, that’s YOU!

Do you FEEL qualified?  Most newly promoted leaders don’t, but they also don’t know what steps to take to remedy the situation. (Don’t feel bad, in many cases your manager doesn’t know how to fix it, either.)

Here are some things to think about (and talk to your manager about!):

• Are you actually qualified?  Mechanics (the good ones) take classes and attend update and recurring trainings to keep their skills sharp.  What books, classes or seminars can you experience to hone your skills?  Is there someone you know that you can seek out as a mentor or coach?
• Do you have the right tools?  A hammer won’t do you any good if you need a wrench.  What tools (skills, abilities) do you need in your tool box to effectively lead your teams?  (Look at the things you dislike to do the most – that’s a good starting point.)
• How well do you use your time? When I first called the mechanic, they said they couldn’t get Watson in for another 3 days.  Do you have a good handle on how you spend your time, where it goes and how to maximize your efficiency within the time you have?
• Are you a good problem solver?  When I first brought Watson in, I explained what the brakes were doing (according to me).  The mechanic then had to look at all of the surrounding factors and circumstances to determine the right solution. Are you able to identify the needs of your employees so you can provide them with what they need?  If not, what tools or skills do you need to be able to do that?

Leaders (the good ones) are constantly looking at ways to get better at their craft, and that means seeking out opportunities learn, grow, and be better at your job than you were yesterday. Some of your skills might be right where they need to be, others may need some attention, and that’s okay.

Cars keep changing, so mechanics have to continue learning just to keep up.  Your job as a leader ain’t that different.

Thanks for reading!

About the author: Over the last few months, I’ve taken my desire to Help Leaders Lead to the next level.  Along with my book about employee engagement and burnout, I also now offer professional coaching services and self-directed leadership development courses.  Oh, and don’t forget the FREE eBook I’m giving away on my homepage!

Those pesky employees

If I were to ask you, “What is the #1 challenge you face with employees?”, how many of you would list one or more of the things below?

Well, that’s exactly what I did at my expo booth at the Florida Attractions Association conference in June.  I wanted to know what people were struggling with in terms of employee behavior and performance.  It was interesting because some people grabbed a marker right away and added their thoughts to the list, while others needed time to ponder the question for a bit.  Either way, it was fascinating to hear their perspectives.

Of course me being me, I had to ask where they thought these behaviors came from.  Some offered a quizzical look and said, “I just don’t know”.  Others sheepishly said, “well, if I’m being honest, it probably stems from something I did… or didn’t do.”

I would tend to agree that a lot of these can relate back to the environment created by the leader and the example they are setting.  That said, that might not be the entire story.

To dig a little deeper, we have to ask the question that we seem to get asked a lot… why?

• Why won’t your employees do paperwork?
• Why don’t your employees have passion for the job?
• Why is product quality lacking?
• You get the idea…

But you can’t stop there.  You may ask, “Why don’t employees do paperwork?”  There could literally be dozens of reasons:

• They don’t know how.
• They don’t have time.
• They don’t understand its importance.
• And so on…

From here, you then have to ask “WHY” again, and for each possible answer.

• Why don’t they know how?
• Why don’t they have time?
• Why don’t they understand the importance?

Let’s tackle one of these… we’ve discovered that they actually DO know how, but say they don’t have time.  Okay.

• Why don’t they have time? For grins and giggles, we’ll say this person is a tour guide at your facility.  They are currently scheduled for 6 hour shifts, with their first tour starting 30 minutes after they clock in, and their last tour usually ending 15 minutes before the end of their shift.  They do three 1.5 hour tours a day, which means they are on tour 4.5 hours out of their 6 hour shift.  They need time to rest in between, eat and prep for the next tour.  Traditionally, the paperwork has been done at the end of the shift.  Your tour guides are saying that 15 minutes (when they are tired from 3 tours) is not enough time to get the paperwork done.

If you then ask “why is that not enough time to get the paperwork done?”, that leads to… “how long does the paperwork really take?”  You realize that to be done correctly, to summarize and close out all three tours, it takes about 30 minutes.

So no, the 15 minutes at the end of the day are not enough.

So we go back to why…

• Why is the paperwork done at the end of the shift?”  Because that’s when it’s always been done….  (hopefully you see the opportunity here!)
• Why can’t the paperwork be done in chunks, closing out the tours as you go?  That way you are only taking 10 minutes at the end of each tour, and at the end of the shift they should have time to do the last one and get out on time.

So that’s one possible solution to one possible cause of the problem. You give that a try and see if it works.  Are your employees now doing their paperwork on a more regular basis?  If so, great! If not, back to the drawing board to try something else.

And if you do find that something you did (or didn’t do) caused these situations, take that as good news.  If you were part of the problem, you know where to look to find the solution.

Thanks for reading!

About the author – After 20+ years in hospitality leadership and human resources, Matt Heller founded Performance Optimist Consulting in 2011 with one simple goal: Help Leaders Lead. Matt now works with attractions large and small and leaders at all levels to help them improve leadership competencies, customer service, employee motivation and teamwork. His book, “The Myth of Employee Burnout” was released in 2013 and has become a go-to resource among industry leaders.

They can smell fake

While waiting for a recent flight, I had the pleasure of speaking to a gentleman named Dustin.  He is a 6th grade teacher in Florida and I could tell that Dustin is a guy who loves his job, enjoys helping and teaching kids and truly wants to make a difference in the lives and futures of those around him.

At one point, the conversation turned to those teachers who didn’t display the same attitude, and how they seemed to complain a lot and generally blamed the kids, the administration, and the parents for their bad experience (and attitude) as teachers.

Dustin then went on to talk about how this impacts the students.

“The kids can tell.  They don’t respond well to people who don’t seem to care.  They can smell fake.”

My first thought was, “like a dog can smell fear”?

“Sort of”, Dustin said.  “They can tell when someone isn’t genuine, and they react to that with their behavior toward the teachers and fellow students, and you can even see in their grades.”

My second thought was, 6th graders aren’t the only ones who can smell fake.  Our employees are pretty good at it, too.

Which brings me to this: leaders are like teachers.  It’s a TOUGH gig to fake.  I think fewer people are successful at “faking it until they make it” than they care to admit.

But there are plenty of people in leadership roles who, for one reason or another, have no business being there.  The process that put them there is another blog for another time.  I would rather focus on identifying the fakes and finding a different path for their talents.

And by the way, I don’t necessarily fault the fakes (yet).  Again, the system that put them there might have been broken, or they may have thought it was the right move at the time.  It’s those that have identified that they are faking their way through that need a swift kick in the pants.

Here is what I have seen fake, ingenuous, I’d-rather-be-somewhere-else type of leaders do that impact their credibility, trustworthiness and ability to be respected.

• Inconsistent behavior – The ol’ Jekyll and Hyde.  “I wonder who is showing up today?” is a common question from employees.  Employees find it hard to trust people when they don’t know what the reaction will be if they ask a question or make a suggestion.
• Haphazard policy enforcement – probably comes from the inconsistent behavior above, but what does it say when a leader decides to enforce a policy, rule or deadline one day, but the next day completely ignores it? Hard to know where you stand.
• Poor communication – In my experience, I attribute 99% of all leadership issues to communication… lack of, too much, or incomplete.  When your heart and mind really aren’t in the game, it’s tough to muster the energy and patience needed to listen, convey the proper message and listen some more.

If this sounds like you, please gather your belongings and head for the exit.  Do not pass go, do not collect $200.  You are not doing yourself or your employees any favors by being fake and inconsistent.  Should you quit without another job to go to?  That’s up to you and your bank account, but PLEASE start looking for something that will truly align with your strengths and interests.

If you don’t do it for yourself, do it for your employees.  They deserve a leader who will openly communicate and LEAD them to greatness – not fake their way to mediocrity.

Thanks for reading!

About the author: In just a few weeks, Matt and his coaster nerd buddies will be embarking on their annual coaster extravaganza! This year they’ll be in California, visiting Disneyland, California Adventure, Knott’s Berry Farm, Universal Studios Hollywood and Six Flags Magic Mountain.  Blog, Twitter and Facebook posts to follow!

Maybe I didn’t exist?

NOTE: This is Part 2 of a series of posts inspired by 40 very active hours of travel on  March 13-14, 2015.  There will be at least 2 more entries in this series.  For Part 1 “I don’t care about $2, click here.

---

So I made it through security after interacting with Erin, and was heading to my gate.  Being a little parched, I stopped at the Ruby Tuesday quick serve location to get a bottled water.

This is one of those outcropping locations that are connected to the larger restaurant so us travelers can grab a quick bite OR be drawn into the larger establishment for heartier fare.  Just a bottle of water for me, thanks.

As a I approached, I saw the cashier, Aleshia, of the outcrop talking across a wall behind her to an employee from the restaurant proper.  To Aleshia’s credit, she stopped “talking” to him when I came up.  But, she also didn’t actually talk to me.  The dude behind her had asked her a question about vacation time, and she sort of stared at me blankly while processing the sale.  It was as if something else was on her mind…

As it turns out, there was.  As soon I was handed my receipt, she answered the dude’s question as if he had just asked it.  As if the time I just spent giving them money did not exist.  Maybe I didn’t exist?

I have to give slight, and I mean slight props to Aleshia for not answering the dude during my transaction. But I think I would also have to take those props away because clearly her mind was not on the transaction or the sale… it was on remembering what the dude said so she could respond as soon as I stopped bothering her.

If Aleshia gets some props in this situation (even though they are later rescinded), the dude gets negative props, demerits, and bizarro world-kudos.  His behavior should be appalling to any leader of a hospitality or service-oriented company.  He was distracting another employee from doing her job while also very likely neglecting his own duties.  A true over-achiever.

Like Erin though, I can’t say I completely blame Aleshia or the dude.  They get some blame of course because they chose their own actions, but my question is who is allowing this to happen.  This CAN’T be the first time a conversation was held over that wall, and probably not the first of it’s kind between the dude and Aleshia.  So who is there to keep these folks in line?

One of the topics I was speaking about on this trip was visible leadership. The importance of visible leadership was reinforced last year on my annual roller coaster-palooza trip last year, where the locations with the best guest service also had leaders that were out and about and visible… oh, and doing the right things.  Imagine… great guest service and great leadership being tied together??  Who would have thunk it?

Turns out, a lot of people should be thinking it.  You cannot have great service without a great leadership team who is visible, engaged, and has the skills to communicate and inspire their teams.  Leadership and guest service go together like peanut butter and jelly… Batman and Robin… Zan and Jayna… Lewis and Clark… Calvin and Hobbs… Ben and Jerry.

Where would Ben and Jerry be if there was no Ben or no Jerry?  (If you are a fan of their ice cream, you probably don’t even want to fathom the thought.)

And where would service be without great leadership?  The Ruby Tuesday outcrop shop at the Orlando International Airport.

Don’t let that be you.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

About the author: Matt spent a lot of time as a kid watching the Super Friends (which explains the Zan and Jayna and bizarro world references). When Matt is asked about his favorite super friend or super hero, the answer is always the same.  “It’s Superman, because he can fly.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nick proves your argument is invalid

Last week I posted this tweet after a wonderful experience with an employee at my local Apple store.

While sending this tweet satisfied my desire to provide immediate and public praise for an amazing customer care experience, I don’t think it did Nick’s performance justice. For his efforts that day (and I am going to guess everyday) he deserves much more than 140 characters.

Here’s the situation… my 4 year-old Mac was having issues.  I had visited the Genius Bar (in-person Apple support) before and had a good experience with the “genius”, but ultimately we couldn’t pinpoint the problem.  When I left that day, the next step (after trying a few things at home) was potentially going to be wiping my hard drive clean and starting over.

I came to terms with this, backed up every last PowerPoint, spreadsheet and email, and trotted off to the Apple Store in the Altamonte Mall.

When I arrived, I took a seat at the Genius Bar, and was quickly greeted by Nick.  He looked me right in the eye, shook my hand, introduced himself and told me he was going to take care of me.

I’m terrible at judging age, but I would guess that Nick is in his early-to-mid twenties.  I was happy for that, because while I don’t like to stereotype, I felt much more comfortable with someone like Nick working on the problem than I would have been if it were someone more like… me. (i.e Old)

Nick went to work, troubleshooting and explaining things along the way.  He made me feel comfortable enough to ask questions, and patiently answered all of them as if it were the first time he heard it.  Nick moved around the computer and keyboard with ease and speed, never stopping his motion or his thoughts about what to try next.

When he started a diagnostic program that was going to take up to 10 minutes, he asked if it would be okay if he got started with another customer.  He assured me he would be back to finish up, and I no reason not to trust him.

The next 30 minutes saw more diagnostics on my computer, and more time for Nick to help others.  Here’s where it gets good.  Nick was now helping three people, myself and a person to both my right and left.  Normally, this would make many service providers cry for help.  But not Nick.

He would start a process on one computer, have to hold a key down, then shift his body to the other computer, start a process there, explain what he was doing, answer a question, start another diagnostic, etc. This went on and on.  It was like he was three people. It was really a beautiful process to watch.

Much like a symphony conductor, Nick navigated his way through an abundance of situations, guiding us and the computers along with him, ultimately to a successful resolution (at least in my case – I left before the other two were finished).

Once my computer was fixed, we high-fived and Nick wished me a good day and a Happy Thanksgiving.  He was then on to helping the next person…

So what argument does Nick invalidate? The one we make when we say “we can’t find good employees”, “these kids have no work ethic”, “they would rather text than have a face to face conversation”.

Is Nick the norm? Maybe not, but he provides hope that rock stars are out there. But unfortunately, hope won’t help you hire the right people. Hope won’t help you train them properly, and hope won’t teach them to have a good work ethic.

That falls to you and your staff, and if a little tough love is what you need to see what it takes to develop the Nicks in your world, then so be it.

And here it comes.

Stop wasting your energy on what used to be and start figuring out how to deal with the here and now. Your products and services have probably changed to meet customer demand, so why wouldn’t your internal processes change to meet the changing needs of your employees? You may need to look into technology solutions, consider more people resources, or turn your onboarding/training/employee relations process on its head. Can’t pay a lot?  Okay, what other ways can you show your staff how valuable they are? (hint, a thank you goes a LONG way).

If what you are doing now isn’t working, don’t blame your employees… they aren’t the ones who came up with the system that is now obsolete.

Like many of the problems we face, we probably know what needs to be done, but something (most likely our ego or assumptions) is getting in the way.  Could you have a Nick on your team?  Yes!  Could you have a whole team of Nicks? Absolutely, but not if you continue to argue that it’s not possible.

So there, your argument for not having a team of rock stars is invalid.  Now, stop invalidating your team by not putting forth the effort, energy and resources needed to foster a rock star employee experience.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

About the author: Matt is not too fond of going to the dentist, but recognizes that DIY dental work is a really bad idea.  If you see that your people processes are broken, but don’t know what to do, don’t go it alone.  Matt can help. Click here to find out how.

IAAPA Question – What I should have said…

This past week during the IAAPA Expo, I had the pleasure of teaching the Human Resources and Leadership portion of the Institute for Attractions Managers course. At the end of the session, I was asked the following question by one of the participants:

“You mentioned that we need to address issues when we see them.  How do you do that without sounding like a broken record?”

It was a great question, and as I think about the answer I gave, I don’t think I gave as complete of an answer as I should have.  I’d like to fix that.

My original answer (given within the context of guest service behaviors) was that “sometimes people need to find their own groove, and that if they are still within your standards and guidelines, letting them learn at their own pace might be okay.”

I still stand behind that, but I also think there are more factors to consider.  For example:

If this is a safety issue, don’t worry about what you sound like.  Your job is to make sure your employees and guests are safe.  Correct and/or guide as much as you need to.

If your employees are violating standards of conduct (i.e. having their cell phone when they shouldn’t, not adhering to grooming guidelines, etc.), then again you need to be relentless with enforcing your standards.

I think it’s also important to ask ourselves some questions, starting with WHY isn’t this employee adhering to the policy in the first place?

A few of these could be the culprit:

• They don’t think it’s important
• They don’t understand how to do it
• They don’t see how they impact it
• Others around them aren’t doing it

Similarly, we have to ask; WHY don’t they correct their behavior when we tell them?

• They still don’t think it’s important
• They still don’t understand how to do it
• They still don’t see how they impact it
• Others around them still aren’t doing it
• They don’t respect the person asking them to change their behavior
• There is no consequence for their behavior

If they are not understanding the concept or haven’t bought into it, we may need to look at how we are communicating the information.  If others aren’t doing it or there is no consequence for not doing it, that comes down to holding people accountable – showing them that things will change if they continue on the current path (and it’s very possible they won’t like the change!).

There. That’s better. That’s a more complete answer to the question.  So then what?

If you feel like you are starting to sound like a broken record, look at how that record got broken. It could be a lazy employee, but more likely it comes down to our communication and our ability to hold people accountable to our standards.

We could be the problem, but that also means we are the solution.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

About the author:  Matt loves helping leaders find out what they can do to improve their own performance or the performance of their teams. He offers free consultation to see what direction to take, or to find out why you might be feeling like a broken record!  Contact him here to schedule a free 30 minute call.

The guests don’t care

Some of you may have seen an incomplete post that was activated too soon.  My apologies.  Full post is below.

---

How many times have we heard or said this:

“The guests don’t care if you are having a bad day.  They just want to be served, accommodated, helped or entertained, no matter how you feel.”

I know I’ve said it many times in the past, but I’m starting to rethink it. Deep down, does that attitude make us actually care less about our guests?  Take this out of the service environment, don’t you generally care when another human being is suffering in some way?  What makes the service context so different?  Aren’t we just humans helping humans? Does this mindset breed animosity instead of motivate people to smile no matter what? Along with “the customer is always right”, I am starting to believe it might be time to retire this type of thinking.

By essentially saying, “smile no matter what”, we are encouraging people to be fake. Have you ever seen someone smile who didn’t mean it?  Sure you have, and it’s not pretty.

For those who have been reading this blog for a while, you hopefully know that by saying all this I am not suggesting that we allow sour-puss faces on our employees.  Nay, nay.  What I AM saying is that we may have to look differently at what it takes to make our employees smile.

Communication, support, feedback, a sense of value, purpose, training, communication, innovation, autonomy, communication…

All that takes MUCH longer to master than a blind adherence to: leave your problems at the door.

The Leader

There is a fascinating contradiction to be explored here… because while I believe and stand behind everything I just wrote, I also believe this:

As a leader, you give up your right to have a bad day.

But that’s not fair! An employee gets to have a bad day but a leader doesn’t?

Yes.  By taking a leadership role, you agree to give up certain things and you agree to take on certain things.

• You agree to be a role model, a teacher, a guide, a coach, and a listener.
• You give up your old peer group for a new one.
• You take on the responsibility for the productivity of your area to support the company goals.
• You give up the right to complain about problems because…
• You are now responsible for the solutions.
• And yes, you give up the right to have a bad day.

Remember that a leader goes first.  A leader sets the tone.  A leader is the one that other people are watching.  THAT’S why things are different for you.  And that’s why you need to care about your employees so they will care about the guests – no matter what we think they may be thinking about us.

Think about that! :o)

 

 

 

About the author: Matt has been thinking a lot about guest service and leadership, especially as the IAAPA Attractions Expo draws near!  If you will be at the Expo, be sure to check out all of the education sessions! If you want to hear more about Matt’s philosophies and strategies around leadership, check out these sessions at the Expo:

• Understanding the Employee Lifecycle – Your Year-Round Guide to Retention and Motivation
• Sink or Swim: Leading the Frontline

Epic recognition fail

Please tell me I didn’t just see that.

Yesterday I was at a local office store, waiting to pick something up from the copy/print center.  Behind the counter, two employees, Dustin and Tina, where feverishly working to complete the orders of the people in line in front of me.

I had worked with Tina before, and she is a true rock star.  Any business would be happy to employ her. She’s knowledgeable, friendly, efficient, and just a pleasure to work with.  Maybe that’s why this recognition fail was so profound to me.  Tina deserves SO much better.

Tina had come up to the computer at the front counter.  She was working on something for one of the other customers. You could tell by the look on her face that she was deep in thought and concentration.

At that moment, a young man in Manager-type clothes walks up to Tina with a piece of paper.  He starts talking to her with little regard for the work she was already doing. I was standing pretty close, so it was pretty easy to hear what was being said.

Manager – “Have you seen this?” (showing the paper to Tina)

Tina – (while still trying to work) “no, what is it?”

Manager – “You were mentioned personally on the President’s list.”

Tina – (1/2 looking at the paper, 1/2 looking at the computer screen) “Oh, uh, okay.”

Manager – (as he walks away) “You can keep that one, I’ve got another one for the break room.”

Do you feel that knot in your stomach?  That’s a completely wasted recognition opportunity.  Kinda makes me sick even to think about it.

Even more so, as I observed Tina just after that, she looked confused and a little annoyed.  Last time I checked, those were NOT the emotions people should feel when they’ve been recognized.

Then again, I cannot really qualify this as recognition. At best, it was a drive-by-manager-doing-his-duty.  I don’t know what the “President’s List” is, but I bet the recipient deserves better than a photo copy and an interruption.

Probably the hardest part for me to fathom, was the look on the Manager’s face as he walked away – the look of total managerial satisfaction. Yes, it does feel good to recognize others and to praise their accomplishments, but he did neither.

He failed.

But he doesn’t know he failed, at least not yet.  My guess is that it will be years before he has the managerial maturity to know that what he just did was about as far from effective recognition as you can get.  Even if Tina’s performance fades or she leaves, he probably won’t equate that to his actions.  And that’s too bad.

So what would you have done differently?  If you were this manager, how would you have recognized Tina for appearing on the President’s List?  Email me or leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!

About the author: Along with his business partner, Scott Brown, Matt has helped develop and launch Lessons In Fun – an all-new business training seminar where the world’s greatest theme parks become your classroom. Click here for more information. Registration for our session in Feb. 2015 is now open!

Everyone gets a trophy and the customer is always right

These concepts might seem light-years apart, but it occurred to me the other day that they actually came from the same thought process.

And while that thought process had some good intentions, it’s the execution that muddled things up.

“The customer is always right”, I believe, was intended to communicate how important it is to take care of a customer’s needs, not that they could never be wrong.  The execution, though, in many places is that the customer never IS wrong, creating an environment where the customer is coddled and catered to no matter how they act or how wrong they are.

To me, that’s wrong.  It teaches (and has taught) many people to take advantage of service providers, to scream and yell to try to get what they want, to belittle and insult those who don’t give in to their demands.

For many years I have subscribed to a different point of view: The customer may not always be right, but they DO need to be treated with respect.

This way, we take care of the customer without tipping the scales of decency, right/wrong and consistency.  It’s such a slippery slope when we bend over backwards to appease one when the only reason we are doing so is because they made lots of noise.

Now let’s look it’s not-so-distant-cousin: Everyone gets a trophy.

Again, the impetus of this was to be sure people understood how their efforts contributed to the teams’ success.  The problem, again, is in the execution.

Instead of saying to an individual, this is what you did and how it impacted others, we blindly blanket the accomplishment so everyone gets the same thing.  I’ve written before about how treating everyone the same is NOT ACTUALLY FAIR, and this is a perfect example.  We’ve over-elevated the weaker players and diminished the “outstandingness” of the great players all at the same time.  Not so well played.

So how are these two related, you ask?  Because they are blanket concepts that do not allow for individual thought or expression.  “The customer is always right” doesn’t allow us the latitude to surmise that maybe they aren’t right, and “everyone gets a trophy” prevents us from providing individual recognition to those who need it, in a way that is meaningful to them.

And the more that I think about these two concepts, the more I am convinced that they are two of the worst things to happen to modern leadership.  But the thing to keep in mind was that they started out as ideas with some merit, but wound up producing results that were less than favorable.

My question to you is… what processes or policies have YOU implemented that didn’t turn out the way you planned?  Next question… what could have done differently to ensure a better outcome?

Last question: did you recognize things were going south and have the intestinal fortitude to stop it before it became a massive quagmire?

Quagmires are hard to reverse.  Best to catch these things early.

Thanks for reading.

 About the author: When Matt was growing up, he LOVED playing football. The muddier the field, the better. One season, his team didn’t win a game.  Not one game. They tried and they practiced and they came close a couple of times, but in the end they came up short in every game. They didn’t get a trophy for showing up, they got speeches about trying harder and working hard for success. Trophies collect dust. Inspiration creates champions, even if the scoreboard doesn’t agree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To appreciate people, you have to appreciate people

After my recent epic roller coaster-palooza trip, I noted in my recap that one thing I noticed was that the places with the best guest service also had leaders who were out-and-about  and visible to guests and employees.

One more roller coaster picture because… why not??

While I’ll expound on that in the future, it also occurred to me that just being visible isn’t always a good thing.  If you are a jerk, maybe it’s best that people DON’T see you.

What got me thinking about this was looking back at some of the blogs and articles I’ve read about leadership best practices.  Many of them contain very good advice about recognizing the positive in people and showing appreciation for their contributions.  They may even say, “be visible to your employees!”  But if you are a jerky-jerk, that might back-fire.

What these articles fail to include (and I am probably guilty of this as well) is not mentioning one of the most important, foundational, critical and experience-influencing characteristics of all.

In order to show appreciation for people, you have to genuinely appreciate them and the work they do.

And sadly, that’s not always the case.

We can all tell the difference between sincere recognition and somewhat positive words being thrown at us by someone who thinks that’s what they are supposed to do.  The delivery is different, the tone is different, and the impact is different.

To appreciate simply means: to be grateful or thankful for, or to value or regard highly. 

Let’s see which of these sound more like you… how you view employees:

Leader A

• Glad they are part of the team
• Welcome their ideas and contributions
• Interested in their development and growth

Leader B

• A drain on your energy and time
• Necessary evil
• No-good slackers

I would love it if my Leader B descriptions were a little far-fetched, but experience tells me otherwise.  If that sounds like you, call me.  Seriously.  407-435-8084.  It’s very possible that you are the leader employees DON’T want to see.

If you related more with Leader A – WONDERFUL!  You probably already appreciate, recognize and value your employees. If you aren’t doing it, but you THINK it, it’s time to put those thoughts into action!

Like so many things, our actions are nothing more than the physical manifestations of our thoughts. You want to show GENUINE appreciation?  You’ve got to be genuinely appreciative.

Thanks for reading!

About the author:  Matt founded Performance Optimist Consulting in 2011 with one goal in mind: to help leaders get the most out of themselves and their teams.  He does this through speaking engagements, training workshops and one-on-one coaching.  His book, the Myth of Employee Burnout outlines why some employees start off strong but eventually fizzle out. It has been called a “great resource” and “an eye-opener”.