It’s the 4th of July, exercise your independence!

Happy 4th of July!

Today marks the celebration of our independence as a nation, punctuated by cookouts, parades, fireworks, and apple pie. And while it’s extremely important to remember the freedoms we have as a nation, it’s also important to realize the independence that you have as a human being and a leader.

Our forefathers knew that independence and freedom did not come easy, and today as I think about what it took to create a free nation, I also think about a phrase that is been running through my mind the past couple of years, and has really been guiding many of my professional decisions.

“It takes a bold move to make a bold move.”

It was certainly a bold move to come to this land and create a new country, and it also takes a bold move for you to exercise your independence as a leader.

One of the most important characteristics for a leader to develop is confidence. Confidence in your abilities, confidence in your decisions, and confidence that even if something feels difficult or uneasy, it’s still the right thing to do.

And sometimes, that means saying no.

I got the chance recently to work with Jody Kneupper, GM of Wet ‘n’ Wild SplashTown in Houston, Texas. It was great getting to know Jody and his employees, and helping them focus on outstanding customer service. But what led me to this post where the conversations I had with Jody over the few days that I got to spend in Houston.

We exchanged stories about growing up in the attractions industry, and I got to hear more about Jody’s experience and the path of his career. There were a number of decisions that Jody made that led him to where he is now that are probably diametrically opposed to conventional wisdom. They would certainly be considered bold, and ultimately they led to Jody being very happy in the position that he is in.

Jody told me that as he moved around the industry he had one major criteria that he would consider if a new opportunity presented itself, such as moving to a different part of the country and working at a different park. That criteria was, “if I got stuck here, would this be a position I would like to be in long-term?”

There were a few times in his career that the answer was actually no. This allowed him to NOT take positions that ultimately would not have made him happy.

Would these positions have been possible career builders and opportunities to climb the corporate ladder? Absolutely! But for Jody, he knew that these positions just where not right for him at the time, and he had the criteria to back up his decision. This led to him having the confidence to know that it was okay to say no to these opportunities.

So, was it bold to say no to these opportunities? Yes!

Did it take confidence to know that this independent thought was going to lead to better things in the end? Yes!

So thinking about your life or your role as a leader, what sort of bold move or independent thinking have you been considering lately? And by independent thinking I don’t mean starting a new nation, however, doing the things that great leaders do can sometimes feel like that kind of burden.

If there are things that you’re holding back from doing, ask yourself the question why?

• Do you think you’re going to get in trouble?
• Do you think someone is not going to like your decision?
• Do you think that ultimately it will hurt you down the road?

While these are all valid feelings, they can often create a level of fear that stops us from making a bold move which stops us from being the independent leader that we know we can be.

So today, on Independence Day, think not only about the independence of our great nation, but think about the independence that you have as an individual and as a leader, and what you can do exercise that independence, ultimately to make your life, family, or job better.

Thanks for reading!

About the author: In addition to being a highly sought after speaker, Matt is also a drummer.  Drummers practice independence by trying to get their arms and legs to do vastly different things, all at the same time.  Might explain why drummers are a little “different”.  :o)

Stop the generational madness!!

I’ve seen many of these article in the past, but for some reason this one REALLY got under my skin.

58 Extremely Disappointing Facts About The Class of 2018

“Extremely disappointing?”  “Heartbreaking”.  Please.

My first reaction is AAAAARRRGGGH!!  Not because I want to be a pirate and wear a puffy shirt, but because it is things like this (and the mentality they promote) that DIVIDES us. This is part of the problem, not the solution.

First of all, WHO CARES if people graduating in 2018 don’t know who Destiny’s Child is?  I graduated in 1988 and I am SURE there are things that were important pop culturally to previous generations that I had no idea about.  Yet, I survived.

WHO CARES if these folks have to view a Motorola Razr in a museum?  That’s where I get to see the tools that early cave-people used to survive.  Nobody weeped that I was missing out on actually using them.

All these types of articles do is widen the divide between generations.  Boomers and Xers laugh and feel superior because they know about this stuff while younger generations just get more ammo for not trusting the older generations.

What we should be doing, is focusing on what brings us together, not what separates us.  It’s team building 101… find what you have in COMMON and explore that.

I think part of the reason these types of comparisons are so popular is that A. it’s easier to find differences than similarities, and B. We don’t have to admit that the world has passed us by and if the things on this list are still relevant, then we must still be relevant.

No doubt, there is a fear factor working with (especially) younger generations.  They do things differently, they talk differently, they work differently… and somehow being efficient and using technology to accomplish something (and then having more time to spend with friends and family) is less attractive than toiling away for hours on end with no social life.

It’s because the toil is what is known.  Don’t get caught up in being stagnant because of the fear of the unknown.  As fast as things move, you could become irrelevant in the blink of an eye.

Seriously, stop the “generations-are-different-and-different-is-bad” madness and mentality!  We all want to succeed and be part of something great!  That just looks different in 2014 than it did in 1984… and that’s a good thing!

If you need more help in figuring out how to bridge the generational gap, check out my friend Ken Whiting and all he and his company WAVES for Success has to offer.  Ken gets it, and he can help you get it, too.

Okay, I feel better now.

Thanks for reading!!

About the author: This is not the first time Matt has written about looking for the similarities, rather than the differences between the various generations.  The Kids Are Alright is a blog post about just that. The Kids Are Alright is also a movie about The Who. Some readers might not know who The Who is, and that’s okay. That’s why there’s Google.

New promo video

Howdy friends!

Wanted to share a new promo video I recently added to my website.  If you like it, feel free to “like” it, link it, share it, or tweet it!

If you don’t like it, at least is was only 1 minute and 48 seconds!

Big thanks to Charlie with the North American Farm Direct Marketers Association for providing the footage!

Thanks for watching!

 

Catch a good conversation

“Sometimes the best conversation is a game of catch”- Life is Good

I’m an optimist. That’s no secret. Because of this, I have more “Life is Good” t-shirts than I can count. I’ve also got the Life is Good book, which is where I saw the quote above.

I read this quote recently as I was waiting to leave for the airport. It struck me at that moment just how alike a game of catch and a real conversation can be.

Let’s take a closer look:

In a game of catch, one person throws and the other catches (ideally).

In a conversation, one person speaks and the other listens (again, ideally).

In a game of catch, if the person throwing is inaccurate, it makes it difficult (if not impossible) for the other person to catch the ball.

In a conversation, if the communicator is vague, condescending or rude, it makes it difficult for the listener to pay attention to the meaning of the message.

In a game of catch, if the catcher is not paying attention, they could miss the ball or be injured if they don’t get out of the way.

In a conversation, if the listener isn’t paying attention, they could misinterpret the message or overlook an important detail that could back to haunt them later.

In both scenarios, things can go horribly wrong in a hurry.

So what have we learned?

When it comes to communication, success comes down to a few simple actions.

• Pay attention – whether talking or listening, factors of success increase exponentially when you focus on what you are doing.
• Be aware of others – does your listener look confused or uninterested? Make sure you sending the right message by watching their reaction to what you say. Don’t assume they understand just because you moved on to the next topic.
• Don’t interrupt – cutting someone off mid-sentence not only changes WHAT they communicate in that moment, but also changes how they feel about communicating with you in the future.

It’s been said, by more people than just me, that effective communication is the key ingredient to effective relationships.

Don’t drop the ball.

Thanks for reading!

Have you seen the NEW www.performanceoptimist.com?  What are you waiting for?

Gators vs Eagles (not a sports reference)

Gators are almost synonymous with Florida.  The fact that a college mascot is named after them and that they have their own theme park should be a clue.  So, it’s probably no surprise that someone living here could get a little complacent, even nonchalant about the cold-blooded reptiles.  I realized this was me a few weeks ago.

When I visited Minnesota in April, I was talking to a friend about when Linda and I went to Alaska hoping to see bald eagles.  Eagles are much more common in Minnesota than Florida, and we joked that seeing eagles wouldn’t have been such a big deal for Minnesotans.  Then my friend said, “but you have alligators!”

In my mind I’m thinking, “so? Gators are everywhere”.  But then it dawned on me, “not if you live in Minnesota”.  So lesson learned – I want to see eagles, others may want to see gators.

Why is this a blog post? Because it made me think of how we can sometimes be so focused on what others CAN do, and by comparison, what we CAN’T do, that it really limits us – and we are doing it to ourselves!

In this industry, comparisons are commonly made to the “big boys” in terms of what they can deliver.  But how many of us think about what the “big boys” can learn from a smaller operation?  Maybe not terms of the hardware, but certainly in terms of the heart.

Being a student of the service industry, I am constantly watching for companies that “do it right”.  And recently, I have been more impressed with many of the smaller, even ‘mom & pop’ operations than I have been with some of the “big boys”.  I think it comes down to the environment that is created for the employees… try as they might, it seems inevitable that somewhere along the way, some (certainly not all) employees at larger companies start to feel like a number, and it’s a downward spiral from there.  There could be a thousand reasons for this, but I think one of the main causes is when employees don’t feel connected to what the company does, nor do they see how their behaviors impact the companies results.

On the other side of the coin, smaller operators could be better at communicating with their employees about just how important they are to the operation.  This could be through direction communication or just the fact that in small companies, people wear many hats and therefore, ARE very important.  Sometimes it’s easier to see your value that way.

Here are a few other thoughts to help communicate value:

• Listen – Nothing says “you are valued” than really listening to someone.  Put down the phone and remove all distractions, and just listen.
• Tie their behaviors to company values – Every company has a set of values or guiding principles, yet how many people on the front line really know how they impact those values.  Make it part of your coaching and feedback.
• Acknowledge ideas and achievement – Few things feel better than when someone you respect gives you credit for an idea or accomplishment to others in their peer group.  “It was Ryan’s idea to change the queue, and it’s working out great!”

So, next time you (or someone you know) get’s hung up on what you can’t do based on budget or whatever, remember these points about communicating value – they don’t cost a dime.

Thanks for reading!

About the author: Matt Heller can solve a Rubik’s cube in 37 seconds, provided that you don’t mind the colors being mixed up.

When poor communication happens to good employees

I am sure I am not alone in the realization that most of our management and leadership woes can be traced back to poor communication. The worst part is when a leaders’ poor (or lack of) communication has a negative impact on the front line employees (which is probably a lot!).

Jay Salazar is one of the maintenance guys at a place my wife rents to hold meetings. He’s consistently pleasant, easy going, and responsive to any requests we might have. He checks on us and remembers what we need from our last visit. We know that when Jay is there, things will be taken care of.

Except last week.

As she always does, my wife called the day before to ensure everything was ready to go. The person she normally talks to, Barbara, was not there, and she actually spoke to Barbara’s boss, Julie. Julie assured us she would pass the note to Barbara and we’d be all set.

That didn’t happen.

Julie didn’t pass the note to Barbara, who in turn did not pass the information to Jay.  Barbara was completely surprised when we walked in the door the next day. When we got to the room, Jay was there, however he was in the middle of replacing all of the light bulbs. He had no idea we were coming, either. Of course he was gracious and apologetic and helped us turn the room around in record time. Jay is a rock star.

Unfortunately, the all-to-often response in these situations is to take our frustration out on the person who is right in front of us… Maybe that’s why they are called the front line (of defense!)?

But that’s not right. Neither Jay nor Barbara had fault in this situation. The problem goes higher than that. In fact, there were multiple “dropped balls” concerning communication, and not passing along the note to Barbara was just the tip of the iceberg.

Turns out, the schedule that my wife set up of dates for the entire year had not been communicated to the staff. Not to Barbara and not to Jay. In addition, the room set-up diagram was out of date. (Jay was only getting right each month because he knew what it was supposed to be from working with us so often.). If we trace each of these missteps to their origin, we end up in the same place.

Julie. The boss.

When confronted, Julie placed the blame anywhere and everywhere except for her. It was kind of insulting.

If we didn’t know the back story, we would have simply shown up that day, assuming that Barbara and Jay were dummies who didn’t deserve to be employed, and we would weep in the face of poor customer service.  That’s not fair to Jay and Barbara.

Your job as a leader is to set people up for success, and in this case (and I’m guessing many) the lack of success was a direct result of simply not giving the employees the information they need to do their jobs correctly. Passing one note to one person would have saved at least 5 people a whole lot of undue stress, plus would have negated the topic for this post.

Here are few lessons I think we can take from this to avoid similar situations of our own.

• Pass along information – Often you are the conduit to bring information to your employees.  Don’t clog the pipes!  Give people the information they need so they can be successful.
• Know who needs to know – Nothing worse that being caught off guard or out of the loop. Think about everyone who might be impacted by the information you have… then tell them!
• Take responsibility – We all mess up. The unfortunate reality is that Julie will not see that this is her fault, and will likely keep spreading the blame (and poor communication) among her staff.  Only when you realize that you are part of the problem can you become part of the solution.

Thanks for reading!

About the author: Matt Heller lives in Orlando, FL with his wife, Linda.  When not helping leaders lead, Matt enjoys Geocaching, playing drums and reading Carl Hiaasen novels.

Have to vs. Want to

I have a good friend who is in the process of buying a new home.  The sale is almost complete, and he recently took an inventory of all the things that needed to be fixed or changed in the house when he moves in (there is ALWAYS something!).

When looking at his list, it was clear that there were things that needed to get done immediately, and some that could wait.  My friend is a bit of an over-achiever, so he labeled most of the 28 items as immediate concerns.  Both fixing the cracks in the stucco and replacing a few window screens ranked as top priorities.

His list got me thinking of all the rest of the the things we label “have to” versus “want to”, and it dawned on me that there are very few things we HAVE to do in life.

Think about it.  I HAVE to pay my electric bill. No you don’t.  Of course your lights may get shut off, but you don’t HAVE to pay it.  You WANT to pay it so your lights don’t get shut off.

I HAVE to get to work on time. No you don’t. You might get in trouble or lose your job if it happens a lot, but you don’t HAVE to do it.  You WANT to be on time so you won’t get in trouble or lose your job.

As I was thinking through all these things, I realized how often we say “I have to”, but what we really mean is that “If I don’t want this negative consequence, I had better do it.”  It’s the difference between: “I have to or else”, and “I want to because”.

This leads us down an interesting psychological path. When we feel like we have to do something, it’s no fun, it’s difficult, it’s drudgery.  When we do something because we want to, it creates a desire to succeed and a feeling of ownership.

So I know this little journey has been eye-opening for me, but how does it effect our employees?  How many times do they hear, “you have to do this or you have to do that”?  You have to smile, you have to make correct change, you have to check heights, you have to punch in, you have to punch out, you have to wear a uniform, you have to be nice to people…

They may even be thinking, “oh, no I don’t”.  And they are right!  They don’t HAVE to do any of those things. You may think they have to in order to keep their job – but there’s that negative consequence again. In reality, you WANT them to do those things so your employees and guests will be happy and your company will make money.  But they’re right.  They don’t have to.

So your challenge is to figure out a way to create an environment where they want to smile, make the right change, check heights, etc., because they know it’s the right thing to do.

Most people, given the option, will do the right thing.  Not because they have to, but because they want to.  They key is that they need to know the options, the impacts, the effects, the outcomes… in other words – they need to know WHY!  Knowing why can turn a “have to” into a “want to”.

Who wouldn’t want that?

Guest post from Chris Harper

This weeks’ post comes from a good friend and colleague, Chris Harper (@thatChrisHarper).  He’s got a lot of great ideas about how companies can improve the way they communicate, both internally and externally.  Chris took a few minutes to share some of his thoughts… with more to come!

What’s going on around here? – a case for good communication

We’ve all heard it. Many experts tell us that compensation and benefits are just not enough when it comes to job satisfaction. Instead, they say that things like good recognition are the most important to fostering a healthy work environment.

Of course, we all know that no one factor leads to job satisfaction—there are several elements to a happy, productive employee. But have you ever considered that communication might also play a role?

I believe that a strategic, well thought out internal communication plan for your business is vital to not only employee satisfaction but also your bottom line. Informed employees know about your product, ever-changing operational information and other vital information your guests or customers might need.

But uninformed employees are left not knowing answers or, worse, making up their own answers. Not only will this misinformation lead to confused employees and customers, it very well could lead to an unhealthy working environment.

That’s why it is important for managers to always keep communication top-of-mind. Better yet, building a formalized communication plan will help you to make sure that the right information is getting out at the right time. Just as you might spend time developing an extensive plan for communicating externally to the media or directly to your customers, time should be spent on an internal communication strategy will enable your employees to know what is going on so they can provide the best level of service possible.

As you build your plan, be sure to consider the following categories to help you get started:

Communication vehicles

• Ask yourself: “How do my employees get the information they need?”
• These can be physical tools (such as bulletin and dry-erase boards or handouts), electronic tools (such as intranets, social media and digital signage) or verbal tools (such as preshift meetings and supervisor/employee one-on-one time).
• Use a variety of vehicles to best meet differing preferences between your employees.

Content

• Ask yourself: “What do I want my employees to know?”
• Your content could include operations or procedural changes, guest or employee event information, safety reminders and guest service tips.
• Additionally, as you build marketing plans for new products or services, be sure your employees know the points you want them to hit when they are interacting with your customers.

There are of course many more facets to a strategic communication plan, but these categories should get you started on thinking about your business’s communication. The good news here is that what I am suggesting is probably not going to take a reinvention of the wheel for you. You’re probably doing some of these things already. But I encourage you to start thinking about your communication and how the categories above fit together into a cohesive plan.

In future posts, I will to walk you through that a bit—it’s not as hard as it might seem.

All the kids are doing it…

So I finally joined Facebook, but not because “all the kids are doing it”.  I joined for a legitimate business purpose (almost said that with a straight face).  But seriously, I am embarking on a long distance training experiment, and Facebook will be a major player in our communication.

For the longest time, I have actually been staying away from Facebook, almost in the name of rebellion.  Because everyone was doing it and wanting me to do it, I was choosing not to.  I spend enough time in front of a computer, and I saw this as one more excuse to spend even more – and I wasn’t having it!

Now that I am on it, I do see some benefits.  Okay, so its cool to see what people are up to and I have been able to catch up with some old friends.  I’ve also noticed some people have too much time on their hands – but that’s another story.

The story I wanted to spin today was about peer pressure, which I think gets a bad rap.  How many of us can hear our parents saying, “If little Johnny was going to jump off a bridge, would you do that, too?”  Typically the pressure to be cool or to fit in causes people to do things they normally wouldn’t do, sometimes against their better judgment.  But what if its a good thing the team is doing?  Doesn’t peer pressure work both ways?

Imagine you have a team of 15 people.  Out of those 15 people, you have 12 that are hard workers, they smile, have fun and treat your guests (and fellow team members) with respect.  Unfortunately, many times our efforts and energies are spent giving negative attention to the 3 peeps who aren’t pulling their weight.

What if that were reversed?  What if we spent more time praising, coaching, and applauding the 12 who are doing well?  Remember that most of what we do as humans is about getting (or deflecting) attention.  Its a self-esteem thing.  And, when people don’t get enough positive attention, what do they do?  You guessed it… create some drama or a situation to get negative attention.  At least its attention.

So… when the positive attention is the norm, and people naturally want to fit in, they will do what it takes to get positive attention.  It’s like the school bully… he’s trying to get you to react so he can retaliate and prove his toughness.  Take away his negative attention, you take away his motivation for acting like a dufus.

Thanks for reading!

Matt

PS – The first person who can correctly identify the bridge in the picture above gets 1000 bonus points.  (Points toward what, I’m not sure.)