Post Script

As this blog has developed over the last 9 months, I've posted on an irregular basis.

I am working on getting new posts out on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Thanks for your feedback publicly on the blog and privately to my email. If you have a topic you would like discussed, send me a note. We're all here for each other.

Remember, everything you do is about your customer.

Workplace Values - Integrity

Can Opener - Check

Can of worms - Check

How focused are you on the bottom line? What about integrity?

What do you think are some common workplace values in a business that lacks integrity? These can be values that are prevalent among front line employees, management or corporate leaders. Let me help you with the list.

• Lack of Direction/Focus
• Situational Ethics
• WIIFM - What's In It For Me
• Personal Gain
• Selfishness
• Greed
• Dishonesty

I bet we all can identify some business we've come across that have displayed one or all of these traits.

But if a business is based on integrity, then we have a different list of values.

• Defined Goals
• Doing what is Right
• Customer Focused
• Teamwork
• Creativity

Take a look around. Is your business based on integrity? What do they value more - Integrity or the bottom line?

Values lead to Beliefs. Beliefs lead to Thoughts. Thoughts lead to Choices. Choices lead to Behaviors. Behaviors lead to Results.

5 Steps to clean up a mess

I received a Tweet the other day (yes, I'm a Twit-ter-er) about "How to clean up your social media mess in 5 simple steps". As I read along, I realized that these 5 steps can be applied to any situation where you've made a mistake, not just in a business/social media sense.

Think about the last mistake you made. Now, see how this list can help you get beyond that mistake.

1. Admit your mistake. This isn't to show you are a better person. It's to show that you are human and you have faults. Sometimes publicly admitting your mistakes helps you overcome them.
2. Respond directly and publicly to the most vocal objections. If someone is out to exploit your error, this can take the wind out of their sails. 
3. Give people a channel to vent. Sometimes people just need to be heard. If it is a customer you have wronged, let them speak. 
4. Do something right. The timing of your correction can be extremely powerful. Don't wait to respond. Make it right.
5. Don't make the same mistake again. Turn it into a learning experience, not just for you but for your team (if you are a leader). Even if you are part of the front line staff, others will observe your behavior and could possibly benefit from your mistake.

Sounds easy right? It all depends on how you handle yourself following the mistake. Take responsibility, respond, make it right and move on. 

Excuses - Be sure to check your math

We've all seen them. Those motivational posters that line the walls of businesses around the world. They are a combination of pristine scenery and inspirational text designed to motivate you into action.

One such poster was relayed to me by a 14-year-old after someone was complaining about not doing well on a video game. They were complaining that their game remote wasn't working right. She chimed in,

"Don't make excuses, make improvements."

We've all been in those situations. Something doesn't look right or some project doesn't come out the way it was planned. Was it the planning or the execution that failed? Did we leave out a step in an already established process that led to an undesired result?

I remember being reminded in school to always check your math. Once you turn in your paper, test, homework, etc., it's too late to go back and make corrections. Sure there is room for mistakes in life. That's how we grow. What we do with the information is up to us. Are you going to whine about some uncontrolled variable or are you going to improve the process and decision making skills in order to complete the task?

Be sure to check your math.

Are you a shirker, a jerker or a worker?

As the country celebrates Labor Day today, I would like to share something I heard in a sermon recently by a good friend.

Are you a Shirker, a Jerker, or a Worker?

A shirker - a person who actively evades duties, responsibilities or work.

A jerker - a person who starts off like a rocket but ends up falling like a rock.

A worker - a person who acts or operates effectively.

Which one are you?

We've all probably been in each category at least once. But what are you on a daily basis? Nobody wakes up and decides they are going to be a shirker, do they?

If you are going to work tomorrow, which one will you be?

Bad Customer Experience - Who Do You Tell?

We did our regular Sunday night routine. Went to church. Left church. Went to a particular restaurant to get the regular order for Sunday nights. We've done this same routine more times than not. We go through the drive thru (if it's not too long), place our order and then we're told to drive around to the front of the building to wait for our order? What? No one was in line behind us. The order wasn't that big.

Two things here that bug me. First, why make us drive around front? Second, are you trying to inflate your numbers so that your store looks good to the corporate office? To inconvenience your customers this way . . NOT GOOD. Hey restaurant, was it worth the 10 minutes I spent online last night complaining? How about the extra 10 minutes I complained on the phone? It was to me. And I asserted my right to complain.

And now I am putting it out there for everyone to read.

A bad experience for one of your customers doesn't just stay between you and your customer. They'll talk. And if it's bad enough, they'll walk.

Re-markable

How remarkable are you?

Many years ago, I had a math professor who would randomly throw in some English lessons during Math class. It had to do with any word that started with "re" like refrigerate, regret and remark. He would ask if you "re" something, what was that something to begin with that needed to be done over? Like regret. How do you gret something in order to regret it?

Take the word remarkable. If you use my professor's logic, in order for something to be remarkable it first needs to be markable, or able to be marked . . . hmmm. Why would you mark something? Because it's special? Because it stands out from other things around it?

That's the very definition of remarkable. Something that worthy of notice or attention.

Is your business worthy of notice or attention? Are you doing something to stand out in your organization? Or are you just another cog in a machine? It may take a while for you to be noticed. But something worthy of being remarkable goes beyond just being noticed. You can run down the street naked and get noticed. That doesn't make it remarkable.

Fireworks aren't remarkable. Fireworks that explode in the shape of the Empire State Building . . . . now that's remarkable!