Leading Customer Service

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Andy Uskavitch

Leading Customer Service

Good customer service doesn’t begin nor end with the customer.  

It begins with the leader and, well, I don’t believe it ever ends.

Defining Customer Service

You may have heard the saying that, “customer service is not a department,” right.  You may have a department called Customer Service, but by doing so, you make it feel as though that’s where it’s all taken care of.

  • But what about you, the leader?
  • Aren’t you supposed to be involved?
  • Don’t you have some say in the matter?

Absolutely, you do!  

If you want to dig even deeper, you should see that it’s everyone’s responsibility, not just yours, not just the Customer Service Department’s, but everyone who works within the organization. It is everyone’s responsibility to keep the organism healthy and functioning well.

Leadership is Influence

But leaders influence.  Some positively, some negatively.  Either one of those effects others’ customer service abilities.  You need to treat every employee you come in contact with, with the utmost sincerity and respect.

If you don’t do it, your employees won’t do it.  Unless you’re dedicated to taking the reigns to develop superior service in your employees, it’s not going to happen.

Taking a customer service class here and there or reading quotes on a poster once a month, is not going to furnish that sustained motivation that your employees need to provide that WOW service.

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L2L Reader Quote: “Invaluable advice and encouragement!”

Doing Your Whole Job

“I don’t have time to take on anything extra.”  How many times have you heard that or thought it?  Well first, customer service is not “something extra.”

Customers are where your revenue and profit comes from.  In any organization, there’s typically somewhere else they could go, or at least just stop coming. So when you’re that dependent on something like customers, how can you call service, “something extra?”

In Lee Cockerell’s (former VP of Operations, Walt Disney World Resort) new book, The Customer Rules, he points out that:

 “Great leaders speak loudly and often about what they want their organizations to focus on and what employees are expected to do.”

Hello . . .  How many of you, or other leaders you know in your organization, speak loudly about customer service?  But you always hear about sales, production, etc.

Keeping Ahead of the Pack

Don’t wait for customer service to get bad before you do anything about it.  By then it’s too late.  The damage has been done.  Now you’re into damage-control mode – which takes a lot more effort.

Monkey see, monkey do, here’s an easy activity to do (didn’t mean for that to rhyme, but I’ll take it).  Go to a few local retail stores or restaurants.  Spend just a few minutes in each one, just observing the employees.  You’ll be able to tell what the management is like within just a couple of minutes because the employees walk the leader’s talk.

No matter how good the stores’ customer service “program” is, it won’t be successful unless the leaders walk the talk.

You can’t just focus on the everyday business stuff – products, marketing, sales.  In his book, Lee goes on to say that, “Managers have to recognize that sustained profits depend on their ability to generate consistent, ongoing, excellent service”.  You have to keep good service in the forefront of everyone’s mind if you want it to be consistent.

A Whole New World

We don’t live in a world anymore where we can focus on one product and be the only place to get it.  You may come up with a one of kind product, but you, very soon, will have competition.  You must lead the customer service attitude.

“But seriously, I have very little time.”  In Beverly Kay & Julie Winkle Giulioni’s newest book, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go, they say it so perfectly – “let’s get real.  You’re having conversations already . . . What if you could redirect some of that time and some of those conversations to focus on careers?”

In this case, bettering customer service is bettering a career.  A few words here, and a few words there.  Just be sure you’re backing up those words with what you do.

Leadership By Example

Most people aren’t going to personally try to get their teams to improve customer service.  It has to come from you.  If you bring the horse to the watering hole, the horse will have a drink.  But if you offer a trough, the horse will always be able to get a drink.

You’re always looking for new and better ways to increase sales, improve products, or streamline production.  If you can’t increase customers or keep the ones you have . . . none of that will matter.

Do you walk the talk when it comes to customer service?  How much time do you spend talking to employees?  How much time could you spend talking to employees? I would love to hear your thoughts!

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——————–
Andy Uskavitch
Andy Uskavitch is Leadership Development at Florida Blood Services
He develops and facilitates Leadership, Motivation & Teambuilding Seminars
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Blog |  (727) 568-5433

Image Sources: image.naldzgraphics.net

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On Love and Leadership

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Andy Uskavitch

Leading in Love

“Love is a many splendored thing.”  “All you need is love.”  “Love me tender.”  “Love to love you baby.”  “Thou shalt love thy neighbor.”

Hmm.  I didn’t see anything about loving your employees.  I’m not saying you have to “love” them.  I’m talking about a simple relationship.  Think of it as love, without the . . . “love.”

Understanding Love

When we’re IN love, we’re in a whole ‘nother mindset.  Leadership is a different mindset also.  Lets take a look at some of the basics.

Love shows kindness . . . and kindness makes you someone who’s likeable.  People see that you’re someone they want to be around.  Someone that will be good to them . . . and in turn good for them.

Here is something the Bible says about love:

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 New Living Translation (NLT)

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

On Leadership and Love

As a leader, you need to be there for your employees.  You don’t have to win the “most popular” award every year, but you do need to be liked enough that they’ll be with you and follow you.  They can help you as much as you can help them.

In love, you lose your selfishness.  You become devoted to another.  We’re all selfish in one way or another, but we can get over that.

We’re always trying to get ahead.  Doing so in the wrong ways is being selfish.  Taking the credit for something that belongs to an employee(s) is selfish.  Don’t do it.  If the credit belongs to someone else, give it.  If it can be honestly shared then great.  Want what’s truly best for your staff.

Love is full of thoughtfulness.  It comes with the territory.

When you fall in love, thoughtfulness comes quite easily, right.  Buying flowers, opening doors, doing the dishes or laundry.  It’s a wonderful time.  Then over time it often starts to slow.  Just like in leadership.

Changing to Improve

When we become leaders or get promoted, we try hard from the outset – open-door policies, awards, being an open part of the team.  Then as time goes on, the door closes, the awards get put on the back burner, and you become “the boss.” But just like in love, we have to keep trying, changing, and improving our leadership skills.

When in love, we think the best of our love interest and show appreciation.

This person means the world to us and she/he is the best thing to ever come our way.  We buy flowers, we hold hands, we smile (a lot), we show the world how we feel.

Building Trust

In business we must think of our staff as the best in the business – or at least in the organization.  There’s another word you can use to describe this . . . TRUST.  If we don’t believe in and trust our employees then that’s what they’ll give us right back. It becomes a vicious circle that keeps growing until there’s absolutely no positive relationship at all.

How long do you think a love relationship would last like that?  Even the slightest bit of appreciation is better than none at all.

Love can harbor no jealousy.

If your love has a better job, so what.  If she/he has a bigger network or gets more awards, so what.

Leading With Humility

There’s no one leader in this world who knows everything.  Don’t pretend you do.  You can’t keep yourself surrounded by a bunch of “yes men.” A good leader will have people who have knowledge at ALL levels (even more than you) and have varying ideas.  You can sometimes learn as much from some of your employees as they can from you.

With love comes intimacy.  (And you know what I’m talking about.  Don’t go running to HR!)

In leadership, intimacy just means knowing your people.  Think of Tom Peters’ Managing by Wandering Around (MBWA).  Get out and see your folks.  Talk to them.  Find out about their families, their interests, their hopes for the future.

Find out what they need to do the best job that they can.

Being Faithful

Love generates faithfulness.  Love is a choice, not just a feeling.  It’s not a reaction, it’s an initiated action.

We choose to love someone because we feel a need and a want to be with that person.

Like love, leadership is a choice.  Leadership is not for everyone.  It takes a certain type of person to be really successful.  If you don’t want to do the job to the best of your ability . . . step away.

Effective Communication

And maybe most importantly, love needs communication.  Love needs open communication.  No beating around the bush.  No, “you should know what I’m thinking.”  Pure open communication . . . with discussion.

Leadership is no different.  We have to communicate clearly and concisely with our employees.  You can’t hold someone accountable for their work if they don’t know what they’re supposed to do.  People WANT to do their best.  They can’t do that without all the puzzle pieces.

And remember that even if you don’t have something to share, they still need to know that.  When people feel they’re lacking communication, they start filling in the gaps themselves.

A Work in Progress

People will commonly say, “If you loved me ________ would come naturally.”  That’s so untrue.  Like I discussed earlier, we have to keep trying new things, modifying, and advancing.  Our leadership skills are no different.

They’re both a continuous work in progress!

How is your relationship with your staff?  What can you work on, short-term, to make things better?  What can you work on, long-term, to make things better?

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——————–
Andy Uskavitch
Andy Uskavitch is Leadership Development at Florida Blood Services
He develops and facilitates Leadership, Motivation & Teambuilding Seminars
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Blog |  (727) 568-5433

Image Sources: ountylive.ca

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Change Leaders Don’t Need Titles

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Andy Uskavitch

Bigger Picture

Change is vital to growth and expansion.  It gives organizations a competitive edge and gives employees a spark of energy.  We must have change in order to grow.

Whether you may like it or not, change is a normal part of any successful business.

With or Without You

Why not help lead that change?  Change will happen with or without you.  And if the rate of change exceeds your own rate of change, you’re going to have some real problems.

You don’t need a title to be a change leader.  In fact, you don’t need a title to be any kind of leader.

It just takes special people – who want to lead.

Grabbing the Reins

To have success in a merger, for instance, requires flexibility and adaptability.  And if you can grab the reins and act as a change leader yourself, you’ll be personally helping in leading the organization to great achievements.

With change normally comes resistance.  In order to lead change you need to know just what kinds of resistance there are.   Here are just a few, listed in “Individual Resistance from Employees to Organizational Change”, by Dr. Chuang,Yuh-Shy:

  • Personal loss.  Right or wrong, people are afraid they’ll lose something, particularly job security and pay.
  • Loss of pride and satisfaction.  A concern about ending up with jobs that no longer require their abilities and skills.
  • Reduced responsibility.  Jobs will be reduced to menial tasks without responsibility.
  • Loss of status.  Loss of job titles, responsibility, or authority.

But on the other hand, there are probably more positive things to think about than negative.  Yuh-Shy lists things such as:

  • Personal gain.  New job titles, more responsibility, more money, and more authority.
  • More security.  Greater job security because of the need for increased skills.  Possible salary increases.
  • More status/prestige.  Possibly a new title or new office.
  • More responsibility or authority.  Maybe new responsibility or a new supervisor who assigns more responsibility than the previous one did.  This could lead to future promotions.

People Love Change

You know, if you really think about it, people actually love change.  People constantly pursue promotions and new job responsibilities; buy personal development books and start their own businesses.  They change careers, jobs, and even organizations – all in the name of change.

People love change – they just hate having to be forced to change.

You can help guide change no matter where you fall in the organizational chart.  Being a change leader can put you in the position of being someone who has greater career potential.   Christina Tangora Schlachter and Terry Hildebrandt, authors of “Leading Business Change For Dummies” say that you can begin to spark positive change by doing one simple thing . . . becoming proactive.

How to Become Proactive

Learn to live with uncertainty

There will usually be uncertainty during change.  Maybe managers haven’t answered all your questions – because not all of the details have been worked out.  They may also have legal reasons for not releasing information.

So sometimes it’s in your best interest to just roll with it. However, if you feel that uncertainty is disturbing your work area, ask questions and let your manager know the impact.

Change what YOU can change: Yourself

Leaders can sometimes make things more confusing than not.  If you’re not in a position to formally influence the change, take the opportunity to change your own attitude and behaviors.

Influence what you CAN’T change: Others

Even if you’re not the one in charge, you can still influence the direction of the change.  And your position of being “one of the guys” could even give your opinions a boost with your coworkers.

Cultivating an atmosphere of openness among your coworkers will help you influence change, because knowing others’ motivations and interests will help you to explain how the changes will meet their needs.

Help others cope with change

Even if you’re excited about change, not everyone is.  Some may find it to be extremely tough, feeling confused or angry.  You can help them make the transition easier by being on the lookout for signals that someone needs help coping – absenteeism, depression, argumentative.

BELIEVE in the change and speak up

 As soon as change starts happening, start talking it up – how great it will be.  Talk about past accomplishments in order to recapture your coworkers’ emotions, excitement, and energy.

Igniting Change

Whether you’re the most junior employee in your organization or the CEO, showing YOUR enthusiasm for change is a benefit.

Change comes from ones heart.

Remember that a sense of opportunity and possibilities for the future of the company is contagious.  If you see a change that needs to happen, bring it up – don’t just sit back and wait to be told what to do.  Be proactive!

When you show that you’re committed to making your organization succeed, don’t be surprised if you’re asked to be the one running the show sooner than later.

Are you ready to lead?  Will you be an influencer?  What can you do, today, to grab the reins and become a change leader? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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——————–
Andy Uskavitch
Andy Uskavitch is Leadership Development at Florida Blood Services
He develops and facilitates Leadership, Motivation & Teambuilding Seminars
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Blog |  (727) 568-5433

Image Sources:  ignitechange.net

Filed under: Coaching Corner, Future Leadership Issues, Leading & Developing Other Leaders, Leading Change | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

Hey Leaders: Curiosity Did Not Kill The Cat

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Andy Uskavitch

Curiosity Killed the Cat

In order to help your employees grow you have to know about them. You have to know what they’re capable of – not only in your eyes, but in their eyes. You have to know what they enjoy doing – both at work and at home. 

  • What do they consider a job well done?
  • If they were given time, what types of projects would they want to work on?
  • What resources do they need that you’re not aware of?

“Curiosity might be the most under-the-radar and undervalued leadership competency in business today.”

This is just one of the thought-provoking and meaningful quotes from the new book, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Employees Want, by Beverly Kaye & Julie Winkle Giulioni (releases Sep 18).

Fairness is Not Fair

We always hear, from employees, about how things have to be fair.  But everyone is NOT the same so you can’t use a one-size-fits-all approach.  Fairness does not mean everyone gets the same schedule, raise, or attention.

The solution?

Be curious so you can determine just what is fair to each individual person.

Think about how “fairness” affects you and the organization.

Say you have one employee (A) that always has a positive attitude, has initiative, always exceeds expectations, and generally outperforms other employees (B).

If you treat employee A and B exactly the same, with the same pay, raises, and perks, there will be no incentive for employee A to continue performing so well.

Is this being fair to employee A?

Being the Sincerity Role Model

You, of course, know that you’re a role model, right?  Well you should.  If you’re more curious, it’s going to trigger your employees to be more curious.

They too, will find out more about their own teammates and become more curious (ie, ask questions, plan) about how projects may pan out – fixing possible problems before they happen.

Don’t forget that your curiosity needs to be sincere.

Kaye and Giulioni go on to say this:

“Quality questions asked without curiosity will signal to employees that you’ve just come back from training.  Quality questions asked with the spirit of curiosity will facilitate conversations that will literally allow others to change their lives.”

An a-ha moment, to be sure – one of many in their book.

How to Be Curious

Some basic questions you can ask, according to Margaret Heffernan in her Inc. Magazine article, Inspire Your Workforce: Be Curious:

  1. Find out 10 things about your employees that you could not find on their resumes
  2. Learn the names of each of their spouses or significant others
  3. Find out how many pets belong to your workforce
  4. See if you can find out one book each team member has recently read
  5. Identify a favorite food (or drink) that each person likes

Ask these questions and you just may gain more enthusiasm and respect for your team. Heffernan said one CEO came away with far more creative ideas about how to motivate his employees, and by knowing what excited them, was able to connect better with them.

An effective environment is supported by high quality relationships between managers and their employees.  Employees will work their hearts out only if they want to, and that’s determined mainly by the quality of the relationship with their managers.

A Curious Case in Point

Way back when, when I was working retail I worked with another manager that would always complain to me about one of our employees – we’ll call her Betty – no, Veronica.  She’d tell me that Veronica was lazy, unmotivated, and disregarded her “power.”

On the other hand, I’d describe her as just the opposite.  When we sat down one day to figure out why we described Veronica so differently, it quickly became obvious that it all had to do with our leadership styles.  Where I asked Veronica about what work she liked and wanted to do, and about her family, and her future – my counterpart could have cared less.

I worked WITH Veronica’s strengths and worked ON her weaknesses.  She was a model employee with me and a royal pain-in-the-arse with our other manager . . . all because I was curious.

Wow, what a concept?

How is your relationship with your employees?  Are you curious enough about your employees to find out more about them? (you should be)  What can you do today to become more connected? I would love to hear your thoughts!

**********

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Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™

——————–
Andy Uskavitch
Andy Uskavitch is Leadership Development at Florida Blood Services
He develops and facilitates Leadership, Motivation & Teambuilding Seminars
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Blog |  (727) 568-5433

Image Sources:  farm5.staticflickr.com

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Hey Leaders: Who Killed the Bluebird of Happiness?

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Andy Uskavitch

Blue Bird of Happiness

Have you ever wondered why the Bluebird of Happiness is blue?

… And is he really happy?  Not so sure… I’d say that being blue is a clue.

The happiness part is just a front.  It’s time the bird start taking a good hard look around his organization and see what’s really going on.

Leaving Your Boss

You have heard for a number of years now in various research settings and books that – “most employees don’t leave their jobs, they leave their managers.” 

They leave their managers, not their leaders.

Why do employees leave their managers? 

  • Because they make them “blue”
  • They make them unhappy
  • They make them not want to come into work
  • And not want to work for (with) you

Manager or Leader?

Just because people accomplish what you want them to, and they’re hitting goals, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a leader.  It may just mean you’re a good manager.

Last month on the day that Michael Hyatt’s new book came out, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World (which is excellent by the way,) someone posted a comment on Amazon about what a scam it was because he already had 74 great comments posted.

To put a long story short, when new books are getting ready to be published, a number of people, including “experts” are given pre-launch copies for review – hence the 74 comments.

Well you should have seen all of the people that commented back in Hyatt’s defense.  There’s a good definition of a leader.  Now think a moment . . . If you were “attacked” or “under the gun” from customers or superior’s, would you have in instant following standing up for you?

C’mon get Happy

So what do you managers need to do to become leaders – to get your staff to follow you?  Think of the ‘70’s TV show, “The Partridge Family” – c’mon get happy.

I know you’ve heard it a hundred times before (at least), but some people still just can’t grasp it . . . you are role models for your staff!  But you say (I’ve actually heard it), “I’m not here to be a role model, I’m here to get a job done”.  I say ‘bull hockey’!  You can get a lot more accomplished and in a much less harsh (brutal, severe) atmosphere by j-u-s-t  b-e-i-n-g  h-a-p-p-y.

Most people have always thought that if we work hard, we’ll be more successful, and if we’re more successful, then we’ll be happier.  Well that just may not be the case at all.

Happiness Fuels Success

That’s where Shawn Achor comes in.  In his book, The Happiness Advantage, he refers to “rigorous research in psychology and neuroscience, management studies, and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe” when he says that “happiness fuels success, not the other way around”.

Happiness is contagious, just as a bad attitude is.  Try it.  Walk into a room of your peers or staff with a big smile and just be basically courteous.  With few exceptions, very soon everyone will have a smile.

Just as your bad attitude affects the people you work with, so will a good attitude.  And as an added bonus, it could very well bring you more success.

For those of you who don’t think there’s anything to this notion of happiness then ask yourself why Shawn Achor’s TED Talk has had almost 2.5 million views.

http://ted.com/talks/view/id/1344

“Okay, so what if I’m happier at work?  What’s in it for me?”  I’m glad you asked.  Your trickle down happiness is going to directly affect your staff, which in turn will result in:

  • better quality of work
  • better customer service
  • conscious acts of kindness
  • teamwork
  • openness
  • innovation
  • cooperation
  • fewer sick days
  • higher motivation
  • achieving potential

Should I keep going?

Happiness & You

Abraham Lincoln once said this:

“People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

In other words, you direct the path of your own happiness.  And along the way you can share in that happiness with just being, well, happy.

I’m not talking Happy like one of the Seven Dwarfs – just have a good attitude – about your job, about your staff, about your peers, about your bosses, about your friends and family.

Like I have said many times in my training workshops – attitude breeds attitude.  So if you want your staff to have good attitudes, you’ve got to walk the talk.  You’ve got to have the “happiness advantage.”

What is your happiness level?  Are you projecting the right attitude onto your staff?  What would the workplace be like if your attitude was better?

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——————–
Andy Uskavitch is Leadership Development at Florida Blood Services
He develops and facilitates Leadership, Motivation & Teambuilding Seminars
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Blog |  (727) 568-5433

Image Sources:  fun-gallery.com

Filed under: Leadership Assessments, Leadership vs. Management, Leading & Developing Other Leaders, Life Balance, Professional Development | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Leaders: How Do You Look at Seniority?

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Andy Uskavitch

Seniority

Have you heard this statement before? It is: “I have seniority.”

So what do you mean exactly by “seniority? And why does this matter?

sen·ior·i·ty

   [seen-yawr-i-tee, -yor-] noun

1. the state of being senior;  priority of birth; superior age.
2. priority, precedence, or status obtained as the result of a person’s length of service, as in a profession, trade,company, or union.

Barring unionized workforces, I just don’t believe this statement has as much meaning as it used to.  I remember, at the time I was coming into the workforce, hearing that term all the time.

It was common to hear phrases like these:

“I have seniority over you.”

 “I have nothing to worry about because I have seniority.”

Just a Number?

My step-daughter just turned 18 (. . . thank you all for the condolences…)  But seriously, I didn’t realize how A single number could be so magical.

18 = I’m an adult? 

Just like the word “seniority,”it can be just a number, or just a word. the number or word really has not power, authority, or gravitas. You don’t really get those things by reaching an age or place in line.

You have to live up to it.

Times are a Changing! 

Do you remember the days of resumes and one-on-one interviews?  Many organizations don’t even bother with resumes anymore and are now relying on interviews and web presence . . . (and BTW, what’s a one-on-one interview?)

Things have changed and many things that we used to know so well are becoming just words.  Just because one has seniority doesn’t necessarily mean he has the most knowledge, the most creativity, or the most comprehension.

It doesn’t mean he has what’s needed to be promoted and take the department or organization to the next level.

Many times, the employees with seniority are not the most productive. In fact, in some organizations, those with tenure may be those saying, “It can’t be done; we tried it ten years ago and it didn’t work.”

These people are not innovative; they’re usually opposed to changes, especially where new technology is concerned.

Seniority - Just a Word

Sure, there are many things that you can do with that word that you couldn’t do as a new employee.

You may have a few more perks like:

  • Job transfer
  • Shift assignment
  • Flexible scheduling
  • Vacation accrual
  • Promotion opportunities

But it’s not a magical “get out of jail card.”

While seniority was valued in the past, for many people today, the longer you have been with a company, the more your job may be in jeopardy.

Technology is changing things faster than ever.

Younger workers can be perceived as more creative and innovative and may even have more relevant educational experiences and training.

On Action and Development

So as a leader, if you haven’t already, now is the time to pause and take a look at your staff.  Start developing them and get them away from the coffee machine.

John C. Maxwell says:

“Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts.  It is about one life influencing another.”

Today’s leaders need to be up on, and stay up on, the newest trends, behaviors, and procedures.  And start training!  Not only your new staff but your senior staff as well.

If you downsize, merge, restructure, whatever – is it the guy that hangs out at the coffee machine all day, with “seniority” that you want to hold on to?

Or the guy with less time but busts his rear end for you, comes in early, stays late, and has continued to learn.  You ultimately need to know that you can trust them to have a positive impact on the business and to make good decisions.

Good leaders will help shape their employees and afford them the needed training to keep up on the continuous changes in their businesses.

Organizational Health Check-Up

There will come a time when you need to make important employment decisions.

A quality leader will look at all of the information and weigh all the options first.

By all means you don’t get rid of your senior people just because they’ve been there for many years and tip the pay scale.  Does anyone remember the 3400 employees laid off by a company called Circuit City?  That didn’t work out too well.

As long as your senior people are doing a good job and you’re encouraging them, helping them, and motivating them to continuously learn, they’re as precious as gold to you.

They know history.  And in many organizations, especially with high turnover, that’s a commodity.

A survey, conducted by IBM and reported on in the Economist, stated that,

“When the baby-boom generation retires, many organizations will find out too late that a career’s worth of experience has walked out the door, leaving insufficient talent to fill the void.”

Don’t just be a manager.  Be a Leader – influential, empowering, inspiring, motivating.  It will make your future decisions much easier.

Have you looked at your training program lately?  Are your senior people still looked after?  Can you honestly say that you support your staff? Please share your thoughts and comments. I would love to hear them!

**********

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Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™

——————–
Andy Uskavitch is Leadership Development at Florida Blood Services
He develops and facilitates Leadership, Motivation & Teambuilding Seminars
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Blog |  (727) 568-5433

Image Sources:  dohiyimir.typepad.com

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Filed under: Future Leadership Issues, Leadership vs. Management, Leading & Developing Other Leaders, Professional Development | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Top Gun Leadership: You Are Not Alone

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Andy Uskavitch

Top Gun Leadership

From the 1986 movie Top Gun:

“- Maverick, call the ball.”

“- Roger.  Maverick has the ball.”

Even though you may think that you re in charge and that you are the only thing that matters, you need to take a look around you and think again . . .

Because you’re wrong.

You Are Not Alone

You didn’t get to where you are all by yourself and you sure aren’t staying there alone.  No matter how high you are, you are not “the one”.

No matter what your position is, you’re not calling all the shots.  You have people influencing you.

Many higher managers think they’re totally in charge – maybe like a CEO or some other top manager.  That’s not the way it is at all.  No matter how much you think that you’re in charge, you are not alone.

You didn’t get there alone and you can’t stay there alone.

Top Gun Leadership

How many of you have seen Top Gun or any other movie featuring fighter pilots?

Pilots couldn’t even get off an aircraft carrier without a myriad of people. I know this because I was in the Navy, so the example goes.  Most people don’t even realize, but the aircraft doesn’t “belong” to the pilot – he’s just the one who flies it.

The aircraft “belongs” to the Plane Captain – an enlisted person – not even an officer.  He (or she) is responsible for its upkeep and safety.

Then you have:

  • air operations
  • air traffic controllers
  • wingmen
  • landing signal officers
  • people to clean it
  • people to fix/install electronics
  • people to arm it
  • people to fix hydraulics
  • people to move it from place to place,
  • people to refuel it . . .

See where I’m going here…?

We Are All on a Team

Even the best and most capable leader isn’t an expert on everything.

If you look at some of the most successful leaders you’ll see that they realized this and that they needed assistance to lead effectively.

Sometimes you may have more support rather than advising, but look at Abe Lincoln or Ronald Reagan, or any other successful President for that matter.  They all had/have true advisors.  The President may have the final say, but he wouldn’t be able to come to the right conclusion without all of his advisors.

Currently there are 14 Secretaries of the Cabinets and the Attorney General.  Five other Advisory positions are not Cabinet members but are an important part of the President’s top team.

There are just over 20 adviser positions under the President of the united States . . . 20!

The Leader’s Advisors

There are many types of advisors.  They can be both formal and informal, subordinates, hired, teams, even your own leaders.  And you can pick them.  Chip Grizzard, CEO of Grizzard Communication Groups has 6 things he looks for in an advisor:

  1. Keep your promises
  2. Focus on others’ success
  3. Stay in it for the long haul
  4. Treat people right
  5. Persevere
  6. Never compromise

Even though Walt Disney was in complete control of his namesake company, who was always there advising him?  His brother Roy.  And because of that (even though there were ups and downs, as with anyone), Disney movies and Disneyland became instant successes and Roy was able to take over leading the building of Walt Disney World following Walt’s death in 1966.

On Leadership and Listening

What I’m really getting at here – if you haven’t quite figured it out yet – is that you have to be able to LISTEN in order to be a successful leader.

Ask questions and listen to the people around you.

Position people around you that will funnel you information you need to help you make the correct decisions.

Do you have a “support group?” Do you listen to your advisors?  When are you going to start listening?

**********

Never miss an issue of Linked 2 Leadership, subscribe today. 
Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™

——————–
Andy Uskavitch is Leadership Development at Florida Blood Services
He develops and facilitates Leadership, Motivation & Teambuilding Seminars
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Blog |  (727) 568-5433

Image Sources: whatshappeningatmyhouse.files.wordpress.com

Filed under: Authentic Leadership, Coaching Corner, Practical Steps to Influence, Professional Development | Tagged: , , , , , | 4 Comments »

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