| Transforming
Organizations to Achieve Breakthrough Results
with the Value Advantage® | |
| Volume 5-8 |
August 15, 2007 | |
|
|
 Personal
Note
We're building a new house in Prescott, AZ. Most
people think we're nuts to do this but, frankly, I'm enjoying
the process. I've learned more about the construction
business (which I already knew quite a bit about since my
early professional career was working for the National
Association of Home Builders) and I've learned quite a bit
about myself in the process. We've also managed to keep
our marriage intact and, I think, it is actually flourishing
as a result of this massive project. Here are some of my
thoughts as a result of reflecting about building our
house:
You simply cannot hurry the
process. I've learned enormous patience during
this time. At first I thought I'd "press" the builder to
move it along but I quickly learned it wouldn't do my blood
pressure any good anyway; he'd get irritated, and it wouldn't
help get the house built any quicker. It is going to
take whatever time it is supposed to take.
Lindy and I do amazing things with
compromise. We don't seem to argue about
changing this faucet or that window placement. We both
look at the issue we each bring up and then whoever has a
bigger burn in their belly about it usually gets what they
want. Not too bad. If we both really care, then we
seem to work it out by looking at cost and what is just
reasonable for what we want to achieve. I guess we
talked a long time about what we are both trying to build -
it's not a castle but it's not a gas station either.
The last reflection that I want to share is about
time. While it is true that we'd rather be
there now rather than later, the frank reaction to "why is it
taking so long?" is that I'm quite content to be where I am at
this time, and just knowing we will be in our new house
sometime in the next year is time enough for me. If the
builder suddenly finished tomorrow, I wouldn't be emotionally
or physically ready anyway. But I know that, with time,
I will.
How about you? Are you ready for your next
move? I'm getting there. Give me a call and let's
talk about getting you ready, too.
Marsha Lindquist
480-473-9977 | |
Service Standards: The Key to Becoming
Like the Businesses You Love
Your service standards are your personal
corporate statement about what your organization does and how
it does it, whether you produce services or products. In other
words, it's a statement of your business's service philosophy
or attitude. While businesses commonly state their service
standards to their customers and prospects by posting the
standards in public places and in marketing materials, you
need to state your standards internally, too, and get full
buy-in from everyone in your organization. If your internal
stakeholders don't fully understand and practice your service
standards, stating them for external stakeholders will be a
meaningless exercise.
What is a service standard, exactly? One very
successful business's read:
"We will endeavor to greet people in the
way we want to be greeted. Once they're with us, we will treat
them with respect and the knowledge that they know our
business almost as well as we do. In return, we will expect to
get the kind of feedback that will allow us to continually
improve and change anything that is not working in our
organization."
|
Keep It Positive!
As
people in your organization produce results or make progress
toward goals, immediately reward them with feedback, money,
awards, or any other means that shows your appreciation for a
job well done.
As you give the positive feedback, reiterate
the goals and find out what the person will do next to bring
the organization closer to those objectives. The more positive
feedback you give, the more you can ask people to contribute.
Should someone do something negative, or not achieve an
expected result, it's best to ignore it. Pay attention to the
negative and you'll shape the person's behavior to focus on
the negative, steering your organization in the wrong
direction. Instead, only concentrate on the positive, and
shape people's thoughts and actions in the right direction.
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| Marsha's Value
Advantage® Quick
Tip
Your attitude as the leader carries more weight with
your organization than you'd ever imagine. If you can bring
your attitude up the curve, so will everyone else. Consider it
a new way to be.
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Newsletter for Your Colleagues
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