mnglassett@gmail.com Goal Setting, New Years Resolutions

The Greatest New Year’s Resolutions Hack of All Time | Find Your Core Vales

I think you’ll agree with me when I say that New Year’s Resolutions are really hard to stick to.

Or are they?

Well, it turns out, that you can drastically change your life for the better by adding one simple goal setting technique to your resolutions.

What is that technique?

Aligning your New Year’s Resolutions with your Personal Core Values.

It’s simple to do, and it creates ownership and motivation to achieve your goals.

The reason is this:

You’re setting a goal that you CARE about.

It’s a goal that you don’t HAVE to stick to.
It’s a goal that you WANT to stick to.

But how do you know what your Personal Core Values are?

I’ve got you covered! I have a free PDF to support you in finding your Personal Core Values.

Get our Core Values Discovery Worksheet here

It took me years of failing to stick to ambitious New Year’s Resolutions before I figured  that out…

I need to make resolutions that I can stick to.

In today’s post I’m going to show you exactly how to define your Personal Core Values, and then how to use them to set goals that you will be inspired to stick to.

What’s at the Heart of all of us? Personal Core Values.

Simple:

Core Values are beliefs that, without them, life isn’t worth living.

They are deeply imbedded into our personality and very important to everything we do.

Here are some Examples of Core Values:
Integrity
Honesty
Innovation
Learning
Work Ethic
Charity

The Secret to Discovering Your Personal Core Values

There is three ways:

  1. Tell a story that made a huge impact on your life
  2. Answer the questions, “What makes you proud?”
  3. Work on your autobiography

Now let’s look at each more in depth…

1. Tell a story that made a huge impact on your life.

Often these are the stories where you remember a crazy amount of details even though the event took place when you were a child. You may remember what shirt you had on, or the message on a marquee in the distance.

The story will have a conflict of some kind, a resolution that was achieved, and some sort of consequence or result of the actions taken.

Then finally there is a moral to the story. Something that you learned or realized about life and as a result you instilled a Core Value into yourself for life.

Here’s an example of one of my Personal Core Value Stories:

One of my Personal Core Values is something that I call “Grinder”. It’s a term used to describe someone that hustles, or is willing to do what it takes to win. To grind.

Where did this Core Value come from?

I can tell you this, I did’t have all my life!

I was driving Northbound on I-15 in Sandy, UT and I was on the phone with my dad. It was fall 2004. I told him that I was going to take a semester off from the University of Utah. I had gotten a promotion at work, and wanted to put my effort there, and not be distracted by school. He was not thrilled, but he supported me. Then he said to me,

“I’ll only pay for your school if you go back within one year. After that, you have to pay yourself.” It was eye opening. Life just got real.

Now I was left with two paths:

  1. Go back to school within a year
  2. Make this shoe salesman gig work

So, I became “A Grinder”. I worked six days a week, every week, from age 19 to 27. My personal record is 56 days in a row. At peak times of Christmas I’d put in over 80 hours in one week.

I am a work-aholic. But doing anything less than 50+ hour work weeks is unacceptable. Can’t even imagine it! Because of this work ethic, I was extremely successful. I was promoted to be a District Manager of 22 stores across 3 states at age 25.

Being a Grinder is something that I can’t live without. It’s caused so much good in my life I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

2. Answer the question; “What makes you proud?”

After you answer the question, you then drill down on how you got to that point, and how you achieved the status or thing that makes you proud.

Using my example above:

What makes me proud? Career success…or…District Manager at age 25.

How did I get to that point?

I out worked EVERYONE. I did what needed to be done to be successful, putting in as many hours as it took to win.

What’s the Core Value?

Work Ethic – Which I then gave a fancy name to – Grinder.

3. Work on Your Autobiography

Ok wait, what?

Think like you’re going to write an autobiography.

…or

Think as if someone else is going to right a biography on you.

What events and stories are going to go into this book? What event conjures up intense feelings even when you think about them now?

It’s going to be one of the stories where you’ll remember all the details….like what was written on the board behind your teacher as you have a defining moment in 5th grade. Or what your mom said to you about honesty when you got caught stealing a candy bar.

Now, as you start to think about these stories, and those feelings that you had in the moment begin to return, GRAB A PEN.

Write the story down. Pen and paper only (yes, pencil is acceptable).

No electronics allowed. 

Writing down your memories is a powerful exercise, but typing them into your iPhone just isn’t the same.

As you examine the details and tell the story, more feelings come back. The pen and paper are like a memory serum.

If you keep going, writing down stories that are connected, you will begin to piece together the events in your life and start to see exactly why you are WHERE you are, and get a grip on why you are WHO you are.

After you finish writing down one story, examine it for the parts that caused intense feelings.

Answer these questions:

-What made the situation so satisfying, or unsatisfying?
-What themes showed up multiple times?
-What themes are linked to the strongest feelings?
-Standing there, what was the decision that you made that shaped your life going forward?
-What realization did you make about “how the world is” and what you need to do to either cope with it, or win at it?

Now You Have a List; Broad Values

Now you have a list of things from your story, and those are your Broad Values.

What’s that?

These are all things that are important to you, but they aren’t the CORE Values.

Remember, a Core Value is something that, without, life isn’t worth living.

For most of your Broad Values, life can be lived without them. Not a great life, or not living a life that you love, but you can make do.

Now you take your Broad Values list, and connect the dots. See what themes are represented across multiple Broad Values. What feelings are linked to multiple Broad Values?

We’re getting to the core.

How to Alter the Direction of your Life; Personal Core Values

Time for the truly powerful part:

Defining your Personal Core Values gives meaning for all the things you do, and all the things you care about. Let’s go!

Take the linked Broad Values, and group them.

What theme links them?

What is the driving force in the groupings?

Repeat the process with other events in your life, or with other areas that make you proud.

Now Distill the list down to 3 to 5 Core Values….

Now, you have you Core Personal Values!

Time for Some Personal Flare: Mantras

Now for me, I have a love for branding!

I name everything from my theories on hiring (personal fav is my “Pocket Square Theory”) to my take on parking spots at Wal-mart vs Target (my Shopping Cart Integrity Theory). As a child, my sister and I had names for every blanket in the house!

So instead of “Work Ethic”, I rebranded my Core Value to “Grinder”.

This is both something that has always been a part of my life, and something that helps my connection to the Values that I have.

The most powerful part of naming you Core Values something unique is that you can easily turn it into a Mantra.

When I’m tired, been trudging long hours, and have more to go, I have a Grinder Mantra that I repeat in my head that keeps me going at 100% even as exhaustion sets in. At times of true peril, I’ll start to say it out loud to myself. It’s a reminder to me that “We don’t Quit”.

The Ultimate New Year’s Resolutions Hack

Now for the reason that you came here.

New Year’s Resolutions that you can stick to.

Goals that you WANT to accomplish.

If you skipped to the end, don’t worry, I got you!
Click this link to get our Core Values Discovery Worksheet and we’ll get you all caught up!

Take the Resolutions that you were going to make, and examine how they fit in with your Personal Core Values.

Where they fit, LINE THEM UP, AND KNOCK THEM DOWN!

Where they are out of alignment, go back to the drawing board.

Bottom line:

You are not going to stick to working on a goal that you don’t care about AT YOUR CORE.

If “fitness” or “health” is not something that you have as a Personal Core Value, then a New Year’s resolution of “losing 20 pounds” is a wish, not a goal.

Give yourself three New Year’s Resolutions that line up with your Personal Core Values, and be intentional about it!

Your 3 New Year’s Resolutions should follow this template:

  1. Easy to accomplish – No expired food in the house (borrowed that one from my dad)
  2. Moderate to accomplish – No sugar except on Sunday’s
  3. Challenging to accomplish – Workout 6 days per week, ALWAYS on Sunday.

With this plan, you set yourself up for small success to reinforce some BIG changes.

PS: New Personal Core Values?

Now, if “fitness” or “health” is something that you are starting to really care about, and think it may work it’s way into your Core Values, then what?

You can accomplish it because you’re also tapping into inspiration, being as it’s new to you.

…and you probably just bought new running shoes, new workout clothes, and an apple watch to track your soon-to-be progress ;-)

There’s one more hack to add to the mix for adding a new Core Value.

It’s one that ain’t pretty or glamorous…

Here’s the deal:

You HAVE to have discipline. Period.

Skip a day, and you’ll fall off the path. It’s not a Core Value YET.

Stay on the path, and you’ll add it to your Core Values List soon.

We’d love to hear some of your New Years Resolutions and how they align with your core values!

Also, any coaching that you feel you need, don’t hesitate to get a hold of us!
NickJames.blog@gmail.com

Thanks as always for reading,

-NG

mnglassett@gmail.com Customer Service, Leaders & Managers, Leadership

How To Win Customers During Wait Time

Wait Time Can Make Customers Upset, or it Can Be Used to Make an Impact

Imagine you are visiting somewhere for the first time and you walk in the lobby to someone 20 feet in front of you chewing gum and waiting for you to get directly in front of them before they will even speak to you. They take your name and tell you they will call for you (yelling for you is the most likely outcome). While you wait for the 20-30 minutes you were told would be the wait time, no one speaks to you. No one asks if you have been there before, thanks you for giving them a shot at earning your loyalty and no one gives you a chance to ask any questions a first-time patron might have. While you wait for what seems like days you see people who came in after you go in, so you begin to think you have been forgotten, or that they called your name and you didn’t hear it. You go back to the person taking names and ask them how long it will be, they look at you with disgust and tell you, “I told you 20-30 minutes and it’s only been 15.” Now imagine how you would feel sitting down at a table or how angry you would feel when you finally get into your appointment. Think about how likely you would be to go back to this place, not likely right.

Companies spend millions of dollars figuring out how to attract customers to their business, only to mess it up when they walk in the door. You may have the best product in your category, possibly winning a customer for life as soon as they experience your food or get their hands on your item. There is one problem that you may have and it will cause people to have a negative opinion of your offering, even if it is amazing! Wait times. Waiting in your lobby to get in and spend their money will send a message to your guests, one which you may never have an opportunity to rebound from.

Ignoring the Wait Time Sends Three Messages to Your Customers

  1. We don’t know what we are doing
  2. The quality of staff here is poor
  3. We don’t really care about YOU, just your money

Think about a restaurant, doctor’s office, clothing store, barber, meat counter, cell phone retailers and so on. They all have the same problem; while you wait for even a short time, it feels like you have waited FOREVER! I cannot tell you how many time, as I am sure is the same for you, that people have come up to me and asked, “how much longer?” and “how many people are in front of me?”

After hearing these questions a few hundred times I wondered if there was a way to share this information.
We tried installing TVs in the lobby with a list of people’s names on it; they didn’t read it.
We tried to pager system with vibrating “it’s your turn alarms”.
We even tried handing out notecards with estimated wait times and a few promotional items to browse while they waited.
None of these worked. We still had upset customers asking questions and sitting down with a negative attitude when it finally was their turn.

Send the Right Message to Your Customers

Communicate to them that they WANT to wait. That this wait is worth it! Over 20 years of managing stores with a lobby where customers have to wait to be assisted, I have come to one conclusion. It will instantly improve public perception and keep people from leaving, to never return. The solution isn’t rocket science. It isn’t a fancy system with pagers that vibrate when it’s their turn, nor is it a video game or trivia system for people to pass the time. The solution is simple…

TALK TO YOUR CUSTOMERS!

Talking to your customers sounds easy and plain, but it works. When I first started doing this I would walk around to each guest and introduce myself as the floor manager and would SHOW THEM where their name was on the list and give them an estimate about how long the wait would be. I would describe (not point) the person who was ahead of them in line so they knew who would be up before them. This seemed to work well, we were seeing marked improvement in customer service scores and less upset customers.

I Still Felt Like We Could do More

I tried something new. I assigned the responsibility for customer wait time frustration to the person taking the names. Their responsibility was to keep these people happy while they waited. You should be hiring quality people, not just a body to fill a spot, right? Would you trust just anyone being the first impression a potential new customer sees when they walk in? If you know that this position is important and have someone who is amazing up front, then they will have the ability to check people in AND keep them happy. I assigned my greeters more responsibility than writing a name on a list. Not only would they keep the list of people, they would also continuously check in with them. I told them I expected them to be remembered by those in line. Now they would tell each person where they were in line each time a person was pulled from line. If you were in line and 7 people were ahead of you, they would check in with you as you moved to numbers 6,5,4,3,2 and then telling you that you were next!

This may seem like overkill,  but customers LOVE it!

The ONE thing to NEVER do

The greeters were also FORBIDDEN from “cattle calling” or yelling their name across the room like it was a livestock auction. The greeter should know who each person is and be able to approach them, thank them for waiting and tell them their table or salesperson or doctor will be seeing them now.

The waiting game is one you can lose as soon as your guests enter your business. You must have someone up front who CARES about how the greeting happens. Make sure they understand that when the customer finally gets past the wait and into the establishment, they should be on a first name basis with your greeter/host. Whomever you have up front CANNOT stand behind the podium growing roots in the dirt. They must walk around engaging your customers and asking them if they need anything while they wait.

As you grow your business, do you want people leaving being blown away by how tremendous your service was, running out to the door calling their friends or family to tell them they finally visited you and it was out of this world? Or, when they leave, you happen to be in the front of your business and you say “see ya next time!” and as they push the door open they say “not likely.”

-ML

mnglassett@gmail.com featured, Goal Setting, New Years Resolutions

The One Part of New Year’s Resolutions that You’re Missing

The ONE thing that your missing when setting New Year's Resolutions and a free download to support you in finding your Personal Core Values so you can set Resolutions and Goals that align with your Core ValuesIt’s not going to come as news to you when I say that most New Year’s Resolutions are made with the best intentions to improve life, but rarely followed through on.

In fact, a study done by Scranton University found that, just 8% of people successfully achieve their New Year’s Resolutions.

So what’s the reason for so much failure with these goals of personal improvement? Simple, the resolution is made using feelings and actions.
You FEEL like you want to change, so you attempt to alter your ACTIONS.

It took me year,s to figure out how to set real behavior change goals that stick. I read books, watched videos, and attended classes and speeches about personal development. Each had a small impact, but once I discovered the reason that most change efforts fail, including nearly all of mine, and where to refocus these efforts so they actually have a lasting impact, things started to fall into place, and I began to reach my goals.

This tactic had a huge impact on my life as I started taking action on moving towards my goals, and I turned New Year’s Resolutions into habits that I follow through on daily.

I’m going to teach you how to use this one simple goal setting technique so you too can craft your life the way you want it go!

First though, let’s get something straight….

New Years Resolutions Goal Setting Core Values

New Year’s is Not Real

There is no such thing as New Year’s Day. We (human beings) made it up. Just like there is no such thing as Monday, or no such thing as January. It’s all made up. All these concepts only exist as concepts because of the words. Language creates our world, and a very long time ago human beings used language to pick a day to start counting. From that point they did math on the length of time that it takes the Earth to travel around the Sun, and divided it up into 12 parts, and called it a calendar. It was decided that December 31st would be the end of this year, and January 1st would be the beginning of the next year. There you have it, language creating something from nothing!

Just because it’s made up doesn’t mean it’s not EXPLOITABLE

So New Year’s is made up. So what. It feels VERY real to just about every person on Earth. That feeling of being able to “start fresh” comes with the calendar turning to 1-1. I get it too. Our brains are tricked into thinking that something new is upon us, and we can’t help but feel a certain amount of motivation to improve. Here’s the truth – Motivation ain’t cheap! When you encounter some, exploit it to help you out!

Whether you are an individual that sets ambitions New Year’s Resolutions yearly, or if you’re a person that refuses to set them because they don’t work anyways, this next part is worth reading!

Here’s Why Your New Year’s Resolutions Fail

Here is why our New Year’s Resolutions fail, or more accurately, how we fail to properly set New Year’s Resolutions.
If you make a pyramid, divide it into two parts, and label the bottom layer “Actions”, and the top layer “Results”, you’d be looking at a diagram for how we treat our goals. Or to use different words that are more scientific, you’d label the the two parts, “cause” and “effect”

New-Years-Resolutions-Goal-Setting

Now when you go to set New Year’s Resolutions, we are setting them in the section of “actions” . We think, change the behavior, and you’re going to change the results right? I mean it’s simple cause and effect.
Stop eating bad, be healthy.
Start working out, be thinner.
Start read more, get wiser.
This list could be endless. And all these resolutions are going to fail. Here’s why…

There’s one more piece of the pyramid that’s missing. And it’s the most important part. It’s the base!

New-Years-Resolutions-Goal-Setting-2

Core Values are the Base, Actions align with them, and cause new Results.

Core Values form the base of the Pyramid because, if it’s not important to us, then it will never get into our habits, and that certainly applies to New Year’s Resolutions! We can’t change something with lasting effect, it that thing isn’t aligned in our values.

Here’s a perfect analogy of Core Values stopping a behavior change before it even starts.

The other day, A store manager that I was working with was going outside to smoke a cigarette. A Co-Worker started nagging them that they should quit. The smoker shrugged and said “Yeah, I know…”. Before the non-smoker could respond, I interrupted and asked the smoker a simple question; “Do you want to quit smoking?” Her answer was perfect. She said, “No, I love smoking.” So I turned to the co-worker and said, “Save your time, you’re not going anywhere with this conversation if she doesn’t WANT to quit. When she does, then she will.”

If HEALTH isn’t in your personal values, then you can’t change any behavior that aligns with heath. Smoking, eating a clean diet, exercising regularly, all those things will be failed attempts as goals or New Year’s Resolutions since you don’t have values that align with the changed behavior.

The One Place to Start for Behavior Change

So when you make your New Year’s Resolutions, start here; with your Core Values!
This is one of my favorite exercises, and one that you can do in 10-15 minutes.

Here’s our FREE Core Values Discovery Download.

This exercise is to explore your Core Values. The ones that exist, not what you think you can make them, and not what they will be with your resolutions. What are they NOW?
You can’t say “health” if you eat fast food and soda for two meals a day
You can’t say “fitness” if you workout for one week a year; Jan 2nd to Jan 8th
You can’t say “personal growth” if the last book you read was in high school english class

What’s actually in there? What do you care about so deeply in life that the thought of living without them is unthinkable?
Integrity? Family? Competitive Nature? Creativity? Self Discipline? Fun? Travel?

Click here to see what the Origin Leadership Group Core Values are.

Be S.M.A.R.T.

Now that you have a grasp on what your personal Core Values are, you can begin to align your goals and aspirations to them. Set some meaningful New Year’s resolutions now! When you set the goals, set them as SMART goals.

Specific – Be exact about what you want to achieve
Measurable – A system to track progress
Attainable – Don’t shoot for the stars if you aren’t an astronaut
Relevant – Has to align with your Core Values
Time Bound – “I don’t need more time, I just need a deadline”

I’m Just not a Meathead

Here’s a funny personal example of how setting goals that are out of alignment with Core Values are just going to lead to failure.
I’m a small dude. 5’9.5″ (and I WANT my half inch!) at 145 pounds. I workout 6-7 days a week, lifting weights for three of those days, but I’m never going to get big muscles. It’s just not something that I value. If I could get big muscles doing what I’m doing now, I’d take them, GLADLY. But to work harder and longer in the home gym moving iron to develop them? To change the way I eat and take different supplements to get big? Nah, I’m good like this!
Obviously Fitness is one of my Personal Core Values though. To eat as clean as I do, and workout every day takes little effort. The thought of not doing those things just makes life less enjoyable.

So what are your Personal Core Values?
More importantly, what are your New Year’s Resolutions?
Let us know in the comments!!

-NG

mnglassett@gmail.com Culture, Leadership

How Language Effects Company Culture

 The language used to describe your surroundings will become your culture.

Language is not just a form of communication. It truly shapes the way things occur to us. The term “language” refers to anything that is communicated, verbally and non-verbally. From the things that you say aloud to others, to the body language that you use to communicate. An obvious eye-roll, or a much more subtle “demeanor” given off when you harbor resentment.

The answer to “What it Reality”

The question, “What is reality”, has a vast many opinions attached to it. What is real, and what is the world/universe that we live in?
My personal favorite opinion on reality is called the “Simulation Argument”. It basically states that we are actually living in a computer simulation. Said differently, we’re an extremely complex version of The Simms. Not to dis-similar to the Matrix actually.
Now, to me, reality is something completely different, and, could theoretically be taking place in a computer simulation. If it is, it wouldn’t matter anyway, because whatever your reality is, is your reality.
My opinion on reality is that it’s in our language. What we say, is what is true. If we speak it, we make it so. When I say that “language truly shapes the way things occur to us”, what that means is that language builds your reality. Language IS reality.

Without Language, Reality Doesn’t Exist

Language is unique to humans. If we don’t have the ability to use language, we don’t have reality. Simple. Think about it, to your dog, the wood fence in the yard is just there because it’s always been there. It’s not called a fence either. It’s not called anything, because it isn’t anything. It’s just there. There’s nothing on the other side of it, or behind it, because there is no “other side” or “behind” to a dog. That’s because dogs don’t have language. Think of it a bit more complex. Dogs don’t hold grudges because grudges aren’t real. It’s just a word that humans use to describe events in the past. Dogs don’t make promises either, because there’s no such thing as a promise without the word “promise”.

 

So then, What Reality is Your Language Creating for Your Organization?

Your language creates either momentum or stagnation. So, on the team that  you lead, the language that you use is creating a perception of the events that happen, and thus you also create a culture. If the language and verbiage you use is that of someone who thinks “Things here suck”, then your followers will soon begin to agree. That becomes their reality. When you communicate in those terms, you’re focusing on, and actively creating a culture that will become toxic, full of complaints, and eventually performs poorly.
When the language you use is that of someone who thinks “We’re great!”, then your followers will begin to agree! That becomes your reality. When you communicate in those terms, you’re focusing on, and actively creating a culture that will become special. Full of teamwork, ideas and partnerships. This is where momentum is built!

Examine the Correlation between Language, and Performance

If foot traffic is down 10% can you win? The way that situation occurs to you will determine your performance. So, your answer  will create a reality that can come true. If the outlook is hopeless, then the customer service will be equally hopeless. When customer service is bad, there’s no chance to win, even if the foot traffic was up 10%, let alone down 10%. You see the correlation between the language and the performance? You see that the reality that is created in the language is one that almost ensures lack of success, so then lack of success becomes the future?

Move the language to a positive place, or your Superstars will move to a positive place.

Only hopeless individuals want to be in a workplace that has a culture that is hopeless. Talented individuals have options; job offers come easy, recruiters contact them often, and they are generally “magnetic”.
Keep this in mind: The way a situation occurs will ALWAYS determine performance
That can be tweaked to say; the way a team occurs will determine talent level. Or, the way a company occurs to its employees will determine turnover rate. You see how powerful language is? You see that there is no reality of “hopeless”? It’s just language creating the perception of that reality?

So How do you Change the Way The Situation Occurs?

Here’s How You Apply Language to Shape a Reality that You Want

-Before you make an effort to change performance, first consider how the situation occurs to the individuals on your team
-Listen to the teams language of how being a member of this team occurs to them
-Pay close attention to body language that also communicates how the job occurs
-Stop using descriptive language in talking about performance issues
-Instead use mental bandwidth to solve problems, not “find reasons”
-Don’t go with “what worked last time”. Use that experience to create new ideas.
-Use “we” instead of “I”, “us” instead of “you”
-Stop saying, “I can’t”. Instead say “We have a challenge.”
-Involve the team in helping to create with reality that you desire to obtain

Language is reality, and you can create any reality that you want! When you change the language, you change the way a situation occurs for the team, and then you can begin to add actionable items to improve performance.

-NG

mnglassett@gmail.com Leaders & Managers, Leadership

There is No Such Thing as Going Over Your Boss’s Head

I want to talk about a common, and sadly mistaken, business expression…going over someone’s head.

More specifically going over your boss’s head. Or for leaders, an employee going over your head.

There’s no such thing as “going over someone’s head”. If one of your employees oversteps you in the chain of command to get help, and doesn’t talk to you about it first, it’s not their fault, IT’S YOURS. The reason being, a person’s development is their own responsibility, and no one else’s. They are in charge of their own career path. So, if their leader isn’t providing the things they need to accomplish their goals, then they need to take control of that.

Here are the 4 possible reasons that someone goes over their boss’s head:

1. They’re not learning b/c they’re not being taught
-If they aren’t making progress because no one is teaching them, they need to let someone know. That someone…you guessed it!
2. They’re being treated unfairly
-No one should be mistreated, no matter what. There is no gray here. If a person is being mistreated, they need to get their supervisors boss involved.
3. They’re leader sets a bad example
-If a person’s boss breaks policy, or acts unethical then they have every right to go the leader above them.
4. They were a bad hire
-If you hire an unstable person that runs to your boss for something that never happened, then they did the wrong thing in going over you, but you goofed up by hiring them in the first place.

If you notice, the blame falls on the leader in all 4 reasons.

When a person feels that their concerns are not being properly handled, or their training and coaching aren’t adequate for them to reach their full potential, it’s their responsibility to themselves to make sure the problem gets fixed. If this means talking to the boss’s boss, then so be it, but to think that they are at fault for seeking council from someone that will help them is an ignorant way of thinking. Yes, there is a chain of command, but if there is a weak connection in 2 links of the chain, then isn’t it the responsibility of the other members of the chain to repair that connection, for the good of the group?

When the leader isn’t listening, the follower begins to look for someone who will.

When the leader has stopped listening, they’re in danger of severing the connection with the follower. Without that connection, they’re no longer a leader. They’re now just a boss…someone that others report to because of company alignment. When the leader isn’t listening, the follower begins to look for someone who will. The more talented the employee, the more options they have. other people will listen toOptions mean there is MANY other leaders out there that will be more than willing to listen.

If you ever have an employee of your that “goes over your head”, look inward, not at them. Instead of placing blame (easy to do), reflect on what caused the actions of your employee, and then take the blame. OWN IT, and then look to repair the connection with them. IT starts with an apology, and continues by asking a question, then listening. REALLY listening.

-NG

 

mnglassett@gmail.com Culture, Inspiration

New Years Resolutions for Business: Company Values

Your Organizations Values

As we open up the books on 2018, notice that your future isn’t written. There’s no default that you’re living into, but rather an empty canvas that’s ready to be painted. Something that’s truly new, and fresh. It will only occur to you this way however, if you can put the decisions that shaped last year behind you, and open yourself up to the clean slate that CAN be ready for you at the opening of today.
Examine the history of the organization or team that you run, and you will be able to pick out a pattern, or a blueprint that exists below the conversations. That blueprint is often nicknamed “culture”. In order to be successful, all you need to do is define the values that make you, you, and live true to those values. As you do, you then hire people that align to those values, thus strengthening the team, and the culture simultaneously. The result is that you will have a “compass” that guides you, and while the resulting culture and clarity are very difficult to define, it will just “make sense”.
Now, if complacency starts to creep in, your “compass” will no longer be able to find North. Since you can’t find your way, you begin to stray from those values, and while it can be just as difficult to define, you begin to feel that things “aren’t right”.
It all starts with Integrity. Without that, nothing else matters. It’s about never backing down from a tough decision, not being a pushover, and always focusing on the team.“It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing.” When that value is in action, it creates the space for you to work. It’s clarity and focus. That clarity translates into a motivation that’s about the enjoyment of career. The small stuff; When you have a love for what you do, learning takes a front seat as others around us see the joy that your role gives you and they want to be a part of it. You make an impact on their lives…an impact creates a bond like a professional sports team. The success of an individual brings about success of the team, and regardless who scores the points, the mission is to win! With a unified team, you can all work together to push the vision of what professional community can be by thinking forward and sharing ideas to make history.
Add value to those around you, and you will be investing into the future of the organization, and building the future.
NG
mnglassett@gmail.com Customer Service

The ONE Customer Service Rule that Wins Customers for Life

Win Customers For Life

Any time I hire a new employee onto my team, I ask them to follow one rule. This ask is a simple one. It is easy, and it will empower your team in their day to day interactions with guests of any business.

Find a Way to Say Yes

That’s it, nothing more, like I said, simple. Now I know this sets off alarm bells in your head and you are watching your hard-earned profits fly out the window faster than you can imagine. What if I told you that this mantra could MAKE YOU MORE MONEY? What if it could capture customer’s loyalty and bring them back to spend more money with you? This isn’t a sales pitch, this is reality.

When you empower your employees to be creative and train them not to be the police officers of your checkbook, you will see amazing things happen.

Let me begin with my experience with “find a way to say yes”. When I was promoted to District Manager at my company, I moved to an area where I knew no one, including any of my employees. The first week I was in market I wore street clothes and visited all of my stores to see what the view from our customer base was. As I watched and listened, I came to a very quick reality, my staff was only following the rules and didn’t care if it cost them a life-long customer. It was terrifying. I literally watched customers leave to never return. I talked with customers who felt free to chat as I never explained who I was. A few of them told me they were giving us one more chance to make it right before they went running into the arms of the competitor across the street. I want you to think about that for a minute……. how close is your nearest competitor……how long would it take you to drive there? Better yet, how MANY of your competitors are close to you? Or have online ordering that you compete with?

I know this seems too easy. That’s because it is easy.

After I spent my week observing, and it was extremely difficult not to jump in and fix things immediately, I went to my managers and asked them to follow me into a new way of doing things. I asked that they ensure no one leaves our stores with their issue unresolved. We may not have been able to have a definite solution right now, but we would ensure they knew a solution was coming and they had the contact info of management at the location. We told them we would respond within 24 hours and that we would stop at nothing to find the answer. We would own the problem, even if someone else caused it. We would NOT pass it on to someone else.

Now, as we started to work this system we encountered a lot of what I call, layups. These are issues where our employees should not need to ask for help from management, yet they would continually bring the issue to us. Issues like waiving a $5 late fee for a 7-year tenured customer, giving a discount to someone who was military but hadn’t added their employee discount to their account. The list goes on, but they were all equally easy to solve.

More and more I came to a simple realization, my front-line employees couldn’t do things for themselves, they needed someone to give them the green light. While I sat there trying to understand why, it hit me, let them be the hero! I immediately went to my managers and told them simply this, empower your people to “find a way to say yes”.

The Customer is NOT Always Right

This does NOT mean we give the customer exactly what they are asking for. Simply find a way to avoid the word “no” and, the best excuse ever, “they won’t let me do that”. I HATE that phrase! Who is “they”? THEY IS YOU! You have got to get your employees to fight for their customers, to go to bat for them, to stand up for them. I told my front line not to come to a manager if the solution was for $25 or less. They still had to come back and tell us they did the discount or waived the fee, but it would be AFTER the guest left (this is the part where you freak out and hold tight to your wallet).

Building a Team of Hero’s Takes Guts

The next thing I told my management team was, “you are not allowed to get mad if they do it wrong”. We wanted them to feel empowered. If they got yelled at they would stop trying to be the hero. It was ok to ask for their justification, ask for customer tenure details, how much money did it make us from a revenue prospective and so on. Once we had the backstory, we could have an open dialogue about what WE would have done and thanked them for working hard to protect the customer base. If they did something wrong we would discuss the right solution. If they made the same mistake next time, then you can let a little frustration show. Remember though, even if they made a small mistake, does the customer revenue outweigh the discount or waived fee?

“You can exchange it, but you need to go to the location you bought it from”

I recently went to a large retailer and bought my wife a sewing machine so she could make our Halloween costumes. She used it for a few days and then it broke, brand new machine, broken. I told my wife “no worries love, I will exchange it, no problem” and off to the retailer I went. My mistake, apparently, was going to a different location of the same retailer. This was in the same town, no more than 5 miles apart. It was a 10-minute drive from A to B. I walked to customer service and talked to a woman and explained my situation. “I bought this a few days ago, it broke, and I would like to exchange it for the same model”. What I heard next floored me. She told me, “You can exchange it, but you need to go to the location you bought it from”. I couldn’t understand (I still don’t), why did I need to go back to the original location when they were a national retailer with thousands of locations. What If I was traveling, would I be told the same thing? After 15 minutes of back and forth and me finally about to lose my mind, a manager came to us and asked what he could do to help. I explained that I just wanted to exchange this sewing machine as it was defective. The manager, Matt, looked at me and said, “no problem, go back and grab the other one and come here and we will get you swapped out soon enough”. The funniest part of this, the woman looked at HER MANAGER and said “you aren’t supposed to do that.”

Policy is the Berlin Wall of Customer Service

I was happy, yet disappointed. Why did it take all of that to get to this conclusion. If it was that easy why didn’t the Women say yes? I was to the point of going back to the original location and returning it altogether. I had already looked it up on Amazon to see if they had the same model or, gasp, a more expensive model since this one broke so easily. When I asked Matt why she was so stubborn, he said a few words I will never forget, nor understand, “It’s policy”.

Policy will not pay your bills and it will not grow your customer base. Policy is the Berlin wall of customer service. Do you want your customers on your side of the wall or on the other side, with your competitors? When someone comes to you with a problem, in this age of competition, you have the opportunity to help them leave happy or help them test out your competition. Which do you want to accomplish?

I am not asking you to give blank checks to your employees nor am I advocating for buying customer happiness. I am imploring you to empower your people to look for a way to make your customer feel valued and allow them to find a solution. They do not have to agree to give a free month of services because a customer is upset, but could they offer to waive a half month, or could they offer a free one-time visit with the purchase of another visit? What if they agreed to give a 10% discount for the next 6 months? Most people see that as 10% lost for 6 months. I see that as a customer for the next 6 months who is with us and not across the street. Is 90% of 6 months revenue better than 0% from that customer forever?

Everyone has their own red line, the amount they would allow their front line to be empowered with. Figure out your red line and talk thru it with your team. This is not to buy customers, it is to show your team that what they do makes a difference, they are part of the solution.

Beg them to avoid “no”, instead ask that they “find a way to say yes”. You will win customers for life when you do.

mnglassett@gmail.com Leadership, Uncategorized

6 Simple Tactics to Kickstart Your Corrective Action with Detached Involvement

Detach and TAKE ACTION.

I think you will agree with me that taking the proper corrective action when a problem arises can be tough.
The issue that most leaders struggle with is detaching from the situation so they can clearly see what action they need to take.
As a leader myself, I was once guilty of this on grand scale. I had sputtered in my new role for close to a year until finally, I put my ego aside and took the one action that caused much of my success that I have experienced 6 years later. I would love to tell you that this crucial action was some ultra-impressive feat of will power. Truly, it was just putting my ego aside and asking my boss for help.
Within 3 weeks I was not only right back on course, but I was able to create serious momentum that continued to build years! I finished in the top 10 of the company for yearly sales increases the next 3 years. I also built a connection with my boss and proved that I have what it takes to improve, and ultimately win.
In this article, I will teach you about detached involvement (detachment for short) and how to use that sell to view situations more clearly so you can take the corrective action needed to get you back to winning.

The Secret Leadership Tool: Detachment

When there is an area of life that you’re experiencing a lack of performance in, being able to detach yourself from the situation will allow you to see what’s actually happening. When you’re involved in something, you have an emotional connection to it. This emotional connection causes you to develop “blind spots” and can render you unable to take corrective action on problems that are negatively effecting performance because you simply don’t see them!

A Classic Example of Detachment

When you go out to eat at a restaurant, and it’s a busy Saturday night, as a leader you can easily look around and see some of the things that are bogging down the experience. You are the fifth person on the waiting list and you can count four empty tables that are yet to be bussed.
The hostess that took your name for the waiting list wasn’t very friendly and seemed stressed in the busy environment. She was likely not the right person for this job and you can tell easily.
Once you do get sat at a table, the server’s actions can be picked apart. He should have introduced himself, he rushed the specials list too fast, he’s too slow at filling the drinks, etc.
You can easily spot all these areas where service can be improved because it’s not your restaurant. You’re detached from it, so you can view it AS IT IS.

The Circumstance Illusion

Now why does the restaurant have all these small problems? Because the manager can’t properly see them. There is a story behind the story, and it’s one of justification, and excuse making. If he even sees these performance issues at all, then he will likely view them as circumstances that are out of his control. That’s the circumstance illusion at work.
If you were to point out that the hostess was frazzled and not ready to handle the seating of customers on a busy Saturday night, his response would be a reason that she has that job.“Kids these days just aren’t as driven as we were back then!”
If you were to show him that there are four tables waiting to be bussed and guests waiting to be sat, his response would be an excuse for the slow service.
“Staffing isn’t as easy as you think on the weekends. I had three call offs tonight!”
Notice that the situations occur as a circumstance that is out of his control. The Circumstance Illusion.

Intentions Don’t Pay the Bills

Since he’s so involved in the store, he views the issues differently, and this distinction is an important one. He views things as he INTENDS them, not as they are. When something is wrong, there is a reason, or an effort to fix it that hasn’t happened yet, or it’s on a to-do list, or he’s been too busy doing something else so he hasn’t had time to address it.
The problem is a circumstance that he has the best intentions for, but due to his connection to these problems, he can’t see just how big of a deal they truly are, and can’t see a way to fix them.

Flip the Focus

Now, let’s flip the focus to you instead of the fictional restaurant manager.
As Leaders, it is critical that we detach ourselves from our situations so we can see them objectively, and then give orders to adjust course so we can improve and accomplish the mission.
If you’re stressed, don’t complain about it and feel sorry for yourself.
If you’re tired, don’t search for all the reasons why.
If you’re understaffed, don’t shrug because it’s hard.
       DETACH. Then take action.

Here are the 5 Simple Ways to Detach so You Can Take Action

1. Remove yourself from the situation – Take a break, and gather your thoughts.

When you’re in the middle of a situation, especially a crisis in an area or your responsibility, you run high on emotions. We all know that good decisions are rarely made in an emotional state. So, remove yourself from the situation by simply walking away to a quite place where you can think for a few minutes. Gather your thoughts, and then head back in with a plan!

2. Phone a friend – Call a mentor or a peer that can help you get to a calm mind-state.

Often when you’re in crisis mode, and you call someone you trust and explain the situation to them, you realize that it’s not nearly as much of a crisis as you thought. Before they have time to respond, you’ll calm down, and then tell them the correct actions that you need to take. You know it, you just can’t see it until you detach!

3. Take a literal step back – Viewing a problem from another vantage point adds clarity.

This one is not figurative. A change of scenery can help immensely. If a problem needs solving and you’re working in the office, grab your cell phone and sunglasses and head out for a walk to think. If you’ve been staring at the same issue all day and can’t figure it out, do something, even drastic, to see it from another angle or light. Stand on a chair if you have to!

4. Be aggressive – Go after the issues and solve them!

Aggressive is a mindset. It means that you don’t wait for things to blow over, or hope they will get better with time. Aggressive means assertive, and that is asserting yourself and your will when and where necessary. It doesn’t mean committing career suicide though! It can be a talk with the boss. A one on one with a co-worker that there was a disagreement with. Or just calling your wife or husband and telling them that you won’t be home for dinner tonight because you’ve got to stay late and GRIND.

5. Get a hold of the ego – Your pride may be responsible for getting you into this mess, so don’t rely on it to get you out!
When you out your ego aside, and focus on getting the issues handled, things will get accomplished! This can be similar to the story I told earlier about asking for help, or it could be you’re in competition with someone for promotion and you don’t want to appear weak. Check the ego, so you can see the issues clearly and solve them!
6. Write it all down – Getting things off your mind makes space to create.
I carry two journals with me in my backpack at all times. One is a personal journal, the other is a work journal. When I have something on my mind that I can’t solve, I write. Sometimes a lot! It gets that junk out of my head, on to paper, and allows me to sort through the mess. I will then organize the thoughts into a list, and then take a deep breath. And then get aggressive in completing the list that I just made! You can read more about that here.
 As a leader, the ability to detach, allows you to lead the team in the direction they need to go. Put the ego aside, take a deep breath, get your mind-state calm, gather your thoughts and then get on the attack!
-NG