“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples.” —Mother Teresa

Sometimes it can be very frustrating when we have these great ideas and it seems like nobody is paying attention. We want to have this giant impact on our organization; we want to hit that homerun, but it’s important to remember how many games are won with base hits.

Joe was a marketing major in college who couldn’t find a job in his field when he graduated college. After 9 months or so, he decided to go back to school to become a biomed tech. He landed a job at in independent service organization and thus began his career in biomed. He really loved the work and the company.

The company underwent a rebranding process. They put together a presentation for the staff. In small groups, they educated the employees on the new brand and how they could be brand ambassadors. Over the short time Joe had worked there, he had noticed, with his trained marketing eye that the PM stickers the company was using were very hard to read and that the logo they had on them did not really convey the name of the company. He had mentioned this to his supervisors and really anyone who would listen but no one seemed to react to it. He was convinced that if they redesigned the logo, it would really have a substantially positive marketing effect.

At the branding meeting, Joe thought it would be a great time to bring this up again, since he had an audience he did not usually have access to. Joe suggested redesigning the logo to include something that would be more identifiable to the users of the equipment. Similarly, the people running the meeting thought he had some good ideas, but didn’t seem willing to adopt them.

Joe became frustrated and eventually left the company because he thought they were the kind of company that just wouldn’t listen to good ideas. What he didn’t realize was that the changes he was proposed were huge. The company just spent a large sum of money with an outside firm to rebrand themselves. The new logo was just adopted and to change it again would be too costly.

Instead of becoming frustrated and disengaging, if Joe could have used his marketing experience to work with what they already had and proposed a small change instead, it may have been the catalyst to a similar result and the improved visibility he envision for the company. Change is difficult. It takes time, and when you refuse to be flexible and convey the message that your way is the only way, the more people will resist or resent it.

Rome wasn’t built in a day. When the big ideas don’t sell, break it down and start hitting the base hits. They can have a tremendous impact on the game!

Thoughts…….. Contact me at abbe@TECResourceCenter.com

When I have a difference of opinion with someone, I hate when they are so absolute about something. No, you never sent that! No, you didn’t tell me that! You know what I am talking about? It’s why we have all gotten so good at covering our (selves) though email. I know I always like to have a trail of what I discussed with someone so there can be no confusion later. But that’s different than using it as ammunition to say, “I told you so.”

We know the customer is not always right, but they always think they are. And where does it get us to prove them wrong?  As long as you have the documentation to make sure you don’t get held responsible for something you did not do wrong, you need not use it in your discussions with your coworkers, boss or customers. Here are 2 different responses to the same example:

You know you wrote an email to a coworker about following up with a customer on a work order. In the response email the coworker said that she would contact the customer to give them the update. She is now insisting that you were supposed to give the customer the update. You go back and forth about it for quite a while and then…

1. You whip out the email and show her where she said she would contact the customer.
2. You stop the madness and say something like, “We obviously have a difference of opinion here. The most important thing is to get back to the customer. Would you like me to contact them?’

What’s the upside to response #1? You win, but your coworker is embarrassed or mad, and the customer has not been attended to.

What’s the upside to response #2? The customer wins, and no one walks away mad.

Clearly if this is a chronic issue with your coworker, you need to address it, but it’s usually not best to address it in the heat of the moment. Go back later and summarize what has transpired in the past and brainstorm about better ways to communicate in the future. Perhaps email doesn’t work for her. She will be able to accept her mistake easier if you are in private and you approach it from a “how can we do better” standpoint.

If you really need to prove you were right, prove it to yourself, and keep it to yourself. No need to rub someone’s nose in it.

Thoughts…….. Contact me at abbe@TECResourceCenter.com

I was discussing the trials and tribulations of interviewing with a group of managers.  They were sharing stories of their best and worst experiences.  One manager said there was one time when he needed to push an interview back for a few minutes because he had to make an urgent phone call.  He introduced himself to the candidate and she stood up, smiled, and shook his hand.  After his phone call, he told his assistant to tell the candidate he would not be able to see her today and apologize for the inconvenience.

I thought we were going to hear that perhaps her verbal communication skills were not good, she was unprofessionally dressed or something of that nature.  He told us that when she smiled he could see a piece of gum in her mouth.  “What kind of person comes to an interview with gum in their mouth?” he asked.

We went round and round the room about whether or not that was a good enough excuse to eliminate a candidate, but what really had the most impact was the next experience told by another manager.  He recanted a story about a candidate who showed up 45 minutes late, with no contact to the company letting them know he would be late.  When the candidate finally arrived, the manager told HR that he didn’t want to interview The Candidate based on his tardiness.  This manager was a stickler for promptness.

A few minutes later, the HR manager came in and told him that she really felt he should meet this candidate.  She told him that the experience he had on his way to the interview was truly unavoidable and there was absolutely no way for him to get in touch with the company.

The manager peered out his door and saw the young gentleman in what looked like a brand new suit sitting there, a little disheveled and obviously distressed.  He felt bad and decided to give in and meet with him.  The HR Manager said she would give him a few minutes to collect himself and then send him in for the interview.

The manager lit up as he started talking about this guy.  He was so personable and passionate about his life, his work and his desire to really make something of himself.  The manager could not help but hire him right there on the spot.  They worked together for several years until the manager actually left the company.  They kept in touch as The Candidate progressed in his career, all the while looking to this manager when he needed guidance or a sounding board.  Recently, the manager said he got an email from The Candidate that said he too had moved on from the original company into the big job he had always hoped for.  He told the manager that he could have never accomplished what he did if the manager had not given him a chance on that very first day.  “Boy, did that feel good,” he said.

How many times do we make a snap judgment?  Do we sometimes take a quick look at a situation and move on too quickly?  I wonder what the first manager missed out on because of a piece of gum.
Thoughts…….. Contact me at abbe@TECResourceCenter.com

When you are helping your customers, coworkers or managers, do you make it easier for them or harder? It sounds crazy to think that we would ever make it harder for people intentionally, but do you think you ever do it unintentionally? Do you sometimes take things a little too much to the letter of the law. Coming from an HR background, I would never want to be accused of suggesting you don’t follow policy and procedures, but policies and procedures are meant to be used with common sense and not to intentionally make things difficult for people. Here’s what I mean….

Do you have any of those reward cards from stores like supermarkets or chain drug stores? I don’t like carrying the cards around with me and I don’t need things hanging on my keychain. When I get to the register, they usually ask if I have the rewards card. I can’t think of a single store that does not have another way of looking up your account. Most times they ask for your phone number or ask you to type it in on the keypad. The other day, I was in one of those stores and they asked the usual question, to which I gave my usual answer. The girl behind the counter, sighed, literally rolled her eyes, and asked if I was sure I didn’t have it on my keychain. I said, “Can you look it up with my phone number or something?” She said, “I can, but that’s why we give the card and key chain attachment. Then we only have to scan the card, and it makes it easier to give you the points!” “Easier for whom?” I asked.

I’m not being difficult. It’s not really easier for me that way. Rather than searching through my wallet or pocketbook, I can just type it in on the keypad and be done with it. I get the point; the card is the preferred way to do it, but she really didn’t have to make it so difficult for me. Once she was convinced I didn’t have the card or the keychain attachment, she acted like she had to reset the register or something in order to let me type my phone number in. “Hold on……. wait a second….not yet. I swear she was punishing me. I get it, if you want to gently remind me of the preferred method, but if it’s really not a big deal, don’t make it one.

I’ve observed people handle things similarly when customers or coworkers don’t have the account number, or the serial number, or the PO number, etc. and then I’ve encountered people who simply just look it up another way. Which person would you rather deal with?

Thoughts…….. Contact me at abbe@TECResourceCenter.com

The best leaders are coaches.  Like coaches, they give direction.  They scrutinize performance.  They strategize when the team is struggling and they are there to praise the victories.  They motivate their players to reach higher and achieve more. They don’t just get involved when things go wrong.  They are in the game from start to finish.

At work, it’s easy to get bogged down in the minutia of day to day managing, that we forget the leadership part.  If you believe that successful managers are great leaders, and great leaders are great coaches, it makes sense that we should be spending more time coaching.  Here are some coaching tips I have found have a real impact in the workplace:

Meet with your employees on a regular and formal basis.  I know many of you feel like you talk to your employees every day, but that is not the same as a formal weekly meeting.  When you take the time to meet with them either one on one (and I recommend that for key people or supervisors or managers that work for you,) or in a group, they immediately feel more engaged.  It provides them with the opportunity to ask questions or raise concerns without feeling like they are bothering you during the day.

Think about their professional development and discuss it with them.  Great leaders care about their employees’ happiness.  Research shows that one of the most important engagement influences at work is the opportunity to grow and the opportunity to use the skills they have.  You can only help them if you understand what these factors are.  Sometimes the employee themselves isn’t even sure of the direction they want to go in.  Help them figure it out.  Ask probing questions like what is it you like most about your job?  What is it you hate most about your job?  Often that can be a great indication of the path they should take.

Tell stories.  If you have ever played a sport and had a great coach, I bet one of the things you remember most are the stories he or she told in the locker room or on the bus after the game.  People like to know you are real and even a little vulnerable.  Share your experience.  The more your employees feel you “get it,” the harder they will work for you.  And nothing proves you get it like a great story.

So let me ask again, are you in the game?

Thoughts…….. Contact me at abbe@TECResourceCenter.com