D-6 Does Not Work

Posted on by Scott

This afternoon I made a trip to the office vending machine for a little chocolate fix. I tend to go for Snickers, occasionally opting for Twix. If chocolate doesn’t feel right, I’ll go with a PayDay. Well, as you can see from the picture, an earlier visitor had gone looking for their favorite snack and left disappointed. So they left a note. “D-6 does not work” They even dated it 11-27.

Instantly, I felt a wave of panic. “Oh no, what if D-6 holds the Snickers? I’ve got to have my Snickers!” It turns out slot D-6 holds salty peanuts. There were plenty of peanut bags in the slot, so I imagine the issue is mechanical. Lucky, Snickers are in slot D-0. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Dropping my quarters into the coin slot, I began to feel sympathy pains for my unfortunate co-snacker. I’ve been in their shoes plenty of times. You probably have too. Remember?

It’s mid-afternoon and you’re sitting at your desk when the craving kicks in. “I need something sweet,” you think. “Just a little something to take the edge off and tide me over until dinner.” You check your pockets to make sure you have change. And on your way to the vending machine, your mind settles on a choice.

Then you arrive only to find that the machine is out of order. Or your number choice is all emptied out. Or the machine keeps spitting your crumpled dollar bill back out at you. Or, occasionally, the worst fate of all. Your selection gets hung up. It dangles there – resistant to any amount of machine shaking – until you cough up another round of payment.

A trip to the vending machine encompasses the myriad range of emotions a customer can feel when interacting with any business. These emotions can be broken into three distinct phases of the interaction.

Initially, there’s the lead-up. This phase involves everything that happens prior to the actual interaction. In the case of a vending machine visit, there’s the craving for somethign sweet, the frantic search for spare change and the eventual settling of the mind on a desired product.

Next comes the actual interaction. In the case of my frustrated co-worker, I imagine emotions such as surprise and confusion came into play as their preferred selection proved to be unavailable.

Finally, there’s the post-interaction phase. Walking away from the vending machine, you might feel satisfaction or even elation (like when someone else leaves their change in or an extra candy bar drops into the bin). Of course my coworker felt dissatisfied, frustrated and possibly even angry.

It may seem like a small thing, but empathizing with a person’s emotional state as they interact with your business is an important part of designing a superior customer experience. The key is imagine the emotions you want the customer to feel at each stage and then put strategies in place to ensure they encounter a scenario in which those emotions come into play. You also need to imagine the emotions you don’t want a customer to feel and design processes that keep them from evolving.

Were I a vending machine owner, I would want my customers to feel satisfied with not only their purchase, but their experience. I would not want them to feel frustrated or angry. Therefore I would design processes to ensure the best emotions come into play and reinforce their decision to visit my machine. After all, I’d love for them to come back day after day.

Here are a couple of things I might do to ensure the best emotions were felt by users of my vending machine.
• I’d keep track of inventory to know how often I needed to restock to ensure everyone’s favorites were available when they wanted them.
• I’d check the mechanics of each button frequently to make sure delivery was actually taking place.
• I’d post a note letting users know how to get their money back in case of a malfunction.
• I might even run periodic “sales” by discounting certain products to provide an element of surprise every now and then.

All of this ran through my head in the seconds it took for my coins to fall into the machine. I pressed D-0 and the machine’s display instructed me to try another selection. Uh, oh. I tried again thinking perhaps I’d accidentally hit two buttons at once with the same result. So I tried D-1 (Peanut M&M’s), D-2 (Twix) and D-3 (Plain M&M’s) all with the same result. The entire D section is out of commission.

Frustrated and still hungry, I decided to punt. I pressed E-4 and a PayDay dropped down. I walked away an unhappy customer.

What emotions do your customers feel as they anticipate interacting with you? What about during or after the interaction?

What emotions would you like for them to feel?

What steps will you take to ensure your customers feel the emotions necessary to reinforce their buying decision?

Once In A Blue Moon

Posted on by Scott

Tonight’s full moon is a Blue Moon – not because it’s blue, but because it’s the second full moon in a given month. Because blue moons only occur once every 2.7 years or so, they are relatively rare. Even rarer are full moons that actually appear to have a bluish tint. This typically occurs when dust or smoke refracts light in such a way that the blue spectrum is most prominent.

The phrase “once in a blue moon” entered the English lexicon as a way of describing an event which happens rarely. While some events are prized because they are rare, some things need to happen more frequently to be truly valued. Exercising frequently is obviously more beneficial than occasional spurts of exertion. Ongoing home maintenance is less costly than massive repair projects.

And certain leadership actions have greater impact when performed regularly. Here are 10 easy things you can do as a leader that will have a tremendous effect on those around you.

1. Challenge someone with a project outside of their comfort zone.
2. Encourage someone who’s feeling discouraged after a letdown.
3. Coach someone who’s struggling to improve an aspect of their performance.
4. Recognize someone for their recent achievement.
5. Thank someone who’s helped you out of a bind.
6. Tell someone how important their job is to the team and your customers.
7. Apologize for something you messed up.
8. Ask someone about their professional goal and how you can help them achieve it.
9. Share an article, book or other resource related to someone’s area of responsibility.
10. Spend time brainstorming with people about possibilities that don’t exist yet.

Effective leadership involves building relationships. And you can’t build relationships if your interactions with other people are superficial and random. I promise that if you make an effort to engage with people on a deeper level as indicated by these suggestions you’ll find yourself connecting – and leading – in ways you never thought possible.

The next blue moon will take place on July 31, 2015. Where will you have taken your leadership skills by then?

The Yin & Yang of Sales & Service

Posted on by Scott

Wells Fargo made headlines this week after bank analyst Dick Bove went on record regarding a series of frustrating experiences. After wrangling with the bank for months, Bove finally concluded that they are only interested in “seeking new customers and selling them more products and not getting bogged down by offering service.”

A Wells Fargo spokesperson downplayed the issue by citing an ambiguous customer satisfaction number. But having worked in the banking business for several years, I’ve heard many reports from former Wells Fargo employees about the heavy-handed sales management tactics that force employees to shortcut service for the sake of meeting their sales quota. This story illustrates the often contentious relationship between sales and service. Many believe that the ideas work in opposition – that selling and providing good service can’t be achieved simultaneously.

As a sales manager, I believe strongly in having clearly defined goals. But service does not have to be sacrificed in order to achieve sales targets. Here are three tips to make the marriage between sales and service work.

1. Focus on service. Nobody likes being sold to, and selling is an aspect of business that is hard for many employees to get comfortable with. So when the focus of an interaction is on selling something, nobody walks away feeling good about it. But service is different. Customers want help. They want someone who’s on their side – working to help solve their problem.

And most employees naturally want to be of service. Helping people feels good. It just so happens that helping a customer often includes educating them about a product or service that they don’t have. When viewed as part of customer service, selling becomes easy.

2. Set sales goals with the customer in mind. When you set sales quotas for specific products, it pressures employees to sell customers things they don’t need. For example, setting a goal of 10 credit card applications a day for a banker can cause them to feel as if they have to shove an application in front of every customer they meet, even if a credit card is not right for them. This is not customer-focused selling.

Rather, set goals that give the employee leeway in what products are offered to each customer. Train them to engage the customer in a conversation about their needs and drams in order to uncover products that help move them closer to their own financial goals. Focus on helping the customer reach their goals and you’ll reach yours.

3. Remember when not to sell. Selling is important, but not at the risk of offending, and potentially driving away, your customer. There are times when selling is not appropriate. For example:

  • Your company has made a mistake that has caused the customer inconvenience.
  • The customer is distracted, agitated or in a hurry.
  • The customer has waited an abnormally long period of time for service.
  • Any situation in which you would not appreciate a sales pitch.

Selling is an important part of the growth process for an organization. But so is service. Try viewing the concepts of sales and service as complementary, rather than opposing parts of the customer experience and you’ll achieve sales and service harmony.

Coaching Styles, Part 5 – The Cheerleader

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“We’ve got spirit, yes we do. We’ve got spirit, how ‘bout you?”

Cheerleaders date back to the late 1800’s. A university of Minnesota student named Johnny Campbell recruited a few of his buddies, grabbed megaphone and hit the field to lead the home crowd in chanting the school anthem as a way of showing school spirit and energizing the team. Other schools soon adopted the practice, organizing their own “pep clubs” with motivated “yell leaders.” Eventually, women joined in the fun and, as a result of World War II, began to dominate the activity. Today, cheerleading is considered a sport in its own right with teams competing all over the world.

When it comes to coaching, the Cheerleader has three key goals. The first is keeping the team energized and focused on moving forward. Some people have a natural inclination to stay on task, while others are easily distracted or discouraged. Sometimes the finish line is so far off, it’s difficult to see. This can be the result of a long campaign cycle or a project with an extreme level of complexity. Sometimes setbacks occur and individual or team morale takes a hit. It’s the job of the Cheerleader to step in and rally the troops when they sense energy levels getting low.

Cheerleaders are also responsible for recognizing and reinforcing positive results. When something goes right, it’s important to capitalize on that forward momentum. Recognizing one accomplishment can catapult a team member into the next one. Individuals who receive positive feedback are more likely to repeat the reinforced behavior. So when you see someone doing something you like tell them – cheer them on.

A third goal of the Cheerleader is highlighting examples of desired behavior for others to emulate. Make no mistake; your employees are watching to see what behaviors and results get your attention. I once publicly recognized an employee’s weekly sales production on a particular product line. I didn’t offer a reward – I simply mentioned their name during our weekly sales meeting and told them how impressed I was with their efforts. I shared with the team how one person could make a big impact on the organization and let them in a short round of applause for the highlighted individual. The next week, every single salesperson posted improved numbers.

Being an effective Cheerleader requires you to be on the lookout for good things that happen and act on them. Sadly, most managers struggle with providing positive reinforcement. For some reason, most find it easier to identify issues that need fixing. But the results from positive reinforcement always overshadow those from punitive action.

So grab your pom-poms and let’s hit the field. Are you with me? Two, four, six, eight; who do you appreciate?

Why Managers Don’t Coach, Part 5

Posted on by Scott

For the past several weeks, I’ve been discussing some of the most common reasons given by managers when asked why they aren’t coaching. Along the way, I’ve shared my thoughts on the relationship between coaching and training, coaching the high performer, the importance of regular coaching and time management. In this final post of the series, I’ll address the issue of coaching skill.

Excuse #5: “I don’t know how to coach.”

Typically, this excuse stems from a lack of understanding. Managers who don’t understand what a coach is, will have a hard time figuring out what a coach does. So let’s begin with some definitions. Simply put, coaching is anything you do to help someone improve their level of performance. Therefore, a coach is someone engaged in activities that help another person improve their level of performance.

Many corporate coaching programs have complicated the concept. Attend a typical class on frontline coaching and you will be inundated with complex forms, charts and processes that require any number of acronyms in order to remember them all. Back at the office, you spread out all of the materials only to find that the idea of coaching, as it was presented, is way too cumbersome. Frustration leads to procrastination and, ultimately, the idea of coaching is abandoned.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Look at that definition of coaching again – anything you do to help someone improve their level of performance. When you think of coaching this way, as the process of helping someone vs. a complex set of activities, it frees you to act. Coaching should focus on providing a service rather than following a particular system. So with this new definition in mind, let’s look at some of the activities effective coaches engage in.

Observation: The act of observing an employee in the act of performing their job to identify patterns of behavior. During an observation, the coach makes notes regarding specific strengths and deficiencies in order to address them with the employee.

Goal-setting: The act of defining specific expectations regarding an employee’s performance. Effective goal-setting involves communicating exactly what is expected of the employee with regard to technique and results.

Role clarification: The act of communicating the importance of an employee’s particular job role in the achievement of the organization’s objectives. Role clarification helps the employee understand how the specific tasks they are charged with contribute to the big picture.

Skill drill: The act of repeating a specific behavior over and over in order to develop mastery. The goal of a skill drill is to create an automatic response to a particular set of circumstances.

Role play: The act of practicing a series of skills in preparation for performing on the job. Think of role playing as a dress rehearsal. The goal is to work out any kinks prior to going on stage. Employees who can perform as desired in repeated practice scenarios are more likely to perform when it counts.

Modeling: The act of demonstrating a set of specific behaviors so that employees can form a picture of the ideal performance. Modeling the behavior you want employees to demonstrate provides them with a visual reference to draw upon while they work to improve.

Praise: The act of recognizing when an employee performs as desired and letting them know about it. Effective praise communicates specifically what you noticed, why you liked it and how important it is to continue the desired behavior. Praise should be delivered as soon as possible after the desired behavior occurs so that the employee makes a strong connection between what they did and the positive feelings associated with your praise. Because of the positive emotions it evokes, praise should be used frequently.

Correction: The act of recognizing when an employee fails to perform as desired and letting them know about it. Effective correction communicates specifically what you noticed, why it is undesirable and how to correct the behavior. By nature, correction evokes negative emotions and should be used sparingly. The goal is to inspire improvement, not fear of failure.

These are just a few of the activities commonly associated with effective coaching. I’ll bet you already do some of these. You may be a great coach and don’t even know it. If this all seems new, start small. Get up right now and go catch someone doing something right. And praise them for it. When you come back to your office, schedule an hour within the next week to perform some observations. Remember that coaching is action oriented. So let’s go coach!

Why Managers Don’t Coach, Part 4

Posted on by Scott

A couple of weeks ago I worked with a manager to develop a coaching plan for her team. We spent quite a bit of time identifying goals, skill gaps and specific steps to help each of her employees improve their performance. She was excited about the work we had done and expressed a great deal of confidence in her ability to carry out the plan. The other day I called her up to see how things were going. Right off the bat, I could tell things hadn’t gone quite as well as they could. The level of excitement in her voice was significantly lower than it had been when we first drafted the plan.

She proceeded to tell me that based on our plan, she had held a series of short meetings with her staff to gain their buy-in and begin the process of working on each employee’s development plan. So far, so good. But the next week someone called in sick so she had to cover for them. And then she got a call that she wasn’t expecting and had to deal with that. And something came up at home that demanded her attention. And so the story continued for several minutes. She didn’t have time.

Excuse #4: “I don’t have time to coach.”

This is an all too familiar excuse. I’ve used it and I’m sure you have too at one time or another. In fact it’s so familiar that everyone uses it for a variety of reasons. The lack of time seems to get in the way of many good intentions. We’re all busy. We all have a number of things that require our attention, and inevitably some of it gets pushed to the side.

But this excuse is rarely about time. It’s about priorities.

When something is really important, we find the time to address it. We make the time. We push other, less important, activities to the back burner so that this task gets crossed off the list. In order to prevent this particular excuse from hindering your coaching efforts, you have to make it a priority. Here are five steps to conquering the time/priority issue.

1. Call the spade a spade. The first step is to honestly assess the priority of your coaching activities in relation to the other items on your to-do list. Laura Vanderkam suggests replacing the phrase “I don’t have time” with “It’s not a priority.” If you’re comfortable with how that makes you feel, then perhaps time really is the issue. If not, you need to …

2. Get your priorities in order. I have a hundred items on my to-do list, with some being more important than others. For every high-priority item, there are 10 low priority activities. But it’s the low priority items that seem to eat up my time. In my quest to mark things off my list, I focus on the quick-and-easy, low-priority items. At the end of the day, I’ve done a lot of work, but often feel like I haven’t accomplished much. I’ve found that I need to tackle the high priority items first, otherwise I’ll get sucked into focusing on the little things and putting out fires.

3. Schedule it or delegate it. The high priority items on my to-do list are typically complex, requiring more time and physical or mental energy. As a result, my tendency is to procrastinate – to put off the more challenging tasks in favor of the easy stuff while proclaiming how busy I am. I’ve learned that there are some things I can delegate to other members of the team. They may not complete the job the way I would have, but if I can live with the result, it’s worth letting go in order to free up time in my day for the items that do require my involvement – like coaching. Important items that only I can address go into my calendar. This prevents others from scheduling meetings or other activities that could pull me away from the important task. Scheduling the activity keeps it in front of me and I’m less likely to forget about it.

4. Pile it up or spread it out. If you have several employees to coach, staring at a long list of activities can be overwhelming. Knowing how you work best can help you manage the work load. If you’re a “pull the Band-Aid off nice and slow” kind of person, tackle your coaching in small chunks. Don’t schedule three employee one-on-ones in the same day. If you prefer to yank the bandage off with one quick yank, schedule a day to focus on nothing but your one-on-ones.

5. Use the buddy system. It’s easy to blow off an activity when there’s no accountability. To make sure you don’t postpone or ignore a coaching activity, let someone else know what you’re planning to do. Find another manager and agree to serve as each other’s accountability partner. Share your planned coaching activities and then call each other up to see how things went. Knowing someone else is expecting a report on your progress will help keep you focused on the right things.

Coaching is a critical leadership activity. It can’t be accomplished haphazardly or on the fly. Effective coaching requires a good measure of discipline and time management. I hope these tips help you give coaching the priority, and therefore the time, it deserves.

Why Managers Don’t Coach, Part 3

Posted on by Scott

My first sales position entailed taking inbound phone calls from people wanting to set up new cable TV service. My job was to convince the new customer that, instead of “basic” cable, they really wanted/needed one of our packages that included premium channels, additional outlets and other extra services. Training consisted of two weeks in the classroom learning the products and software along with a few hours here and there listening to experienced reps take calls.

I finished the training class and was assigned to a cubicle. When it came to start taking calls, my supervisor plugged in and listened as I stumbled my way through the first three. As the third call ended, he unplugged his headset and said “Well, it looks like you’re good to go.” He walked away, leaving me to fend for myself. That was the extent of the coaching I received. The next time there was any discussion of my performance was during my annual evaluation – one year later.

Excuse #3: “I coached them last week/month/year.”

This excuse implies that coaching is an event; either a one-time occurrence or even a series of unrelated meetings that have to be spaced out over time. In fact, a lot of well-intentioned coaching programs support this belief. In order to provide structure and accountability to the coaching process, they advocate scheduling each coaching activity, allowing time in between for employees to practice and develop specific skills.

And, to a degree, this is true. When you dedicate time to teaching someone a new skill, it takes time for them to achieve mastery of the skill and still longer before the new behavior becomes a habit. Scheduling a specific time at some point in the future allows the employee to work on their technique and integrate the new skill or skills into their daily work style. But simply walking away until the next scheduled meeting rarely produces the desired results.

As I discussed in the first article of this series, very little of what’s discussed in a classroom training setting ever makes it into real-life practice. A number of factors contribute to this:
• Too much information was presented, so only bits and pieces are retained.
• Information focused more on theory than practical application, so the employee isn’t sure how to modify their behavior.
• The employee isn’t motivated to actually change their behavior.
• Once the employee returns to their normal work environment, they see no evidence that they are actually expected to change.

The point I’m trying to make here is that coaching is a process, not an event. As in sports, a good business coach understands that in order for the team and the individual players to perform at their best, constant coaching is required. And a variety of coaching methods, both structured and unstructured, scheduled and unscheduled, will be used.

Since we’re in the midst of March Madness, allow me to use a basketball example to illustrate. Let’s say a basketball coach wants to integrate a new offensive set into his team’s game. He’ll use a variety of tactics to accomplish this. Possible structured/scheduled coaching methods are listed here along with some unstructured methods [added in brackets afterward].

• In a meeting, the coach will explain how the set works. He’ll detail under what circumstances it makes sense and why it’s so effective. He’ll use diagrams and film of other teams to clarify expectations so that everyone can see clearly what is supposed to happen. [During and following the meeting, the coaching staff will check for understanding by periodically checking with each player to ask questions and reiterate their particular role in the new play.]

• The coach will devote specific blocks of time to practicing the new concept on the floor. He starts by walking through the movement of the ball and how each player should position themselves as the set unfolds. The team will repeat this over and over until they understand what’s required. [Members of the coaching staff will observe how the players move, provide reinforcement, and where necessary pull a player aside for individual attention. They’ll model the desired behavior, have the player practice it and then observe them as they reenter the larger group.]

• The coach will then bring in a defensive squad. This allows the team to practice the play in a slightly more realistic scenario. This will be repeated several times. [Play will start and stop as the coaches observe small tweaks that need to be made. The tempo will gradually increase so that the behavior can be practiced in increasingly game-like scenarios.]

• The new offensive strategy will then be incorporated into a full-blown scrimmage game. The new set will be mixed in with established plays so the team can get used to switching tactics as needed. [Like a dress-rehearsal, this full-blown role play will test to see how well individual players can modify their behavior on the fly. Play doesn’t stop in order to address issues. Coaching takes place in real time. By now the team will have demonstrated an understanding of what’s required and spot coaching and reinforcement takes the place of heavy coach involvement.]

• Finally, the new concepts will be implemented in the midst of an actual game against another team. Once the coach feels his players have grasped the concept to the extent that they can demonstrate the desired behavior repeatedly and consistently, he’s ready to unleash it on the other team. [Even as the game is taking place, the staff is actively engaged in coaching. Players are applauded for demonstrating their new competencies. Others are pulled to the side, or even off the floor, to receive corrective coaching after a missed opportunity. Timeouts are utilized to reinforce the need to properly execute the new skills.]

I hope you see the importance of viewing coaching as an ongoing process rather than a periodic activity. There is a definite need for a system of scheduled, well-structured coaching sessions. But it’s just as important to take advantage of the unscheduled, in-the-moment opportunities to restate expectations, provide positive reinforcement and correct undesirable behavior. Top coaches know that their number one job is the development of the individuals on their team. They never stop coaching.

Why Managers Don’t Coach, Part 2

Posted on by Scott

This article is the second in a series that looks into the reasons managers give for not spending more time coaching. In the first post I looked at the over-reliance some place on the role of formalized or corporate training. Today, we look at another common response.

Excuse #2 – “They’re a top performer. They don’t need coaching.”

Managers are often reluctant to coach top performers. Some of the comments I’ve heard related to this excuse include:

“They’re at the top of their game. What could they possible learn?”

“They’ll get upset. I don’t want to lose them because they feel I’m micro-managing.”

“I don’t feel comfortable coaching them. They’re better than I am.”

Lack of coaching amongst top performers typically results from a feeling of discomfort on the part of the manager. They don’t know how to approach a coaching scenario with someone who’s performing well, so they avoid the issue all together. Unfortunately, this can have less than desirable consequences.

Early in my career as a sales manager, I too held the belief that my top producers didn’t need coaching. One day, this perception was shattered by a sales rep named Linda. I was managing a large call center at the time and on this particular day I had been working with a new rep on her outbound telephone skills. We would take turns making calls so she could listen to me model the technique and then I would listen as she made a call so we could discuss the results.

Linda was one of the top producers on my team and I hadn’t spent much time with her beyond reviewing her numbers and thanking her for her efforts. She noticed I was on the floor working with another employee and during a break she asked why I never worked with her. I replied that honestly, I didn’t feel she needed help. Her production was always at the top and my time was better spent with those who need the most help. Linda convinced me to spend a couple of hours coaching her anyway and the experience was rewarding for both of us. I walked away with a new perspective on coaching that has impacted my career ever since. Here are some of the things I learned from Linda regarding coaching top performers.

They want you to coach them. One of the reasons top performers are, well, top performers is that they’re always looking for ways to improve. In fact, if you ignore them too long, you may find yourself involved in what I call scuba-diver management. This occurs when a top performer feels ignored and subconsciously lowers their level of performance so that you begin coaching them. You work them back to top performer status and then dive back down to coach another low performer. Spending time with a top performer keeps them producing at a high level.

Linda’s performance level hadn’t dropped, but I quickly began to see this pattern in another top performer, Michael. Michael would be top dog one month, but fade into the middle of the pack the next. After a couple months of this back and forth, I realized what was going on. Once I began providing him with a more consistent coaching diet, his performance stayed more consistently in the top tier.

Everyone has something to learn. My reluctance to coach Linda stemmed from a fear that I had nothing to offer. I was worried that my attempts to model would fail or that she would ask a question that I couldn’t answer. I was, in fact, intimidated by her record of performance. But I could tell that she sincerely wanted my time, so I dove in.

During the time I spent with Linda, she was able to pick up on a few techniques – phrases I used or questions I would ask – that hadn’t occurred to her before. She was able to relate specific calls where these ideas would have come in handy and helped her secure more sales. As she took notes and practiced what she’d heard, I knew without a doubt that the time had been well spent.

You get more bang for your coaching buck. Spending time with top performers allows you to capitalize on the skill set that already exists. So your time is spent fine-tuning rather than developing. Let’s say you’ve got two employees to coach. One is an average performer who produces 10 widgets per week. The other is a top performer, producing 50 widgets per week. A 10% improvement in the average performer will gain you one additional widget, but a 10% improvement from your top performer gets you 5.

I’m not suggesting that you leave new employees or low performers to fend for themselves. You need to coach everyone. Your best employees need coaching, although the approach may be different. You have to be flexible enough with your time and coaching skills to accommodate employees at all levels.

Coaching keeps them engaged. When I talk about coaching, most managers think I’m talking about a process that identifies specific skill gaps and works with employees to address them. And while this is often true, coaching isn’t always about specific skill development. I believe coaching is a multi-faceted activity. Ultimately, coaching is any activity that helps an employee do their job better. Simply spending time with a member of your team, showing them attention, illustrates their value to you and the organization. Sometimes a little attention is all that’s required to recharge someone’s batteries.

During the couple of hours Linda and I worked together that day, we discussed her feelings about the organization, her views on particular projects outside of her responsibility, and even her career aspirations. As she talked, I could see the passion she had for her job. She truly loved helping people and felt her role allowed her to match customers’ needs with products and services that would make a difference for them. The opportunity to share that with me, her boss, was obviously important to her. She had an extra skip in her step for several days afterward.

You might learn something. If your top performers are really that good, then they probably have a few tricks to share. I’ve never walked away from a coaching session with one of my best employees without a few new ideas. I pick up techniques that will help another employee, or get inspired to improve an existing process after hearing their feedback.

I was apprehensive about coaching Linda. But I’m so glad I did. She learned a lot and so did I. The things I took away from the time we spent together that afternoon have helped me become a better listener, a better coach, and ultimately a better manager. I doubt she knows just how much I benefited from her insistence that I coach her.

So what are you waiting for Coach? Get out there and spend some time with a top performer.

From Problem to Promise: Taking Advantage of Hidden Oportunities

Posted on by Scott

I just returned from a three day business trip to San Antonio. The Alamo is the number one tourist attraction in Texas, drawing over 4 million visitors, including me, every year. But it’s the city’s number two attraction – the River Walk – that always captures my attention. What started out as a problem area became a major economic benefit.

The San Antonio River loops through downtown. When a horrible flood claimed fifty lives in 1921, plans were drawn up for a flood control system to help divert water away from the area. The downtown loop would be paved over as a storm sewer. As work began on the flood control channel, a new idea for the downtown bend was proposed. Rather than covering up the river, the new plan called for highlighting it. The new, safer loop of the river would be surrounded by shops and restaurants ushering in a wave of commercial development and tourism.

Today, an expanded River Walk is the home of numerous hotels and specialty shops. Thousands of people each day take a ride on a River Walk Taxi or Cruise Barge. And numerous conferences and events take place there year-round.

I love how this problem wasn’t just fixed, but turned into a competitive advantage. As I thought about this turnaround, I was reminded of other cases where opportunity rose from frustration.

My favorite examples of this type of innovation come from The Walt Disney Company. They have perfected the art of turning problems into opportunities.

What’s the worst part of any theme park ride? It’s the time spent waiting to get on. Well, at Disney, they recognized this source of frustration and added video monitors that explain the story upon which the ride is based. It’s done so well that the time spent in line becomes part of the attraction. They also created the Fast Pass – a system that lets you reserve a spot on the more popular rides then visit something else instead of waiting.

And when you look at your pictures from vacation, who’s always missing? The family member taking the picture. Disney addressed this by hiring hundreds of photographers and stationing them around the parks at the best photo spots. Now everyone gets to be in the picture and Disney has a new revenue stream.

And it doesn’t stop once you leave at the end of the day. Don’t know where you parked the car? Disney’s parking lot attendants can get you to the right section based on the time you arrived at the park. Lock your keys in the car? Disney has locksmiths that can get you in quickly. It’s no surprise that Disney is the number one vacation destination for families. They don’t just fix problems – they turn them into strategic opportunities to grow revenue and increase customer satisfaction.

So, what’s your problem? I’ll bet your organization has a few of these hidden opportunities as well. Every business has obstacles that get in the way, barriers to customer satisfaction, stumbling blocks that get in the way of excellence. I challenge you to identify them and then forget about fixing them. Maximize the opportunity.

Achieving the Impossible

Posted on by Scott

May 6, 1954 began like most other spring days in southern England. A morning rain shower left the air cold and a stiff wind blew for most of the day. At the Iffley Road Track in Oxford, spectators began arriving for the University’s annual track meet against the Amateur Athletic Association. As he began his stretching routine, Roger Bannister , a young medical student, contemplated the goal he had set for himself. Bannister was set to run in the one-mile event. In defiance of history, Bannister planned to not only win the race, but to do so in less than four minutes.

Others had attempted the break the four minute barrier. The closest was Gunder Hagg, a Swede who posted a time of 4:01.4 in 1945. In the eight years since, no one else had come close. Sporting experts had decided that the four minute mark could only be passed under ideal conditions – the right weather, the right track, the right training regimen. But as Bannister approached the starting line on the track (still damp from the morning shower), he took note of the chill in the air. At least the wind had died down.

At 6:00 pm, the starting gun was fired and the race began. Trailing for most of the race, Bannister pulled out all the stops during the last 300 yards. Crossing the finish line, he collapsed onto the track, unable to stand. The noisy crowd fell silent waiting for the race results. Finally, the announcer broke the silence. Bannister had won the race and achieved his goal – a new world record time for the one-mile event – 3:59.4.

Advice on setting and achieving goals is commonplace. Ever heard of S.M.A.R.T. goals? That’s all well and good, but what does it take to achieve the kind of breakthrough performance that Roger Bannister experienced? How does one go about achieving what everyone says can’t be done?

Here are three lessons from Roger Bannister’s experience that I think answer that question:

He set an impossible goal.
I think one of the reasons people often fail to reach a particular goal is because their aim is set too low. Goals that are too vague or only require a little stretch are easily forgotten. Impossible goals get your attention. They command your daily focus if they stand any chance of becoming reality. Coming off of a huge defeat in the 1951 Olympics, Bannister knew he needed a new approach to training if he were to remain competitive. Winning the next race wasn’t a big enough goal to push him out of his comfort zone. But breaking the four minute barrier forced him to rethink his motivation, his priorities, and his approach to training.

He believed it was possible.
Contrary to popular opinion and scientific evidence, Bannister believed – no, he knew – that a sub-four minute mile run was achievable. Others before him had come close, but failed because they didn’t believe. Their disbelief guaranteed their failure. One of Bannister’s biggest rivals, John Landy, had given up his quest to break the four minute barrier saying “It is a brick wall. I shall not attempt it again.”

He focused on the possible.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. While impossible goals get your attention, they can also easily overwhelm you. The key is to break the goal into smaller, more achievable steps. This helps you to keep a positive focus and celebrate successes along the way. Bannister didn’t focus on the mile. He spent his training time perfecting his quarter mile run, eventually reaching a point where he could consistently run the quarter mile in under one minute. Once he reached this point he knew he could put them together and achieve his goal.

By the way, it’s funny how once someone achieves the impossible, it suddenly becomes possible. The unattainable becomes the benchmark. Forty-six days after Roger Bannister’s amazing run, John Landy set a new world record for the mile with a time of 3:58. Today, a sub-four minute mile run is commonplace. The current world record is 3:43.13.