AchieveGlobal's blog

A Lesson in Humility

By Jack McDaniel Life is filled with humbling moments. My youngest daughter, just entering her junior year of high school, has landed her first job. After getting past the “Thanks, now I feel older than dirt” phase, I expressed every parent’s ebullience at the prospect that I will no longer be responsible for keeping at least one car’s gas tank filled. Naturally I expressed this enthusiasm in such a way that my daughter thought I was simply happy for her. Alas, at my age, no feelings are simple. She’s working at a local retail clothing store, part of a nationwide chain catering, it appears to me, to the tastes of girls entering their junior year of high school. As a cutting-edge fashionista, my daughter has the right look. However, I knew she needed advice on how to serve her customers-to-be. I planned my speech to strike all the right chimes: positive defining moments, steps to dazzle the customer, moving among the three dimensions of service. Each chord would build a symphonic harmony leading to a climactic crescendo of customer service wisdom. Then I took a look at my daughter’s training materials. Greet people warmly; be visible and provide information; uncover needs; then satisfy them by matching desired features and benefits to specific merchandise items. Good, solid customer service and sales skills, with the customer first in the equation. So instead of giving her a “Dad speech,” I gave her a big hug. I also recalled my first experience working in retail. I was a kid with little knowledge, sketchy training, and way too much attitude. I could have used a program like this. If the store’s sales team reinforces and encourages these skills, my daughter will be more successful than I ever was at the retail game. In the meantime, a little humility is a small price to pay for no longer filling up the gas tank.

How well is your organization thinking beyond the moment?

by Chris Blauth A well known airline recently experienced a public relations tsunami, thanks in part to the power of social media. After baggage handlers apparently broke his beloved guitar, a ruffled passenger embarked on a year-long pilgrimage to convince the airline to compensate him for his damaged asset. And to apologize. Each airline employee—according to this passenger—stuck to their antiquated 20th century customer satisfaction rule book and indicated they would not remedy the situation. Consequently, he decided to chronicle the account by way of a seminal song and distribute it by leveraging 21st century technology. This initially harmless video has—at the time of this writing—been viewed by over 4.7 million views on YouTube alone. Sadly, the leaders at this airline neither understood nor demonstrated AchieveGlobal’s research-based leadership principle Think beyond the moment. The central thrust of this principle is that for each action or decision, there are consequences. Being a good leader means considering how your actions and decisions will impact others and the organization, and avoiding actions that bring personal benefit at the expense of others. When leaders set compelling goals, make thoughtful plans, and behave ethically, they increase their trustworthiness and dependability. What’s more, anticipating the future also helps leaders prevent minor, manageable problems from turning into organizational crises. This last point is so vital—and challenging—that I submit for your consideration and application four tips to help you Think beyond the moment:

• Bring up ethical issues as a regular part of work conversations. Without being judgmental, raise the awareness of ethical obligations in your workplace.
• Support the highest values of your organization and use them to make decisions on behalf of customers and co-workers.
• Represent the organization to the outside world. Join a trade or professional organization where you can learn about industry standards and promote the organization’s interests.
• Recount examples of situations in which you made decisions that were in the best interests of your customers and the organization, even though it was not easy to do so.

I learned first-hand how another major airline embraced this last tip. I was recently delayed at New York’s John. F. Kennedy airport due to inclement weather. Two weeks later I received in the mail—get this—a letter conveying the airline’s regret, including a formal apology on behalf of everyone at the airline, and a voucher good toward future travel. It was their way of Thinking beyond the moment in very practical ways. I certainly wasn’t expecting that type of response and kind gift but would like to publically say, “Thank you, Delta, for your thoughtful and unforgettable letter!”

The Flower of Romania

By Craig Perrin Last month a colleague and I tested three new training programs in Romania. He facilitated while I observed, and then vice versa. This was my first visit to Eastern Europe in (shudder) 31 years. What did I expect? I’m not sure, but what I found gave me a surge of hope. The Romania I saw is fresh, full of life. And young. Is no one in that country over thirty? A group of mid-level managers in a multinational bank felt like a graduate seminar. A swarm of reporters at our early-morning press conference gave me the odd feeling I was back teaching college journalism. It’s not just the youth. It’s also – and I hesitate just slightly to use a Maureen Dowd-like five-euro word – it’s also the perspicacity. These young people are aware, eager to learn, intellectually fearless. And that press conference. As my partner and I droned on, I could feel it. Jacked up on pitch-black espresso these young people wanted rough-and-tumble, hard facts, numbers, vivid images. “What’s the differences between Romanian leaders and other leaders?” “Romanian leaders are a lot funnier.” “There’s my headline!” blurted the young man whose hair that morning had apparently undergone electroshock therapy. None of these reporters and few of the managers remember the week-long riots and executions of 1989. These fresh minds and this youthful energy – in my mind at least – have flowed forth to fill the resulting cultural vacuum, symbolized today by Nicolae Ceausescu's stupendous, ghastly, and now largely vacant palace in Bucharest. If this is what youth can do unfettered by repressive policies and narrow thinking, then bring on the children.

The Virtues of Business

By Jack McDaniel Sometimes, the deep past offers a powerful lesson for the present. In The Virtues of War, Steven Pressfield’s fantastic novel about Alexander the Great, the Persian emperor Darius III brought a supply caravan 1½ miles in length with him to the decisive Battle of Issus, fought in 333 BC in modern-day Turkey. This retinue wasn’t for Darius’s army of over 100,000 fighting men – it was his own personal household coterie. The baggage train included cooks, perfumers, hairstylists, talking macaws and panthers in cages, astrologers, butlers, and the emperor’s favorite wives – who had attendants of their own. In contrast, Alexander’s band of 50,000 Macedonians and their allies traveled light and fast, knowing that they had little time to achieve their goals before the difficulties of remaining in enemy territory hundreds of miles from home would overwhelm them. So how did this band of Macedonian upstarts defeat the mightiest army in the ancient world? By using what Pressfield calls the Virtues of War: blinding speed, superior tactics, and versatility on the battlefield. In response, the Persian army was heavy, slow… and doomed. Speed, tactics, and versatility. Aren’t these virtues the same for business? In any economy – much less today’s globally challenging one – organizations need to be nimble, able to move quickly to take advantage of changing market conditions. They must have a superior vision that serves as a guidepost in a murky landscape. And the most successful organizations incubate change leaders who aren’t afraid to try new strategies, learn from their setbacks, and set an example for their colleagues. An organization’s most valuable asset is its people. Alexander knew how to maximize his investment in this asset. Although the Battle of Issus took place over 2,300 years ago, we can learn from his example.