The phrase “do more with less.” has become an oft repeated mantra at many companies.

I’ve noticed that leaders tend to have one of two reactions to what is fast becoming the ‘new normal’:
1. Hunker down and make do until the good old days return.
2. Find creative ways to turn adversity into an opportunity.

Larry Nemerofsky, Director Customer Advocate Team at Cardone Industries in Philadelphia is someone who I’d put in the second camp. During a conversation the other day Larry shared a creative approach he used to challenge his employees to learn and to grow. I thought it was a terrific idea and worth passing on to my readers.  What follows is Larry’s description.

“As part of a series of strategies meant to uplift, encourage and challenge, we recently asked our Customer Service staff to turn off their TV, to pick one show on one night and replace it with one book of their choosing from our library of business skills books. The incentive offered – an oral book report at an upcoming staff meeting in exchange for an extra, free day off!

One of the team supervisors led the charge by reading and reporting on Freakonomics, by Steve Levitt. He also read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert Kyosaki. And one of our CSRs (we call them Customer Account Managers) read You’re Broke Because You Want To Be, by Larry Winget.

I was thrilled by their enthusiasm! One team member said that it was a great idea and, specifically, she learned how to save and budget her money. She added a new life skill and thought that actually writing a book report helped her to retain what she read. And as a result, any spare time she has is now spent reading, not watching TV.

All of the team members were encouraged to begin thinking about reaching goals higher than they had before. In the climate of ‘do more with less’ that most of us are subjected to, ideas like this can help lift and inspire without needing to fill out requisitions and expense reports.”

Thanks to Larry for sharing his inspiring story.

Make it a great week.

(Look for the next Monday Aha! on September 12. I will be off on an 8-day meditation retreat in the Minnesota woods.)

Remove the Motivational Posters
(Before they do any more damage.)

I’ve got a problem with those motivational posters you see in call centers. Actually, the posters themselves are fine. The sayings printed on them certainly reflect our highest aspirations.

After all, don’t we all believe, as the poster below suggests? “Service is the lifeblood of any organization. Everything flows from it and is nourished by it. Customer service is not a department…it’s an attitude.”

What concerns me is your service reps’ reaction to that lofty sentiment when they walk by it every day. They recognize the disparity between the pretty sayings on the poster and what’s really happening on the front lines.

“Service is the lifeblood of any organization.”
What your reps may be saying to themselves:

• “If we are supposed to be so vitally important to the company, then why has our personnel budget been cut to the bone so I’m told I need to work overtime several times a month.  And those monthly team meetings we used to look forward to? Forgetaboutit!”

“Everything flows from it and is nourished by it.”
What your reps may be saying to themselves:

• “If ‘nourishment’ is so important, how come I don’t feel particularly nourished by my supervisor who acts more like a ‘performance enforcer’ than the helpful coach and mentor they are supposed to be.”

“Customer service is not a department…it’s an attitude.”
What your reps may be saying to themselves:

• “If that’s true, given the low morale around here and most people’s bunker mentality, I’d say we are  just a customer service department. We’re simply a bunch of boxes on the corporate org chart.”

It’s no wonder that after awhile some of your best reps lose their cheery optimism and become less engaged.

Make it a great week.      

Barbara Burke

2010 © Barbara Burke. All rights reserved.

CLICK HERE FOR READER SURVEY

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A Message to Monday Aha! Readers from Barbara

As summer is winding to a close, I hope you’ve had the opportunity to take time out of the office to enjoy it.

As for me, I’ve spent the last month happily holed up in my office finishing my next business fable. I’ve also been doing some thinking about how I’m going to manage my time so I can get everything I have to do done in the coming year.

So, that lead me to a decision I was reluctant to make, dear readers. Effective next month I will reduce the number of Monday Aha!s I write from one every week to two a month. (I was astonished to discover that since my first issue almost 3 years ago that I’ve racked up 134 Monday Aha!s)

Whether you are one of my faithful subscribers who have been reading these missives since it began, or are a brand new subscriber, or are somewhere in between, I would like to ask you if you would do me a huge favor. I promise it won’t take more than a couple of minutes of your time.

I’ve prepared a quick survey to get your feedback about the content of the Monday Aha!s, what you like about it and any ideas you have for future issues, and I want to run an idea by you to see what you think.  

Here is the link: http://www.surveymk.com/s/MONDAY_AHA_SURVEY 

Or, if you prefer, you are welcome tocontact me directly. 

Thanks very much for your support and a big virtual hug to you all.

Barbara

Are you a collaborative leader?

It was obvious from watching Congress recently try and fail to lead us out of the U.S. debt mess that the word “collaborate” was not in their vocabulary.

In the Julyl/August issue of the Harvard Business Review researchers Hermina Ibarra and Morten T. Hansen, discuss the need for leaders to transition out of ‘command and control’ mode and become more inclusive, cooperative and collaborative.

According to the authors, there are

4 Keys to Being a Collaborative Leader

1. Connect people and ideas outside the organization to those inside.
“To connect their organizations to the wider world, collaborative leaders develop contacts not only in the typical areas – local clubs, industry associations, and customer and supplier relations – but beyond them,” write Ibarra and Hansen.
2. Leverage diverse talent.
Back in the days when “command and control” was in vogue leadership was a matter of getting everybody to toe the line. Not any more. Mining the creativity and talent of a a diverse workforce comprised of different ages, races, genders and cultures leaders requires a leader who is not only open to ideas other than their own, but actively solicits them.
3. Model collaborative behavior at the top.
“Depoliticizing senior management so that executives are rewarded for collaborating rather than promoting their individual agendas is an absolute essential,” according to the authors.
4. Keep teams from becoming mired in debate.
The downside to creating a collaborative culture is that the process of gathering ideas and input can go on way too long. Leaders need to recognize when it’s time to “end the discussion and make the final call.”

“Leaders today must be able to harness ideas, people and resources from across boundaries of all kinds,” according to Ibarra and Hansen. “That requires reinventing their talent strategies and building strong connections both inside and outside their organizations.

Make it a great week!

Barbara Burke

Copyright 2011 Barbara Burke. All Rights Reserved.