A variation on last Monday’s theme of taking personal responsibility, was provided an email I received this morning from Jay Shaw, Supervisor of Order Management at Rockwell Automation in Milwaukee.
He writes: “I gave everyone on my team the book (The Napkin, The Melon & The Monkey)for a holiday gift, and I have been sharing Aha!s with the team and seeking out their own Aha! moments. Right now, I am stressing the need to advocate for our customers, and making sure my team has the tools and empowerment they need to advocate.  I have also been stressing to the team that they CAN make a difference in the customers’ experience.  We set the tone for each interaction. We can control the call. There are many things we can’t control, but if we focus on what we can and how those interactions affect the customer, we make a difference.”

Portia Nelson’s powerful poem speaks to this issue. As Jay pointed out, we have no control over theattitudes and behavior of our customers (our “holes in the sidewalk”). But we do have a choice of reactions. In any emotionally charged conversation there is point at which we decide (consciously or not) whether to allow ourselves to get hooked in by the customers’ emotions or stop for a millisecond to view the situation clearly, without emotion (“..walk down another street”). That decision point is where our personal power resides — if we choose to use it.

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters

Chapter 1.
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost….I am hopeless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
Chapter 2.
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place.
But….it isn’t my fault.
Chapter 3.
I walk down the same street
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in. It’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
Chapter 4.
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
Chapter 5.
I walk down another street.

This week create your own Aha! moment. Access your personal power and choose your reaction.