Reflecting on the Possibilities and the Blessings
If you don’t mind, I would like to take a moment for some personal reflection. If you have known me for several years – or heard me speak, you may have heard me talk about the even that occurred on this day in 2008.
I was conducting a workshop in Las Vegas with a great group of call center leaders. At about 5:10pm Vegas time (7:10pm Memphis time) I received a call from my wife. She said she was in the closet with my daughter because there had been tornados in the area. She was taking shelter with my daughter. She also said that she had been texting with my son when he stopped responding. Of course, my response was to say I am sure everything is OK. I talked with here and asked her to please keep me updated.
Ten minutes later she called to tell me that he was still not responding. She also said that there was a report of a tornado touchdown in Jackson TN. My son was a Junior at Union University in Jackson. We again tried to make each other believe that “everything was OK.” Of course it was not. At that moment my son was buried under what the first responders described as two to three tons of concrete and steel. He had been in the main commons area when the tornado “imploded” the building – burying him and six of his friends. Over the next four and one-half hours, he lived out an event that I am still not sure I understand.
But, today is an amazing anniversary because at 11:30pm Memphis time, he was pulled from the ruble “alive and breathing on his one.” The rest of the story is told in a blog that we created during the ordeal to update our friends. www.kevinstatus.blogspot.com/ As I write this update, I realize that the story could have been so different. The first responders also told us that the initial estimate for deaths was about 75 and the expectation of pulling out the seven trapped in the commons area was about 5%. Yet, on that night they pulled over 200 students out of the ruble and I am blessed to report that NOT ONE STUDENT died that day. We are very thankful to the first responders and students who literally removed the building piece by piece. You can see some incredible photos at the site also.
My son is now planning his life and we are excited to see what it will include. As we reflect back on this day, we know that we are forever blessed.
So here is your assignment for today (or whatever day you are reading this) – go hug your kids (or someone you love)!
One other assignment if you are a parent with college-age kids (but I guess it also applies to high-school): Begin to develop a list of your kid’s friends. Ask for their cell-phone numbers (you can swear to only use the info in an emergency). When the tornado hit in Jackson we very quickly realized that we did not have enough information about his friends - so we had no way to contact them to ask for their help in finding Kevin. It took us over two hours to confirm that he was in the “pile.” We now have more than 15 friends listed in our cell phone with numbers - to act as back-up just in case….
The Little Voice In Your Head
Filed under: Engagement, Leadership, Management, People, Relational Leadership
I heard a speaker today talk about how to lead a productive and happy life. He talked about the need to keep a positive and focused attitude. The angle for his speech was to ask, “what music is playing in your head. Is it a positive song with expectations for positive outcomes or is it a song of negative thoughts?”
I had a friend tell me recently that the “little voice in his head” was nagging him to do something new with his life. Now if you knew my friend you would probably ask the same thing I did – are you sure that it is one voice or many? Because if “you are hearing voices in your head you may have a different problem.” So let me ask you this – what is the little voice in your head telling you? Are you one of those people that starts the day with a positive spin on life or do you tend to look at the negative possibilities.
I watched recently as a supervisor in a call center stood in the middle of the room as people arrived for the morning shift. She greeted each one with a positive comment and a great smile. I heard her say things like “this is gonna be your best day of the week….” and “are you ready for a great day?” The power of this simple act was reflected in the attitudes of the people who sat down to talk with customers and potential customers. I bet if you could look inside her head there is great music playing – maybe some U2 or Creed. It was obvious that she chooses to start each day with positive thoughts.
I have been on a mission lately to help supervisors, managers and leaders narrow their focus for success to three things. I love to ask, “What are the top three things you want agents to do when they talk with a customer?” or “What are the top three things you want employees to do when they greet a customer?” Defining these three things clearly allows the employee to understand your expectations.
So with that in mind – here are the three things about that little voice in your head:
- Be a moti-vator not a moti-sucker. Have you ever been around one of those people that are so negative that they just suck the air at out of the room? Don’t be that person. Start today trying to find the positive spin on things. Do the “Tony Robbins” thing and start out telling yourself that you WILL be more POSITIVE today!
- Compliment someone as the first task of the morning. Create a 10-before-10 rule with yourself. Spend 10 minutes before 10:00 am walking around the office with the express purpose of telling someone that you appreciate their work.
- Read something positive. Make time for yourself. I told a new supervisor last week that they should learn something every day that no one can ever take away. Reading is like that. My recent Amazon.com search showed that there are 2016 items about leadership and 530 about positive thinking. Pick one, buy it, read it and invest in yourself.
And the next time that little voice in your head starts to go negative - tell them you are not listening any more.
Simple Words Seem To Be Hard To Say
As I stood in line for my daily shot of caffeine, a guy walked in the door with a coffee in his hand. He sorta
stepped to the front of the line and said, “I just went through the drive-through and this is not what I ordered.” Being a customer service kind of guy, my expectation was that the lady behind the counter would apologize - nothing big or dramatic but a simple “Oh, I’m sorry - how can I make it right?” But the answer did not include one of the most simple tenants of customer interaction; instead she asked him what he ordered? He told her (I cannot remember the details because it was one of those silly multi-word coffee orders that included “extra hot.”) She then said, “what is wrong with it?” He said he was not sure but that he ordered it almost every day and that in addition to not being extra hot, it did not taste right.
Again - she had the opportunity to apologize but failed again - saying, “OK - I will remake it for you. They must have not included the caramel.”
Now, the funny part was that there were only two people working - she, as the coffee barister and the person working the window - which means she was the “they.” With that, the conversation took another turn. Instead of taking responsibility for the mistake, she was blaming others for the problem.
In a workshop recently I had an employee tell me that she did not think she should ever say she was sorry because that was admitting that the company had done something wrong.
Here’s the question of the day - do your employees feel the same way? Is it OK for them to take responsibility for mistakes? Do they have permission to say they are sorry? If I were your customer - and I walked in and said that my coffee (or product/service) was not the right one, would your employee instinctively say, “I’m sorry” and then attempt to solve my problem? I hope so! You should know so!
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Bob Furniss
As founder and President of Touchpoint Associates, Inc., Bob Furniss has more than 25 years of experience in the customer service field - assisting organizations to increase productivity and profits by bringing out the best in their people. He has shared his experience in the areas of leadership and service with some of the top companies in America - companies like FedEx, Corporate Express, DePaul University, Delta Airlines, Hanley Wood and more.
Click here to email Bob direct -
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