Month: August 2024

leadership dot #4356: toothless

August 21, 2024August 20, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

A flyer was posted on the porch of all the houses on the block: NOTICE: STOPPING, STANDING, OR PARKING PROHIBITED. IF YOU ARE PARKED WITHIN THE POSTED AREA DURING THE DATE AND TIME THAT THIS RESTRICTION IS IN EFFECT YOU WILL BE TICKETED AND TOWED.

Or not.

A few people moved their cars to make room for the moving truck, but many remained. With no tickets, no towing.

Will people heed this notice the next time it is posted? With each false proclamation — whether about parking, “mandatory” attendance, use of equipment, or any other regulation that threatens action but doesn’t follow through — the impact of future warnings is diminished. If you want to show your teeth, you should be prepared to use them — otherwise, teeth are better saved to form a smile.

leadership dot #4355: meh

August 20, 2024August 19, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I used to be a raving fan of my car dealership, praising everything from the service advisor to the sales staff. I would have rated them 10/10 on a customer satisfaction survey. But recent experiences have me rethinking that assessment. It’s not that they have become “bad,” it’s just that there is no longer anything remarkable about their interactions.

My recent visit involved interaction with a service advisor who was fine, but not “my” advisor who knows my history and with whom I scheduled when I made the appointment. I was called “Elizabeth” throughout — as if they had no relationship with me and didn’t know I preferred Beth. Their marketing department recently sent me a quote — addressed to the wrong person with an incorrect trade-in vehicle — but failed to interact with me in person even though I spent two hours waiting in the showroom. (My arm could have been twisted!) And when I left, the not-mine service advisor handed me the paperwork, sending me on my way with no interaction from my requested advisor. They have become transactional instead of relational.

It’s never the big things that make a difference in establishing brand loyalty, just as it is the accumulation of little behaviors that can erode it. Once you set the bar high, it’s incumbent on you to work diligently to keep it there. “Average” is quite the plummet from “stellar.”

leadership dot #4354: brave

August 19, 2024August 18, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

While in Boston, I took the commuter rail to visit friends at a nearby university and then returned via train to my sister’s workplace. One of her co-workers remarked that taking public transportation in a new city was very “brave” of me.

It may sound like that, but what he didn’t know was that my sister did all the work. She looked up schedules and determined which train I should take and when. She instructed me to download the app in advance and helped me buy the ticket. She dropped me off at the train station and equipped me with the return schedule. There was not much bravery involved when everything was laid out for me.

I think this is an example that applies to many other situations. We see people doing things that appear courageous and as something we could never do ourselves, but we have no idea of the back story and the assistance these people received to enable them to act. Help is available if we ask for it, and doing so allows everyone to do “brave” things.

Thanks, Meg!

leadership dot #785a: the handle

August 18, 2024August 14, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

If you think about work like pulling a wagon, then vacation becomes a chance to stop pulling it. Many people who take time off are able to do so.

But there are others, who even though they aren’t pulling, can’t quite seem to put the handle down.

They may not answer emails, but they read them. They may not call the office but are regularly checking to see who called them. They bring work to read on the plane or a laptop to “get a few things done” while they are away.

Before summer is totally gone and the structure and routine of fall return, take some time to put the handle down. All the way.

Take a lesson from the hit song in Frozen and “let it go”. Even a short break can do wonders if you truly disengage.

Originally published in modified form on July 26, 2014

leadership dot #895a: fostering connections

August 17, 2024August 14, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Here is a match made in heaven: teenagers in Brazil who want to improve their English are having regular web chats with elders in a Chicago retirement home. The Speaking Exchange pairs the two groups for regular long-distance conversations in a brilliant alignment. Retirees have lots of time and stories and Brazilian teens have a desire to hear informal English. It is a genius, low-cost idea that benefits both groups.

Often we think about sharing things, but not people.

How can your organization follow their example and think broadly about a way to meet your needs by pairing with the human resources another group has to offer? When you get to the core of what you are seeking, is there someone out there who may be able to partner with you to provide it?

Could empty-nesters who are sending their last child off to college become foster parents? Maybe there is a group of people willing to help those with mobility issues be able to travel the globe? Perhaps you could match “web pals” instead of pen pals for classrooms to adopt a member of the military?

Have your group brainstorm how to emulate the Speaking Exchange. There are over 7 billion people on Earth. Surely you can partner with a few of them for mutual benefit.

Originally published in modified form on November 13, 2014

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

Source: http://www.mnn.com/forward?path=green-tech/computers/videos/brazilian-kids-learn-english-by-video-chatting-with-lonely-elderly

leadership dot #183a: anticipation

August 16, 2024August 14, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

What tasks out there are worse thinking about vs. actually doing?

I think about how I put off gathering my tax receipts and doing taxes — but once I start, it never is as bad as I remembered it to be.

Drinking bottles of “chalk” always makes the anticipation of certain medical tests worse than the procedure itself.

The finger prick before giving blood often hurts more than the actual donation.

Studying for the DMV license test and waiting in the endless line is usually more aggravating than taking the actual examination.

Getting bundled up to go for a walk in the winter always feels like more work than the walk itself.

And thinking about what I should write about as a blog is much more demanding than the actual writing! I still feel clueless until I sit down and open the program, and then words magically appear.

Intellectually, I know all this. But I still allow the procrastination and angst to eat up more energy than it should. I need to move my “butt to seat” (see #124) more quickly so I can remove my butt from seat more quickly too!

Resolve today to spend less time dreading and more time doing!

Originally published in modified form on December 1, 2012

leadership dot #40a: say goodbye

August 15, 2024August 14, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

It’s a lot easier to get approval/acceptance for change when you frame it as a “pilot”. When people think that something is just being tried out or is temporary, they are more willing to agree to test it.

Most of us have piloted something, even if we didn’t formally label it that way. We’ve said things like: “Let’s give this a go.” or “We’ll see how it works out.” Piloting is how we experiment or test something.

The problem is that mostly we pilot things that we are going to add or start. Try piloting stopping instead. Get off a committee and see if it matters — can you get what you need just from reading the minutes? (If not, you can always go back on the committee!) Stop running X report and see if someone misses it. Pilot a plan to eliminate a form or a process. Does everyone really use all the data you collect and enter?) Test out a bi-weekly meeting/reporting structure instead of weekly and see if productivity suffers. Keep only electronic copies and pilot a “green approach” to no copying/filing of routine work.

Challenge yourself and each staff member to pilot at least one ending strategy. Find something that can be eliminated for “awhile” — and give stopping a try!

Originally published in modified form on July 11, 2012

leadership dot #2163a: non-question

August 14, 2024August 13, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

It is mostly a waste of time when the manager at a restaurant goes between tables and asks diners: “How is your meal?” I’ll bet that they most frequently hear “fine” or something similar. It is a non-question — just something to say rather than a request for a real answer. It interrupts the diner’s meal and I would guess that it pays a little dividend for the restaurants.

Such a lost opportunity!

What if instead, the manager asked: “What is one thing we could do to become better?” or “If you were the manager, what is something you would change?” or even “What was the worst part of your experience today?” These types of questions would force the diners to give more substantive answers and a savvy manager could track (literally or intuitively) the frequency of responses. It would allow them to take action in a way that was meaningful.

Instead of a token public relations sweep through the restaurant, managers would be well served to use the time to truly learn something from those who know them best. Whether of your diners, employees, donors, or clients, make it a point to ask real questions, not those that elicit an automatic, generic (non-) response.

Originally published in modified form on May 18, 2018

leadership dot #92a: salt shaker

August 13, 2024August 9, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

A student employee was asked to cover the lunch shift of the Welcome Desk receptionist. “I can cover until 12:55,” he replied. “I have a 1pm class and walking in late to that is like walking into an active volcano.”

In Week 1 of classes, obviously this professor had established clear boundaries and expectations for behavior. The same principles were described by Danny Meyer in his book Setting the Table. Meyer likened supervision to keeping a salt shaker in the center of the table (i.e. setting expectations of desired action). Customers continually moved it (i.e. tested expectations). The job of the leader was to continually put the salt shaker back to the center through “constant, gentle pressure” about why it was important to be there.

Even if leaders set clear expectations, over time they will be abandoned without continual resetting and articulating the consequences for even a little variance. Coming to class at 1:02 becomes 1:05 and then 1:10. Some leaders believe it is easier to let minor transgressions slip, but by allowing the salt shaker to “scoot” a little each time it will invariably fall off the table altogether.

Think about what the salt shaker represents for you and take care to honor it — over and over again.

leadership dot #93a: here’s to less

August 12, 2024August 9, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Why does the speedometer on my car show up to 160 mph when even half of that is speeding in all 50 states? Why does the tachometer display through 8 rpms when even 5 feels like I’m in a rocket ready for take-off?

I fear that we have this obsession with “more”. It looks better if we have more potential on the speedometer than we use, as if putting on the numbers means that the car could go that fast. It looks better if a company’s website lists thousands and thousands of products, even though it only sells a few hundred different items. Universities list courses in their academic catalog that haven’t been offered in years. Lists of bank fees outline obscure services that are likely never used but portray them as a more comprehensive financial institution.

More is not always better. Don’t fall into the temptation to hype your product or offerings beyond what is reasonably used. It just clutters what we truly use and value.

Originally published in modified form on September 2, 2012