High Performance Leadership

The problem with bad service is that it creates bad customers. Solve your service problem or the problem customers will multiply.  -- doug smith

Over-charging is the worst possible customer service. Charge a fair price. Amortize your costs if you have to, but keep your price affordable for the people who need your product or service most. Ir will pay off in the long run, and you'll feel better about it right away. -- doug smith

Many leaders lecture on and on about value. Where's the value? Have you produced any value?  Value comes from what you give, not what you receive. When do you provide the most value? Sometimes? When it's demanded? Or all of the time. It is, after all, completely up to you. -- doug smith

I haven't flown in an airplane (not that I can fly without one!) since the pandemic started and truthfully, I don't miss it. Traveling had gone from an enjoyable vocation to an aggravating chore. And the worst part of it was flying. Once upon a time there were lots of flight choices which meant that some of the airlines had to do a good job just to compete. But then consolidation greatly reduced the choices (remember PanAm? Allegheny? Midway?) and the squeeze commenced. Seating space got smaller. And then smaller. And then smaller. Food disappeared or turned into nuts or pretzels and then even that disappeared. First class got bigger and coach got broken -- broken seats, broken window shades, broken promises... Flights got later, and later and often just cancelled altogether. Some months every flight I took had a maintenance delay of one kind or another. Lines were longer. Luggage space smaller. It all got worse and worse. I found myself becoming grumpy as my tall frame squeeze...

Have you ever really read the complete terms of agreement on any device, any contract? If so, when was the last time that you did it? We skim over those things. We click "agree" as fast as we can scroll to it and move on with whatever it was that we wanted to do. That's high risk. You know that, I know that, and yet we do that anyway. It's hard to stop. But here's what I would like you (and me) to stop, to desist from, to resist. Stop doing that to others. Just don't do it. Be gentle. Be kind. Be honest. Be real. And (when you can) be brief. Overwhelming people;le with long, extensive, even convoluted terms of agreement is a low form of coercion and manipulation. Here's why: it's not an agreement, it's a weapon agreements that are unjust and unfair are NOT agreements it's not clever or smart to trick someone (say, your customer) into signing away rights -- it's evil and it's theft the ability to take advantage of someon...

It's easy to think of ourselves first. And, if we're not careful, it's just as easy to think of ourselves last. Honestly, it's easy to think about ourselves all the time. Sometimes I've done it. But do you know where the biggest payoff is? Do you know where the most profound joy is? The biggest kick the best reward is in helping others. The strongest action is seldom the self-centered one. The strongest action is one that helps another. -- doug smith

How does it feel when someone expects too much from you? I've known people, sometimes customers, sometimes team members, some times family members, who simply cannot be pleased. Nothing is ever enough. No matter how I've tried to meet their needs, those needs are deeper than the well of resources that I draw from. They wear me out. I've learned that there are limits. High performance leaders do serve their constituents, and they do it gladly. But they also recognize their limits. At some point, people need to step up and reach for their own goals. At some point we need to step aside. You can never give anyone everything that they need. That's their job. Who do you need to step aside from today? How will they know that you mean it? -- Doug Smith

OK High performance leaders, here's a question for you: what's more important and comes first in your priorities -- customers or team members? I've worked with many organizations that always put customers first. A few teams would also focus on team member happiness (or at least say they do). Here's the problem. Unhappy team members create more unhappy customers. Here's another problem: really poorly behaving customers make it so rough for team members that they also become unhappy, spreading the unhappiness around. That's not the result we want. Conversely, nice customers recognize the hard work that team members do. Polite customer realize that they may not always BE the center of the universe. Smart and reasonable customers realize that you are not entitled to something just because you demand it and that demanding it progressively louder does not increase the merits of your case. Can't we all play well together? As a high performance leader, I e...

It made me angry. How dare the customer push me like that? Clearly, he was accustomed to getting what he wanted by bullying people. I'd show him. He wouldn't get what he wanted from me. But wait. Was I being at my best? Was my anger getting in the way? And, why exactly was I angry anyway? Jim stepped in. He offered the customer a solution I hadn't thought of. One that would not cost us anything but simply require a minor shuffling of resources. In the end, no customer would be harmed by the shuffling and wouldn't even be effected. The bully left happy, but maybe he wasn't a bully at all. Maybe I was the one being unreasonable and hasty. If it makes you angry, work with someone to fix what's wrong. I'm grateful to Jim for stepping in. His calm perspective didn't see anger, but only possible solutions. That's what I needed in that moment. That's what the customer needed, too. It doesn't take a perfect leader to be a centered leader. B...