Be Different or be dead

July 13, 2015

3 simple ways that great leaders develop successful people

Winners aren’t born, they are created by a leader in their lives.

Someone who creates an environment where others are able to grow and have the opportunity to do great things. It could be a parent, grandparent, friend, teacher, mentor or a boss.

In fact it is normally a combination of “all of the above” where an individual is influenced by a number of other people in different ways.

But regardless of the origin of the influencing leader, they all share three common traits.

Emotion

The leader approaches relationships on an emotional level first; intellectually second. Their actions come from caring as opposed to any other motive. Productivity gains are important, but winners don’t come from influence aimed at enhancing output. The ulterior motive is to help another person, not to use them.

Safety net

The leader provides a safety net for risk taking and experimentation. They encourage trying new ideas without fear of
punishment. They believe that the more tries you make the more success you achieve.

Imperfection

The leader encourages imperfection. They don’t expect perfection. They know it doesn’t exist. Is more concerned with getting stuff done and honing it along the way.

They care.

They commit to others.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 7.13.15 at 05:09 am by Roy Osing
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July 6, 2015

Why people thank you when you’ve really screwed them over

Source: Pexels

How to screw people over and have them thank you for the experience.

You’ve just screwed over one of your customers.

You missed the delivery time you promised.

The product you sold them doesn’t work the way it should.

Whatever happened, you blew it.

What do you do?

This simple recovery process will actually turn an angry customer into a more loyal one who is prepared to spread your word to others more than if the service mishap never happened.

1. Apologize

Take responsibility for what happened and apologize regardless of whether you’re at fault in your mind or not. Failure to do this step and you can forget about the rest of the process.

2. Fix it fast

Fix the screw-up fast. This is critical. A leisurely response will kill you. Whatever the problem, bring all of your resources to bear to get it done (and make sure the customer knows you are doing it).

3. Surprise your victim

Do the unexpected. This is the key step. Everyone expects you to fix your screw up, but generally what they don’t expect is a little something extra to “atone for your sins”. Going the extra mile.

Doing something special that the customer isn’t looking for. But make it personal because if you merely throw your ‘trash and trinkets’ at them it will be perceived as cheap and in-genuine.

Find out something personal about the customer and play to that. If she loves going to the movies go there. If he is a cabernet sauvignon nut go there.

The critical thing is that the customer feels like you have gone out of your way to make them feel special after the way you have treated them.

If you commit to taking these 3 actions, they’ll say “Thanks so much for pissing me off. I really enjoyed it.”

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 7.6.15 at 04:33 am by Roy Osing
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June 8, 2015

Why playful organizations actually have a competitive advantage

Source: Unsplash

Why do organizations that ‘play’ have a competitive advantage?

Most organizations search for ways to differentiate themselves from their competition at a very high level: operational excellence, technology and products. Some actually believe price is a differentiator but I won’t spend nanosecond on the subject.

There is one dimension that rarely gets included in the conversation - playfulness.

It seems that organizations that are playful and have fun seem to do well against their ‘tight’ competitors.

Playful businesses allow their employees to express themselves as individuals; to talk to their customers in an informal way as opposed to following a script crafted by someone in a staff group somewhere in head office.

They expose the office fun to their customers. The banter that goes on among employees ‘when no one is watching’ is presented to their customers with no hesitation.

On Westjet all of the flight attendants are introduced, and ‘the lovely Marsha’ in the mid-cabin section always gets a deserved round of applause.

Employees of playful organizations step out of their formal role and do something unexpected of them.

I recall the pilot of a Westjet flight introducing himself to the passengers before stepping into the cockpit and giving us the details of the upcoming flight in person as well as their plan to introduce new streaming video technology to replace the traditional way of viewing movies.

He said he liked to do things differently than others.

Very unexpected and memorable. I have never seen any pilot from any other airline do this (and I don’t expect I ever will).

Playful organizations inject humour in carrying out their official tasks. Ever hear a Westjet flight boss give pre-flight safety instructions? Their speech covers the required details but it is laced with a casual humour that makes the process of seeing once again how to fasten a seat belt more interesting and enjoyable.

Playful organizations seem more human than others, and are rewarded with customers who care about them and stay with them through thick and thin.

Sounds like a #CompetitiveAdvantage to me…

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 6.8.15 at 04:10 am by Roy Osing
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June 1, 2015

10 simple reasons a manager is not a leader

Source: Unsplash

10 simple reasons a manager is not a leader.

Managers are not leaders; here are the differences.

1. Leaders serve; managers control;

2. Leaders disrupt; managers perpetuate;

3. Leaders help; managers order;

4. Leaders empower; managers restrict;

5. Leaders feel; managers are mechanized;

6. Leaders create; managers benchmark;

7. Leaders translate; managers assume;

8. Leaders are passionate; managers are conservative;

9. Leaders experiment; managers conform;

10. Leaders are loose; managers are tight.

Each role is extremely important in any organization

But the two are often confused with one another.

They shouldn’t be. They are distinct.

And don’t assume your best manager has the capability to be a stand-out leader.

It’s probably not going to happen.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 6.1.15 at 04:51 am by Roy Osing
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