doug smith training

How do you feel about the truth? Do you feel the same way about what you tell yourself when you think?  To get to the truth more often, I've learned to start with myself. A question I often ask my classes is "who tells lies?" and the answer, almost always, is "Everyone." Occasionally someone will say that they don't ever tell lies and that's probably a lie. My follow-up question is, "Who do we lie to the most?" And the answer is always "Ourselves." That's unnecessary, isn't it? Who are we going to fool? To get to the truth more often, start by telling yourself the truth, then the truth gets easier.  -- doug smith

The best way to help yourself is to help someone else. It may not be my first impulse, but it is always my best outcome. When we help others we untangle knots of tension. When we serve others we heal ourselves. It's not magic, it's simply the way most of us are wired. Service helps the server and the served. Let the joy of service erase your sorrow. -- doug smith  

Everyone serves.  Some of us simply serve better than others. When companies treat customers poorly it's easy to see that as poor service to the customers. It also serves the company poorly. If there is not more to business than the bottom line, the bottom line will hit the bottom with a thud. Painfully. Sometimes rapidly. Everyone serves. We can serve devotedly or we can serve resentfully. When we serve with devotion -- to a higher cause, for a better world, because we like and love people, because we see that as the best way to lead with courage, clarity, creativity, and compassion -- then we enjoy the experience. Service brings us joy. When we serve with resentment -- the quality of the service suffers and there is no joy in it. Instead of the intrinsic satisfaction of service, of helping another human, we hold onto a low boiling anger that poisons the transaction, the relationship, and (gasp) ourselves. The work is the same, but the attitude is different. It's a mistake to ...

Productivity is a loaded word that is thrown around as if it means unlimited quality. It's not. Like most words, productivity is a relative term.  While you can always improve productivity (if that means doing more with less) there will also be a cost. That cost is usually in quality. Unless you develop a completely new way of doing something (or at least revolutionize the process) when you do more of it you inevitably reach a capacity limit. Approaching that intersection, the traffic heads for trouble.  We see it all the time: a relentless race to the bottom to make things cheaper and more plentiful at the huge sacrifice of quality. That loss feels like a real human loss. Yes, a phone-cue is faster than waiting to speak to a human, but there has been a significant loss in human contact in the business world. Long before AI started doing work for us, we let customers do their own heavy lifting. That results in a lot of dropped balls and a lot of unhappy customers. How you meas...

How much of your leadership relies on status? Status can be granted or seized, earned or burned. A frequent cause of conflict, people often compete for status even when they don't realize it. It gives way to one-upping others, to interrupting others, to manipulating others, all in search of some magic elevation to wear the crown. It's usually a figurative crown, but palpable nonetheless. It causes people to take things personally, all in an attempt to raise their personal standing. As high performance leaders, let's take notice. As centered and balanced leaders, let's place status into the proper perspective: it is not who you are. The struggle for status inevitably disappoints. Find the common cause. Create the common ground. Wear the common hat. -- doug smith

Some people measure quantify first and quality later. Some people measure money first and impact to the team later (not even second!). How you measure productivity might determine your character and your reputation. Put people first.  -- doug smith  

  Of course we all need to make money. We earn our profits with honor when we provide goods, services, and care for our customers. It's possible to create a better world AND make money in the process. But, all too often, in that process we encounter problems. In  the service of our people (customers, team members, vendors, regulators...) we should solve those problems. Sometimes, companies seek to monetize that process by creating problem situations that beg for solutions, which are then made available for an upgrade with an extra fee. Yuck. Short term that may seem smart but long term it's burning down the house you live in just to warm it up. The minute you monetize problem solving you create more problems.  And those problems will be much harder to solve. -- doug smith

As an old six sigma project manager I firmly believe that most problems are caused by broken processes, not broken people. But let's face it, some people not only don't realize that but they refuse to fix the process. If you know a process is broken, and do nothing to change that, the problem gets worse. If you can solve someone's problem but refuse to, you might be the problem. Don't be the problem. Fix the process, even if you need help. Because there are no perfect processes, but there are lots of people avoiding them. -- doug smith  

  Have you ever had a conversation with a customer service representative and you could tell that they were simply following a script? How did you feel about that? Sometimes the script works, but usually it doesn't feel human to the customer. As we get more and more responses from actual robots, it's worth considering how much better we can give human responses as humans. Quick Service Do's and Don'ts: Don't just follow a script when you hear it's not working. Don't assume that the customer is wrong. Don't take it personally when the customer gets upset. Don't argue with the customer. Instead, do these: Do listen to understand the customer's needs. Do empathize with the customer. Do collaborate rather than dictate. Do think creatively, even if you need to pause, in order to find better answers. That's not the whole list, of course, but it's a useful place to start. No matter who we're talking to we should always be better than a robot...

We do it frequently -- blame people for what's wrong. And when we blame people for something they did not cause it often makes things worse because now they feel bad about it and maybe even defensive. Even though it feels like people get i the way of perfection, it's usually something else. Fix the process. Fix the rule. Fix the presentation. Fix the product. People are better than we realize, and seldom to blame for service breakdowns. -- doug smith Training Activity Make a list of the three most recent service breakdowns that you have experienced. For each breakdown, score on a scale of 1 - 10 how much of that breakdown was caused by: Process Rules Presentation Product People Now you know where to start fixing things.  

  Training is important. Service is a priority. But you just can't train someone to provide great service and satisfy a customer if the product is bad. Maybe for a moment, but not for long can you keep anyone smiling when the product is poking them in the eye. The best customer service rep in the world can't fix a bad product. Once you realize that you're dealing with a bad product there's no reason to be angry with the service rep. They know it's bad, too. They'd fix it if they could. They likely can't. When the product is bad, find a better product. -- doug smith Training Activity What if that assumption is incorrect? What if you really can make things better with superior service, even when the product is broken beyond repair? What would that look like? What would you train your people to say? What would it look like for someone to create such a great relationship with a customer that the product was inconsequential?

  Yes or no? Certainly not maybe because that takes you nowhere. Yes or no? I don't always get the answer right, but I feel sure about this: yes is better than a guess. Yes gets us moving. Yes opens doors. Yes starts the experiment and learning begins. Yes is better than a guess. And, if you need to guess, guess yes! -- doug smith

Expecting good people to be perfect is expecting too much but expecting them to constantly improve is reasonable. Expecting everyone to constantly is reasonable.  How can you as a leader make that happen? 1. Tell your people that it (constant improvement) is your expectation. 2. Support your people in their development. Give them the training you know they need AND the training that they ask for. 3. Coach at every opportunity. Check in on their goals. Ask about their progress. Ask how you can help. The good news is the more that you do those three things the more you are also constantly improving. And, there's nothing like walking the talk to get more people improving. -- doug smith  

No one does everything. It's not about achieving everything. You don't need to achieve all of your goals everyday, but achieving any of your goals puts you ahead. What goal are you working on today? -- doug smith  

What have been your major changes?  What magnificent visions have you had that you eventually released? Sometimes, to make room for the next great thing, we need to let go of the less than great wish we're holding onto. What looks like success at one point in our lives because less convincing as it slips away, hides, or becomes impossible. Life goes on. New dreams form. Greatness always welcomes us to new opportunities. If your vision of success changes, that is also success. You are now free to be great (and happy) in another direction. Life goes on; the joy in it is up to you. -- doug smith