Sunday, February 25, 2007

Service "Ritz" Style

My wife and I just returned from Philadelphia where we spent a weekend at the Ritz Carlton, a venue famous for its customer service experience. Needless to say we were not disappointed. On Thursday, the day before we planned to check in, I received a call from a charming young woman who welcomed me as a guest and offered to review any special needs I might have for the weekend. Since my reservations had been made online I wasn't expecting this level of attention but took the occasion to mention that we would be celebrating my wife's birthday during our stay. She quickly listed several options for complementary services they could offer to make the weekend extra special and after I had made my choice gave me her name and extension just in case I thought of something else before our arrival.

The attention to detail continued Friday morning. It began with a "happy birthday" greeting from our valet and doorman, personal greetings from the registration desk staff before we announced our names, a gift bag and welcome letter magically delivered by a smiling hostess, and a tour of the hotel and our room amenities by a gregarious bellhop. Friday dinner in their restaurant was equally impressive and the beautifully decorated and personalized piece of birthday cake waiting in our room after Saturday night's dinner at a local steakhouse rounded out a fabulous service experience.

It is interesting to observe persons who love to serve. They seem to gain special joy from offering others something of themselves without expecting anything in return. Every employee we met at the Ritz Carlton embodied that love of serving. I'm sure they have been well trained and coached, and I suppose they don't always feel like serving, but it was fun to be on the receiving end of their special treatment.

Leaders could take some lessons from those around us who serve every day. Suppose leaders would pay more attention to how employees are doing (even taking time to know their name)? What if leaders thought more about delighting their customers and personalizing their products and services? Might not the world be a better place if leaders thought less about the value of their stock options and more about the worth of their character? Could loving and caring someday replace layoffs and downsizing?

The world's greatest leaders have all served others - Jesus, Gandhi, Mother Theresa to name a few. I have much to learn from them. While a weekend at the Ritz Carlton won't change me as a leader, it did remind me of the importance of serving others, whether we are getting paid for it or not.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Lessons in Accountability

On Valentine's Day the state of Pennsylvania was hit with a snowstorm that also dropped several inches of heavy sleet and freezing rain. As you can imagine the roads quickly became treacherous, but for Interstate 78 and parts of Interstates 80 and 81 the situation can only be described as unbelievable. Hundreds of motorists became stranded in a fifty mile traffic nightmare that continued for more than 24 hours. As of this date the roads remain closed while crews try to remove the snow and ice.

It has been interesting to observe how state officials have responded to this crisis. Initially the state said that "Mother Nature is the only one to blame"; small comfort for those who spent the night in their cars and trucks during the height of the storm. By Friday, the governor was apologizing and admitting an "almost total breakdown in communication" among state agencies that contributed to the massive problem. But now what? State legislators have demanded hearings and the governor has appointed someone to lead a review of what went wrong. In a situation like this one, will anyone really be held accountable?

As a leader in your organization you already know how tough it is to practice accountability. It's hard to confront someone who isn't performing and even harder to admit when we have made a mistake or not lived up to a promise. Team members often struggle to tell each other the truth and so we accept less than stellar behavior even as results decline. Is this approach really helpful? Should we continue to play the "blame game" or step up and own responsibility for our actions or inactions?

A number of my clients have invited me to help them with team building and the issue of accountability is always a tough subject to discuss. I have discovered that it is more difficult to hold each other accountable if we don't trust the other members of our team. For this reason we usually spend quite a bit of time learning about each other first, building a level of trust, before we begin to identify how team members are contributing or detracting from the team's success. When teams finally reach the point where they can tell each other the truth an epiphany occurs. Instead of pretending everything is fine, the team can hold each other accountable through positive peer pressure.

Will the aftermath of this year's Valentine's Day snowstorm result in real changes at PennDOT (our transportation department) or will the hearings simply point fingers and make excuses? Knowing how hard it is to practice accountability I'm guessing that "Mother Nature" will be the only one to lose her job.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Leadership and Courage

I'm not a natural risk taker. At least that's what all of my behavior and personality assessments tell me. So why am I launching a leadership blog and what do I hope to accomplish with it? At a breakfast meeting this past week a friend, and soon to be client of mine, urged me to try it. He assured me it would be easy to set up and that he would love to read my thoughts about leadership and share them with his friends and clients.

But what about the risks? Are they real or imagined? Since April of 2006 I have been teaching a special leadership workshop based on the CASTLE Principles of Leadership as found in Lance Secretan's book "ONE: The Art and Practice of Conscious Leadership". Courage is the first of these six principles (Authenticity, Service, Truthfulness, Love, and Effectiveness round out the acronym). Courage isn't about bravery (although it sometimes shows up that way). It's really about taking a stand, trying something new, being vulnerable, admitting a mistake, or saying I'm sorry.

This blog represents some of those things for me. Before I (or any of us) can do anything new or radical or brilliant we must first be Courageous. You are invited to join me in pursuit of greater Courage in leadership. Offer your thoughts and questions about Courage (or the lack of it) from your experiences leading and being led. Think about the Courageous people you know and what makes them that way. Identify some of the pressures you face in your workplace when you try to be Courageous.

In future posts I will offer other thoughts about leadership, including case studies and personal stories. Join me in taking risks so you can be the kind of leader that today's employees are yearning for.