Say Again

A while ago a magazine requested their readers to send in some statements made by professional
leadership at work that they found confusing, ambiguous or downright dumb. Here are some of the selected responses;

1: As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures for the cards will be taken next Wednesday and employees should receive their security cards within two weeks.

2: What we need is a list of specific unknown problems we will encounter.

3: Email is not to be used to pass on information or data.

4: This project is so important that we cannot allow things that are more important to interfere with it.

5: This memo is to inform you that a memo will be issued today regarding the subject memo above.

Not only are these comments from top leadership, they are verging on the precipice of ridiculous and most of them are are from leaders in Fortune 500 companies!

Clear and continuous communications is so very important. In business the self inflicted wounds that are created are more often than not a direct result of poor or non existent clear communications. The very same disconnect occurs in personal relationships. When communication is clear and direct there is far less confusion and the anticipated outcomes are much more likely. Many times individuals are held accountable for not doing what they were not told to do and that never has and never will work. When direct results are expected, a clear understanding of who, what, how, where and when must be understood and the only means to assure this is to clearly communicate. If the "why" can also be shared it should be shared. People feel much more positive about doing something if they know why they are doing what they are expected to do. The "why" gives those involved a sense of ownership and when a position of ownership is taken,  the outcomes are almost always more desirable because there is a feeling of important involvement. Clear and continuous communications is the answer, independent of the question.

The High Road

Years ago before modern paved roads and bridges existed most roads were built at ground level. Fewer roads were built at higher levels for easily understood reasons. The high roads were harder to build. When the weather was fair, most travelers took the low roads. The paths were more direct, requiring less effort and less travel time. When the weather was not good the high road proved to be a safer route even though it was surely going to demand more time and effort. Taking the high road was always harder.

When faced with a challenging situation, where tempers and emotions may very likely lead to the altering of facts always take the high road. Irrational people make irrational statements and behave irrationally and we all reach an irrational status at sometimes in our lives. People tend to emotionally skew the reality of the controversial event to meet their objectives and support their position. When you are on the other side of this emotionally charged event, you may also have a tendency to get emotionally charged and lash out...ready-fire-aim. Experience has taught me that only firemen should fight fire with fire. When people fight fire with fire, other people generally get burned. If the flames are high enough, both parties suffer wounds. The damage can become an everlasting part of some lives and no matter what is done to correct the wrong and get behind the scars to aid in the healing, the permanent damage is done.

Taking the high road may mean you have to humble yourself, ignore the facts and look the other way, but it may also save a relationship. You can always wait to address the issue when emotions are lowered and you are both on the same road. One of the many positive benefits to taking the high road is that you will learn about yourself and that education will lead to your personal and professional growth.

The Goat in The Bathtub

Our business, not unlike others,  is built upon delivering what a client needs in a timely and professional manner. One of the very valuable services we provide while pursuing this is goal is creative design of advertising. We are fortunate to have a very capable staff that creates over one thousand ads every month for our list of clients. The needs are often fairly straight forward. Basically, the ad needs to look good, be readable, be a professional individual reflection of the business and include  graphic elements that grab attention.

Recently one of our advertising professionals sent in a request to have the creative department, put a goat in a bathtub. The client, a unique gift shop, was planning a clearance sale and some of the clearance items were products made from goat milk. Thus the goat in the bathtub, covered in soap bubbles, represented a clearance sale! Our creative department has many resources available to them that provide excellent and very professional graphic elements they can select to use in the ads they build for our customers. However, a goat in a bathtub is not on the list. Therefore this customized graphic had to be created.

When the special request was received by our graphic department to put a goat in a bathtub, the response was one of; "We can do this" rather than, as others may respond to special request; "We cannot do this", We are not allowed to do this", We have never done this" and on and on with a exhaustive list of why something special can't be done instead of why something special can and should be done.

We have all made special requests from time to time and how the person, business or organization we are making the special request of responds, speaks volumes to their commitment to high caliber customer service. The lengths they are willing to go to to meet the requests will likely determine the value that is placed on their brand. Brands that are well known for going the extra mile are typically those brands that enjoy great levels of loyalty. The fullfilling of special requests starts at the top of any organization and flows through the hearts of the folks doing the job of meeting customer needs. It is a matter of culture. Does your culture allow you to put a goat in a bathtub or not? Ours does.