Improving Leadership, Customer Service, and Communication

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Service Savvy & Diversity

Service savvy  means providing outstanding service to internal and external customers, regardless of how different they may be from you. Here are five things you can do to increase your service savvy: Demonstrate Respect—go beyond tolerating differences and strive to appreciate those who are different from you. (Example: remember that kids are customers too!) Avoid Assumptions—be...
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Coaching for Improvement

Nearly everyone enjoys providing positive feedback, and it is a power tool for continuous improvement. While providing not-so-positive feedback isn’t much fun, remember that when provided properly it is a valuable coaching resource.  The purpose of feedback is to help the receiver, not to embarrass him or her or to make judgments. So be kind....
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Providing Effective Feedback

How many of the following effective feedback behaviors do you display on a regular basis? I carefully select the time and place to provide feedback. I respect those who provide me with negative feedback. I ask for clarification when communicating with others. I offer the person an opportunity to evaluate their own behavior. When offering...
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Where Is Your Focus When Mistakes Happen?

True leaders focus on positives while others are trapped dealing with negativity.  How did you react the last time something went wrong in your department or organization?  Did you focus on the negative events leading up to the problem?  Did you identify fault and take the necessary disciplinary action? I don’t remember when or where...
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Code Phrase Can End Pity Parties

My family has always had a weird way of making light of a wimpy display of self-pity.  If one of the six McMichael children whined or complained about something insignificant, they would likely hear this family response: “Moo, Moo, Moo, Moo.”  Now I don’t know where this silly retort came from, but I do know...
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Who Has Contributed To Your Success?

Charles Schulz Philosophy—You don’t have to actually answer the questions.  Just read the following straight through, and you’ll get the point. 1) Name the five wealthiest people in the world. 2) Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize. 3) Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and...
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Leadership Sometimes Requires Tough Choices

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”  – Bill Cosby Good leadership requires making tough choices that are sometimes going to be unpopular.  First, you must have followers who want to follow you and that means earning the trust and respect of these individuals.  And, the best...
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How Do You Boost Confidence in Others?

People will remember not what you say or do, but how you make them feel. I can’t remember when or where I first heard this, but I do remember how true this comment rang deep within me.  And … I know how true it is for me today. The leaders who influenced me most, were those...
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Review and Reinforcement = Retention

Many of you reading this newsletter have  Training and/or HR departments to rely on for the formal training of your team members. These professionals use a well-known training technique that is reduced to four words:  tell, show, do, review.  You first tell participants what you want them to know; you demonstrate or show the behavior...
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What Is Diversity

What words or phrases come to mind when you think of diversity? Typical responses include things like color, ethnicity, people with disabilities, gender, age, family status, religion or sexual orientation. But diversity goes way beyond the typical responses. It also includes things like appearance, communication style, music interests, mobility, job status, national origin, socio/economic status,...
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