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March 12th, 2021
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Devaluation of Customer Feedback?
Published on Feb 26th, 2021
It used to be that getting a score of 10 meant you were truly “walking on water”! Do you agree? In fact, most of us in customer service and customer management leadership roles used to feel a huge sense of achievement when we received very high scores, meaning 8 or 9, on the 1-10 scale. However, my recent experiences talking with people serving me when, for example, buying a car, is that I’ll hear something like this at the end of the transaction:
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“Joe, you’ll receive a survey from <Company> and I hope you’ll rate me as a ten”
What is one supposed to do? If you are honest, you need to rate good performance that has room for improvement, somewhere in the 7,8 range, ......
“Rock Throwers” v Productive Conflict
Published on Jul 16th, 2020
Over the years, hundreds of people who’ve worked on my teams have known that it was not only OK, but expected, that they challenge my plans and tell me if they believe my plan was flawed and had limited chance of working. They knew that I truly wanted to hear that, especially if there was something of high risk that I had neglected to take into account. However, they also knew that it was equally important to present alternatives, that might work better. This is the kind of “Productive Conflict” that I have tried to encourage and build in my teams, and which we, at 4A Leadership, talk about...
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Transition From Manager to Leader
Published on Jul 16th, 2020
There are many good articles written about Leadership, and about Management; and, of course, the differences between them. But, how does one just start being a leader? Imagine being a manager of an operation of any kind; let’s use in this example a regional operations manager for a chain of office supplies stores. Yes, you have to focus on financials, staffing, sales performance, cost, customer feedback, security and, no doubt, many other things. BUT, how do you “lead”? What does this mean? .....
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“Open Door” Policy in a Virtual World
Published on Oct 26th, 2020
Staying connected outside of “meetings” in a pandemic virtual world is not easy. We all use Zoom, or a different app, of course. But, this is the equivalent of a planned or scheduled meeting in the non-virtual world. So how do you have an “open door” policy in the virtual world to encourage people to open up lines of “informal” communication, which they would have done in the “real” world?
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Here’s a suggestion that I invite you all to try out....
Personality Type – So What?
Published on Jun 2nd, 2020
During the past several years I have asked all our clients whether they had taken a personality assessment of any kind. The majority say Yes. My next question is: “So what have you learned?” To which I get a response something like: “…I think I’m an EN or something”; or “I think I’m a C”; or “I think I’m Yellow”; etc. Sadly, this indicates that corporations have accomplished “technical” training but, without follow up actions, there may be very limited impact to both the individual and to the team.....
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"Check For Understanding"
Published on Jun 16th, 2020
Thirty years ago, while flying in the back seat of a 2-seat F4 “Phantom” Fighter Jet for the Royal Air Force, our routine was that the leader of the formation would brief us on every detail of the mission. The formation usually consisted of four to six jets including Fighters, Attack jets and airborne tanker jets. In a world before the advent of computers in the cockpit relying on our mental agility, memories, and hand written notes on our “knee pads”, were pretty critical to (a) our success and (b) our survival....
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"Experience, Without Agility = High Risk"
Published on Jun 23rd, 2020
A famous line in the movie Titanic, when the expedition leader responded to a team member who stated that the Captain of the Titanic was wrong to light the fourth boiler at exactly the time he should have shut down the third boiler (meaning, given the iceberg warnings, he should have slowed down instead of maintaining maximum cruising speed of 22 knots). The expedition leader replied, “Yes; but the Captain had 26 years of experience working AGAINST him.....
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Agility & Emotional Intelligence
Published on
May 28, 2020
Everything DiSC® AGILE EQ™
The need for corporations to be able to shift perspectives quickly and adapt to rapid change and volatility has become a key competency for growth and continued organizational success. Agility is no longer a buzz word, but a requirement for building effective teams. Corporations cannot be agile without agile employees who embrace change and function well in a dynamic business environment where organizational structures are quickly shifting from hierarchical to a more pluralistic structures. ...
"Walk The TALK” NOT “Walk the Walk”
Published on
May 12, 2020
I routinely hear people, even at very senior levels, say something like “I walk the walk”. It is concerning to me that so many people don’t even understand the very concept of this simple phrase; and so they use it incorrectly. I have explained to literally thousands of people that, like it or not, I will be judged by what I do NOT what I say.
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“Talking” one way, and doing something different i.e. “Walking” a different way ...
The Challenge of Social Isolation
Published on
Mar 29,2020
When my husband Joe Dyer and I made the decision to retire and start up our own small business, I embraced the challenge. After 30 plus years in the banking industry, I was ready for a change and a slower pace of life. Joe had retired three years prior and had begun the research and preparation to fully launch our small business, 4A Leadership, Inc.
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Even though this was a well-planned decision and I had a partner to work from home with, the change was at first uncomfortable for both of us. ...
Impact of People & Leadership
Published on
Mar 19, 2020
What amazing technology we have now routinely deployed in Customer Service operations! Certainly it has come a long way since the days of the first Rockwell ACD deployed in a huge, one-thousand seat, single function Customer Service department, like airlines reservations. BUT, are we the customers, getting better service when we call? To me, the answer comes back as “DEPENDS”… it depends a lot on the person you get. A case in point, ...
The “Gangrene” Report
Published on
Nov 21, 2019
I have seen so many managers struggling to understand what it means to be a manager. They wait for “someone” to define what they need to do, and they often walk by things that are blindingly obvious which need to be fixed, redesigned, or changed in some way, without taking corrective action. Often, they may set Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s), which is great; but they establish “standards” or “Targets” against which these KPI’s are measured and then coded Red, Yellow, Green depending on whether ...
High Performing Teams – A Truly Sustainable Competitive Advantage...
Published on
Aug 7, 2019
So, why is it that we, in the corporate world, are so often heard calling all of the missing skills listed above, as the ”Soft” skills? When are Senior Executives going to understand that the so called, “soft” skills, are indeed the “hardest” skills to develop and master? When are “they” going to understand that a “High Performing Team”, gives them a Sustainable Competitive Advantage that few competitors will be able to reach? ...