Here’s the link from inc.com.  Leave a comment to let us know what you think!

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/8-core-beliefs-of-extraordinary-bosses.html

As I was reading, an interesting interview with the CEO of Starbuck’s also came up.  Great perspective from a good company.

Enjoy, and Happy Monday!

I will be celebrating a milestone birthday–my 50th!!!–in a couple of months.  Long ago, I decided that it would be fun to knock off some items on my “bucket list” during my milestone years.  Five years ago, my husband and I took a 3,600-mile bicycle ride across North America.  It was an amazing experience, and a great way to celebrate my 45th.

So, this year, to celebrate my 50th year on earth, I am taking my husband on another adventure.  We will be hiking the 500-mile Colorado Trail–starting soon!

I have known I wanted to do this trip for about 3 years now.  I am committed to making it happen while still moving forward with other parts of my life.  And I have done almost NO planning.

Why is that?  Here we are, less than one month before our projected start date, and I don’t own a pack, shoes, or several other important things I’ll need for the trip.  This would drive some people insane.  What is wrong with me?

The answer is–nothing!  We all have personality preferences, and my personal style is to be a big picture person.  So, I know where I want to go and approximately when I want to start and end.  And generally, what I’ll need to take with me.  It’s a great start for a trip like this–but it’s not enough.

Now it’s time to move out of my comfort zone and do the detailed planning.  I have started by identifying how many miles we think we’ll hike each day.  And how much food we’ll need to take as well as how often we need to re-supply.  Matching these needs and mileages with available towns has been tricky, and we’ll also need help from friends and family to make sure we are supplied in some long stretches of the trip.  Good thing we have selected a start date to give me a deadline!

No, details aren’t my thing.  But in order to fulfill my commitment to this extensive (crazy?) undertaking, I must address each and every one.  When you’re supporting yourselves (and one Standard Poodle) on this kind of adventure, you need to be ready for anything.

The next 4 weeks may be uncomfortable, but after all, it’s only my personality preference.  That doesn’t mean I can’t do the details–they’ll just tire me out.  As if The Colorado Trail won’t.

What is your preference?  Big Picture?  Details?  Hanging out with friends?  Having downtime by yourself?  All of these are preferences based on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, an assessment that has been administered to millions of people over 50 years.  It’s good to know yourself and what you prefer so you can get out of your box consciously and when you need to.  Let us know where you need to get out of your comfort zone, and how you plan to do that.

I saw this slogan in an unusual place:  on the ski slopes at Aspen, on the back of a man’s sit-ski.  In case you haven’t seen one, a sit-ski is one made for a person who has been injured and can’t use his or her legs.  There is a chair of sorts on top of a single ski, and the skier uses poles with outriggers to steer down the mountain.  This particular man was in a very aerodynamic sit-ski and blasted past me (with my two skis and working legs) like I was standing still.  His message was on the back, and it profoundly affected me.

Fast forward to today.  It has been a rough month.  First, my favorite aunt passed away.  Then, a favorite friend from church died.  Then, our closest neighbor and the first person we met in Grand County died.  And just this week, my friend and colleague Judy’s brother passed away.  Wow.

And so I think about the slogan I saw in Aspen on the back of a man’s ski who could have given up but didn’t.  And I think about each of these special people and how they died living.  Aunt Gene was a dynamic, smart, funny woman who inspired her family and friends every day she lived.  Our friend Tara fought cancer and won–smiling and positive all the way through her journey–even after a car accident provided the final injuries that would take her life.  In the end, she couldn’t speak or eat, but she smiled and was thankful for every day she had with her family and friends.  Our neighbor Dwight was a pioneer in our area, had the world’s kindest heart, and told the worst jokes ever–even on the last day I saw him alive.  And Judy’s brother overcame adversity in his life with a positive attitude and love in his heart.

These people died living.  How are you living your life today?  Treat it as if it might be your last, and you’ll be on the right path.  RIP, my friends and family.  You taught us great lessons on how to live.

So I treasure this “down time” that I can spend any way I like.  I often read, sometimes watch the movie, take a nap, work a Sudoku puzzle, or even write.  And sometimes I just think about a situation I’m dealing with.  If I’m traveling west in the evening, I spend a lot of time looking at a beautiful sunset.  Regardless, I’m having alone time–which is unusual and very meditative–even while riding in the same vehicle as several hundred other people.

Now, you  may wonder how this relates to workplace success.  Well, it’s very important for each of us to spend “down time” so that we can think more strategically, solve problems, and consider the future of our careers.  I use the airplane as down time, but we all need to carve that time for ourselves regardless of whether we have a trip scheduled.

How might you find some “meditative” time during your busy work day?  What do you need to think about?  What complex problems are you dealing with that you haven’t found a solution to yet?  Who do you need to build relationships with–and how might you do that?  Where is your career going in the next few years?  Where does your organization need an infusion of creativity?

Let us know how much “down” time you get–or how much you need.  And share your strategies for getting it. They might help someone else think more strategically in the workplace.

During periods of economic recession the positive feelings and actions that promote growth, innovation, and success in organizations are atrophied, stifled, squashed, or even set aside.  Energy is focused toward survival and staying out of the line of fire.

It’s time for CEOs and senior executes to wake up the sleeping giant!   They need to reignite the human potential to move beyond recovery to GREATNESS!  Aligned and energized employees make the unimaginable possible.  What is it going to take to unleash the beast of human potential in your organization?

I can’t figure out how some organizations can fail so miserably at front line customer service.  Employees must be able to do on the spot “customized” service to each and every customer.  Meet them where they are; don’t treat every customer exactly the same, listen; put yourself in their shoes.  Companies need to look at various customer scenarios and equip their employees with tools to be able to help in predictable situations.

Let me share with you a recent personal example of customer service I received: 

Experienced major mechanical failure while driving a rented 26′ moving truck.  Called for roadside assistance.  The representative was exasperated that I could not give her the town where I was located.  I am 65 miles away from my destination in a different state there is not much in the surrounding area.  I was able to provide the exit number, state, roadway, cross street, and landmarks.  I knew any repair or tow truck could find us with the info I provided but she asked no less than 4 times in different ways where I am located.  When I provided an unfamiliar town name that I saw on a housing development she denied that it was a town.  Obviously this rental truck company has a problem in providing their folks with tools to support the customer sitting on the side of the road in a strange place after a long day of packing and traveling.  Gee…how could they have known that their customers would be in that situation?

Okay, perhaps I’m a bit too sensitive and critical…though really 15 minutes on the phone before help is called? Is that reasonable?   I’m sure you might be curious about how this ended.  My first contact was at 6:24 pm, repair guy arrived at 8:30, tow truck arrived at 10:00, and delivered our loaded rental truck at our house at midnight. 

I’d love to hear about your customer service experiences; the good and the bad.

My guess is that many workplaces will be happy to see 2011 in the rear view mirror.  It was a pretty terrible year economically all around the world.  But finances aren’t the only measure of success.  By other measures, we may have reached a turning point.  When finances are bad, we start to consider what is really important.  How much “stuff” do we really need?  How do we really want to treat others–and ourselves?

As the days start to grow, the New Year is fast approaching.  This is a great time to think about your own turning point.  What do you want to do differently–at work or at home?  I’m trying to pare my turning points down to just a couple.  It’s tempting to want to change LOTS of things, but trying to turn many things around all at once can just have you spinning in circles.  I have found that focusing on just one or two is much more effective and gives a much greater chance for success.

What will be your focus for 2012?  Maybe pick one for business, and one for yourself.  I think my personal one will be to take better care of myself (after the eating and drinking of the holidays have padded my middle a bit too much).  And for work?  I think I’ll focus on doing the work I love most–writing and getting the word out about workplace success.  I have a few more days to finalize these ideas, but they’re a good place to start.

Let me know what you want to turn around this year.  Let’s work on it together!  I’ll report my progress here, and you can too.

Photo courtesy David Maddox

So I didn’t really want to go skiing.  Aside from the cold that I’m not used to yet, we haven’t had any appreciable snow accumulation in over a week.  That means hard, crusty snow in most places–not very fun to ski on.

And it was getting late.  We had to wait for a delivery person, so we wouldn’t even get a start until almost 4 p.m.  That means we would end our ski after the sun set.  Strike three, right?

Wrong!  On the positive side of deciding to ski was the dog and husband who needed a run, the fact that I didn’t get any exercise yesterday, and that I might as well get used to the cold because it’s not going away.

So we went, heading into the backcountry for an hour.  Surprisingly, the snow was pretty great and very soft most of the way, we got a great workout, and we came back to our vehicle by the light of a 3/4 moon and Jupiter shining in the sky.  Yes, it was cold, but more than that it was magical and fun and totally worth the effort.  And the hot tub felt even better after some time outside!

 This little story is timely because we’re heading so quickly toward the end of 2011.  It’s a great time to assess where we’re making excuses and where we need to find that elusive motivation that we have allowed to hide–in a closet, under our desk, wherever.  Dig your motivation out, dust it off, and decide to tackle your goal.  And you don’t even have to wait until 2012 to start.  You may find it’s the most rewarding experience that you ever avoided!

Write back–let me know what goal you’re going to strive for.  You have my support!

Kaiser Motivation Commercial

He also became somewhat distressed, and according to reports from the mom and dad, the action was pretty quick from there.  They had to pull him out feet first, which had some consequences–a broken arm and collarbone.  And little Derek looked like he had been in a prize fight!  There were plenty of bruises on his head and face, and he ended up with low blood sugar.  After a day or two in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, he and Helen are safely and happily at home with Mom and Dad–getting used to life in the real world.

My lessons from all this?  Distress leads to haste and has (sometimes unforeseen) consequences.  And patience really pays off.  In the end, I had a wonderful time at my stepdaughter’s house.  I established my own routine that matched well with theirs.  I read and watched TV on my own and played with our toddler grandson and had a blast!  After getting over myself and my impatience, there were many blessings with the babies coming 2 weeks later than expected.

This is a habit I’ll try to incorporate into the rest of my life.  How about you?  What new habit did you try and how did it work out?

Today, I’m waiting impatiently for our grand-twins to arrive.  I am out of my element, staying at my step-daughter’s house.  They do not watch TV.  They have a small house that must remain quiet when their toddler is napping or sleeping (many hours of the day, it seems).  They have their routine and my ideas often go unnoticed or unheeded.  They go to bed at about 8:00 — and I usually go to bed around 11 p.m.!  Needless to say, we have different lifestyles.  And although I love them very much, close companionship doesn’t make it easier.

So I’m practicing patience.  With my words–and with my deeds.  I am trying to wait (not always successfully) to be asked before volunteering my opinion.  As an extrovert, this is quite difficult!  The twins have not arrived, and I am also trying to be patient about that.  It’s not easy wanting to play with them when they are not willing to be born yet!  But I can imagine they don’t want to leave their comfortable, warm environment just to hang out with me!  This is a great lesson–to realize that other people’s needs are just as important as my own.

Patience is not in my regular routine and is uncomfortable for me.  It’s also one thing I need to practice more in my life–and my work.  What do you need to try that’s out of your comfort zone?  If you’re supremely patient, maybe you should try some forcefulness or immediacy!  If you’re more like me, maybe a few deep breaths would be beneficial.

Spend a few moments thinking about what people need more of from you.    Then try the new behavior out.  See what difference it makes in your workplace–and maybe at home too.

I’ll let you know how my patience experiement turns out.  Right now, it requires extra wine, but hopefully I’ll be able to do it on my own soon.  The result I’m hoping for? Healthy new grandbabies!