No Engine Brake!

Just off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia lies one of my favorite road signs (you’re thinking, “this guy has favorite road signs?”). It is completely ridiculous. So ridiculous, in fact, I had to take a picture of it. Have a look:

At first glance, one may say, “What’s wrong with that sign.” Well, nothing at face-value. Consider this, however: the sign is about the size of an American speed limit sign and the speed which cars are traveling when they pass it is about 35 MPH. There is no way anyone could read the entire sign traveling at that rate. It is just way too much communication for the medium and situation.

How often do we get caught in this same scenario? We have something important to say, but over dilute the meaning with extra words. How many times in life do we say too much, when all we really need to say is, “No Engine Brake”?

This ties into the EQ skill of don’t say any more than is completely and utterly necessary to make a valid and sound argument that supports the thing that you are trying to say by saying what you wanted to say to begin with skill.

Let’s all do better.

Don’t Slap Your Clients

Recently, I was in a meeting. Pretty exciting and unique, right? Well, it actually was a productive meeting for PeopleSmarts. We are helping one of our clients adjust to the current economic situation and prepare them for their future. Near the close of the meeting, one of the attendees made a wry comment that somewhat implicating PeopleSmarts as the cause of some of our clients troubles. Mind you, this was our first meeting with said client, so there isn’t much we could have done to help them before that meeting.

Regardless of the intent and accuracy of the comment, I felt a sudden urge to upbraid this individual, but luckily the EQ skill of Impulse Control stepped in first. Merrilee was also there and did a great job to acknowledge the comment, but minimized its ridiculousness by focussing on the future.

How many times have you seen people not control their impulses and it has been a bad situation? How have you used this EQ skill in your life? I’d love to hear about them…

Thanks.

EQ=EQ

I recently spent 10 days on a river rafting trip through the Grand Canyon with a group of people whom I had not previously met. Most were friends of a friend; the opportunity to float and run rapids through 200-plus miles of nature’s grandeur was more compelling to me than knowing the crowd I would be communing with through the experience. I must say that I was delighted to find the group a warm and welcoming bunch who made the adventure, for me, a life-changing experience altogether. (But more about that in another post.)

Of the 16 people who embarked on this journey, about two-thirds were what I have come to call “green-collar workers”; that is, their education and careers were focused on protecting, restoring and preserving the environment. There were fish biologists, environmental engineers, restoration specialists, waste experts, species protectors, grant writers and river regulators.  Many of them worked in state or federal government positions in Oregon, California or Utah. For me, it was enlightening to spend time with and learn from people who really understood the issues of our environment from an educated and experienced place, not just from what they had read in the papers or heard on the evening news.

In my usual circles, talking about “EQ” seems an obvious reference to emotional intelligence, or what we often term “the street smarts of business success”. In this group, however, when I mentioned “EQ”, their most common reference point was “environmental quality”. In conversations about our various backgrounds and interests, I could tell instantly by their puzzled looks that we were not speaking the same language. Finally, (duh!) I recognized the discrepancy, and in the same moment nearly fell out of the boat laughing from a lightning bolt of insight. (Which, of course, puzzled them even more.)

EQ=EQ!

Emotional Intelligence = Environmental Quality. (Now wait, you say. You’ve lost me.)

Think about it this way: When I ask people what they want and like most about their jobs, the most common answers I get are something like this:

“Working with good people.”

“Having a pleasant place to work.”

“Working with people who support and encourage me.”

“Feeling like I am making a difference in people’s lives.”

The environments in which we work are influenced more by the people who work there than the bricks and mortar that surround us.  “Environmental Quality”, while most often associated with water, land, air and species preservation, may also be a description of our workplace energy, culture, communication and camaraderie. And  well-developed EQ (emotional intelligence) may be the most significant contributor to EQ (environmental quality) in our workplaces.

How’s the EQ of your workplace?

Same words, different results

Last week i was in Chicago’s O’Hare International and ventured into the baggage office, where disgruntled passengers end up without anything to wear tomorrow – literally.  Likely the worst place to work in the entire airport.  You never have a happy customer enter your office.

I watched two different representatives say almost identical words and phrases to the dozens of passengers, but with very different results.  The most effective went something like this:

CustomerA :  “how could you lose my bag!”   I have a meeting in the morning and NEED it!” 

RepA:  “I am very sorry.  (sincere empathy)  The bag did not make the flight (reality).  There is a flight at X:XX time tonight, i will have it to your hotel by 7am.   Here is an overnight kit, discount on future flights, etc…”

The customer did not or could not complain any more.  THe rep did all he could to solve the issue, had explained the reality of the situation and apologized.  The customer left satisfied with the outcome, not happy but satisfied.

A few minutes later i watched nearly the same customer interaction with another individual:

CustomerB:  “how could you lose my bag!”   I have a meeting in the morning and NEED it!” 

RepB:  “Sorry.   There is a flight at X:XX time tonight, i will have it to your hotel by 7am.   Here is an overnight kit, discount on future flights, etc…”

This customer’s response “THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE”   and proceeded to scream and yell about all things wrong with the world.

Two things i noted. 

1.  The words between Rep A and Rep B were almost identical.  But Rep A was much more effective and seemed to genuinely care.   Rep B used the script, but did not connect with the customer as an individual. 

2. Each customer a choice in how they would deal with the interaction and the reality of the situation at hand.  While i think the airline rep played a HUGE role in the outcome of the nearly identical situations, Customer B obviously accepted the invitation to have their day ruined by the event.

Connect with us

First of all, thank you for following along with us here on our blog. Whether you’re a regular reader or this is your first time here, we appreciate the time you take to read our thoughts and comments.

We have been working recently on giving our followers as much information about PeopleSmarts as possible. We are on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube sharing and engaging with you to bring you the best free content relating to EQ. If you haven’t yet followed us in these social media, we invite you to connect with us.

Something that I’m particularly excited about is our how well this blog is going. If you aren’t reading regularly, you’re missing out. Each week our trainers and consultants post their up-to-date and relevant experiences and thoughts. You could even consider it insider information, since the PeopleSmarts team will commonly discuss new products, services, offerings and general news via the blog. If you’re looking to be on the bleeding-edge of what business will look like tomorrow, the PeopleSmarts blog is a can’t miss experience.

We have a handful of other exciting things in the pipeline that we’re working on. I am excited for you to see them. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback regarding the ways we are reaching out via social media.

Thanks,

Holland
peoplesmarts.biz/holland

Using Assertiveness to Propose

A while back, I had the opportunity to propose a big advertising spend to an executive committee. This campaign was to run on some popular social media sites where the advertiser hadn’t officially been before. Because of the EQ skill of assertiveness (the ability to express feelings, beliefs, and thoughts and defend one’s rights in a nondestructive manner), I spoke clearly and succinctly to the audience and got the proposal passed with flying colors.

Regardless of the outcome of the proposal getting accepted or rejected, having the ability to express myself and the research and knowledge that I had, made the difference in this situation. Like all of the other 14 EQ skills that we consult on, being positively assertive is a great trait to have in any situation.

The Power of Preparation & Flexibility in Banishing Stress

Recently, at an EQnomics Series “Pulling the Stress Plug” event I discovered at the last minute that the LCD projector’s cords were not in the bag. I realized one of my colleagues may have inadvertently put them in her/his laptop bag at their last presentation. While normally, I would double-check the cord was there, however, this time being in a hurry I neglected to do so assuming “It’s been there every time and so, of course, it’s in the bag now”. This minor omission of cords left me unable to do a major part of the visual presentation including the really cool HeartMath® bio-feedback computer demo. This was frustrating and no one at the venue had extra cords. What to do?

First of all, a little background first. I have been speaking, training and presenting for over 15 years. I believe strongly in caring for my participants’ experience and their time by presenting high impact, fun, informative, practical and memorable presentations. I do this in part through meticulous and careful preparation. Thus, for every presentation I have contingency plans, built-in equipment/material redundancy, and an over-preparation mindset. For example, I bring extra extension cords, a power strip, black gaffers tape for taping down cords and loose table draping, my own folding fabric screen as some venues have projection screens that are too small for optimal visual impact, fresh dry-erase markers, and so on. I also prepare additional activities as back-ups so we can then draw on other approaches in case we discover that the feel and/or needs of the group have changed. Further, I balance this careful planning with being comfortable with presenting on the fly, and being flexible for whatever may arise for the inherent differences of each venue.

So, what to do? The solution was simple. The training that day was “Pulling the Stress Plug.” I figured, what a great opportunity to model the EQ skill of Stress Tolerance through the EQ skills of Flexibility and Problem Solving. So, while disappointed for a brief moment of not being able to offer the presentation as planned, the EQ skill of Flexibility allowed me to adjust to the situation. Flexibility reminded me that the way things are planned do not necessarily determine the way things actually are. As a result I was immediately able to re-write my presentation and approach in my mind and move forward with a great workshop without any perceived hitches. Preparedness (through content and experience to draw from) aids flexibility greatly.

The outcome? Rather than being stressed, I saw it as an opportunity to adjust, adapt and offer the participants other great approaches to manage their stress. The EQ skill of Flexibility helped me see solutions and opportunities to enjoy instead of just a problem to endure.

So, call me at 801.787.8014 or email me at jonathan@peoplesmarts.biz and we’ll arrange a free and fun no-strings attached Training Demo on any of the great EQ Skills to help your team more effectively manage the stresses they experience.

Peace,

Jonathan Sherman
Director of Training and Development

Customer Service in Casino’s and Chain Hotels

We recently exhibited and presented a workshop at the CFO Rising West conference in Las Vegas. The conference was held at a J.W. Marriott. We stayed nearby at a typical Las Vegas Casino/Hotel.

It was interesting to compare the two hotels that we were in and out of throughout the week. Because of this isolated experience, I came to some untested conclusions:

Chain hotels don’t do casinos. This may be because it would be counter to their philosophy and mission. Most chains are concerned with customer service. They want to ensure that the customer is comfortable, happy and taken care of. This is how it felt at the Marriott. It was simple to get from the parking area to the reservation desk to the guest rooms/pools/restaurants, etc. The casino that was on site was not “in the way” of the traditional needs of a hotel.

This was a stark difference in comparison to our hotel. In order to do anything, one had to go through the casino. If you’ve ever been to Vegas, you know that this is on purpose. There’s not much in the terms of traditional customer service at a casino. Everything funnels through the casino. Get from parking to the room: casino. Front desk to room: casino. Enter a restaurant: casino. Once your spending in the casino, then their customer service becomes apparent.

Hopefully, our customers, clients and others view us along the lines of J.W. Marriott instead of a traditional Vegas casino in regards to customer service. What kind of customer service do you provide?

Getting Fresh!

I stumbled onto this clip on YouTube and was blown away by the magnitude of changes flying around us. I’ve known that technology is changing at the speed of light, but I hadn’t quite fathomed what that meant until I saw the factual information captured in this video clip, Did You Know.

So, what does all of this mean for us in the workplace? It means we have to be really good at opening up to change, or we’ll be passed by, or over, or around. The good news is that with this plethora of information we have learned that we can train our brains to be more open to change. It just takes effort on our part.

Every day our experiences are stored into short term memory and processed there. Important events we move to longer term storage. Routines we move to our basal ganglia, where we can habitual do things without having to think about it too much. That’s why we can drive home without focusing on the route, or get through our morning routine without remembering if we brushed our teeth. Moving routines into the basal ganglia makes life easier for us – we don’t have to think as much.

Processing new experiences requires more effort – we have to think about those. When we are stressed and overworked, we try to minimize our efforts by creating and building routines so we can get our work done quickly. If we create too many shortcuts, it means we’re losing our freshness, or more importantly, our openness to change. We’re building ruts, and wiring our brain for ruts.

If you want innovation and creativity from yourself and your team, build in freshness. Make sure you create space and time for new experiences. Here are a few ideas to build a routine of freshness:

• Plan a freshness meeting once a month where each team member teaches the group something new – from knitting to how to make sushi, just make sure it’s something new and different.
• Have a “Get Fresh” agenda item at meetings where staff can talk about something new they did at work or at home.
• Change seats at team meetings – get a different perspective
• Create a work assignment that requires team members to go outside or to another work location.
• Give a work assignment that has nothing to do with current projects, such as create a future frame for the business, or design the perfect relaxing chair, or create a playlist of songs that captures the current work environment, or design an Olympic sport that your team could win.
• Plan field trips to other businesses and discuss how your team could borrow something from their processes, or style, or customer service.

It doesn’t matter what fresh, new activity you plan, just so long as you practice having new experiences. The more you practice the more you open your mind to processing those new sensations and brain connections.

Todays employees need to keep adjusting to changes. Build a work environment that will help stimulate the mind and enhance your staff’s ability to make those adjustments. A staff that gets fresh together, stays fresh together!

Faith commitment and follow through; what innocence can teach us.

In March, my collegues presented me with an Asian Pear tree in the remeberence of a lost loved one.  It was one of those mail order trees that are shiped without dirt and the roots are wraped in plastic covered diaper filler to keep the moisture in.  It came w/ specific instructions for planting and care.  When I openened the plastic, the roots as promised where 3/4 wet but it looked like a dead stick.  My six year old was witnessing this and after 5 minutes of searching she came up with a good home for it.  We planted it and watered the tree every day for two months as the directions stated.  Nothing happened.  A sprinkler repair person asked me “why do you have a stick in your flower bed?”  He wanted to pull it out.  I agreed but my six year old offered a stay of execution and said she would water it from now on.  This she did every night  with her orange watering can.  I was preparing my “oh it’s OK, somtimes things dont work out the way we want” speech and dreading the dissapointment she would feel after so much work, faith and commitment.

For three weeks during the hot summer she faithfully took care of this stick in the ground that appeared lifeless to most.  One morning on the way to a swimming class she rushed back to in the house screaming with joy “Dad Dad Come look!”  She lead me to the stick and pointed to four small green buds near the bottom of the tree.  That tree is now coverered with foiliage and and because of her innocennce and commitment,  that tree; for it’s life will be known as Adi’s tree.

Sometimes having faith in the process and the commitment to move forward when other “wise minds” have given up, reaps the literal reward of fruit and nourishment.  Be open to the potential possibilities in all of your employees even if they appear to be dead wood.   “The grass is always greener where it is watered.”  Robert Fulgam