This is the job that you really wanted. The one that you saw advertised and immediately knew was for you. The one that you spent hours crafting an application letter for. The one that required you to beat all the other applicants at interview. The one where you anxiously awaited the postman to see if you'd been successful.
New suit. Clean shirt and your favourite tie. Shoes freshly polished. Hair cut just the way your Mum would like it.
You're keen. You arrive early. You greet each new person with a warm smile. Trying hard to build rapport without seeming to be over confident. You go out of your way for customers. There's a spring in your step and a friendly ring to your voice.
Now look around. No matter what job you're in and no matter how long you've been there. Does everyone around you have the energy and enthusiasm of new starters? Or has their energy and enthusiasm dwindled? Are they still there because they love what they do or are they simply there because they haven't been able to escape yet?
Is there a link between leadership Virgil van Dijk Shirt , customer service and business success? Absolutely! Research by the Strategic Planning Institute found that businesses which gave good service grew twice as fast as those with poor service. And, in all my years of researching customer service Nathaniel Clyne Shirt , I've yet to find a business with weak leadership giving great service.
So what are the qualities that I've observed?
Leaders need to have a vision of what they want to achieve. How will anyone ever sign up to a cause if there is no cause to sign up to?
The vision needs to be communicated. Let everyone share in it. Let them see what is in it for them by becoming a follower.
Great leaders have passion. The strength and the energy to work against the odds to achieve their vision.
Great leaders delegate and empower. That doesn't mean that they simply dump on their people. But they create structure, they allocate responsibility Cheap Liverpool Shirt , they help to create systems, they provide support and training and resources. And they empower their people to make decisions. This is part of what makes people feel significant.
There's respect. Great leaders sometimes have to take tough decisions but there's always respect for their people. They treat their employees as customers ? internal customers.
More communication. How are we doing? What are we doing? What new is happening? Successful business leaders are masters at keeping their people informed. Notice boards are up to date and informative. Key performance indicators are understood and displayed. Targets are set and success is celebrated. This is how leaders create a sense of community.
People are motivated to do what's important. If you believe that customer service is important to your business what are you doing to motivate your people to deliver great service? Bonuses based purely on profits are not the answer.
Great leaders stick to principles. In my previous article I told the story of Pret A Manger and what great service they give their customers. I once wrote to their Chief Executive Xherdan Shaqiri Shirt , Julian Metcalfe, and asked if I could spend time in his business researching what they do and how they do it. I promised that I was only looking to report a positive view and that Julian would have the final say on anything that I wanted to publish.
The next day Kamil Grabara Shirt , Julian called me up to thank me for my interest but explained that he would decline my offer. He went on to explain that he is incredibly proud of his people and what they achieve but he could not collaborate on any project that might be seen to praise his business. Julian told me of an old Chinese proverb ? ?The higher that the monkey climbs the tree the more that you can see of it's backside?. I understood what he meant and admired his principle.
Great leaders walk the walk and talk the talk.
There's a famous story about a group of visitors to Disney. They were walking in the Magic Kingdom when they saw a grey haired man walk out of his way to pick up a piece of litter. One of the group approached the man and asked, ?How many custodians are there here?? The man replied Rafael ir Max 270 Kids