OneByOne Team Achievement...simple, fun, and everyone

the excitement program! Component: "Books"

The books I recommend feature information about how to create, energize, and lead exceptional teams. Books that feature servant, participatory, and "Golden Rule" leadership styles. Common sense approaches to developing great teams without being dominated by corporate-speak, graphs, surveys, or theories. Techniques, exercises, strategies, etc., that can be implemented soon after reading about them.  There are few "how-to" leadership or management books that provide effective tips, techniques, or themes, so I would appreciate any input on similar readings that I can recommend to team leaders and managers.

Tully's Coffee Proves Leadership Is The Difference...

This morning, as we often do on Tuesdays, my silent partner (until we start making the big bucks and he can quit his day job) and I sought out a Tully's Coffee Shop to have our weekly meeting. The last time my partner had been to the Tully's (located in Kenmore, a Seattle suburb) it had looked like most Tully's have looked in the past. He had avoided it for the past two years because it was in the "Tacky Tully's" category that many Tully's coffee houses have become as the company went through CEO after CEO trying to find a way to make a profit. (The only profit they have ever had was through selling assets, not products.)

We knew it might be in a little better shape because, since the appointment of the most recent CEO and President, things have been significantly improved in a number of areas.

In an article in the Seattle P-I in August, 2006, Tully's looks to brew  turnaround, the appointment of  John Buller, a Tully's Board member and former Executive Director of the University of Washington Alumni Association, to CEO and President. This move has led to the company doing most of what it planned six months ago. And much, much more.

It has been very impressive. New and often better with everything from free wi-fi to new coffee products, new dairy products (we had an exceptional milkshake today), better pastries, an exciting new company website (stressing customer input on how they can improve things), better seating, a quarterly  company newsletter, and frontline personnel no longer simply ringing up sales.

They are once again striving to create the company that the founder, Tom Tully O'Keefe, envisioned when he created  the company in 1992. His interview in post.com on January 19, 2001 caught my attention because he spoke to the value of providing a great employment experience for his staff and having fun in the process. He appears to be a kindred spirit who understands the value of a  partnership organization.

Customers, consciously and unconsciously, judge everything they see, hear, smell, and feel (sense) when they spend time in a business. Today, in February 2007, Tully's has great employees, exceptional products, and finally they have a great leader, but they still lack a passion for excellence that can be seen, heard,  smelled, and felt in most stores. (Customers judge, consciously and unconsciously, everything they see, hear, smell and sense. Retail is detail)

In fact I have never seen it in any of their stores (close in a few, but none with the whole package)  until today!

As we drove into the parking lot, there were several obvious differences since the last time my partner was here. The coffee house full of smiling, happy employees. It should be the model for the company. The cheerful Store Manager, Debbie, a four-year Tully's employee,  who spoke and listened with a pleasant smile, and was obviously focused on providing an experience that was exceptional. (She told me she asked her staff to walk in from the entrance and make a judgment about what customers see when they enter the store.)

It was by far the best experience I have ever had in a Tully's. Her team exuded sincerity and caring when they asked people how they liked their coffee, pastries, and (in our case) milkshakes. They were not tethered to the cash register and espresso machine like so many employees appear to be in many other stores located throughout the Seattle metro area. They had the team pride, spirit, and the team chemistry of a top-flight sports team. I loved it!!!

They were doing what Debbie had taught them how to do through her version of "best of the best" motivation, mindsets, methods, and mission. They were doing what I would like to teach the entire company how to do.

The goal of every customer service team should be to inspire their customers to remember, return, and recommend. Her team did exactly that.

It was a remarkable, memorable, and exciting experience.

It was the excitement program! 

Bad Customer Service Means Average Leadership

Seth Godin writes in Seth's Blog: Starting over with customer service, 

"Customer service is broken. Not just because of bad management, though we have plenty of that to go around. Customer service is broken for three reasons:

1. The internet has taught us to demand everything immediately (and perfect). As a result, we expect that every single time we pick up the phone or deal with someone in a retail setting, we'll be dealing with the Senior Vice President of Customer Satisfaction, the head of accounting and the chief of quality control, all at the same time. We expect instant results and undivided attention.

2. The rapid proliferation of choice has taught us to demand that everything should be cheap. As a result, we won't pay extra for superior service, which means companies need to hire cheap.

3. The availability of blogs and other public histories means that it is harder than ever to treat different customers differently. Word gets out.

As a result of these three inexorable trends, companies are on defense. They are forced to add a new layer to their pyramid, and yes, it's on the bottom. This layer consists of lots and lots of people, the cheapest the company can find. These folks are ill-trained, poorly supported and under lots of pressure. There is a lot of turnover (what a surprise) and most are working with nothing more than a simple manual and a lot of metrics.

No wonder customer service is broken."

He goes on to make three suggestions that include improving the frontline's analysis of data and  their communication skills, improving their software, and using every opportunity to be overwhelmingly spectacular.

Customer service sucks because of  poor leadership. It is a people problem period! Sooner or later, whatever the software, if you have  a serious problem that needs to be resolved you will be speaking to a person. That is an opportunity to surpass any customer service experience they have ever had. An opportunity to be the best of the best, bar none, in customer service.

I refer to that unique moment in the service process, as the time to inspire customers to remember, return, and recommend. Time to be "outrageously spectacular" as Seth recommends in his article. Time to sell them on why they are doing business with you.

Instead of investing in more software, companies should learn how to create an employment experience that personnel do not want to leave because they are having fun, improving their lives, and a part of "something special." A team and an experience for both employees and customers that, as Tom Peters says,"Wows them!"

The frontline makes the impression, the leadership makes the difference, and the passion for excellence makes it rewarding for everyone. 

The Apprentice: A Team Achievement Game

I love The Apprentice. I hope the change in time slots saves the series.

Two teams are given team projects that require selling and serving a product or service to the general public (consumers). Two Project Managers (team leaders) are responsible for involving (engaging) everyone in a process (mission) that will win (best of the best) the competition (game) and avoid a trip to the dreaded Boardroom where someone will be fired. And, after a heated analysis of why they lost and the faults of certain team members, the dynamics of the team (spirit, chemistry, synergy) will most likely be changed. Often beyond repair.

It is a thirteen week opportunity to see what highly-successful young people have learned about getting a group of people to work together toward a common goal.

You would think they would pool their experiences, knowledge, and awareness, but on the very first episode I was encouraged (as a person wondering how big the market was for the business I was thinking about starting or the book I was in the process of writing) to see how few of them were yet to develop the people skills, communication skills, and persuasion skills required to create and lead a winning team. They were smart, successful, and among the best of the best in the business world, yet many of them did not know how (they didn't even try) to facilitate a brainstorming discussion, praise the accomplishments of their teammates, thank people for their assistance, respond to a simple inquiry about why they are asking someone to do something, control their temper, control their ego, avoid the corporate-speak that some didn't understand and others thought, "Who are you trying to impress, smart ass?").

In other words, the energetic, excited achievers I was watching on the first show were my future. Few of them had a team leadership system. Few new how to quickly get everyone focused on working together and helping each other succeed for the good of the team, their teammates, and themselves.

Today I am finally in my first month of building credibility for my team leadership system and this blog.  I still don't know how big the market is or how many people are focused on being extraordinary leaders and managers. But, thanks to "The Apprentice," every year I have seen an impressive group  of winners who have been assembled for the series who, if they ever learn a leadership system that engages, excites, and energizes their entire team (whether is is a company, department, region, or the frontline)-will have extraordinary careers.   

Isn't it exciting?

The "Survivor" Format Results in a Ratings Drop for "The Apprentice"

It has been a challenging season for "The Apprentice". Poor ratings have led to moving it back an hour to 10:00PM to stop the decline.

For reasons, that to me defy logic and good sense, the losing team now resides in a tent. What does that have to do with leadership? Or perhaps, losing sleep,  not being alert, not being at the top of their game, and feeling lousy in general is the way a person lives their life in the Trump organization? 

I see no value in adding this added challenge to a team. It affects creativity, energy, and the pursuit of excellence. In a show that has many leadership lessons-many of them about what not to do-maybe the lesson to be learned here is that if you want to be a successful leader, don't live in a tent.

Speaking of leaders, I haven't seen one yet in current series. Aimee, the most recent failure, was big on MBWA (Management By Walking Around), but not much on actually doing anything to create a successful team effort. Last weeks loser, Aaron, was a Real Estate Sales Manager that, while also doing little to help the team, declares to the surprise of his teammates, "I hate sales."

Which  brings me to  another change in the format. Previously the  Project Manager has changed every week to give viewers an opportunity to judge their leadership and management skills. In the past, we would have seen 12 Project Managers after six episodes. This time, if a Project Manager has the winning team, they get to keep their job.  To make it worse this time, so far almost every winning team has won despite their Project Manager, not because of them. This week's winning Project Manager, Surya, is clueless to his lack of leadership abilities, yet in typical Trump fashion, he is praised by The Donald.   

We now are subjected to "The Trump Kids," or is it "The Trump  Mimics?" Who, with all their wisdom and insights (???) have replaced George and Carolyn. In other words, two more huge Trump egos have replaced the character and experience of two highly perceptive "assistants" who often saved Mr. Trump from a poor choice of who was going to fire.

The show remains a comedy hour. I love the predictable responses of the assistants after Trump has fired someone. O' great one, "It was the only choice, you had no other choice, it was the right thing to do, etc." The funniest character of all is Donald Trump. Sexist, arrogant, and full of himself beyond all comprehension he weekly provides a classic example of a team leader (boss) who seldom has any idea what is really happening in the trenches. Project Mangers that have any idea how to get a group of people to effectively work together are the order of the day (week). Yet we all cringe as he compliments them week after week until they are eventually found to be inferior. Then the party line becomes "they let him down." The weak sucks!

Mr. Trump is likeable in an odd sort of way, but I wouldn't do well in the upper levels of the Trump organization for a number of reasons. I would especially not enjoy an environment of insincerity (ass-kissing), favoritism (nepotism), and arrogance (the Trump family).

If you want to read exceptional observations about the show, Maureen Moriarty, founder of Pathways to Change, writes an excellent weekly analysis in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that provides readers with leadership insights that are spot on in their accuracy.

the excitement program! Component: "Mission"

Mission: "Inspire managers to learn the people, communication, and persuasion skills required to become a respected "LeaderManagerCoach" capable of developing teams that are focused on being one of the best of the best.

The biggest challenge for me is helping people believe they can become someone they have never been or ever considered becoming. I was fortunate that I was forced into leadership in Army Basic Training. I was the oldest, biggest, and most educated (six years of college and still no degree). But when my Drill Sargent told me I was going to be the platoon leader (Platoon Guide) of 48 men, I panicked and begged him to reconsider. However, after about a twenty minute discussion, he sold me on the having courage (I had just spent six years in college because I didn't have the courage to complete the Speech 101 requirement for graduation) to give it a go. He sold me on the fact that my concern was to be expected because our abilities are simply a matter of learning how to do things. My only problem was that I was yet to learn how to lead. That was his job all I had to do was follow his advise.

A week later I knew I was in love with team leadership, but I didn't  know I would  have the passion for the rest of my life. I had learned that leadership was a matter of personal discipline. Be honest, sincere, and communicate clearly with a smile. Make people want to follow you because they trust you, respect you, and like you. 

He said we were going to be the best platoon, and were. He said we would have fun, and we did. He said we would have discipline, courage, personal and team pride, and we did. He had people skills, communication skills, and persuasion skills like no one I had previously known or met since. 

My mission has always been to to do for others what Sargent McClellan,  the first mentor I actually listened to, did for me. Sell managers and employees on the simple fact that we all do things based on what we know at the time. The difference between leaders is how well they have learned and developed their people, communication, and persuasion skills (soft skills). They are key to developing an exceptional team that follows their lead, not because it is demanded of them, but because it is the smart thing to do, the right thing to do, and it "just makes sense."

NASCAR: Leadership, Talent, Teamwork, Training, Team Chemistry

NASCAR Nextel Cup begins again today with the Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Controversy reigns once again as the new season kicks off with the news that "five NASCAR Nextel Cup crew chiefs, the sport's equivalent of a coach, will spend today just like millions of other people, watching the Daytona 500 on television."

Five racing teams without their head coach. Bad news in a sport that relies on extraordinary teamwork to accomplish their goals. I don't watch a lot of NASCAR races, but I do tune in from time to time to watch the precision teamwork, required during a pit stop, to get a car back on the track. When seconds are the difference between success and failure, all the racing teams spend hundreds of hours preparing for an event that takes place several times a race and even one failure to perform can cost a team the race. In other words, one bad pit stop can cost millions in this highly competitive and profitable sport. 

I use big-time team sports as my model for team achievement, but NASCAR racing would  work as well. It's a simple model-Leadership, talent, teamwork, training, team chemistry-that fits any group of people working together on a common cause. 

Meetings, Meetings, Meetings...Ain't They Great!

I love meetings! Whatever the day or the frequency, they represent an excellent opportunity to get the staff together and engage everyone in an enjoyable, entertaining, informative, and open (any input allowed) discussion. Among many other things we'll discuss, they are key to a Team LeaderManagerCoach becoming respected and liked as they develop a great team. Learn how to:

• talk and listen with a smile
• laugh at yourself (faults, idiosyncrasy's, quirks))
• engage everyone in sharing their insights, perceptions, awareness
• laugh, have fun, be authentic
• instill a "Best of the Best" mindset
• pick a topic and ask the staff, "What would the best of the best do?

When orchestrated properly, meetings are the key to effective team communication, cooperation, and collaboration. They are a team leaders opportunity to educate, motivate, and appreciate while finding the best, and right (ethical), way to do things. Anything!

It's kind of like "Goggling" your staff. Pick a topic and ask them to search for the best answer.

the excitement program! Components: "Blog Definition"

Blog Definition: "Leadership, management, and coaching tips, techniques, and themes that develop engaged, empowered, and happy high-performance teams..."

Beginning with the blog definition in the banner, In the next few days I am going to write about the components-Mission, Blogroll, Team Development books, etc.-of the blog so someone interested in the full story here can always find information about it in the category "tep!Kickoff Month."

The definition is simply about the discussion I plan to have here. Regardless of whether a team is a large company, small business, region, department, frontline team or a support team, if a team leader wants to learn new leadership, management, and coaching skills there will be information here to help them with their desires. But my hope is that there are many people who not only want to learn new skills, but also want to create teams that are truly something special.

Team leaders and managers who check their ego at the door, sincerely want to do things right, enjoy empowering their staffs, take pleasure in engaging them, and are sincerely concerned if they aren't happy in their work. People who are "in it to win it" with teams that not only enjoy working together and helping each other succeed, but are also focused on extraordinary team achievements.

In other words, I hope we discuss what goes into creating a "Best of the Best" Team Leadership System.

Sports Team Model: Daily Examples, Daily Reminders

The primary reason I use sports as a model for team development and achievement is that the lessons of how teams succeed or fail are in the paper every day. And it is easy to develop a team-focused mindset with employees because most of them learn the basics of teamwork, fair play, and winning by the time they leave high school.

Attending a summer camp, playing in a band or sports team, acting in a play, being a part of a drill team or cheer leading team, working on a project of any kind, or being in the Scouts. Most employees have learned the value of exceptional attitudes, fair and honest play, extra-effort work habits, extraordinary team (people) skills, and being a part of a winning team.

A simple formula-leadership, talent, teamwork, training, team chemistry-that  creates a  team-focused mindset in our youth, but in the business world is so seldom seen. The few that have it in play are most often highly-successful in employee performance, satisfaction and retention, yet it eludes the majority of companies.

They spend huge sums of money on team building (development) games, retreats, camps, exercises, etc. that, for the majority of attendees, are more a reminder of what they have learned many times in their lives than new insights. Spending time and money on these activities are what must be done if a company does not have a system for developing  team leaders who have a system for developing a great team.

The difference between what kids learn about team play and what employees learn, is the simplicity required to teach youths and the complexity found in teaching employees. The keep it simple, make it fun approach of our youth evaporates as egos, the latest management fad, competitive pressures, and various forms of arrogance suffocate the workplace.