Junk Food Leadership

In a recent Horizon Time newsletter article I told the story of a customer service wreck on a recent trip through the airport. Click here to take a minute to read it.

I assert that it all comes down to leadership. In this case, it was junk food leadership. Let’s break it down to learn some lessons that apply to customer service situations and beyond.

Leaders Set the Tone
I consistently find that leaders set the tone. When I walked up to order my food, I noticed each of the order takers were rather sloppy in their dress. To a person, their clip-on ties were clipped but not tucked under the collar. Granted, in a culture where exposed underwear is considered fashion, perhaps this is the latest thing but it looked goofy to me. Their shirts were nearly untucked. In short, they looked sloppy.

Before I even saw the manager, I could guess a description. Sure enough, when she came out, you could see the leader set the tone. Dressed similarly sloppy, multiple exposed tattoos, rough in tone and manner.

NOTE: I’m not saying we all need to look like either Barbie or Ken. I’m also not condemning my tattooed readers. I am, however, saying that every decision we make about how we present ourselves is a statement—to customers and to employees.

This goes far beyond dress. Don’t like how your team follows-up? How well do you do it? Upset about your kids not putting their toys away? How are you at putting away yours?

Whether fair or not, people make judgments based on appearances and what they see modeled. Are you making the statements you want? Remember that the leader sets the tone.

Be Specific When Correcting Behavior
When someone you are responsible for is having performance problems, it’s worth asking the question, “Have I made it clear what success looks like?”

I like to start by assuming innocence. Instead of ripping into the person, ask, “Why would a reasonable, rational person perform the way they are?” This forces me to get away from assuming they’re a lazy, incompetent bum.

When talking to the person about the performance issue, be specific. This manager simply said, “It’s your attitude!” She clearly missed that the order taker didn’t understand. Instead of using general terms like attitude, wouldn’t it be better if she got more specific?

• “You need to smile when you greet the customer. Look them in the eye when they are ordering.”
• “Be careful to not overfill a cup. If you accidentally do, fix it before it’s delivered to the customer.”
• “Realize that people come here because they are in a hurry. Your average order is filled more slowly than others. Let’s talk about how you can be more efficient.”

Ron Jasniowski of Integrity Training Institute says nothing has a greater impact on success or failure than the outward expression of inner character. He suggests leaders should determine the root cause of problems and encourage their employees to work on practicing a specific character trait that overcomes the problem (e.g. thoroughness for careless mistakes).

Without being specific, the employee’s performance is unlikely to improve. Want to improve performance? Be specific.

Practice Accountability
Remember the lame apology in the story? The manager told the employee to apologize, which he did very poorly. How did the manager respond? No consequences.

Leaders practice accountability. This is not just when things go wrong. If there are no negative consequences for poor behavior (or positive consequences for good behavior), don’t expect things to improve.

Regarding the apology, Peacemakers Ministries recommends the 5 A’s:

• Admit what you did wrong. “I overfilled your cup, which made a mess on your hand. That must have been frustrating when you are in a hurry.”
• Apologize. “I’m sorry.”
• Accept consequences. “I will give you a different cup and take it off your bill.”
• Ask for forgiveness. “Would you please forgive me?” How often do you actually hear those words these days? They are powerful.
• Alter your choice in the future. “I will be more diligent. It won’t happen again.”

How do you think the customer (and manager) would have responded to such an apology?

Praise in Public, Reprimand in Private
Want to make people feel rewarded? Praise them publicly. Want to humiliate someone? Reprimand them publicly.

Improving performance is not about humiliating. You’re not training pets—you’re working with people. With egos. Who have to work with the other people after the conversation.

You should have seen the faces of the other workers when this manager railed against the order taker. Rolling eyes and a ripple effect of smirks.

Good leaders praise in public, reprimand in private, and do otherwise in the rare times they need to in order to make a point to everyone.

Wrap-Up
What do you think? Click the “Post a Comment” link below to add your thoughts to the discussion.

Great performance starts with excellent leadership. Look for opportunities to lead today, to turn performance pile-ups into opportunities to improve.