Service-Minded: 33 Ideas for Being a Positive Influence

Following is a list of actual actions a population of students do on a regular basis to be a positive influence on the world around them. The students were anywhere from 9th graders to adult students who attended our SLAM (Serious Leaders And Movers) workshops on Tuesday at Francis Tuttle Technology Center in Oklahoma City (Rockwell Campus). SLAM meets once a month on one of the three FT campuses in Oklahoma City - Rockwell, Reno and Portland campuses.

The question is: What is on your list?

1. Working hard at my job


2. Being involved in school clubs


3. Volunteering in the community


4. Working with people with addictions


5. Having good hygiene


6. Baby-sitting my little sister


7. Working with senior citizens


8. Going the speed limit


9. Started church youth choir


10. Courteous driving


11. Holding door open for people


12. Being involved in the Special Olympics


13. Controlling emotions


14. Helping out with military troops with hugs


15. Teaching people how to dance


16. Recycle


17. Talk to shy people


18. Encouraging others


19. Having a positive attitude


20. Respect others property


21. Cleaning up after myself


22. Listening to others


23. Helping even when I don’t have to


24. Smelling the flowers


25. Being responsible


26. Giving money to homeless people


27. Not tailgating


28. Keeping some all white Nikes


29. Church group involvement


30. Not littering


31. Staying in school


32. Not smoking


33. Mentoring

Service Minded: Best 10 Minutes of Your Morning

This week spend 10 minutes each morning thinking and/or journaling about one and only one thing: how you can repay three to five people who have helped you to get where you are today.

That's it. Simple. Pure. Powerful.

Service Minded: YourSpace... Not MySpace

Expert Leaders must constantly fight the MySpace generation, the MySpace lifestyle, and the MySpace mindset. MySpace is a vivid example of how the masses think they must act and speak to get ahead today - it's all about me.

Expert Leaders think differently. They are more interested, concerned and focused on YourSpace than they are on MySpace. They think of others before, during and after they speak. They think of others before, during and after they act.

Expert Leaders get their MySpace right privately, but then their public time is spent in YourSpace. At a recent basketball camp I described it like this...

"You must be me-focused in practice and we-focused in play."

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General: Grant Me Leadership...

God grant me...


Vision to see opportunity.

Integrity to be what I say.


Innovativeness to create value.

Wise Judgment to choose right.


Service mindedness to be significant.

Processed Goals to live purposefully.


Emotional Maturity to act with control and grace.

Skill Assessment to engage my strength.


Fostered Relationships to experience the richness of life.

Masterful Communication to bring clarity into an unclear world.

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The Unmade Leader: What Are Other Moments That Unmake Leaders?

We are continuing to examine our new approach to the question, "are leaders born or made?" The concept statement is...

"Leaders are born and then unmade."

Each of the recent posts have addressed a certain question. Here is the current list...

Born with what?

What is a leader?

Are leaders born with everything they need to lead?

What does unmade mean?

Today's question is, "What are the other moments that unmake leaders?"

First an explanation of the concept. I believe that people are born with most of the significant traits and qualities that they need to have a positive influence on others (which is what I believe effective leaders essentially do). I also believe that based on the type of leadership acts that a person needs to do to make their positive influence, they have to learn skills and strengthen their traits and qualities to be an expert leader. However, I believe the most important dynamic that prevents leaders from moving to the expert level is the unmaking process. This is where we experience certain moments that dilute, damage or delete traits that we were naturally born with.

So, we circle back around to our question for today, "What are other moments that unmake leaders?" (see this post to view the first two I discussed)

(The born-with trait is first and the unmaking moment is second...)

Enthusiasm for life - The Energy Scales Moment. The phrase "youthful enthusiasm" is used often to describe the energy level of young people. Interestingly enough it is also a trait identified in highly effective leaders. A multitude of books and article have been written on the critical trait of a high energy level. However, at some moment something changes and our scales of energy tip to the lazy, idle, drab, unexcited side. For many people, this one dynamic alone is sufficient enough to unmake their ability to move from an entry level leader to an expert level leader.

(PLI Essential of Emotional Maturity)

Affection to Care - The Inner World Moment. As a full-time leadership trainer, I am often called to teach people about the life skill of motivation. If I only have a few seconds to relate something tangible about how to get and stay motivated, I always say go help someone. This is the most useful and relevant strategy for getting and staying motivated over the long haul - to take your daily focus off of you and put it on others. Now, this doesn't mean that you neglect your personal well-being needs. It means that at some moment, people unmake their ability to be an expert leader by only living in and thinking about their own little inner world. By doing this, they dilute, damage or delete their ability to care for others. Expert leaders overcome the unmaking moments in life, they develop the skills necessary to lead in their circle of influence and then they get out of their inner world and consistently put their focus and attention on others.

(PLI Essential of Service-Minded)

More to come...

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Service Minded: Customer Service Insights

Someone explain to me why a business would do these customer service blunders...


1. Not having the hot water turned on in the customer restrooms.

2. Actually saying, "I probably didn't tell you last time that I am bad at calling people back to let them know that their order is ready."

3. Actually saying to a customer when referring to their delivery process of the $1,000 product just sold, "I have no idea when those pictures will be up on the site. I have no idea if they (a 3rd party vendor) will send the same size postcards as we have envelopes. I have no idea if they will send the orders at the same time."

Customer service non-blunders...

1. Have it turned on.

2. Get better at calling your customers back.

3. FIND OUT!

Being service-minded is not just a touchy-feely added bonus. It is caring for the customer, caring for the customer, caring for the customer.

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Service Minded: Customer Service Insights

Over the past few weeks, we have had a number of financial institutions contact us regarding communication and customer service training. If you manage customer service professionals or have your hands in customer service, read on. {Jon, thanks for the creation collaboration...}

A quick spattering of some customer service insights we share in our trainings...

1. You Are The Company, Organization, School, Team, etc.

My wife recently visited a health club in our neighborhood. Since we have a one-month old at the house (her nickname is Itsy-Bitsy and our two-year old is Bitsy. I just think that is hilarious), she was really excited about getting back in "pre-baby shape." After five minutes on the treadmill, she felt a knock on her back. One of the personal trainers had literally just walked up to her and started bouncing a training ball off her back - mid-workout! She politely shooed him away, but he was back in five minutes asking un-invited questions and trying to interrupt her workout to gain her business. Needless to say, the strategy didn't work. Not only that, HE is now the reason she will never again patron that gym or any of their other stores.

You are the organization. Everytime a customer talks with you, looks at you, works with you or you handle something actively or passively for a customer, you leave an impression on the customer that is more than just from you - it is from the organization. So, you play a huge role within the organization, no matter how huge your position is!

2. Communicate the Process

I would rather hear why it is taking you five minutes to complete a transaction than to just be kept waiting. Customers need to hear about it when you have to jump through hoops to provide great service for them. But you can't do it in a "this is way harder than it should be" attitude. It has to be with a smile on your face and love in your heart. So, maybe you don't love your customers, maybe you don't even love your work, but hopefully you love putting a smile on your face and your customers' faces. If you don't, you need to slap your career counselor with a paper weight!

3. If it is Worth it, Just do it

During a recent visit to my eye doctor for a routine exam, I was taken into a new room. In this room sat a new piece of equipment I hadn't seen before. The assistant asked if I wanted to spend an extra $32 getting this "additional examination" that tested for a plethora of things that I am sure were important, but that I knew nothing about. I followed her question with, "Will my normal exam be sufficient to check for all the relevant concerns for someone of my age and with my vision?" She sheepishly said yes. Of course, I said no to the additional $32.

If I were my eye doctor, I would take out the step of asking if I want to spend $32 for the additional exam. When I go to somewhere like the eye doctor, I don't expect it to be like the tire and lube place. If my paid professional thinks it is worth it, then don't itemize it out or make it optional. Just do it. By making it optional, she is essentially saying, this is not totally necessary to provide you the best exam possible. So, whatever add-on you are thinking of including, if it is really worth it and totally necessary, then build in the cost and just do it!

4. Know it Before You Show it

In the context of the previous example, that assistant could have sold me on the $32 exam add-on if she had known something and that something is not all the ins and outs of the machine. The training she needed was how to make a personal connection between me (the set of eyes in question) and the benefits of having said eyes examined with the new machine. That is the knowledge piece. The application piece is to get her trained on how to open the discussion in the exam room. She began (and ended) the discussion with listing what the machine does; what it tests for. A better approach would have been to begin with a set of two or three open-ended questions with the end goal of me convincing myself that the additional $32 was necessary. So, she not only needed to know the machine, she needed to know the benefits of the exam to me and the questions dialogue.

5. The Customer Service Secret

Own a genuine sense of caring for the customer. If you can't do that, then at least care for solving the customer's problem. If you can't do that, then at least care for the quality of your work. If you can't do that, then pull that paper weight back out!

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General: Understanding the Pitfalls of Missing Links

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The Personal Leadership Insight Blog is built around our ten PLI Essentials. As you peruse through the posts, you will find each post discusses one of the ten. For deeper study into each Essential, click on an Essential in the PLI Tags list in the right-hand sidebar.

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Service Minded: The Little Things Build Community

My hometown of Edmond, Oklahoma has been under six inches of ice for almost a week now. I have joked with my fellow Oklahomanites that we don't know which is worse; six inches of ice or six feet of snow!

The entry/exit to my neighborhood is sloped. Not very steep, but steep enough that when covered by ice, it is very dangerous. The temperature finally got above freezing today and you could hear machines and shovels everywhere taking advantage of the window to clear some of this frozen mess. Especially since we are expecting a dumping of snow this weekend.

Some good Semaritans went above and beyond the call of duty today and decided to do something about the ice on our sloped neighborhood entryway. My wife said it looked like probably three families. I don't know how long it took, but they worked until the ice was cleared and drivers were able to safely stop and go.

These three families demonstrated a key aspect of what it takes to live and thrive in a community. Their Service Mindedness not only helped drivers, but it served to remind all of us that leadership starts in the community structures we all live within - families, neighborhoods, towns, workplace, etc.

Challenge: do something today in your communities to build community....

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Service Minded: Go Beyond Lucky

"Everybody can be great because everybody can serve."
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our little girl turned two this weekend! The party was a needed respite from the otherwise routine and house-bound past three days. Snow and ice moved into the Oklahoma area on Friday and a five-degree wind chill has kept it on the ground and us in the house!

One of our little one's favorite gifts was Lucky the Incredible Wonder Pup. It is a Labradoodle (seriously?) that responds to a stagnant list of voice commands; sit, put em up, good dog, go get the paper in the freezing cold, etc. He is pretty cool, but our little girl thinks he is magic!

Lucky is similiar to us in that we are all fortunate enough to learn "commands" and the appropriate response for each. Lucky is somewhat un-lucky in that his list of commands will never change. He is as smart today as he ever will be.

The most effective leaders of men, women and children go beyond lucky. They change, adapt, learn, and grow over time. And the highest level of leadership is accomplished when this process is guided by a focus on service for others. Some people change for selfish reasons. Some people change for servant reasons. Bring a meaningful smile to someone in your life this week by improving your list of "commands" and the response you have learned for each!

View an inspiring MLK, Jr. video

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Service Minded: The Four Stages

There are four stages of life....

1. Crawling... when we are struggling.


2. Walking... when we are strengthening.


3. Running... when we are succeeding.


4. Carrying Others... when we are surviving.

Our job as leaders is to..

• Define and understand which stage we are currently in.


• Learn how to move to the next stage by understanding and overcoming that which might be holding us back.


• See the final stage, Carrying Others, as our primary purpose in life.
  

Life is a team sport. Life might contain family, friends, work, and play, but life is made out of relationships. The healthier the relationships, the healthier the life. And the more focused we are on serving those relationships and growing those relationships, the higher our quality of life will be.

Still, relationships are at the core of many of life's challenges and frustrations. They are complex, dynamic and ambiguous organisms. So, make one simple vow today and grant yourself the gift of one less challenge and frustration on your list:

DO SOMETHING TODAY FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF CARRYING OTHERS.

This is not a touchy-feely, "oh, how sweet of you to do/say/buy that" to-do list item. This is a reality of life that the people who are more focused on others than they are on themselves live happier, more meaningful lives. They call their friends regularly. They treat their family members with respect and dignity. They smile and are cordial to strangers. They have difficult conversations with others out of care, not spite. They understand that in order to gain trust in their relationships they have to be trustworthy. They are always striving to move to the next stage in life and when they reach the fourth stage, they understand that their real purpose in life has only just begun!

I encourage you to post a comment with ways you have seen others "carrying others!"

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