Plan Every Day in Advance

What a fantastic guest blogger I have today. Brian Tracy has been a huge influence to so

many people in achieving personal and business goals. His 3rd edition (out this week) of Eat That Frog is just one part of that mold. Here's a great book that's going to help you to stop that procrastinating. Admit it. We all do it. With Brian's book, with 2 new chapters, you'll learn that you don't need to do everything to be successful and that in trying to you lose focus and begin to drop the ball. Share this book with your entire team.

Plan Every Day in Advance

By Brian Tracy

The following post is an excerpt from chapter 2 of Eat That Frog.

A word about frogs… It has been said that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long. Your “frog” is your biggest, most important task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don’t do something about it. It is also the one task that can have the greatest positive impact on your life and results at the moment.

Plan Every Day in Advance

You have heard the old question, “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer is “One bite at a time!”

How do you eat your biggest, ugliest frog? The same way: you break it down into specific step-by-step activities and then you start on the first one.

Your mind, your ability to think, plan, and decide, is your most powerful tool for overcoming procrastination and increasing your productivity. Your ability to set goals, make plans, and take action on them determines the course of your life. The very act of thinking and planning unlocks your mental powers, triggers your creativity, and increases your mental and physical energies.

Conversely, as Alec Mackenzie wrote, “Taking action without thinking things through is a prime source of problems.”

Your ability to make good plans before you act is a measure of your overall competence. The better the plan you have, the easier it is for you to overcome procrastination, to get started, to eat your frog, and then to keep going.

One of your top goals at work should be to get the highest possible return on your investment of your mental, emotional, and physical energy. The good news is that every minute spent in planning saves as many as ten minutes in execution. It takes only about 10 to 12 minutes for you to plan your day, but this small investment of time will save you up to two hours (100 to 120 minutes) in wasted time and diffuse effort throughout the day.

You may have heard of the Six-P Formula. It says, “Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.”

When you consider how helpful planning can be in increasing your productivity and performance, it is amazing how few people practice it every single day. And planning is really quite simple to do. All you need is a piece of paper and a pen. The most sophisticated Outlook system, computer app, or time planner is based on the same principle. It is based on your sitting down and making a list of everything you have to do before you begin.

One of the most important rules of personal effectiveness is the 10/90 Rule. This rule says that the first 10 percent of time that you spend planning and organizing your work before you begin will save you as much as 90 percent of the time in getting the job done once you get started. You only have to try this rule once to prove it to yourself.

When you plan each day in advance, you will find it much easier to get going and to keep going. The work will go faster and smoother than ever before. You will feel more powerful and competent. You will get more done faster than you thought possible. Eventually, you will become unstoppable.

Brian Tracy is one of the top business speakers in the world today. He has designed and presented seminars for more than 1,000 large companies and more than 10,000 small and medium- sized enterprises in 75 countries on the subjects of Leadership, Management, Professional Selling, Business Model Reinvention, and Profit Improvement. He has addressed more than 5,000,000 people in more than 5,000 talks and presentations worldwide. He currently speaks to 250,000 people per year. His fast-moving, entertaining video-based training programs are taught in 38 countries.

In addition to Eat That Frog, Brian has written more than 80 books that have been translated into 42 languages, including Kiss That Frog!, Find Your Balance Point, Goals!, Flight Plan, Maximum Achievement, No Excuses!, Advanced Selling Strategies, and How the Best Leaders Lead. He is happily married, with four children and five grandchildren. He is the president of Brian Tracy International and lives in Solana Beach, California. He can be reached at briantracy@briantracy.com.

Leaders Ready Now

Last week saw the launch of a highly anticipated (and deservedly so) book, Leaders Ready Now: Accelerating Growth in a Faster World, by Matthew J Paese, Audrey B. Smith, and William C. Byham.  If you get half out of what I did, you'll be well on your way in your growth as a leader.

My guest blogger this week is actually by three.  The three authors of this great new book.

Why Are You Pursuing Acceleration?

The business reason for acceleration is often summarized like this: “We’re running

desperately short of leaders, and if we can’t get more of them—good ones—very soon, we’ll be in trouble. It’s not an option to buy talent from the outside, so we have only two options: grow from within or fail.”

This usually causes management to sit up straight and pay close attention to the next part of the meeting: How to solve this? What most executives are thinking at this point is basically what’s going through their heads when the organization faces a quality problem or a service problem or a cost problem: We need to analyze the causes, develop solutions, and execute a plan.

Except that acceleration is different. An organization can fix a quality, service, or cost problem with new and better processes that people learn to execute with discipline. But a leadership shortage will be filled only with energy for growth—fear and excitement—which then fuels the process and discipline that an acceleration system also requires. So, aiming to solve the talent problem demands a plan to solve the energy problem.

Energy will grow as you take on more risk with developing your people. But bigger risks require bigger whys. Why grow? Why accelerate? For management, the why is the business case for acceleration. In the absence of a strong one, it is difficult to convince senior executives to take any risks (much less big ones) with development. In fact, acceleration isn’t appropriate for every organization (e.g., companies in rapid start-up mode may need to emphasize talent acquisition, while others may be stocked with so much talent that the main challenge is retention).

For individual leaders, the why is the personal case for acceleration. Without one, it is difficult to convince individuals to take big chances with their own development. The typical conversation with an individual leader highlights the potentially exciting, lucrative, and influential future that acceleration can bring; the leader can—if the process works—learn, earn, and determine much more in the organization. For most, this would be enough to garner full interest and enthusiasm for whatever may come next. But interest and enthusiasm are simply not enough. Remember that the most powerful learning experiences— the ones that truly transform leadership capability—are characterized less by design than by necessity. When asked how they came into their moments of rapid learning, leaders routinely report reasons such as, “They needed me, and I was the only one available who could do it,” or “I thought I could make a big difference,” or “My boss believed I could do it, so I agreed.”

When it comes to creating energy for acceleration, there is a vast difference between “You could benefit from this” and “We need you.” To create a more powerful why for both management and individual learners, it is insufficient to make a case on behalf of only the business or the person. You will need to appeal to both. “We (the business) need you (the person) to take a big chance.” Your case must be compelling to both management and each individual, conveying why the organization needs leaders to step up, what it needs from each leader, and why it’s worth taking big risks to achieve faster, more significant growth.

*****

Matthew J. Paese, Ph.D., is Vice President of Succession and C-Suite Services for Development Dimensions International (DDI). Matt’s work has centered on the application of succession, assessment, and development approaches as they apply to boards, CEOs, senior management teams, and leaders across the pipeline. He consults, coaches, speaks, and conducts research around all those topics and more.

Audrey B. Smith, Ph.D., is Senior Vice President for Global Talent Diagnostics at DDI. Audrey's customer-driven innovation and global consulting insights have helped shape DDI's succession, selection, and development offerings, from the C-suite to the front line. She has been a key strategist and solution architect, encompassing technology-enabled virtual assessments and development aligned to current business challenges.

William C. Byham, Ph.D., is Executive Chairman of DDI. He cofounded the company in 1970 and has worked with hundreds of the world's largest organizations on executive assessment, executive development, and succession management. Bill authored Zapp!® The Lightning of Empowerment, a groundbreaking book that has sold more than 3 million copies. He has coauthored 23 other books, including seminal works on the assessment center method.

Under New Management

Times and technology are always changing. With these changes must come

process and management style changes. The problem is, that what we need to do to keep up doesn’t always happen. A new idea here and there is too slow and dispersed.

A number of things that I see in David Burkus’s new book, Under Management: How Leading Organizations Are Upending Business as Usual, I’ve seen before. But what’s great about it is that he gathers these things - and much more - shows great examples, and puts them into one easy to read, understand, and implement reference.

Including research and case studies, Burkus presents examples of organizations that have successfully implemented each of these practices. Zappos paying people to quit. Whole Foods hiring as a team. Wegmans putting customers first. Adobe eliminating yearly performance appraisals. McKinsey & Company celebrating employee departures (and keeping contact).

This is the book to read if you’re ready to make a positive change in your organization or even if you’re just starting out and building from scratch. Leave the past in the past. Let go of the old ineffective methodologies. Create an organization that will provide the base for success.

Dare to Serve . . . I Dare You

As soon as I read the table of contents I could tell I was going to like this book.  Part 1 -Whom will we serve? What is the daring destination?  Why do we do this work?  How will we work together?

I’m talking about Cheryl Bachelder’s new book, Dare to Serve: How to Drive Superior Results by Serving Others.  You may know her as the CEO of Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen.  A CEO with a new way to lead that, in seven years, increased profits by 40%.  Leadership style.  No fancy gimmicks.  Just Dare to Serve leadership.

One of my favorite parts of the book is the Starship exercise that "revealed some remarkably simple lessons in leading high-performance teams." These are five things that make me stop and shake my head, thinking, why don't more leaders do this? Focus on team member strengths, determine skill gaps, respect different talents. This is why Popeyes Franchise Owner Survey results changed so dramatically in five years.

With reflection questions throughout to keep you engaged and thinking, this is a book that any leader will gain insight from.  Some people just don’t grasp the idea of servant leadership, thinking they have to roll over and become submissive.  If this is you, pick up Dare to Serve and see what it’s really about.  Learn to serve others with humility, courage, and passion.  All while increasing productivity and profits.

As Cheryl says in the book, “avoid the spotlight”.  “A leader without personal responsibility remains stuck in the spotlight and fails to serve others well.”  Look at yourself in the mirror, and Dare to Serve others.

I Love a Spicy Meatball

Yes, I love a spicy meatball . . . and wings, and dips, and pizza.  But they sometimes rub 

me the wrong way, if you get my drift.  Spicy is good.  Too spicy is bad.

Kind of like people.  You've heard the saying, "If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room".  Don't be the equalizer.  You've got to add some spice to the room.  But you can't just do it randomly.  Just like spicy foods, if someone on the team is too spicy, you're going to have problems.

A good spicy team member is going to communicate, share openly and willingly, question ideas/decisions, and be honest and straight forward.  But to keep from becoming too spicy, he/she's also going to actively treat others with respect and be supportive.

You don't want all yes wo/men on your teams.  You'll never improve to the degree that you need to keep up.  Spicy people are a key.  You need people to keep things active and to keep everyone's minds flowing and thinking.  The first idea isn't always the best.  In fact, it usually isn't.  You need quality discussion.

Walt Disney once said that, "Ideas come from curiosity".  When setting up teams, take care to really look at everyone you're considering.  You need people that exhibit curiosity.  Spice it up a bit and get a good mix.  A good mix equals good results.

Muffin Communication

I had a good laugh the other day while I was reminiscing.  I was my director's second in command.  She was someone I had a good working relationship with and often stood in for her for meetings and decision making.
Around Christmas time one year she was out of town for about 10 days or so.  On her very first day out of the office another director had dropped off some homemade muffins to her - muffins that, the directors, looked forward to every year. . . . I think you know where I'm going here.

Obviously, they would be stale before she got back so everyone in the office turned to me . . . almost in unison.  "Make an executive decision", they all said.  "It would be a shame to let them all get old."  So a decision I made.  They were delicious.

When our boss got back she was asked how the muffins were.  "Huh, what muffins?"  She wasn't too happy, and after everyone in the office pointed, went looking for - you guessed it - me.

Well after I made my many apologies - and hearing snickers from around the corner - I explained the reasoning behind it, and to make a long story short, everything was good.

This is a pretty light hearted example but it could have been something way worse.  Point is, this confrontation could have been avoided with an email, voice message, or even a sticky note.  Sometimes you need to make those executive decisions.  But ALWAYS be sure you keep the communication lines open.

Friend or Boss?

Today is release day for the 10th anniversary edition of The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do, by Ken Blanchard & Mark Miller. In honor of today's release, I'm pleased to be able to provide you a guest post by Mark Miller.

Whether you have read The Secret in the past or not, it is truely worth picking up this 10th anniversary edition. Besides the easy to read (and understand) business fable style,it includes a leadership self-assessment and answers to the most frequently asked questions about how to apply the SERVE model.

You'll want to get one for yourself and your team . . . this is a SECRET worth sharing.

FRIEND or BOSS?
One of my current projects involves traveling around the country speaking to audiences

filled with predominantly young leaders. This question came from this group. However, the question is not confined to young leaders… Can I be someone’s boss and their friend?

Although friend and boss may be a paradox, the answer is yes – you can be both. It is not only possible, I believe it’s desirable to have deep friendships at work.

First, the case for friends at work…

For most of us, we spend more waking hours at work than we do with our families. What a tragic place work would be if devoid of friendships.

Although friendship and community are not synonyms, they are closely related. Community is the turbo-charger of performance in a team-based organization.

The Gallup organization discovered that a “best friend” at work enhances performance. Statistically speaking, friendship is an elemental ingredient for full engagement.

How do you make it work?

Clear roles and expectations are critical. Do your friends, or potential friends, at work clearly understand what’s expected of them? Working with friends is no license to be sloppy about expectations or performance. On the contrary, I think you’ll find people will work harder, show more diligence and exercise more creativity for a friend than an enemy.

In the end, the mission, vision and values of the organization must trump personal friendships. As a leader, you are paid to help the organization create a preferred future. This is accomplished one goal at a time. That is your job. If you have a friend on the team and they cannot fulfill their role, you must respond accordingly. You must do your job and lead.

Maturity is required. I am not suggesting that working with friends is easy. I am suggesting, I wouldn’t want it any other way. The longer you lead, the easier this will become. Also, my guess is the more mature you become as a leader, the more you’ll want to go to work with friends.

Some of my best friends are men and women I work with every day. Many of them have been my direct reports at some point over the years. I’m glad I didn’t have to choose: friend or boss. Well, I guess I did choose – I chose both. You can too!

Mark Miller, Vice President of Organizational Effectiveness for Chick-fil-A, believes that leadership is not something that’s exclusive; within the grasp of an elite few, but beyond the reach of everyone else.  In the tenth anniversary edition of The Secret, Miller reminds readers of a seemingly contradictory concept: to lead is to serve. With more than 600,000 books in print, Mark has been surprised by the response and delighted to serve leaders through his writing.

Leaders Open DoorS

I love getting new books in the mail and opening them up to see what new thoughts the author's have come up with. I started reading Leaders Open Doors wondering what new insight would be ahead . . . I was immediately amazed. Author Bill Treasurer says, "If your door is always open, how on earth would you effectively get any work done ...?" This is something I've tried to figure out for years, seeing many doors open and little being accomplished.

Treasurer provides us a whole new definition to "open door policy" - one that takes action to open doors for others - one that creates opportunities for others, and yourself. He mixes humor, personal stories, and a profound insight into a book that's very easy to read, understand, and put into practice. In fact, I read it without stopping, something I VERY rarely do.

Leaders are role models and set the tone of the organization. Opening doors for people shows that you care for them and want them to succeed as much as yourself. This book will help you reform your culture by helping you to become a positive and powerful influencer. Share your new found abilities - and this book - with other leaders and you'll soon have employees that thrive and grow . . . and stay.

Bill Treasurer, Chief Encouragement Officer at Giant Leap Consulting and former U.S. High Diver, wants leaders to be a part of opening doors of opportunities for others to thrive, achieve, and lead. The proceeds of his new book, Leaders Open Doors, are being donated to charities that serve children with special needs. Available on Amazon.

Let Em Shine

Your staffs are an integral part of the success of your organization’s performance. This, you should know already. But how do they get to that point? How are they able to realize just how important they are?


You, as a leader, must communicate to your staff how you expect them to behave – clearly and concisely – and then let them do it. Does that mean becoming a dictator? Of course not. Think of your business like a play and your job is to be the director.

A director helps the actors rehearse their lines and actions so that they know just what to do on opening night so the play runs as smoothly as possible. A dictator would suppress the actors’ talent, where the director pulls them in and lets them shine.

To this, Walt Disney once said, “I think if there’s any part I’ve played . . . the vital part is coordinating these talents, and encouraging these talents, and carrying them down a certain line. It’s like pulling together a big orchestra. They’re all individually very talented. I have an organization of people who are really specialists. You can’t match them anywhere in the world for what they can do. But they all need to be pulled together, and that’s my job.”

I’ve had managers, as I’m sure you have, which held the reins so tightly that it sucked the energy out of me. Creativity suffers. Production suffers. Enjoyment in general is non-existent. People must have some leeway to be themselves, not a clone of a dictators’ need to be in control.

Do you let your staff shine? How can you pull them together? What type of success are you hindering by keeping the reins taut?

Help Them Grow

It only happens every few years. I’m talking about leadership books that come out that I like so much that I read it with a highlighter. I use them in staff development and lend them out to others who want to improve themselves and/or their staff.

A few years back it was Creating Magic by Lee Cockerell. Then came From Bud to Boss by Kevin Eikenberry and Guy Harris. Now – I've had the great privilege of reading a pre-launch copy of Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Employees Want by Beverly Kaye and Julie Winkle Giulioni.

Help Them Grow is the type of book that makes you think, “Hmm, why haven’t I been doing that?” It’s a straightforward roadmap on how to help your staff develop without you having to take control of the reins. Let your employees grab hold of those reins and become responsible for their own growth. Wow . . . what a concept, right? Can you see your time being freed up?

Kaye and Giulioni say that “your role is more about prompting, guiding, reflecting, exploring ideas, activating enthusiasm, and driving action”. This book shows you ways to incorporate these career conversations in your everyday work life.

Notice that last sentence that says “everyday”. Leaders don’t have time to hold extended annual appraisals that package up everything from the entire previous year – and shouldn’t – heck, they don’t remember about what you’re talking about half the time anyway! You’re already having everyday conversations with your employees (hopefully), so just change the tone a bit. You don’t need a bunch of checklists and forms. Conversations and asking questions are the keys to development.

This book gives you actionable steps to “focusing on what the employee needs to experience, know, learn, and be able to do”. Too often, leaders think they have to have all the answers (and they avoid the topic if they don’t), when what they actually need most are the questions, permitting the employee to be a first hand participant in their own successful development.

There’s so much more to this embracing book than I have time for here, so my suggestion to you is to go to Amazon on September 18 (release date) to order yourself a copy or two – others are going to want their own.

K-F-C W-O-W

Every now and then when I receive exceptional customer service, I like to pass the story on.

My wife (Judy) and I stopped at a local KFC last night to get a 12-piece Family Meal - we had a $3 off coupon. We ordered from the drive-up and got our food very promptly. Sounds good so far, right?

Well, we got home and started sorting things out and found that we'd been given the 10-piece Family Meal instead. We should have thought something was up when we got the order so quickly (it was on special).

Anyway. Judy got on the phone and called the manager at the KFC. He was very cordial, apologized and told her he'd give us what we were missing if we'd want to come back - plus something extra for having to return.

After diner we did return and picked up the extra pieces of chicken and biscuit's (we were shorted 2 of each). PLUS he gave us 6 of the most delicious chocolate chip cookies (yes, we shared with the kids). Chocolate chip cookies may not sound like much to some, but it's not something he HAD to do.

What may have turned out to be a very negative experience and the last time we went to that KFC store - and probably would have been - turned out to be a positive experience and kept us as customers.

It doesn't always take an extravagant form of service to make people happy. All you have to do is show you actually do care about your customers.

Tell The Truth

I just read the coolest quote from Pixar President Ed Catmull. He said, "Management's job is not to prevent risk but to build the capability to recover when failures occur. It must be safe to tell the truth."

Wow. The End.

Pimp My Energy

Cash? Raise? Bonus? They may help a bit, but none of them will make an energizing impact on employees these days like they have in the past. The ole standby of threats and intimidation may have worked in days gone by, but now only serve to decrease morale and build up resentment. Employees today want their supervisors to hold their best interests at heart and to SHOW IT each day. They want more meaning and responsibility in their work.

According to Bob Nelson, author of 1001 Ways to Energize Employees, “trust, respect, and consideration from managers are the foundation of an energized organization.” Executives at the Cigna Group, “personally push coffee around the office, serving drinks and refreshments to their front-line partners.” This serves two purposes. First, the employees feel appreciated by the gesture made by top management. And second, they have the opportunity to raise concerns and resolve issues all at the same time – on the front line.

One of the best ways to involve employees in an organization, and to energize them in the process, is by asking for employee ideas. The City of Phoenix openly receives employee suggestions and then notifies each one “in writing about the final disposition of their suggestions within 60 days of the date the suggestion was received.” When someone’s suggestion is rejected, they’re also sent a letter giving a full explanation of why the idea wasn't accepted. How many organizations do you know of that do that? Actually, how many do you know of that have a SERIOUS suggestion program? Most talk, but don’t walk.

Who knows best what motivates your team better than they do? Get them involved with the process. That added bit of energy can come from the most “unorthodox” places. To challenge normal tech thinking, and to spur energy and creativity, Honda Motors (obviously not Toyota) places individuals who know nothing about technology on the company's design teams. Huuh? This is classic thinking outside of the box. Great ideas and discussions can come from the questions that arise from the person who knows nothing about the system. Things the people closest to the system would never have thought about.

Workplace boredom is a major cause of turnover. Energizing the job shouldn’t be a tricky task (if it is, maybe YOU’re in the wrong job). It just requires you to stay alert to opportunities to encourage people and to suggest ways for them to energize their own jobs.

WHY, WHY, WHY??

THE root cause of a problem is seldom the first idea that you come up with. So you end up struggling with what types of problem-solving techniques to use (there are MANY). The 5 Whys is a simple technique that helps you get to the root of the problem quickly. It simply involves looking at any problem and asking, "Why?" The answer to the first "why" will prompt another "why", and the answer to the second "why" will prompt another, and so on. This is pretty much where the name 5 Whys comes from. Duh. Pretty simplistic.

Like I said, it’s easy. Start at the problem and work backwards to find the root cause, continually asking, "Why?" Repeat it over and over until the root cause of the problem becomes apparent. It’s kind of like trying to explain something to a kid – “You have to go to bed.” “Why?” “Because it’s time.” “Why?” Yadda-yadda-yadda. You get the picture.

Here’s an example:
1. Why is our client ready to drop us? Because we didn’t deliver our product when we said we would.
2. Why didn't we deliver our product when we said we would? The job took much longer than we thought it would.
3. Why did the job take so much longer? Because we underestimated the complexity of the job.
4. Why did we underestimate the complexity of the job? Because we made a quick estimate of the time needed to complete it, and didn’t list all the steps needed to get it done.
5. Why did we make such a quick estimate? Because we were running behind on other projects and didn’t clearly review our time estimation and procedures.

From there you can make plans to ensure that no matter how behind you’re running you have a process in place to properly plan and review time estimations and procedures.

The 5 Whys is an easy and quick tool for uncovering the root of a problem. Because it’s so elementary, it can be adapted quickly and applied to most any problem, AND by most ANYONE. Keep in mind though, that if it doesn't get you a decent answer, there are many other problem-solving techniques you can choose from. The 5 Whys just happens to be my personal favorite.

What Will You Celebrate?

Imagine what would happen if, after a lot of time and hard work, success of a large project was achieved but the leaders never communicated the news, and never acknowledged the staff who helped in making it all happen. There would be a great loss of motivation and desire to work as hard on the next projects and assignments. “Why should I work so hard if no one’s going to appreciate it?”

Celebrating success is a valuable opportunity for leaders to reenergize their staff by thanking the people who helped make the achievements happen. By not celebrating these important landmarks, you’re missing great opportunities.

It’s all too common to see organizations focus on communicating successes to customers but forgetting to pass the word to their staff. If you take advantage of the opportunities to positively connect with your staff, each one can become a part of the marketing department by sharing their enthusiasm with customers, business associates, friends and family.

By holding some type of celebration you’ll hear people commenting on how refreshing it is to work for a company that acknowledges staff for their contributions. That’s usually followed by stories about working at other companies that did NOT bother to celebrate their achievements, and the negative impact that had on staff morale. What a great, and easy, way of placing yourself in the “I wanna work there” category.

A great leader doesn’t go it alone. Because of that leader there develops a talented group of people who align their vision with their leader and the organization, and who will work very hard to achieve the desired results. You have to motivate your folks to want to follow you. A smart leader will make his/her staff feel empowered by giving them a sense of ownership, and recognizing their accomplishments. Celebrating achievements is a great way to make that happen!

Dream, Believe, Dare, Do

Dream, Believe, Dare, Do - the four basic standards that drive Disney. Think about it. How can this work for you?

You're probably much smaller than the U.S. Government, but they also hold these standards. Take the space program for instance. Dream-going to the moon, Believe-President Kennedy believed in this program, Dare-we sent rockets into outer space, Do-astronauts stepped foot on the moon.

You can't rest on the past - "it's always worked for us" takes you on the road to nowhere. Open up and allow staff to participate in these standards. It will make them feel more a part of the organization. Who has the most first-hand information? Frontline staff. A lot of their motivation comes from knowing that they're valued.

In the book "The Disney Way", by Bill Capodiagli and Lynn Jackson, they list the 10 concepts that are at the heart of the Disney standards:

• Give every member of your organization a chance to dream, and tap into the creativity those dreams embody.
• Stand firm on your beliefs and principles.
• Treat your customers like guests.
• Support, empower, and reward employees.
• Build long-term relationships with key suppliers and partners.
• Dare to take calculated risks in order to bring innovative ideas to fruition.
• Train extensively and constantly reinforce the company's culture.
• Align long-term vision with short-term execution.
• Use the storyboarding technique to solve planning and communication problems.
• Pay close attention to detail.

Now these are the standards that Disney follows. But you can't BE Disney. Every organization needs to have their own unique brand and identity. Gain an understanding of these standards as they apply to your business, gather your supervisors and managers, and put them to work.

Develop an organizational culture and mission that's open to change, with Dreams (ideas) coming from all levels of the organization. Talk about motivating! If you take a look at the most successful organizations today, you'll find that staff participation is a major reason for their success. Look at Disney today and remember, "it all started with a mouse".

The Home Depot - Building Family

A fellow employee (we'll call her Reaper - from the TV show) recently took on a part-time job at The Home Depot (THD). After a few days of hearing her talk to different people about her early experiences I thought, 'hey, this sounds like a place that cares'. So, I had to check it out. From what I found, I wish more companies would take a cue from THDs Values http://corporate.homedepot.com/wps/portal/Values.

The number one Value on a list of eight is Taking care of our people. The thing that really intrigued me is that this goes right along with the things that she's been describing. THD doesn't just talk it - they walk it. The description begins by saying, "The key to our success is treating people well." I'll say a million times over - if you treat your employees well, they WILL provide better customer service. Excellent customer service is number five on THDs list of Values. It can be that low because of the focus on their own people. Excellent customer service will come naturally.

The second part of Taking care of our people says, "We do this by encouraging associates to speak up and take risks, by recognizing and rewarding good performance and by leading and developing people so they may grow." I'm getting excited here. Encourage employees to be a part of the company, not just a warm (for most people) body to put on the sales floor. Allow them to develop. Reaper told me about the incentives they get for learning about the different areas of the store. The more areas they learn about, the more they get. In this case it's monetary, but incentives come in an abundant amount of possibilities. Check out Incentives Magazine http://www.managesmarter.com/msg/publications/incentive.jsp.

Another Value that caught my eye - actually made me go oooooo - is number seven, Entrepreneurial spirit. "The Home Depot associates are encouraged to initiate creative and innovative ways of serving our customers and improving the business and to spread best practices throughout the company." This is the epitome of employee empowerment. THD has specific overall guidelines, I'm sure. But to be able to do your job without the constant fear of being told 'you're wrong, it should have been done this way', employees can be more open and service oriented with customers.

The whole theme here is to make employees part of the company. With that comes happiness, dedication and sincere customer service.