Words Are Important

How we talk, the way we articulate what we think and do is as important as the doing.  It frames the actions and sets the stage for what's to come.  And that framing is just as important for you as the doer as it is for the people you are doing it for. 
Consider the different images you get from these words:

• Customer vs. Guest
• Waiting Room vs. Lounge
• Manager vs. Concierge
• Declined vs. Postponed
• Obsessed vs. Capable
• Genius vs. Smart

The questions to absolutely know without a shadow of doubt are why are you doing what you're doing and who are you doing it for?  Knowing that helps you to decide if you are Obsessed or merely Capable.  Oops, I've given away my bias.  I'm interested in Excellence and that doesn't come from the merely capable or smart.  It is the Obsessed.  It is the Genius.

It's like a Cookie

I'm a cook.  It's a creative outlet.  It's a way to get at things I love, because I love to eat.  I fantasize about a vacation at a cooking school.  So that's who I am and it is easy for me to see connections between cooking and practically everything else I do, like writing, and advising, and coaching, and consulting, and gardening, and driving, and, and, and.
Follow my mindset here now for why you should have a personal process and why you should be loyal and fastidious about your process.  Even if you don't cook, you realize that you can't simply toss some flour, sugar, eggs and chocolate chips on a pan, shove it in the oven and out comes Chocolate Chip Cookies.  There is a required process.  Just having the ingredients (knowledge, expertise, resource) is not enough.  You have to put it together in the right way, in the right order, with the right techniques to get the desired outcome.  That my friend is process.
Do not omit creaming the butter with the sugar.  Don't omit toasting the nuts before adding.  You will end up with sometimes a reasonable facsimile, but you will not end up with the real deal.  With the authentic, the genuine, the brilliant, and yes, the excellent.

What Does It Look/Feel Like To Me

I travel by car all over the state.  Most of my stops are in small, no, tiny, towns.  I have a practice of trying to stop at least once during a one way trip to purchase something in a small town.  I try to buy from local businesses if I can, i.e., the Java Roaster versus Mc you-know-who. 
So there's my set up.
Anyway, I stopped to get fuel yesterday and soon realized that it was the second time I'd been here.  I remembered that because as I was waiting for the tank to be full, I wanted to wash my windshield.  And that's when it hit me why I didn't want to come here again!  No squeegee and no water in the prominently mounted washer/towel dispenser at the pump.
Boy does that make me mad.  I mean, really, you are selling fuel, you went to the trouble to mount this big-ass towel dispenser windshield washing thingy.  And then you lose the squeegees and you don't keep it full of anti-freezing solution.
Shame on you.
I really really remember you now and I'm not stopping here again.
For crying out loud, do the obvious important things.  Do things well.  Do things completely.  Don't aggravate your guests.

Sorry

I saw a faux sign online today that said "Sorry, We're Open".
I chuckled and then immediately thought of a few places where the sign would fit:
Department of Motor Vehicles
Dentist office
Car repair shop
Cellphone store
Airline check-in desk
But then I thought, well, that's what I think as a customer... that I hate to have to go there.
So I wonder of those unsavory places, which would actually apologize that they are open.
I kinda think they don't know, or worse, don't care and that's why we kinda hate going there.

Steve Jobs and Me

A really wealthy and really successful guy, Steve Jobs, once said that each morning he looks at himself in the mirror and asks if he knew this was the last day of his life, would he be doing what he was about to do.
It's a sort of question we imagine that guys at the top ask themselves, except he wasn't always at the top and the way that you get to your top seems to be by asking just such a question.
It keeps you from wasting time. It keeps you from spending time at something that you don't really care about. It makes you double down and do the things that you love, or plan for doing the things that you love so that one day you can stop doing the more "utilitarian" must-do things.
So anyway, more on the point, stay with me now, we all can't own multi-billion dollar companies or be a world-renowned leader. Yet we can and should be the leader of ourselves. Not unconsciously doing time at a job or doing things that don't really matter to us. And that's what I think of as excellence. It's a continual earnest quest to be better today than we were yesterday. It's being interested and curious. It's figuring out what makes us happy and finding ways to do that.
I absolutely love love love this video from Simon Sinek. He is talking about leadership and about excellent communication and excellent understanding. Take 18 minutes and see how he convicts you. If you know your WHY, and can articulate it, then HOW and WHAT are easier.
Click here.

Your Agenda or Mine

I had two retail experiences recently that had me shaking my head.
1. At the end of the exchange, the clerk handed me a curly receipt, plus some other curly "coupon" papers and then just stood there waiting for me to collect my own bag full of products and go away.
2. As he wrestled with the shopping bags that I had brought in for him to use (with his store's logo on it by the way), the clerk told me he only likes using "his" bags.
No, I'm not going to comment or coach these clerks. I'm just going to shake my head and think, what does he think he is there for? Does he really not get that he is there for me? Does he really think handing me my purchase or putting it in my cart or keeping his silly personal remarks to himself would be too much? Why in the world is standing around a cashier station with nothing to do preferable to being polite and helpful and yes, busy?
Maybe next time instead of shaking my head I will just stand there and wait for him to get that he should hand me my bag, that he should not scold me for bringing in my own bag. Naaaa. It's like talking to the dog; it makes me feel better but it just frustrates the dog.

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