John Hersey Leadership Blog

Leaders know that to get what they want they need to take aim at the goal, passionately pursue it and every day set an intention to focus on it.

Contagious Leaders focus on setting priorities and not filling their day with ’stuff’.

While in the gym the ‘you can’t do this’ saboteurs showed up. The same thing happens to leaders.

It has been found that it is impossible to keep a foundation of loyal customers without a foundation of loyal employees.  The best employees prefer to work for companies that provide the type of exceptional value that creates customer loyalty, thus, creating loyalty has become the toughest test for leadership.

Improving customer service has become the non-ending milestone for many companies, and they are right, because a company’s profitability is intimately related to its customer loyalty.  It has been measured that a happy customer gives 2.6 times more profit than a ‘neutral’ customer.

This is why customer service training programs are “in vogue”, with companies spending a lot of money and time on educating their employees on how to treat and ‘deal’ with customers.  What these companies and managers don’t get is that these trainings do not reach the core of the issue.  True change will come when they start giving their employees the same caring treatment they want to give their customers.

It is very common to see situations where employees are sent to congeniality courses to learn to be amiable and to deal with difficult clients, while they themselves are faced with situations at work that lower their self-esteem and that are not taken seriously by their managers.  Too often, employees are asked to smile and be nice while they are working extra hours due to a reduced payroll, with equipment that doesn’t work right, and supporting a product that is far from optimal.

There is a saying in Spanish that goes, ‘You can dress a monkey in silk, but it will still be a monkey’.  Instead of dealing with the real issue, managers more often than desired, try to disguise the ugly truth.  In the end, the monkey not only stays a monkey, but also now is really upset for having been messed with.

Great customer service depends on the people providing that service. They have to be willing to serve well. They have to be inspired to go beyond what is their responsibility, in other words, they have to be treated well.  When people work in a positive environment, where they feel cared for, where they feel important, where they feel the enthusiasm, they will correspond with loyalty and dedication.  No manager can force his team to be committed; this is something that is born out of pride for being a part of something good.

Employees’ commitment is so important that it can even save lives.  There was a study developed in several hospital cardiac care units.  It was demonstrated that in the units where the nurses suffered from depression, the patients died four times more than in the other units.

A company will have strong customer service if it has strong leadership, and the commitment that this leadership conveys.  A great brand has to be earned, it can’t be bought; in the end, the customers build it.

You know you are free to live and enjoy your life when you love what you do.  The moment you start doing what you love, you never work again.  Life is your game, and there are no rules, unless you allow differently.

Work is associated with struggle, obligation, and rules, things we dread, however when you do what you love, you can spend twelve hours a day doing it and you won’t feel you are working at all, in fact, you will be so energized that you will feel you can keep on going, and going, and going… just like the Energizer bunny.

In order to live your life without rules, you have to identify what you love; define what you truly love to do, how you can make a living out of it, and where you want your life to go.  Envision the perfect job to express yourself, to let your talent and personality run free.

Your job can be work or it can be your playground, where you run, jump, laugh, and express your deeper self.  In this playground you can release your full creativity and discover your best self.  You will find out how immense your power is and how joyful it is to live.

In the beginning, the most successful people in business didn’t have ‘making money’ as their main goal, in fact, people who crave money and fame are amongst the saddest and less accomplished you can find.  These people may get rich, but they are poor inside, and they often hate their lives and even themselves.  Money is not a reason for being; it is a consequence of having good reasons to live.

Money is indeed a powerful instrument and a very satisfying reward; however, it can become poisonous if it becomes your reason for acting.  As soon as we start doing what we love and get great at it, the money will come.  Once you realize you are getting well paid for doing something you would happily do for free, you know you are on the right track.

People who play the game their way always win; no matter if they are mechanics, shop keepers, maids, doctors, lawyers, or CEO’s.  A very skilled electrician who loves what he does and is always looking for ways to get better, is a stronger leader than a banker who feels trapped inside a titanium vault and almost unable to breathe.

We’ve all met taxi drivers, guards, and maids who even though they perform low-skilled and low-paying jobs are completely happy and love what they do.  They make strong contributions to their companies and to society. They know they matter, and they play their game without rules.

As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “If a man is called a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry.  He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”  It is not about the job, but about the person doing it; there are no shortsighted jobs, only shortsighted people.

We all feel uncertain about our jobs from time to time, but if this uncertainty becomes the rule of our everyday life, if work has become work, we have lost our passion and we should look for something else.  Life is too short to settle for it. Life is meant to be lived, not to be worked. Life is meant to be a game without rules.

When we could have purchased this light in any one of 100 places in Arizona we chose to buy it in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico? Why? Because now the light has a story and that makes it an experience. What kind of stories are you creating with and for your employees and customers? What reasons are you giving employees and customers to keep returning and expand their loyalty?

Loyalty and employee retention is all in the stories and the stories are about CUEing, Creating Unforgettable Experiences.

John lugging the infamous light through Puerto Vallarta

The meaning of our life is closely related to the personal purpose we discover in it, most certainly one larger than oneself.

In the course of our life, we never stop looking for who we truly are, for our reason for being; it is our way of being the leaders of what we may become.  We are as big inside as our world is outside, and we look without end for the next frontier on self-improvement and self-knowledge.  The more we dig inside ourselves, the more we grow.

Developing your personal purpose involves a journey of discovery and learning. It is not a problem or situation you have to solve.  It can take you many years and countless hours of reflection to define what is truly valuable and significant in your life, however, one thing is certain, your purpose in life is tied to your vision and values.

In order to advance in your search for your purpose you have to ask lots of questions:

-    What’s in my dream list?

-    What does this list say about my inner desires and purpose?

-    What activities and work energize and excite me?

-    When am I my best self, most happy and alive?

-    What are my special talents and strengths?

-    How do I want to be remembered when I die?

-    What would I like to tell about my life when I’m older?

-    What would I like my family, friends, colleagues, and partners to say about me after I’m gone?

-    Did I contribute to society?

No dream should stay unaccomplished, no book unwritten, no love concealed, no bright idea discarded.  If anything, we all should live determined to find our purpose; this should be our strongest motivator to be our best and never give up.

It is not easy to state your purpose; after all, how easy is it to put in words your deepest inner beliefs and thoughts?  It can be truly frustrating; however, it is worth it.  Once you get there, you will have more clarity and will feel stronger emotions and passion for your purpose.

Once you know what your purpose in life is, use affirmations to strengthen it in order to center on realizing your reason for living.  Use quotes that inspire you and energize you, and consider these too:

-    Support it with your work
Does your work support your purpose?  If not, try to find ways to fit your purpose within your job before you decide to leave it.  Talk to your manager about aligning your purpose with your responsibilities; make a list of the positive good things your work offers you and review it regularly.  Stay in the loop about opportunities to practice your purpose within the organization and your team.  Once you start looking for the good things, you will find a huge amount of them all around you.

-    Support it with your family
Talk to your family and write a list of family values and mission.  Everyone has to contribute with their idea of the perfect future for the family.  Find common ground and a comprehensive view of what you want your family life to be.

-    It is not about setting goals
It is a common confusion to think of goal setting as the tool for envisioning your best life and identifying your purpose, however, goals are merely stages in the journey.  In order to make your purpose a reality and to advance towards your dream you have to set goals and reach them, but these goals are a means, not an end.  Goals have a beginning and a conclusion, while the process to find your purpose never ends.

-    Be authentic
Your purpose must be yours, do not let external influences manipulate it.  It is about what you wish, not what others think you should do or be.  Forget about impressing anyone, you are the only one who should be positively affected by it.  Keep it to yourself.

-    It is a process without end
You whole life you must work to refine the expression of your values, vision, and purpose.  It never stops, like the need for food; it is something you require, something you live on.

-    Spend time alone
Learn to meditate.  Get some time to be alone, to be still, to reflect and to look for spiritual connection.  During this time, between 30 to 45 minutes, you will clarify your values, mission, and vision, because you will be listening to your inner self.

Feedback is vital for learning and improving, as much in business as in life.  As one very successful business author once said, “The major difference between the most and least successful executives is the latter’s lack of awareness.  Successful executives are critical of their own performance.  Unsuccessful executives are critical of the performance of others.”

Many managers are not aware of the kind of suffering and problems they create around them and for their employees until they really cause irreparable harm.  The most foolish managers are the ones that lack effective personal feedback practices and completely reject having someone tell them how to be, act, and manage people better.  Their motto simply is: “My way, or no way”. If someone doesn’t like their way of doing things, they can leave.

No manager can build an organization or team that is different from him or her.  If there is a resistance to feedback within the organization, managers must look at themselves and their views on personal feedback.  If you, as manager, don’t seek regular feedback about your actions, behaviors, and style, your team will mirror your values.  The worst part is that managers who reject personal feedback, normally enforce it for everyone else.

That’s the difference between two equally committed-to-improvement organizations, but one with strong and valuable performance information and exact measures, and another one with very frail measurement systems.  The difference is that both understand the theory, but only one applies it.  Within the organization with a frail system, employees avoid talking about the serious issues with their managers.  The staff’s communication level usually depends on the manager’s mood, and although these managers may say they wish to create a learning organization, they avoid learning how the people around them perceive them.

Yes, personal feedback can be harsh; it can be truly painful, however, in the level, frequency, and sensitivity that we open up, or shut out, to it personally as managers, our team and organization will welcome it or reject it too.  This is the key to identify if an organization has the potential to grow and improve, or is destined to disappear.

Motivation is crucial to achieve your goals, and it is also something you can achieve by yourself if you know how.

The following are 7 tips to attain unstoppable self-motivation:

1.    Keep the right focus
Focus on what you want instead of on what you don’t want.  It is easy to get unmotivated by challenges and situations that come up when you are working towards your goals, however, you don’t have to let those situations stop you.  You keep moving forward when you focus on what you want to achieve.  Do not give importance to the problems that arise on the way, just move through them and get rid of them.  Everything will pass if you can clearly visualize your dream.

2.    Read success stories
Reading about how others have made it big after facing the same or similar challenges as you, will give you strength and inspiration to advance amid any negativity and problems.  Read as much as you can about personal development, you will learn many valuable skills and new ways to approach situations.

3.    Look for support
Get a mentor or a friend who is an inspiring influence for you.  They can enhance your confidence and help you advance in an organized way.  They will act as a rational spectator, giving you advice when you lose focus due to emotions.  They will put your feet on the ground, and will provide unconditional support and valuable feedback.

4.    Measure your progress
Write about the process daily, and track your successes and setbacks.  This will give you a new perspective on things, you will be able to go back and read what happened in the past, what you learned, and what you did wrong.  You will be able to see how much you have grown and in which ways.

5.    Give yourself prizes
Go to the movies, go out to dinner, or buy yourself a treat; give yourself a prize every time you meet a small goal.  Praise your courage and strength.  This will direct your mind to success. It will become a habit, because behavior that gets a reward is repeated.

6.    Learn something from every failure
Don’t get upset at yourself for failing at something, but analyze what happened and amend your course towards your goal.  See it like this: you can now advance knowing that a certain thing doesn’t work; you are gaining experience.  You can move on with more confidence because you know what you did wrong and can correct it, and you are certainly closer to achieving your goal.

7.    Relax
Working towards your goals should be fun.  Don’t get stressed because you don’t see results fast, enjoy the ride, because that’s where experience, knowledge, and value reside.  If you are moving forward, it means you are already succeeding, so relax and cherish every moment.  You will do more if you think it is fun; acknowledge that you are growing every step of the way.  Remember that, whatever happens, it is worth it, because you are becoming a much better, more experienced, and more mature individual.  There is nothing more rewarding than making your dreams come true and living the life of your dreams, thus, get going and never look back!

Do you think Bill Gates had his success handed to him on a silver corporate platter? He took personal responsibility for his success. A leadership speaker will tell you that Gates didn’t allow fear, or hi-tech naysayers to stop him from taking innovative leaps.

Don’t sit back and wait for success to happen to you. Your boss, clients and colleagues aren’t just going to hand success over to you. If you stare blankly at the walls waiting for clients to walk through your door, then it’s time to re-think your attitude and game plan towards success.

Whether you work for a company of five employees or run a company of 5,000 plus employees, success begins with you. You can’t expect others to turn you into an overnight sensation.

Personal Accountability and Visionary Plans
Personal accountability determines the levels of success you will achieve. A woe-is-me attitude and negative thought patterns won’t help either. Stop blaming others for why you aren’t successful and look within – what’s stopping you from success?

The first question to ask yourself:  do you have a vision? You can’t outsource someone else to create your personal vision plan. Don’t expect others to create that amazing, perfect plan for you.

Think strategically about your vision and take the necessary steps to make that vision happen. Just sitting around the board room talking about goals won’t bring you instant success. You have to actually make that plan work and hold yourself responsible for your personal goals and objectives. If you manage others, hold your staff accountable for their goals as well. Remember to lead by example and your employees will follow right along with you.

What Stops You From Achieving Success?
These are common mental roadblocks and excuses that stop people from pursuing their visionary goals.

•    Wishful thinking – When you fall into that rut of wishful thinking, it will get you into trouble. Dreaming big is not bad, but a strategic dream/visionary plan is even better. The biggest detriment with a wishful thinking attitude is that it’s passive and not active. It also comes with regrets about past decisions. You wish you had taken that job and made more money. You wish you had sent your kids to an Ivy League university. Stop thinking about the past and turn the “I wish” into “I can and will.”

•    Fear – Fear is the biggest mental roadblock that stops you from achieving success. It’s simple – you have two choices. You can give into the negativity, skepticism and other’s fears, or you can choose to ignore the dream stompers.  Fear can be so overwhelming it can paralyze you.  Remember to start small – there is always a way to get around fearful thoughts. Take low-risk steps and build up to bigger risks.

•    Need for approval – It’s normal for people to want to feel accepted by others. No one wants to rock the boat. When you think outside the box and take a different path, it can be scary. The “play it safe” attitude has been pounded into your brain since birth. If Gates had played it safe, would he be a huge success? Probably not. Taking a huge leap into the unknown may be the best way to jumpstart your path to success.