In life, as in business, sometimes the things that you least expect have the biggest impact on you. As always, after the 33rd group of business leaders regaled the judges with their unique and compelling vignettes on how they made price irrelevant or why their training gave them a competitive advantage, I was impressed. What blew me away, however, were their attitudes.
Not one of the 33 presenters mentioned publically or privately that the weather was as awful on the night of our reception as it had been all winter. None of them complained about the realities of the harsh business climate that we find ourselves in in Northeast Ohio. What gives with these people? Are they just not paying attention? Or could it be that they are paying attention to the important things: their people, processes and product?
One of our guiding principles is, “We make our own weather at Metro Lexus.” Putting aside the meteorological impossibilities of this claim, it goes to the heart of what we believe: We control our own attitudes. Just like the tie/dress you put on this morning, every morning we choose what our attitude is going to look or feel like. Why choose an ugly tie or a crummy attitude?
A few days ago, I arrived 12 minutes early at John Roberts Spa for a much needed haircut. Being both cold and wet when I entered the establishment, I was quickly warmed by the enthusiastic greeting of “Hi Mr. Pyle, welcome back to John Roberts.” This greeting did not dry me off any quicker or make my haircut look any better. It did, however, make we want to return. Clearly, the associates of John Roberts control their own weather. Do your people control theirs?
In corporate America, we have a surplus of “officers.” We have CEOs, CIOs, COOs, etc. Who is your chief attitude officer? Do you need one? From what I saw of the 33 presenters in early April, they all understood who the CAO was. So did the receptionist at John Roberts. If we are all trained and motivated to be the CAOs of our respective companies and expect our co-workers to be the same, why would we need another officer looking over our shoulders? Fortunately, I am privileged to work with people who are better at choosing attitudes than they are at picking out ties. I would bet that all of the WCCS nominees are delighted to have the same problem that I do.
Dan Pyle is the managing partner of Metro Lexus, title sponsor of the World Class Customer Service Awards. Reach him at [email protected] or at Metro Lexus, (216) 916-6000 or www.metrolexus.com.
