Category Archives: Attitude

FLOWER POWER: BEE-ING A LEADER

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Think of yourself as a bee pollinating flowers every morning when you make your Friendly Five rounds. That’s the way Walt Disney characterized his leadership style.

Disney compared himself to a bumble bee “going from one area in the studio to another to stimulate everybody.”

Pollinating the blossoming of others is an instructive metaphor for the essence of a loving leader.

No wonder the most effective leaders schedule no formal meetings for at least the first hour “in the office.”

(This is an excerpt of a newly relaunched book titled
LOVING Like a Leader now available on Amazon.com

That’s why the most effective leaders invest in the Friendly Five every day Continue reading →

Customer Service With Pizzazz!

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By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy
Here’s an idea to add punch to your customer service. Reading time: 3:04

The fast-food counter seemed more like a stage to the clerk especially when he welcomed his audience of one- his customer-with a bright smile and even brighter affirmation of his customer’s order:

A ham “I will get that right up for you sir and I can tell you that I’m going to put smile on your face and inch on your waist.”

His jovial voice beamed through pearly white teeth and a breathy enthusiasm that painted smiles on the faces of nearby patrons too.

His customers appreciated the clerk’s creative zeal in turning an ordinary transaction into something extra-ordinary. That’s what leaders do. They turn the ordinary into the extra-ordinary.

Indeed, this leader in customer service showmanship made absolutely sure this $31.46 order for this customer and his five other auto mechanic co-workers would be anything but ordinary.

Leaders have a flair for customer service showmanship that re-focuses the spotlight on the customer to add even greater value to their customer experience. Continue reading →

Eating Humble Pie at 30,000 Feet

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By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy
Here’s an idea to reinforce the integrity of your corporate culture. Reading time: 3:14.

The CEO and the president of a multi-billion dollar company headed off to the airport for a business trip.

Virtual Images No limousine. No private jet. They flew commercial—in coach. No first class treatment for them. They were too focused on treating others first class.

That’s what leaders do. They don’t regularly spend on themselves for comfort or convenience. They more regularly invest in others for their added comfort or convenience that increases their performance and productivity.

Of course, the CEO and President could have justified the expense of a private jet for a business trip. But on this occasion, they had planned a larger than normal window in their schedules to accommodate the added travel time. Continue reading →

Spacing Your Leadership Bite

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By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy
Here’s an idea to help you develop relationship in your project management. Reading time: 3:44

The newly appointed CEO was shocked and perplexed when the Chairman of the company left an urgent message for the CEO to cut short his European business trip and return as soon as possible to the corporate headquarters in the United States.

wheelwright1 Was it an unwanted takeover bid? Or an explosion in a manufacturing plant ? A kidnapping of a board member?

The new CEO wondered what the crisis was about as he hurriedly broke away from negotiations in acquiring a company that would shore up a key vulnerability in the company’s product line.

“A party—a retirement party?” the new CEO repeated in a frustrating and exasperating tone. “You want me to leave millions of dollars on the table right now –that’s the potential we have in acquiring this company that we had already talked about with you and the Board-to fly back to corporate headquarters to attend a retirement party?

The Chairman of the Board calmly and resolutely confirmed his direction. The new CEO did attend the retirement party –an annual event that celebrates, lauds and says a big Thank You to hundreds of employees with 25 years or more of service.

That annual Retirement Party is so important that top management — including the Chairman and the CEO and each company president- are always there in person to press the flesh. Continue reading →

Charisma: It’s Not About You

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By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy
Here’s an idea to lead more authentically. Reading time: 2:34

It’s not about you. Rick Warren’s opening sentence in his best selling book The Purpose Driven Life, is an apt description of charisma.

Charisma-Header-2 Charisma is not about how vivacious you are.

Charisma is not about how good looking you are.

Charisma is not about how funny you are.

And charisma is not about how pumped up you are.

Instead, charisma is all about how vivacious you make others feel.

Charisma is all about how good you make others look around you. Charisma is all about how much you pump others up when you are around them.

Charisma is not the force of your being but how you reinforce the being of others.

Charisma is not how well you sing your song. Charisma is how well you sync to get along. Consistently. Predictably.

In fact, Google’s employees provide their managers feedback in formal surveys twice a year (on 12-18 factors) and it turns out the most critical trait of a leader -at least seen through their followers-is predictability.

It’s better to be a little bit boring than to be a bit overbearing. It’s not how you can win OVER people. It’s how you can win PEOPLE over.

“Being charismatic means making others feel comfortable, at ease and good about themselves,” observers author Olivia Fox Cabane in her book The Charisma Myth.

How do you generate charisma if you don’t look like a Movie Star or aren’t as glib as a Talk Show host and you don’t wear the latest designer clothes?

Relax. Be yourself. Be real. Smile. Continue reading →