The true meaning

The true meaning of Independence Day or Christmas or Thanksgiving or Veterans Day.

We lose connection with the true meaning behind the holidays. They are more than days to not work.

Here's hoping we pause to consider what they are really about and how they came to be.

Barry LaBov
LABOV Marketing Communications and Training
www.labov.com

Talent

I used to be a music producer. For example, I would record a singer and make her sound the best I could. Most of the time, the singer was good, but would have weaknesses. My job was simple: get the best of her to the point of having her sound better than she really was.

By the time I'd be done with the recording session, I'd be drained from working so hard to make sure each word was clear, each note on was pitch and that there was a magical feeling to the performance. Often the singer would be exhilarated at how great she sounded and how easy it all was.

Our job as leaders is to do the same with our team, to put them in the right place and give them the chance to perform better than they have before.

Barry LaBov
LABOV Marketing Communications and Training
www.labov.com

Fight or Flight

Since caveman times, we have been programmed to deal with fear or threats by either running away or by fighting. That makes sense—if a large beast was chasing me, I'm getting out of the way ASAP. On the other hand, if the threat was a small one and could be conquered, I'd take care of it, now.

In business, if I can be a little over the top, I believe a problem is that we respond to customer issues by either fleeing or we too often stand toe to toe and duke it out with them, even if it's done in a passive aggressive way.

The vast majority of customer situations should not be run away from. Running away confirms that you have made a mistake or are inferior and doesn't solve anything. Fighting with the customer to prove that they are wrong, mean, unfair or whatever, is fruitless almost every time, too. All you do is drive a wedge between the customer and your company. And after all, they are the customer and even if you're right, they have the choice most of the time of whether they want to work with you or not.

The answer is not fleeing and it's not fighting with the customer. It's in between the two. It's calmly analyzing the situation, the truth and then confirming that the customer knows the entire story (most of the time they don't). Then, far from fighting or running, we must talk (not text or email) and apply human interaction to it.

Most of the time, the customer is fair and reasonable, and most of the time both sides can figure out how to solve problems in a positive way. But none of that will happen if the customer sees us fleeing for our life or if we fight with them.

Fighting for your business relationships instead of fighting with your business relationships is far harder, but far more productive.

Barry LaBov
LABOV Marketing Communications and Training
www.labov.com

Reality versus dreams

It's easy to be disappointed that something didn't turn out as expected. It's even easier to be the critic and tell people what they should have done to avoid whatever happened.

Personally, I believe that we have to look at reality and not dreams when we are less than thrilled with what has happened.

Is what happened the worst thing imaginable?
Is it actually better than what logically could have happened?
Is it merely a timing issue and you weren't expecting this to happen this soon?
Is there a way to learn from this and turn this into a positive?

Dreams are great, but they usually remain dreams. Reality is all around us. Better to focus on how to maximize reality than to wait on dreams.

Barry LaBov
LABOV Marketing Communications and Training
www.labov.com