Info Exchange – Win: Part 1 of 2
February 15, 2012 | Author dmdurkin
Welcome to the Loyalty Factor Information Exchange, a bi-weekly service providing summaries of major publications and books on various management and customer relationship topics.
Loyalty Factor has been instrumental in helping companies:
- Increase Customer Satisfaction by 20 – 33%
- Increase Revenues by 50% in 18 months
- Increase Manufacturing Production by 200% in 18 months
Our information exchange this week highlights the book, “Win: The Key Principles to Take Your Business from Ordinary to Extraordinary” by Frank I. Luntz. This is part one of a two part series.
In his new book Win, Dr. Frank Luntz highlights:
- The attributes of a winner
- The nine P’s of winning.
This segment with examine the attributes of winners.
Winners are self-aware. They recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, and respond to situations accordingly. Winners are also tuned in to the needs and desires of others, and this outward focus guides them to deliver revolutionary solutions, not just better mousetraps. They recognize where their strengths meet someone else’s needs and deliver the greatest value.
Winners don’t preach; they persuade. Winners clearly articulate their own principles and kindly, subtly invite you to adopt them. But the choice is yours. Sure, they lead and you follow and ultimately you come to their point of view on your own.
Luntz describes the following 15 attributes of leaders.
The ability to:
- Grasp the human dimension of every situation
- Know what questions to ask and when to ask them.
- See what doesn’t yet exist and bring it to life
- See the challenge, and the solution, from every angle
- Distinguish the essential from the important
- Drive to do more and do it better
- Communicate their vision passionately and persuasively
- Move forward when everyone around them is retrenching or slipping backward
- Connect with others spontaneously
In Addition:
- Curiosity about the unknown
- Passion for life’s adventures
- Chemistry with co-workers and the people they want to influence
- Willingness to fail and the fortitude to get back up and try again
- Belief in luck and good fortune
And most importantly:
- A love of life itself
Although, there is no single standard of winning – no secret recipe that – presto! – makes you a winner. These are common traits of all winners. Together, they are factors one must incorporate in ways that suit their own style and objectives.
In our next installment, we’ll discuss the nine P’s of winning.
The Value of Fear
February 8, 2012 | Author dmdurkin
Would you believe that the number one fear in the world is public speaking, above death and everything else? Even above death?
Fear is really False Evidence Appearing Real.
Research has shown that the biggest fear is because of self-consciousness of how an individual is coming across. The more that you can focus on your audience versus you, the less nervous you will become. Think of fear as Fully Engaged And Receptive; this will help eliminate traces of nervousness.
My suggestion however is you should not try to banish all fear and nervousness. You need a certain amount of fear to give a good speech. You say you need fear? Yes. Fear energizes you, it makes you think more rapidly, it helps you speak with vitality and enthusiasm. Here is why: when you stand up to give a speech and fear hits you, your body goes into “red alert,” the same biological mechanism that saved our cave dwelling ancestors when they were faced with a hungry lion and had to fight or flee in order to survive.
This same system comes into play in emergencies, for example: if you were walking down a deserted street and someone tried to attack you, your body would release a burst of adrenaline into your bloodstream, causing fresh blood and oxygen to rush into your muscles and you would be able to fight ferociously and run faster than you’ve ever run in your life.
The benefit of adrenaline can also be seen in competitive sports: athletes must get their adrenaline flowing before the game begins. The great homerun slugger Reggie Jackson said during his heyday, “I have butterflies in my stomach almost every time I step up to the plate. When I don’t have them I get worried because it means I won’t hit the ball very well.”
In public speaking adrenaline infuses you with energy, it causes extra blood and oxygen to rush, not only to your muscles but also to your brain, thus enabling you to think with greater clarity and quickness. It makes you come across to your audience as someone who is alive and vibrant.
It’s positive nervousness. It is a zesty enthusiastic, lively feeling with a slight edge to it. Positive nervousness is the state you’ll achieve by converting your anxiety into constructive energy. It’s still nervousness, but you are no longer victimized by it; instead you are vitalized by it. Fear is valuable; use it to your advantage.
Use it to your advantage by fully engaging your audience and being receptive to them – what you can give and what you can learn.
Dianne Durkin is president and founder of Loyalty Factor, a specialized consulting and training company that enhances employee, customer and brand loyalty for some of the nation’s most prominent corporations and many smaller businesses. Dianne’s proven expertise lies in helping companies quickly get to the core issues and outlining their impact on the organization’s profits, productivity and people. www.loyaltyfactor.com
Posted in Engagement, Leadership Development, Magnetic Leadership | 
Tags: Engagement, Leadership Development, Public Speaking | 
Comments Closed
Info Exchange – The Power of Collective Ambition
February 1, 2012 | Author dmdurkin
Welcome to the Loyalty Factor Information Exchange, a bi-weekly service providing summaries of major publications and books on various management and customer relationship topics.
Loyalty Factor has been instrumental in helping companies:
- Increase Customer Satisfaction by 20 – 33%
- Increase Revenues by 50% in 18 months
- Increase Manufacturing Production by 200% in 18 months
Our information exchange this week highlights the Harvard Business Review article from December 2011, “The Power of Collective Ambition,” by Douglas A. Ready and Emily Truelove.
In the past few years, some companies have not just weathered the economic storm: they have emerged stronger than ever. They were winners even in industries where you may have expected serious blows – for example: luxury industries like hospitality and beauty.
How did these players such as The Four Seasons, Sephora and Standard Chartered Bank become the exception?
What these companies did was the following. Instead of pursuing a single ambition such as profits, these organizations used what the authors call a “Collective Ambition.” A Collective Ambition is defined as a summary of how leaders and employees think about why they exist, what they hope to accomplish, how they will collaborate to achieve their mission and how their brand promise aligns with their core values.
As mentioned previously, these companies do not fall into the trap of pursuing a single ambition (profits). Instead their employees collaborate to shape a collective ambition that supersedes individual goals and takes into account the key elements required to sustain excellence.
The elements of Collective Ambition are as follows:
Purpose – The company’s reason for being; The core mission of the enterprise.
Vision – The position or status the company aspires to achieve within a reasonable timeframe.
Targets & Milestones – The metrics the company will use to assess progress towards this vision.
Strategic & Operational Priorities – The actions the company will take in pursuit of their vision.
Brand Promise – The commitments the company makes to shareholders, customers, communities, investors, employees, regulators and partners concerning the experience the company will provide.
Core Values – The guiding principles that dictate what the company stands for as an organization in good times and in bad.
Leadership Behavior – How leaders act on a daily basis as they seek to implement the company’s vision and strategic priorities. They are measured on fulfilling brand promise and living up to the values.
By clearly defining these elements, misalignments within the organization can be recognized and addressed. The authors describe the Collective Ambition as a compass with Purpose at the center.
Articulating these elements of Collective Ambition can give an organization a better sense of the company’s purpose and how individuals within that organization can contribute to the purpose.
This becomes a total framework for identifying milestones, making strategic decisions and operational choices.
Info Exchange – The Steve Jobs Way
January 18, 2012 | Author dmdurkin
Welcome to the Loyalty Factor Information Exchange, a bi-weekly service providing summaries of major publications and books on various management and customer relationship topics.
Loyalty Factor has been instrumental in helping companies:
- Increase Customer Satisfaction by 20 – 33%
- Increase Revenues by 50% in 18 months
- Increase Manufacturing Production by 200% in 18 months
Our information exchange this week highlights the book, “ The Steve Jobs Way: ileadership for a New Generation” by Jay Elliot & William L. Simon.
The Steve Jobs Way provides a rarely seen, intimate glimpse into the Steve Jobs you won’t see on stage at one of his legendary presentations at Macworld. Readers will see the real Steve Jobs, the “Boy Genius” who forever transformed technology and the way we work, play, consume and communicate. Although difficult to highlight all of Steve Jobs’ leadership attributes in a short summary of the book, below are some keys.
1. PASSION
Steve Jobs survived, thrived and changed society by following his own passions. His product passion went through the entire corporation – from the receptionists to the engineers to the members of the board of directors. If the employees of any company do not feel the passion as passed on from the leaders, then the leaders need to be asking, “Why not?”
Steve’s passion was one of the great underlying secrets of his success. He’s been described as exacting, demanding and, yes, at times, inconsiderate. It’s all a reflection of the fiery passion that drove him.
2. SUCCESS IS IN THE DETAILS
Steve Jobs understood something that a lot of companies try to do, but are rarely successful at. The more he advanced, the simpler his products became. It did not happen by cramming in more, it happened through creativity and innovation, with a relentless pursuit of perfection. He thought through everything with the laser-focused goal of making it intuitive to the user. This takes more work, more detail-oriented planning. Steve’s level of focus on details was one of the most crucial aspects of his success and the success of his products.
3. TALENT MANAGEMENT
- Forming a Team Culture – Every leader and every manager wants his or her people to work together; all pulling in the same direction, supporting each other, everybody pitching in to do their part in achieving the goal of the group.
- Encouraging the “Artist” in Everyone – Steve took advantage of the artist sensibility in his engineers. The goal was never to beat the competition or to make a lot of money; it was to do the greatest thing possible, or even a little greater and his engineers knew this. Steve found unique ways to build a cohesive team that would bond and rely on one another.
4. REWARDS AND RECOGNITION
Most corporations acknowledge employees by holding a little celebration for birthdays, employment anniversaries, and so on. Apple focused around the company’s stars: its talent and its products. The most memorable example came when Steve decided that the signatures of the original engineering team members would be etched on the inside of the cases of the first Macs after all – “Artists sign their work” therefore engineers need to sign theirs.
5. BRANDING
Steve Jobs had a master craftsman’s ability to create a consistent, positive product image in the minds of his customers. He understood that it is not just a question of how well the product is designed and how smoothly it works- (although these are critical factors) rather how the product is perceived by the user, which, of course, is the key to product success. Products that people truly want and great branding, which is the door opener for waking people up to the products.
6. SETTING A VISION
There is nothing more desired in the world of business than creating a product that millions of people immediately want. Creating a series of these products not as separate and isolated efforts but all parts of a high-level overriding concept is phenomenal. At Macworld 2001 Steve laid out a vision that many people found to be a brilliant view of where the world was likely to be going.
Steve Jobs’ was an amazing individual. We can all learn something from this great icon.
“I want to put a ding in the universe.” ~ Steve Jobs
Posted in Magnetic Leadership, ~ Loyalty Factor Information Exchange ~ | Tags: Branding, iLeadership, Steve Jobs, Talent Management | Comments Closed
Leadership Secret Weapon Series: Reframing Techniques
January 11, 2012 | Author dmdurkin
Have you ever had a situation where you have had to change another person’s perception? For example you had to give them bad news, or you had to handle an objection, or make a difficult decision. We have all been in these situations where we may have to give bad news.
Reframing is a critical skill that provides a flexible approach to changing perceptions with a particular problem or situation. It’s giving the situation a different meaning which leads to a different behavioral response.
There are four primary reframing techniques:
1) Redefining: Expanding or narrowing the topic.
2) Metaphor: Describing the topic’s likeness to something else that is familiar to create a better understanding of the current situation.
3) Story: Using an example such as a story of a similar situation where the new approach had been tried.
4) Spin: Creating positive and/or negative interpretation of the issue.
The following story is an example of reframing (Steven Covey).
Story: You are on the subway with 3 obnoxious kids who are running all over the place and making lots of noise. You see that they are with their father and wait for him to do something to stop them. When he doesn’t after several minutes you finally speak up and tell him that you find his children incredibly annoying and obnoxious. He responds “Yes, they’ve been that way since their mother died last week. I don’t know what to do.”
Critical Point: The fact that the kids are annoying and obnoxious doesn’t change, but your perception of them does based on this new information.
Utilizing reframing strategies will help resolve conflict and difficult situations, in order to change perceptions and move forward smoothly.
Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution.
If you don’t have any problems, you don’t get any seeds.
- Norman Vincent Peale
Dianne Durkin is president and founder of Loyalty Factor, a specialized consulting and training company that enhances employee, customer and brand loyalty for some of the nation’s most prominent corporations and many smaller businesses. Dianne’s proven expertise lies in helping companies quickly get to the core issues and outlining their impact on the organization’s profits, productivity and people. www.loyaltyfactor.com
Posted in Brand Loyalty, Customer Loyalty, Employee Loyalty, Leadership Development, Leadership Management, Leadership Secret Weapons | Tags: Communication, Efficiency, Engagement | Comments Closed
Info Exchange – The Inspiring Leader
January 4, 2012 | Author dmdurkin
Welcome to the Loyalty Factor Information Exchange, a bi-weekly service providing summaries of major publications and books on various management and customer relationship topics.
Loyalty Factor has been instrumental in helping companies:
- Increase Customer Satisfaction by 20 – 33%
- Increase Revenues by 50% in 18 months
- Increase Manufacturing Production by 200% in 18 months
Our information exchange this week highlights the book “The Inspiring Leader: Unlocking the Secrets of How Extraordinary Leaders Motivate,” by John Zenger, Joseph Folkman and Scott Edinger.
Unlocking the Secrets of How
Extraordinary Leaders Motivate.
Research shows that inspiration is the most powerful of all leadership competencies. It is the best predictor of overall ratings or leadership effectiveness by direct reports, peers and managers. It is the quality most valued by employees and the factor most correlated with employee commitment and satisfaction.
The Inspiring Leader reveals numerous principles and behaviors top leaders use to build an emotional connection between themselves and their teams.
Below are 6 things to do to become an inspiring leader:
- Inspire and Motivate with Energy and Enthusiasm. Researchers found that leaders with these qualities tend to have direct reports who are more satisfied and committed overall. Such leaders are also better able to retain employees, especially their highly committed employees.
- Create a Vision and Provide Clear Direction. The importance of a clear, concise and compelling vision and direction cannot be overstated. This is not a “solo” activity for the leader. Nor does this need to be for an entire corporation. Senior and middle managers from cross functional areas can do this quite effectively. The vision combines a strong statement of the guiding principles that shape the organization with a vivid picture of what the organization aspires to be in the next few years.
- Set Stretch Personal Goals. Extraordinary leaders recognize their strengths and their areas for development. Many books recommend leaders work on their areas for development. The problem with this approach is that typically people are not interested in or passionate about their weaknesses and therefore they don’t improve much. The key for improvement is passion. Working on an area that you are interested in creates a much higher probability of success.
- Be a Good Communicator. Research shows that inspirational leaders: 1) Seek opportunities to communicate, 2) Expand the volume and frequency of communication, and 3) Communicate passion and enthusiasm.
- Create Positive Development Experiences for the Team. To develop subordinates, inspirational leaders: 1) Give coaching, 2) Provide actionable feedback, 3) Delegate in a manner that develops people, 4) Structure the job with development as the objective, and 5) Make developmental experiences available (classes, courses, trips, site visits and benchmarking opportunities.)
- Develop a Collaborative Culture. The culture has to become one of putting the organization’s and the team’s interests higher than anyone’s self interest, no matter how senior the person is in the organization. Ideas and proposals have to be evaluated on their merits, not on the role power or position that their proponent holds in the organization.
In summary, when the right environment is created and combined with the expectation that everyone will contribute to the innovation process, then a steady stream of good ideas for new products, services, marketing techniques and ways to better manage the business come forth on a regular basis.
Posted in Leadership Development, Magnetic Leadership, ~ Loyalty Factor Information Exchange ~ | Tags: Culture, Engagement, leadership, Managing Change | Comments Closed
Welcome to 2012!
January 1, 2012 | Author dmdurkin
The way to become the kind of leader people want to follow is to keep learning & growing!
We look forward to providing topics of interest to you throughout the year
that will benefit you in further developing your communication and leadership skills!
Happy Holidays from Loyalty Factor
December 21, 2011 | Author dmdurkin
‘Tis the Season!
As we close 2011, we hope this has been a successful year for you.
We also hope 2012 will be a year when you build stronger businesses,
healthier bottom lines and increased productivity,
remembering we are here to help you achieve your goals.
We’d like to take this opportunity to wish you the joy of family,
the wealth of good friends, the security of strong business relationships
and wisdom in all that you approach.
Happy Holidays!
Enjoy this time with friends and family,
and may your coming year be all that you wish!
Leadership Secret Weapon Series: Questioning Strategies
December 14, 2011 | Author dmdurkin
An effective questioning strategy is a powerful way to learn about the other person’s needs while building rapport.
A framework to consider as you create your own questioning strategy is the Inverted Pyramid approach.
This strategy will lead you and the person to a definition of the problem.
- Background Questions – encourage people to describe the current situation and give you a clearer picture of their problem or their business.
- Process Questions – create a common understanding of what the person has done to resolve the problem and how the problem impacts the business.
- Detail Questions – gather more specific information on the background and/or process question.
- Action Questions - identify, assign and gain agreement on the next step in solving a problem.
All of these types of questions enable the service provider to try to determine the particular needs of the customer. Using a combination of questions manages the conversation.
By asking the following background question, it is amazing the information you will receive: “Can you tell me a little bit about what is happening within your organization?”
Once the person has responded, then you can zero in with a process type of question: “How long has this been going on?” or perhaps another process question, “What has been done to rectify the situation?”
Once you understand clearly what the problem is and what has been done to date, then you can go into details and ask specific questions like, “Have you tried the following?” or “Has anyone tried the following approach?”
This moves right into an action question. “I think X might work within this organization,” or “What do you think might work in this organization?”
Using a questioning strategy of this nature creates a conversation, versus an interrogation. People love to talk! When you ask opened ended questions, you will be amazed at the information they will share with you. Questions are your “secret weapon,” and a questioning strategy will be the key to your success.
Dianne Durkin is president and founder of Loyalty Factor, a specialized consulting and training company that enhances employee, customer and brand loyalty for some of the nation’s most prominent corporations and many smaller businesses. Dianne’s proven expertise lies in helping companies quickly get to the core issues and outlining their impact on the organization’s profits, productivity and people. www.loyaltyfactor.com
Posted in Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention, Engagement, Leadership Development, Leadership Management, Leadership Secret Weapons, Magnetic Leadership | Tags: Communication, Engagement, Questioning Strategies, Trust | Comments Closed
Info Exchange – 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader 3 of 3
December 7, 2011 | Author dmdurkin
Welcome to the Loyalty Factor Information Exchange, a bi-weekly service providing summaries of major publications and books on various management and customer relationship topics.
Loyalty Factor has been instrumental in helping companies:
- Increase Customer Satisfaction by 20 – 33%
- Increase Revenues by 50% in 18 months
- Increase Manufacturing Production by 200% in 18 months
Our information exchange this week highlights the book “The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader,” by John C. Maxwell. This is part three of a three part series.
Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow.
Do You Have What It Takes to Become a Great Leader?
Relationships
The ability to work with people and develop relationships is absolutely indispensible to effective leadership. People truly do want to go along with people they get along with.
How can you improve your relationships?
- Improve your mind
- Strengthen your heart
- Repair relationships
Responsibility
Good leaders never embrace a victim mentality. They face whatever life throws at them and give it their best. People who welcome responsibility get the job done.
How can you improve your responsibility?
- Hang in there
- Admit what’s not good enough
- Find better tools
Security
Insecure leaders are dangerous – to themselves, their followers and the organization they lead – because a leadership position amplifies personal flaws. Secure leaders are able to believe in others because they believe in themselves.
How can you improve your security?
- Know yourself
- Give away the credit
- Get some help
Self Discipline
If you can determine what’s really a priority and release yourself from everything else, it’s a lot easier to follow through on what’s important. Self discipline is not a one time event, it has to become a lifestyle.
How can you improve your self discipline?
- Sort out your priorities
- List the benefits
- Get rid of excuses
Servanthood
Servanthood is not about position or skill, it’s about attitude. Just as you can sense when a worker doesn’t want to help people, you can just as easily detect whether a leader has a servant’s heart. And the truth is that the best leaders desire to serve others, not themselves.
How can you improve your servanthood?
- Perform small acts
- Walk slowly through the crowd
- Start serving
Teachability
If you want to grow your organization, you have to remain teachable. The day a leader stops growing is the day they forfeit their potential, and the potential of the organization.
How can you improve your teachability?
- Observe how you react to mistakes
- Try something new
- Learn your strengths
Vision
Vision is everything for a leader. It is utterly indispensable, because vision leads the leader. Show me a leader without vision and I’ll show you someone who isn’t going anywhere.
How can you improve your vision?
- Measure yourself
- Write it down
- Carefully evaluate it
Conclusion:
Keep growing as a leader. Put yourself on a regular program where you consistently read books, attend conferences that stretch you, and find other leaders that will mentor you. The only way to become the kind of leader that people want to follow is to keep growing and learning about leadership.
Posted in Leadership Development, Leadership Management, Magnetic Leadership, ~ Loyalty Factor Information Exchange ~ | Tags: Magnetic Leadership, Trust | Comments Closed