Come Together…Right Now

It’s More Business Than You Think

Can you believe that we are rounding another year and look ahead to the start of a new one? Let’s have an amen for starting a new year! With this in mind, it is time to take a look around and consider how you will experience the journey over the next year. Life is never easy for the “naysayers” so how will you find the strength to get your team to come together?

Now for those who are thinking, “is she aware of the state of the economy, the reality of our industry and my issues with cash flow?” The answer is “count on it.” And to that I say, ”what you focus on comes true.” So how can you bring your team together and build a stronger team to start to get some traction and move forward against the odds?

Think Community. Now more than ever your people need to feel connected to something that gives them hope, and their Community, both the one they work in as well as the one they live in, needs your help.

Put your arms around local and national charities that your team can support through volunteer efforts and unique fund-raising opportunities. The payoffs are substantial for the mind and spirit and you will be able to help your internal Community come together and focus around something bigger than themselves and their own issues.

When we give, we receive and this feeling bonds people together, naturally creates teamwork and builds commitment as the feelings of contribution create pride in all of us.

Here are a few ways to build Community through Giving:

1. With your team, determine two-to-three charities that your internal Community feels connected to and emotional about. Let those involved be at any charity presentations where they share their mission and its impact.
2. Take a vote. Get everyone involved in the selection process and you will later see more people involved with the work and the spirit that giving brings.
3. Once you have made your selections, determine a few different leaders to head the charities’ internal representation. Be sure to have special recognition for those individuals leading these efforts via name tags so they get the recognition that paying it forward gives. Also, have recognition of each charity located around the hotel. This is important to keeping the spirit alive as well as getting guests to share in the spirit of caring. Guests will care that you care.
4. Get creative. How can you support this charity in a way that works for them and allows you to use internal soft dollars to make something important happen? This is the key as people start to get excited and this is the beginning of your buzz!
5. Work with your public relations, local media and the charity resources so you can share how you are supporting your community and get the recognition charitable work deserves.

Yes, now is the time for us to come together as we take this journey. Great leaders know that we must find the emotion for our people to focus and have a feeling that they are contributing as one Community. Let’s come together, right now.

Renie Cavallari is CEO and Chief Inspirational Officer for Aspire, an international training and consulting company positioning organizations to achieve optimum performance. Aspire provides innovative sales training, strategic marketing, leadership skills and cultural alignment for increasing revenues, growth in market share, a re-energized sales force and lasting changes in attitudes and outcome. Founded in 1995, Aspire has headquarters in Phoenix with a network of inspiring professionals across the country.

For more information on how to improve sales even in turbulent times visit www.aspiremarketing.com, e-mail Renie directly at renie@aspiremarketing.com or call Aspire at 602-392-0700.

Recently I went on a water park adventure with my daughter and here is where I was inspired by her and enlightened by some major theories of change. Throughout the day we enjoyed the lazy river, the beach and the wave pool and eventually she talked me into the massive waterslide.  As we walked the 700 plus steps to what seemed like insanity, I wondered how it was that I was so afraid and my 7 year old so invigorated, calculating confidence levels with ease.

At the top of the stairs we proceeded to stand in line and my daughter began to reassure me that everything was going to be fantastic.  “It will be great fun mama so don’t worry”.  And as we neared our turn and she took her seat at the top of the slide she gave me a few pointers.

“Mama, first you must put water under your bottom or you will get hurt.”  I graciously too note.  Then she said, “Mama, the most important thing to remember is to look and lean forward because that’s how you get momentum and the ride is always better when you have momentum!”

Profound! It was an awe-inspiring moment for a motivational speaker who talks endlessly about the fact that to change anything you just need to get people engaged enough to start some momentum in the direction you need to go.

At the heart of all change those who are participating ideally need to feel and believe that something else may be possible.  From this we can all take action towards it and the best of leaders grab the momentum wave.

Here are a few pointers:

1. Be clear and specific about where you want to go.  Share your message in 6 words or less.
2. Inspire them.  People want to feel what is possible as most are afraid.
3. Keep every step along the way simple.  Clutter (physical and mental for that matter) always slows you down.
4. Measure your results frequently so you can celebrate success daily.
5. Look for what is right and build off it.  Encouragement fuels performance.
6. Know that if you aren’t doing it they won’t be so show them what it looks like. Your people are always looking.
7. Recognize those who are “on the bus”. When something feels good it becomes their motivational drug.
8. Don’t look at change as an all or nothing thing.  Look to gain 10% momentum and then 20% and then 40%.  Before you know it those who aren’t “on the bus” will leave.

The best part of momentum is that it keeps giving you compound dividends and in today’s market that’s great news.

Find more on Major theories of change.

Renie Cavallari is CEO and Chief Inspirational Officer for Aspire, an international training and consulting company positioning organizations to achieve optimum performance. Aspire provides innovative learning, strategic marketing, leadership training and cultural alignment for increasing revenues, growth in market share, a re-energized sales force and lasting changes in attitudes and outcome. Founded in 1995, Aspire has headquarters in Phoenix with a network of inspiring professionals across the country.

For more information on employee retention programs, visit www.aspiremarketing.com or e-mail Renie directly at renie@aspiremarketing.com or call Aspire at 602-392-0700.

The Alignment Factor

Great organizations understand what are the challenges of teamwork. They also know the answer to why is ethics in the workplace important. They are therefore built from the strength of everyone fully engaged and participating.  This becomes the foundation of greatness and the power of building a successful Organization/Community.  When people are aligned to a common higher-purpose they work together and with synergy.  This doubles impact and draws on both innovation and commitment to the cause.

What makes some leaders able to create alignment and others not?  It is their ability to shine the light on others so they can see the path.  Great leaders know that the light that shines on others always reflects on them because they know what are the challenges of teamwork.

Most of us got our current job because we are good at our previous job not because we were able to lead people and coach them to get the tasks required done at an outstanding level.  We are rarely sent to leadership training and we don’t realize that it the new job is getting the old job done through other people.

What tends to happen is managers dictate and control the work of those that report to them ultimately disempowering them and decreasing their effectiveness and productivity.  If  managers understood that leading and coaching allowed them to optimize people and alignment towards the goals of the organization they would stop their need for endless control.

When leaders feel the need to control or make excuses or blame they show that they are driven by their own fear and have to work harder to build confidence and a sense of what is possible in the future.  This only limits people and their potential to think different.

Think different you ask.  Well it is in the thinking differently that new ideas, new solutions and new possibilities are created and this is where your competitive advantage leaves others in the dark.  Never underestimate the power of alignment to get people to come together for a common cause.

This cause allows us all to focus outside of ourselves and contribute for the betterment of others.  This causes more alignment and creates a multiple returns factor.  And this serves employees, customers and ownership…

Leaders inspire…Managers facilitate…Coaches Align for Success.

I was recently asked – “how do I inspire people when I can barely get them to show up on time”.

Renie Cavallari is CEO and Chief Inspirational Officer for Aspire, an international training and consulting company positioning organizations to achieve optimum performance. Aspire provides innovative learning, strategic marketing, leadership training and cultural alignment for increasing revenues, growth in market share, a re-energized sales force and lasting changes in attitudes and outcome. Founded in 1995, Aspire has headquarters in Phoenix with a network of inspiring professionals across the country.

Read current online discussion on what are the challenges of teamwork on social media!

For more information on how to drive the Women Buying Segment for your business, visit www.aspiremarketing.com or e-mail Renie directly at renie@aspiremarketing.com or call Aspire at 602-392-0700.

]]> http://www.tipsonleadership.com/team-building/an-insight-into-what-are-the-challenges-of-teamwork-facing-growing-organizations/feed/ 0 http://www.tipsonleadership.com/team-building/why-is-team-building-important-when-it-comes-to-formulating-an-outstanding-customer-care-strategy/ http://www.tipsonleadership.com/team-building/why-is-team-building-important-when-it-comes-to-formulating-an-outstanding-customer-care-strategy/#comments Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:55:59 +0000 Renie Cavallari http://www.tipsonleadership.com/?p=198

Built for Asset Value Growth

Focus: 7 Things you absolutely must do to be a success business in the 21st century.

Presentation Scope:

How do you build an outrageously successful business? Why is team building important? How to do you evolve your current business to a new level of success? Based on years of climbing the corporate ladder, and the past 12 years of creating new businesses, coaching and positioning organizations for optimum performance, and being instrumental in helping customers create excellent customer care strategy, Renie shares the 7 critical components to building and running a successful business.  Through her work, she offers powerful and unique insights into what it takes to develop, grow and energize a wildly successful business.  Starting with the fuel behind every great business, passion, through to the tools that ensure the business is built to last, the systems behind the people, this program offers participants an overview on what it takes to build and grow a strong business regardless of size, product or location.

Key Takeaways:

1. 7 critical components to building a successful business.
2. Why positioning is vital
3. Strategies for energizing any business

NRA Application

The restaurant business has many inherent challenges that potentially put owners at risk. From high turnover and food cost to high guest expectations in today’s world of demanding quality. Your customers want things better, faster and wants to feel valued and this can be done through a customer care strategy. When a restaurateur clearly understands why is team building important, the niche they own and what their customers’ expectations are, they can build the business to ensure both long term existence and create an exit strategy that makes sense.

There are 7 critical components to building and sustaining a successful business:

1. Innovative Vision – money is never enough. Having a compelling reason for being in existence is the foundation of any successful business. Your business has to have a sense of purpose, of contribution, of importance. Know that your business will have a culture whether you define it or not. If you define it you will be able to stay focused on it; you will be able to measure yourself and your company against it. Your culture has to touch move and inspire your people and this spells success.
2. Collaboration and Contribution – your restaurant must make a contribution some way, some how
A) Collaboration drives success. People want to contribute and to be a part. If you allow for collaboration you not only take the load off of your shoulders but you enhance the world of others…your employees.
B) Through collaboration you gain participation, through participation you gain contribution, through contribution you create a sense of pride and confidence within your organization and hence the passion becomes something that others share together.
C) Imagine the impact of awakening the potential of the people who work for and beside you.
3. The Systems Behind our People – better, smarter, faster and consistent When it comes down to it, it is always about the people. Creating a community requires real leadership. Many managers and owners are so busy in the business they don’t have time to be leading the business. People want leadership and without it they feel compelled to question all aspects of the business. Great businesses – restaurants – create a community where their people feel connected, are apart of the communication and are happy to be responsible and accountable for delivering to your expectations.  We spend hours looking for talent. We can not ever find enough of it. So what do you do when we get the new hire? We through them into the deep end of the pool and then stand on the edge and question why they don’t swim! The way to build confidence in your people is to allow them a space to become competent. Systems create a knowingness for people to learn and move from and hence create competency. Without a system of greeting your guests, approaching the table, or up selling dessert you miss out on both touching the guest experience and profitability.
4. Communication:As in life when we don’t really communicate we miss out on what is really being said or what we need. Most of us don’t listen. We are convinced that we have the answers and really listening allows us to gain participation in our business. Great communicators spend their time asking great questions, staying curious to find solutions, acknowledge what the person is saying and point the person and make them right. Yes, this is hard work and if you want your people to listen and do what you need them to do show them what it looks like everyday through listening and pointing them. Communication builds connection and when we feel connected to our leaders we will follow them anywhere.
5. Obsessive about taking care of your customers both inside and outside When we take care of them they will take care of you. The restaurant business is a people business. The customer, the chef, the waiter, the hostess and every minute there is an interaction that can make you a happy, returning customer or not. 1 out of every 29 customers actually take action when they are disappointed so imagine the challenge when you are interacting with thousands of customers daily. Take care of your people and they will take care of your customers. Take care of your customers and they will take care of you. Any other order won’t do.
6. Think. Prepare. Move: The restaurant business is fast. When it is time for  “the show” it is time to move so it is vital to long term success that you think and prepare so when you and your team move they move with focus and the smartest approach. You do not win the NFL championship on Sundays you win it based on what you do during the week that prepares you for Sunday. More businesses fail due to their inability to solve problems than anything else and this is about taking the time to think and prepare.
7. Passion – is the energy that fuels our lives. Passion allows us to focus and gives us the drive to take massive action and not let anything get in our way – not naysayer, not history, not competitors. Stay focused on your outcome, your purpose, and your goals. There must be a sense of meaning in your work.
* Create passion in others – juice your team, energy is key.
* As a leader you must awaken the potential of others around you.
* When others feel your energy and see your passion they will want to move towards it.

Customer care strategy discussion on web.

I am always astounded when I hear someone ask, “How do I get my staff to pick up a piece of paper and not just walk by it when it’s lying on the floor?” The truth is, no training program will ever teach the “5 steps to picking up a piece of paper.” Believing that training will make this happen is insane!  Your people will pick up the piece of paper because they simply know it is the right thing to do. They understand that cleaning up the mess, even if they didn’t make it, is everyone’s job. This is especially true when they see an executive lead by example and bend over to pick up the paper.

Every business has their own style and approach when it comes to the work they deliver. These behaviors demonstrate the values that are of utmost importance in your organization. These values reflect a vital part of who you are and define how you behave as an individual and as an organization. Strong and effective values demonstrate the vision, mission and market position of the business, which all ultimately have an impact on customer experience.

Managers from around the world ask themselves, “How do I get my people to do what I want, when I want it and how I want it?” Defining, training and modeling the values of importance in your organization is the key to answering these three questions.

When you identify what your organization values and clearly communicate it, you ensure that your people, and the work they deliver, meet both your expectations as well as your guests’. Behaviors are your values in action.

In the Beginning
The first day for an employee is always the most important. Within the first hour we tell our people, “This is how we do things around here.” As a leader, if you share your expectations clearly and demonstrate them fanatically, your people will model them exactly as you wish. More importantly, it is essential for your entire team to lead by example. A new employee will do what they see not what they hear. If you have children, you know the power of modeling and mirroring…like it or not!

Recently, I worked with a company whose primary value was the bottom line. It was strong, yet ownership and management were very concerned about declining guest retention numbers and a reported lack of customer confidence by J.D. Power and Associates. I shared with them that by looking at their values, they would find the answers they were looking for, as well as add some balance to their focus. Caring about guests is a value that every hotel must have in order to achieve any success in today’s competitive environment. When you retain customers, you drive profitability.

Tips on building your value statements:

1. Value statements must support your vision, mission and market position.
2. Values statements must speak to actions and behaviors.
3. Post the values, talk the values and model them so that they are a part of everyday life.
4. Hire people that are congruent with the values of your organization. If you want to be outstanding in customer service, you must hire people who care about people.
5. Rewards and recognition must support what you value. If you say that you take care of customers, then the rewards must be toward making each customer happy and doing everything possible to make sure you handle and resolve customer complaints.

Example values statements:

1. Help clean up the mess, even if you didn’t make it.
2. Respect all resources.
3. Take 100% responsibility for the work and the guest experience.
4. Make guests feel welcome.
5. Respect yourself, your peers and our guests.
6. Show you care in every way.
7. Take the work to completion and remember that the details count.
8. Own every request.
9. Do everything possible to keep every guest for life.
10. Solve the problem before it becomes a complaint.

Next Step
Time to check in and ask your employees what are the values of your organization. If you do not like what you hear, it is time to re-design your values so they reflect the behaviors you want…every day in every way.

What do you think is critical to creating a value statement for your business? Hit me up on Twitter and let me know your thoughts!

Most people like to feel connected. This is why so many spend so much time hanging out at the “water cooler” or sending those joke or chain oriented emails. In today’s world creating a sense of connection for your employees allows you to build Community/Corporate alignment.

Over the years I have worked with thousands of businesses both small and large and common among those who are not reaching their goals, shareholder expectations or having a good time is a lack of connection between their people which leads to a break down in a variety of areas. This disconnect impacts their ability to align together which is vital to their success.

At its core, connection is a feeling of trust. A sense of knowing that you can count on another person.  A feeling of emotion. Now I know that many of your readers are thinking there is no room in business for emotion and the fact is the opposite is true. You want people in your community and on your teams that have emotion. Emotion is a major part of passion which I define as the combustion of energy, focus and emotion.

People are emotional beings first. This is the human part of the being so to speak. When we are active in the work we become human doings. And though the work is important, when your people work from a space of emotion they work from their heart. Good things happen from the heart. Your employees will take care of one another better. They will find ways to take care of your customers better and they will take care of you too!

As a leader of a dynamic community you want to get your people connected. Get them talking about how their work intersects. Get them out having some fun. You would be surprised what a little karaoke can do over lunch. Laughter is another form of connection as is celebration.

If you ask your people most of them will tell you that they want more fun and celebration in their lives yet most people wait for someone else to drive the “fun factor”.  Celebration becomes a bus they are hoping stops at their bus stop and of course it never comes.

Great leaders, managers and coaches understand that they have to help create good times and celebration is one of them. Celebration allows people to be recognized in both casual and formal ways. Celebration allows them to connect with you as a leader through your recognition. And it doesn’t have to take a lot of time. Sometimes it is as easy as an email to a team recognizing their individual and group performance. Or a small thoughtful gift. Or some good laughs over lunch.

Connection builds camaraderie which comes in darn handy when the tricky times in business come around. People will follow people who make them feel important, connected and offer them a sense of belonging. Leaders understand that to inspire their people they must help them feel connected to the organization, the people and to the purpose at large.

So next time you see some emotion in your people, know that you have people who care and who are connected to something they believe in.

Come Together…Right Now
It’s More Business Than You Think

The New Year and the business cycle diagram are good things to reference for 2009! With this in mind, it is time to take a look around and consider how you will experience the journey over the next 12 months. Life is never easy for the “naysayers” so how will you find the strength to get your team to come together?

Now for those who are thinking, “is she aware of the state of the economy, the reality of our industry and my issues with cash flow?” The answer is “count on it.” And to that I say, ”what you focus on comes true.” So how can you bring your people together to start to get some traction and move forward against the odds?
Think Community, think business cycles. Now more than ever your people need to feel connected to something that gives them hope, and their Community, both the one they work in as well as the one they live in, needs your help.

Put your arms around local and national charities that your team can support through volunteer efforts and unique fund-raising opportunities. The payoffs are substantial for the mind and spirit and you will be able to help your internal Community come together and focus around something bigger than themselves and their own issues.

When we give, we receive and this feeling bonds people together, naturally creates teamwork and builds commitment as the feelings of contribution create pride in all of us. Giving when times are tough make an even bigger difference because good times are in store for us all…take time to make the best of now too.

Here are a few ways to build Community through Giving:
With your team, determine two-to-three charities that your internal Community feels connected to and emotional about. Let those involved be at any charity presentations where they share their mission and its impact.
Take a vote. Get everyone involved in the selection process and you will later see more people involved with the work and the spirit that giving brings.

Once you have made your selections, determine a few different leaders to head the charities’ internal representation. Be sure to have special recognition for those individuals leading these efforts via name tags so they get the recognition that paying it forward gives. Also, have recognition of each charity located around the hotel. This is important to keeping the spirit alive as well as getting guests to share in the spirit of caring. Guests will care that you care.

Get creative. How can you support this charity in a way that works for them and allows you to use internal soft dollars to make something important happen? This is the key as people start to get excited and this is the beginning of your buzz!

Work with your public relations, local media and the charity resources so you can share how you are supporting your community and get the recognition charitable work deserves.

Yes, now is the time for us to come together as we take this journey. Great leaders know that we must find the emotion for our people to focus and have a feeling that they are contributing as one Community. Let’s come together, right now.

Renie Cavallari is CEO and Chief Inspiration Officer for Aspire, a global and domestic marketing, training and consulting company that specializes in resort marketing and challenges mediocrity and the status quo to allow you to optimize revenues, productivity and align your organization for optimal performance and profitability. For more information, visit www.aspiremarketing.com, call 602.392.0700 or email renie (at) aspiremarketing.com.