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In professional sports, nothing signifies being part of a winning team than a Super Bowl ring. Recently, these rings have become bigger, glitzier, and more astounding. The most recent example, presented to the Philadelphia Eagles a few months ago, feature diamond encrusted Eagle wings that pop out to stimulate flying when a button is pressed. 

“You can’t be great without the greatness of others” is the quote displayed on the ring when the wings pop out. A former colleague of mine has one of these rings. It’s the second one she has, both with her name on it. They were presented to Chris, to her husband. Chris never caught a pass all season, or made a block, tackle, or even played in a game. Chris wasn’t a player, coach or trainer. Chris was a steamfitter, responsible for the upkeep of the intricate piping that runs along the Eagles home stadium and training complex.

The greatness of others. The best teams become the best when everyone contributes to its overall success. Everyone performing their duties to the best of their abilities, living the core values, and adhering to to service level agreements between departments. It is easy to recognize the MVPs (Most Valuable Performers), the all-stars who exceed goals, drive in revenue, and get recognized by your customers. But those employees cannot be great without the greatness of others. Marketing creates an awareness to make customers want to visit your location. Facilities ensures a safe and attractive environment to make customers feel comfortable when they walk through the door. IT keeps the equipment running so you can serve your customers when they are ready to do business. The key is to set expectations, hold individuals accountable, and recognize and reward when they deliver.

One way to do so is by creating internal Service Level Agreements between departments. An Internal Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a “contract” between departments defining the level of service and support expected. SLAs are used to establish clear expectations, avoid misunderstandings surround who is responsible for what, enhance teamwork, and ensure internal quality service. Agreements could include length of response time, best way to contact (email, Teams, call), and situations that warrant expediting the situation. 

It’s Halloween season - do you like scary movies?

The most popular scary movie franchise of the last ten years is based on the Stephen King’s thriller “It”. The movies revolve around a monster who feeds on the fears, doubts, and hopelessness of individuals. While many people associate It with a clown, the monster is actually faceless, morphing into whatever fear or insecurity someone is facing. “It” toys with people’s emotions, handcuffing them with fear and self-doubt, questioning if they are trapped in doom for the rest of their lives.

Sound familiar?

Many of us have dealt with “It” in our own personal and professional life. “It” can take the shape of a person; your boss, co-worker, family member, or acquaintance. Maybe “It” takes the shape of a goal; buying a home, completing college, work promotion, or being able to retire. In extreme cases, “It” can even be the face of your lifestyle; your business, health, or relationship. We frequently encounter situations where we face fear and doubt, and when things don’t initially go our way, a sense of hopelessness. 

How can we defeat the monster? Like anything that lives and breaths, the monster can only survive if you feed it. You need to starve the monster in order to defeat it. One of my favorite books on positivity is “The Energy Bus” by Jon Gordon.  In the book he describes there are two dogs inside of us; a positive and negative dogs. Both dogs are fighting for survival, and the one that wins is the one who gets fed the most. Gordon tells us to feed the positive dog, thus starving the negative dog. Keep the scary movies on the screen, not in your life.

I am a firm believer in self-fulfilled prophecies. I believe we get the things on which we focus and pour our energy. Success doesn't happen by accident. Achieving your goal is a result of effort and persistence. You need to consistently focus on and perform certain behaviors which lead you towards your goal. If that’s true of success, then it is also true of failure. If you focus on things going wrong, they are likely going to go wrong. If you focus on failing, you’re going to find a way to fail. Let me repeat that, you’re going to find a way to fail.

That’s why we tell people afraid of heights who find themselves up high in the air to not look down. You see, the fear isn’t necessarily the height itself, it's the potential of falling. Once the individual looks down, the potential of falling moves to the front of his or her mind. The individual starts to focus on the ground, and almost immediately will think about all the ways he or she could lose their footing and slip and fall. 

Some of us choose to live like a kite, and others like an eagle. Who doesn’t like the sight of a beautiful kite on a nice breezy day at the beach or the park? Kites glide effortlessly across the sky; they come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors, so it’s easy to relate to them. However, a kite’s movements are reactive, not proactive. It relies on the elements around it in order to take action. A kite cannot control where it goes. It goes wherever the wind takes it, and it can only fly as high as the person holding the string will allow. 

An eagle, by contrast, controls its own destiny. An eagle is capable of moving at great speeds and soaring to great heights. An eagle also has great vision, four to five times better than the typical human’s. This enables it to see much clearer and farther than others who share their sky. Eagles are also resilient. In the 1970s, the symbol of America, the bald eagle, was placed on the endangered species list. Through the next thirty years it made a remarkable comeback and, in 2007, the bald eagle was no longer classified as an endangered species. 

The National Football League just concluded the fifth week of its season. At this stage, there are usually a handful of surprises; winning teams that pundits didn’t think would be as successful, and losing teams thought to have been better. TV “experts” will list their own NFL power rankings of the best teams, which often contradict the actual standings. Players and coaches on underperforming teams will sometimes explain how the situation isn’t really as bad as the record indicates. 

NFL Hall of Famer and two time Super Bowl champion head coach Bill Parcells said “You are what your record says you are.” His point was that your record speaks for itself. Championships are won by points scored on the field, not by counting up the  the woulda-coulda-shouldas off the field.

Fellow speaker and author Al Walker told me “we tend to judge ourselves by our intentions, the rest of the world judges us by our results.” Think about that. How many times do you have an idea about something you want to accomplish but never take the steps to follow it through to fruition? Perhaps you lacked the drive to tackle the process, didn’t know how or where to begin. The great Zig Zigler use to hand out business cards shaped in a circle with the letters TUIT printed on one side. He said it was for people who hadn’t completed a task because they hadn’t gotten around to it, or in this case a round TUIT, now they got one!

Top Gun: Maverick surpassed $800 million in world-wide ticket sales this past week. For star Tom Cruise, it is the highest grossing movie in his illustrious career, spanning five decades and producing such hits as Mission Impossible, Jerry McGuire, and A Few Good Men. Even though Cruise tasted success at a young age, with hits like The Outsiders and Risky Business while still in his teens, he had to battle many obstacles growing up. 

I mentioned Tom Cruise’s beginning in my book Fully Inflated: Regain Your Bounce in Life, in the chapter discussing self-limiting beliefs. Cruise grew up in poverty, with a father who often beat him and his three sisters. He had difficulty meeting people, making friends, and adjusting. This can likely be attributed to his family being frequently on the move. By the time he graduated, Cruise would have attended 14 different schools.

This is just one example of an individual who faced adversity growing up and didn’t allow that to restrict what he was capable of achieving. One of the main reasons why some people succeed while others struggle is belief. You will constantly encounter both challenges and opportunities in life. Success requires you to believe in yourself. You will often come across doors that lead to success. You must have the courage to walk through them when they open, and the strength to push back when you feel they are closing on you. What tends to hold us back is not our actual ability to accomplish something, but our beliefs in those abilities.

I often talk about fear and faith in my presentations. While they are polar opposites, they have much in common. Fear and faith both have to do with future events that have yet to happen, and how you perceive the outcome of those events to occur. Fear is the negative outcome; you are afraid of heights because you are fearful you may fall. Faith is the positive income; you have faith that if you change jobs the new job will put you in a better situation than your current job. 

A ship sinks, not because of the amount of water around it, but due to the amount of water it lets into it.

We have influencers all around us. Whether it is the people we engage with, the talking heads on cable news, or those who pop up on social media. Unfortunately, all are not positive. It seems over the last few years the outside influencers have become even more negative, beating us down, souring our mood, and leaving us feeling a little deflated. The key is to build an impermeable wall to block those influencers and keep them from getting inside.

In his bestselling book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Dr. Stephen Covey says we are “a result of our decisions, not conditions.” While there are influencers all around us, it is ultimately our decision on how we will allow them to impact us. Nothing can make you feel sad, mad, upset, frustrated, etc. unless you allow it. In Ireland, people don’t define themselves with a negative emotion. Instead of saying “I am sad” the Irish will say “sadness is upon me.” They do not become the emotion. Rather it is more like a rain coat they will shortly shake off and remove.

Employees are your greatest asset. As an organizational leader, it is important to create training and developmental opportunities for all of your employees. While many companies I have worked with have training programs in place, there is one segment of staff that often gets overlooked - the part-time employee.

I worked with a company that was utilizing a lot of part-time employees. These employees were predominately college students whose work availability was limited. As a result, they did not receive the same level of training as their full-time counterparts. The company’s rationale was the employees were “only part-timers” and were scheduled nights and weekends when other staff wanted off. 

The problem with this approach is the company is now servicing their customers with underdeveloped employees, without the product knowledge, customer service, and problem-solving skills possessed by full-time employees. Part-time employees mean individuals are working part time hours; not providing part-time performance for the hours they do work. Your customers deserve to be serviced by an employee fully equipped with the skills and knowledge to meet their needs. Disgruntled customers leave, regardless of whether their experience was with a full or part-time employee.

The employees benefit from training as well. It is difficult to truly feel part of the team when you are not afforded the same opportunities as the rest of the team. Some employees accept a part-time position to get their foot in the door at a company. Without proper training, these employees will be at a disadvantage for promotional opportunities. 

Here are a few ways to make training available to part-time employees: 

Promote training opportunities for all employees; encourage managers to be flexible and allow employees to attend.

Schedule training on different days. At my previous credit union, we would schedule the same class multiple times, on a different day each time. This would increase the opportunity.

Ask employees if they can change their schedule to attend training. Just because an employee is always scheduled off on a particular day does not mean they are unavailable to work.

Take advantage of the summer months when college students are out of school.

Leadership expert John Maxwell says “leadership is influence; nothing more, nothing less.” I have spent the past two years traveling throughout the country facilitating leadership workshops.  One of the biggest challenges facing managers is how to make their employees to perform up to their expectations. In my experience, I have found managers cannot make employees do anything. While some employees are self-motivated to give their best performance at work, others require more. Effective leaders must be able to inspire, convince, and persuade employees to provide their best effort at work.  

To persuade is to show employees the benefits of their actions. This could be incentives or career growth, or could be a benefit to the company, teammates, customers, or vendors. To convince is to show employees the negative effect. This could effect them personally; such as a disciplinary action, demotion, or loss of income, or an effect to a larger group.

Inspiring employees is to be the type of manager to which they want to provide their best effort. Inspiring employees is all about trust and caring. In order to effectively inspire employees, they must be able to answer ‘yes’ to three questions about you:

Can I trust you?

Do you care about me as a person?

Do we share the same values?

Leaders can demonstrate they are a person who can be trusted by ensuring everything they say and do increases their credibility. Simple steps such as communicating honestly and openly, following through on promises, and being accessible go along way in creating trust. Taking time to understand your employees’ needs and what they care about most shows you care about them as a person. Actions and behaviors, in good times and bad, demonstrate values.

Last week marked the 80th birthday of a pop culture legend - Batman. Over the past eight decades since he first appeared in a DC Comic, Batman has appeared in comics, television, movies, toys, games, apparel and more.

Batman also serves as an important role model in the workplace. I initially surmised he could be a role model for everything you needed to know at work as a chapter in my first book, Promotions Are Not Served At The Deli Counter. In the eleven years since that book was published, I presented my Batman principles countless times at conferences, seminars, and workshops. In celebration of his recent eightieth birthday, here is everything you need to know:

It Starts with Hard Work Unlike most superheroes, Batman possess no special powers. He did't arrive from a different planet, survive a freak accident or experiment, or was bit by a bug. His success was dependent upon intellect, reasoning, use of technology, and dedication. Your success is the result of the work you put in as well. Individuals who possess a desire to improve, a willingness to change, and aptitude to learn something new each and every day are the ones who ultimately experience success.

You Cannot Survive with Only One Tool One of Batman’s most recognizable accessories is his bat utility belt. The belt contains multiple tools, each serving a purpose. Batman relies on the different tools in his belt to overcome obstacles and achieve his goals. 

Employees must possess different tools to succeed in the workplace as well. Employee tools can be grouped into three main categories: characteristics such as integrity, friendliness, and engaging; skills such as effective communication, time management, and delegation, and life-long learning which includes previous experience, and education.

Determine Your Goal; Create Your Path The legend of Batman began when a young Bruce Wayne witnessed his parents killed during a mugging. He dedicated the rest of his life to fighting crime and helping others.

While we tend to judge ourselves by or intentions, everyone else judges us by our results. We are surrounded by goals. Some are task-based such as completing a report. Others are performance-based such as increasing revenue. Individuals also have goals which are career-based such as achieving a promotion. Regardless of the type, you cannot achieve your goal without creating a plan for success and taking action. 

Develop a Network to Help Win Your Battles While Batman may have been the marquee name, he relied on his vast network to be successful. Robin helped him battle the criminals. Commissioner Gordon alerted him of situations which required his attention. Lucious Fox was responsible for inventing the equipment he used, and Alfred help him stay organized.

Being successful at work requires a network of people as well. The network should be diverse people whose strengths compliment your weaknesses, and offer different thoughts, opinions, and ideas than you. Leadership expert John Maxwell says you should surround yourself with “people who think differently than you do, as long as they share the same values as you.” 

Stay Fresh and Embrace Change Batman has experienced different incarnations over the past eighty years. It was important for the character to evolve over the years to stay relevant and have continued success. The campy Adam West version that was a hit on television in the 1960s would likely not be taken seriously today.

As an employee, it is important to embrace change in your workplace. Employees who are stuck doing things the same old way are bound to be left behind by others who have innovated to be more efficient, profitable, and successful.  

Be Dependable When crime was occurring, Batman was there. Commissioner Gordon knew whenever he displayed the Bat-signal, he could depend on Batman to come through to save the day.

One of the most stressful part of a manager’s responsibilities is providing feedback to employees who are underperforming or doing something incorrectly. Some managers use the sandwich approach to offer feedback: tell them the negative, sandwiched between something nice. In my experience, the problem with the sandwich approach is sometimes the meat of the feedback gets lost between the niceties. It is like trying to find a slice of meat in a Subway sandwich among the bread, lettuce, tomatoes, and other toppings. 

Feedback should be direct. Feedback is only negative if delivered in a negative way. During my coaching workshops, I educate managers on being able to provide direct, positive feedback which addresses the issue and works to improve behavior by ensuring it contains the following five elements.

Feedback is Current - when you delay feedback, employees may not realize the impact of their actions. The old adage is no news is good news, and if nobody said I was doing anything wrong, I must be doing it right. Other employees are likely to believe the behavior is acceptable and may follow suit as well. Also, the longer you delay feedback, the more likely the details of employee behavior is forgotten by you and/or the employee. 

Feedback is Focused on Specific Behaviors - employee behaviors are observable, measurable, and factual. Feedback should be delivered using “I” statements: I saw, I heard, I reviewed. This lets your employee know you are aware of what they have done, or failed to do; coming from your perspective of the situation. 

Sometimes managers address vague situations such as attendance or attitude. Focusing on the specific employee behavior allows the manager to detail what has specifically occurred. Instead of telling the employee he or she has been “frequently late” specifically inform them “I have documented you being late ten minutes or more, six times in the last month.”

Feedback is Not Personal, Judgmental, or Accusatorial - feedback should not be a personal attack on the individual. Dr. Stephen Covey teaches to seek first to understand, then to be understood. After detailing to the employee what I have observed, I then ask them “why?” This allows me to understand the employee’s perspective. This doesn’t necessarily mean you will agree with the employee; it helps you develop a plan to correct the behavior. 

Feedback is based on behaviors which Can be Changed - asking why also determines how easily the behavior can be changed. Maybe the employee’s lateness has to do with child care issues, and the employee is taking his/her child to school or daycare as soon as it opens. Perhaps you can work with them on adjusting their schedule. 

I spent 22 seasons as a high school wrestling referee. I worked a tournament with another official who lost his middle finger in a work accident. The correct signal for awarding a takedown was to raise both your index and middle finger simultaneously, awarding two points for the score. This official signaled with his index finger and pinky. Regardless of the feedback, there was no way he could change behavior to signal the way other officials did.

Feedback is Focused on How the Employee Can Improve Next Time - one of the reasons leaders get so anxious about providing feedback is because they struggle with how to tell employees they are doing something wrong. Feedback should be less about what is wrong, and more about how to make it better next time. You cannot coach an employee on what not to do without providing instruction on what is expected. Explaining the reason why a task is required to be performed a certain way will increase employee buy-in, and be more likely to change behavior.

Effective Feedback in Action

Assume you are the manager providing feedback to a teller who has experienced a few cash differences. After observing behavior, you notice she is only counting her cash once, and does not use the computer’s calculator. The feedback dialogue may sound something like this:

Manager: “I observed when you count cash,  you count it from your drawer once and hand it straight to the member. I was curious why you do it this way?”

Teller: “Oh, I just find it makes the transaction go quicker that way.”

Manager: “I understand that reasoning. The policy says to count it three times, once using the calculator. We train that way because it greatly reduces mistakes. I recommend doing that from now on. Can we agree on that going forward?”

December is the month when many people assess their goals over the past twelve months in addition to creating new ones for the upcoming year. The key to achieving your goals is to focus on your actions and behaviors, and not get distracted with what others are doing. 

John Wooden was arguably the most successful college basketball coach of all time. As head coach at UCLA, his teams won an incredible ten NCAA championships over a twelve-year period, including seven in a row from 1967-1973.

One of the most amazing facets of Wooden’s coaching was how little emphasis he gave to scouting his opponents. While most teams employed an advance team of scouts to watch upcoming teams, discover their weaknesses and generate a report on how to take advantage of them, Wooden considered it little more than an afterthought. Wooden’s philosophy was to spend the time, energy, and resources improving his team.  His goal wasn’t to play to beat the other team, it was for his team to play at their best. Then, it didn’t mater what the other team was doing, his team would be unbeatable on their own.

Being preoccupied with what others are doing can distract us from our goals. There is a great picture from the 2016 Olympics of the 200-meter butterfly finals between Michael Phelps and Chad le Clos. Four years earlier, le Clos defeated Phelps in a close race for the Olympic gold medal. Leading up to the 2016 Games, le Clos frequently mentioned Phelps in interviews, and seemed more focused on Phelps than he was the gold medal. In the picture, you see both athletes swimming; Phelps is focused on the finish line, while le Clos has his head turned focusing on Phelps. It’s no surprise who won the race that year.

There can be a lot learned from the long-term success of John Wooden, and the failure of Chad le Clos.  Do you spend your energy and effort focusing on how you can make yourself better, or do you waste those resources worrying about what others are doing?  When you take your eyes off the finish line, you lose sight of your goal. 

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for everything we appreciate, both personally and professionally.

 We interact with people on a regular basis. For many of us, our personal and professional success is contingent upon being able to collaborate with, influence, and inspire other to reach our collective goals. Since other people are vital to achieving our goals, it is important to take the time to appreciate the effort and production of our team. Leadership expert John Maxwell teaches one of the most important thing a leader can do is to add value to others. When we communicate with other people, we have the option to either help to raise them up or beat them down.

Take a moment to offer sincere thanks and praise to those who make a positive impact on our lives. Many times we don’t offer the sincere, powerful praise to others that they truly deserve. Some people don’t realize the powerful impact their actions and behaviors have on others. Offering proper praise is a great tool to validate behaviors and add value to others.

Below is a four-step process to offer sincere praise to others. I’ve used this technique many times and the responses are amazing.

Use the individual's name. This shows the praise is personal by directing it to the individual.

Describe the specific behavior. Tell the person how you observed their actions

Tell them the positive impact. Some people don’t realize how much their behaviors had a positive impact on others.

I was recently talking with a Human Resources manager for a company with about 150 employees. She said their company didn't have a structured training or onboarding program for their employees.

Now that's scary.

Developing your employees is the most important thing you can do for them, your clients, and organization. Your employees should be your organization's greatest asset. Consider your house. For most individuals, their house is their greatest asset. Do you take time to care for the house, clean it, and cut the lawn? Do you fix handle maintenance issues when they come up, or better yet, do you perform routine maintenance to avoid bigger problems? Do you wait for a leak to think about tending to the roof, or do you inspect it and care for it on a regular basis?  

For most of you, your employees are the face of your organization. The way they engage with your customers, members, and clients will determine the success of your company. Some managers worry about investing the time, energy, and resources on employees who may end up leaving their company. To me, they should be worried about not investing in employees, and having them stay!

If you ever fly on an airplane, you will hear the flight attendants review the safety measures right before takeoff. “If the cabin loses pressure, oxygen masks will drop from the ceiling” they will advise. “Put your own mask on first before assisting others.”

For some of us, the idea of putting ourselves first is counterintuitive to what we think are our responsibilities. At home, we may be a parent or caregiver. At work, we are leaders, coaches, mentors, and trainers. Following the advice of Zig Ziglar, we believe "we can get everything we want in life, we just have to first help others get what they want." However, the flight attendants offer sound advice; one applicable not only to plane travel, but to work and life as well.

The thought-process behind the oxygen procedure is pretty simple; you could lose consciousness in just a few seconds without oxygen. Let’s face it; if you are unconscious, you really aren’t much help to others. Caring for yourself allows you to feel and perform your best so you can be more helpful to others. Skipping means, reducing sleep, or exercise will ultimately make you feel tired, rundown, and sick. 

This is especially true this time of year as we approach cold and flu season. If you are tired and rundown, you are not operating at your best. As such, it is difficult to effectively lead, coach, and motivate your team to perform at their best. You cannot offer to others what you don't first possess yourself. This is especially true for training and developing your staff. When I was responsible for the training and development for one of the largest credit unions in Pennsylvania, 400 employees depended upon me at my best. I would make it a point to attend three to four workshops and seminars and read at least four books every year. It was important for me to continue my development if I was to help others with their development. Last year I began working with a nationally recognized success coach. If I was going to become a better coach and trainer, I felt it important to work with a coach and trainer of my own.

This past August, I had the opportunity to conduct three days of training in northern Ohio.  I met many people who were fans of the  Cleveland Browns, who were excited about the prospects of the upcoming NFL season. In all honesty, the Browns haven’t experienced much success recently. Last year they became just the second team in NFL history to lose each and every one of their 16 games. The year before, they managed to win just one. The team was making progress and putting those seasons behind them. They weren't going to lament the past, they were focusing on becoming successful in the future. The Browns shocked their division rival Pittsburgh Steelers in the opening week, playing them to a tie. Entering the fourth week of the season, the Browns’ record was better than half the teams in the league.

About 450 miles to the east, the Philadelphia Eagles were coming off the polar opposite season of the Browns in 2017. The Eagles had the best record in the league last year in route to their first Super Bowl championship. Ownership installed a large sign in the Eagles’ clubhouse commemorating their championship. A few of the team leaders went to management asking to remove the sign. They were proud of their success, but weren't satisfied. It wasn't about resting on their laurels, it was about gearing up to do it again.

We find constant success, not on what we did yesterday, but what we will do tomorrow. History is full of people who overcame great obstacles to achieve great results. History is also full of people who had it all one day only to lose it all the next.  Successful people use their past experiences to set them up for future success. A pessimist complains it was too windy and ruined the day at sea. An optimist thinks the wind will soon die down. A leader remembers the last time it was windy, knows how to properly adjust the sails, and continues on the course to reach his destination.

Last month I had the opportunity to conduct two very different workshops for two very different groups. The classes were a great example of the different types of employees who are working in your company. The first workshop was on change management. A total of 40 employees attended, many of which were resistant and fearful of the changes currently going on within the organization. The second workshop was on creativity and innovation. Two dozen employees were actively engaged, learning how to become more creative thinkers and learn innovative solutions to work challenges.

Life is full of change and challenges. Oftentimes we find ourselves in an unfavorable situation. Perhaps we couldn't control what was going to happen. Maybe we had control, but did nothing about it. Either way we find ourselves in a situation to which we don't want to be, and have a decision to make.

We can either choose to be a shark or a goldfish.

In his book of the same name, Jon Gordon tells the tale of The Shark and The Goldfish.  The goldfish stays safe and waits. He happily swims around in his small, safe environment. The gold fish waits to get fed because he is dependent upon others to provide him food. The goldfish cannot survive outside of his fishbowl. The shark utilizes the entire ocean in which he can swim. He can travel many miles and dive to get depths. The shark doesn't wait to get fed, he goes out and finds his own food.

When individuals think like a goldfish, they restrict their thoughts and actions to stay within their small, safe environment. Goldfish have trouble thinking "outside the bowl." Change is difficult for goldfish. A goldfish cannot be suddenly placed into a new environment without experiencing the dangers of "new tank syndrome." Fresh water is dangerous, even fatal to a goldfish.

People who think like a shark are constantly looking and moving forward. Sharks have a hard time staying still and feeling contempt. The unique makeup of a shark allows they to swim to great depth and requires them to continue to swim and move forward or they will die. The shark's process of breathing gets interrupted if they are pulled backwards.

Recently, I was traveling from Newark to Syracuse, scheduled on a 6:59 flight with a major airline. When I arrived to the gate around 5:30, the flight was already delayed 20 minutes due to the incoming crew being delayed from their incoming flight. The reason for the delay was soon changed to “maintenance issues.” I sat, along with other passengers to watch our departure get pushed back in 20 and 30 minute increments.   

Just before 8:30, the flight delay was updated to 9:00. I had doubts the plane was ever leaving Newark. I had a class scheduled the very next day in Syracuse, so it was vital I get to my destination. I discovered online the airline had another flight to Syracuse departing at 9:40. There were a couple seats available on the flight, and the gate agent was able to to switch my flight, if I wanted. So far, so good. Before changing flights, I asked about retrieving the bag I had checked to accompany me on the flight. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t” explained the agent “Your bag is already on the plane.”

“You mean the plane out for maintenance? It never even got to the gate. Can you track it on the computer?”

The agent looked a little disturbed and typed onto her keyboard before confirming the bag was in fact already on the plane. She added “there is nothing we can do about it” before adding “that’s what happens when you check a bag.”

I really wanted to get on that 9:40 flight to ensure I could get my rental car, drive to my hotel, and have a halfway decent night’s rest for class the following day. My participants deserve me at my best to deliver an engaging, informative presentation. I asked the agent if there was anyone else I could talk to, and she pointed my to a customer service counter about 50 yards away.

When I arrived at the counter, I told my story again to the new representative. Different employee, same response.  

“Help me understand” I said, summoning my years of effective communication techniques “How does the luggage get placed on the plane when the plane never even got to the gate?” I figured more logic and reasoning would break through to the rep. “I fly a lot for work. Regardless of the airline, I always see the bags ride up the belt and onto the plane the same time we board. It doesn’t seem likely my bag would get onto the plane so far in advance, especially on a plane that is being worked on for a maintenance issue, no where near the gate.”

Logic and reasoning lost out that day. “It just is” was all the agent could respond. 

At this time, the 9:40 flight was now sold out. I would have to take my chances with my original flight, which was now delayed until 10:00. The two employees I had spoken to were finished their shift and left for the day. Eventually, we would board the plane, just 15 minutes before Wednesday became Thursday, for a 12:10 AM departure.

Sitting down in my seat in row 23, I happened to be seated across from a younger guy I met in the waiting area. He was originally from Nebraska, on leave from the Army, and stationed just outside of Syracuse. He was sitting in a window seat. Right next to him, I could clearly see the outside area of our plane. Sure enough, a luggage cart was stationed outside, and passengers’ bags were being loaded on.

When did it become perfectly acceptable to blatantly lie to your customers? That is the question I had for the person on the other end of the customer service number of the airline. He didn’t have an answer, or a resolution. After placing me on a brief hold to confer with his supervisor, he told me I would need to complete a feedback form on the airline’s website. I did, clearly detailing the situation. The automatic email response assured me that my feedback was important to the airline, and they would have a response to me in 14-21 business days. Maybe my feedback wasn’t that important to them.

This experience went beyond merely poor customer service. To me, it was an issue of integrity. When I asked when it became perfectly acceptable to lie to your customers, I didn’t receive an answer. The correct answer should have been “It’s not.” Employees, especially those serving on the front-line, are the face of the organization. Their actions and behaviors make your organization’s culture, values, vision, and mission statement come to life. Business author and expert Peter Drucker says “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Strategy is created by the top level of management, while culture is created by the employees. 

The senior team may design what they envision to be the company culture, but it is ultimately the employees who bring it to life. Imagine you are organizing a birthday party for your child. You plan for it to be fun, include games, and food. Just because you plan it to be fun doesn’t mean the kids at the party will actually have fun. If we put the plan in place and leave the room, they will ultimately dictate how the party will turn out. Employees create culture. It is our job to observe behavior and make adjustments as necessary.