Righttrack Whispers: Develop an excellent way of thinking

by Phil Clarkson

Excellence is an overused word in my opinion as only the very few can be said to be truly excellent.

If you, on a personal level or at a company level want to be seen and talked about as “excellent” you have to have an excellent strategy.

Ask yourself, “How do I want to be seen today?”

An excellent manager or just ok will do?
An excellent company to deal with or no better than expected?
A brilliant member of the team or just another player?
A wonderful person to work with or a pain in the butt?

I think you get my point?

Then ask, what will I do to achieve this?

When I talk to groups on training courses or seminars I often say “we are all in the hospitality industry regardless of what we do”. Being hospitable with internal & external customers is essential if you are to be seen as excellent and get the excellent rewards that follow.

There are some key steps to excellence, and it is a lifelong challenge as this year’s excellent is next year’s good or just ok.

Step 1: Excellent Procedures / Processes

Think about all the things you do for others whether they are internal or external customers. Do those procedures suit you more than them? If they do, then that’s not excellent. I was in a busy bar restaurant in London recently and on ordering my meal at the bar I was told my order could not be taken as I didn’t have a table number, not wanting to leave anything on a table in a London bar I was left thinking about little Britain’s “computer say’s no”. This suggests the system was set up for the staff and not for the customer.

This often happens in organisations as they grow and forget that their procedures should be designed to help staff and deliver excellent customer service.

What do you do that suits you and inconveniences others? Maybe that’s a good place to start.

Step 2: If you see it fix it!

Excellent people take ownership and fix things; they don’t wait around for someone to do it for them or to be given permission to act.

Put the situation right, and then give the people or person responsible the feedback they need to become excellent too. It’s is not difficult!!!

Step 3: Excellent Behaviour

You can have excellent processes and procedures, however they do not work in isolation; you must develop consistently excellent behaviours to support them.

Excellent behaviour is all about consistency not just when you feel like it.

My job as a training and development consultant takes me all over Europe and I have a wide range of examples of excellent and not so excellent behaviours.

I recently stayed and trained in a 5-star hotel in the Cotswolds and I have to say it was an excellent experience, not only were the venue and facilities excellent, but so too were the staff with me and each other. However what really pleases me is when you get 5-star staff behaviour in a 1-star venue.

Excellence is all about people not just places.

I have met and been positively influenced by some truly excellent people in my lifetime and continue to meet new ones, however they are few and far between. What makes them standout to me is:

Genuinely positive attitude (not an acted script)
Always have time for me
Make me feel they are there for me and I do not inconvenience them
They know their role and responsibilities
They enjoy what they do

Those are just a few of the positive behaviours to get you started and maybe they will help you move towards excellence in whatever you do.

Remember: if you want to be seen as excellent today? What are you going to do?