Daniel Hernandez

Were I still a corporate recruiter, I would have been on the phone this morning with University of Arizona junior, Daniel Hernandez talking about his future. With both words and deeds, Mr. Hernandez has, since last Saturday’s Tucson massacre, demonstrated many of the essential requirements of being a leader, at any level. Here are four that quickly come to mind:

Courage – Leaders are those we can count on to do the right thing, even when it is difficult, dangerous, or unpopular. Wading unarmed into a free fire zone to administer aid and comfort to one’s teammates certainly qualifies. While thankfully leaders don’t often have to get shot at to prove their mettle, our people do expect to see us personally absorbing some of the risk and punishment that is headed their way.

Decisive – Leaders must have the willingness and ability to act in the face of adversity, uncertainty, and the absence of guidelines. Mr. Hernandez had no clue what lay ahead when he jumped in to assist U.S. Rep., Gabrielle Giffords. It is doubtful that in his young life he had taken courses or read anything that told him to act, but act he did. Especially in today’s risk averse corporate environment, recruiters should screen and probe diligently to ensure that all candidates destined for a management position can demonstrate this quality.

Able to Focus and Communicate – As one who makes a significant portion of his living speaking to large audiences, I can vouch for the fact that efficiently and persuasively articulating a cogent message before a sea of faces (let alone the President of the United States and a world-wide tv audience) can be daunting. Doing it the for the first time on short notice, with short rest, no teleprompter or notes (even on the palm of your hand) is remarkable.

Humility – One of the greatest challenges I find leaders struggling with is the realization that leading is not about “them”, but about others. Given a perfect opportunity to grandstand or take a victory lap, Mr. Hernandez chose instead to deflect hero status to others he deemed more deserving, and focus instead on a powerful message. His behavior stands in stark contrast to a population that at times seems entirely too self-absorbed.

In a nutshell, I don’t know what young Mr. Hernandez wants to do with his life, but I do know this… We could do worse than look for “Hernandez-like” qualities as we go about searching for tomorrow’s leaders.

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A thought leader in the arena of leadership and employee engagement, Bill Catlette is a seminar leader, keynote speaker, and executive coach. He helps individuals and organizations improve business outcomes by having a focused, engaged, capably led workforce. He is co-author of the new released book, Rebooting Leadership. For more information about Bill, his partner Richard Hadden, and their work, please visit their website, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ContentedCows

Alexander McCall Smith, the Scottish author of the acclaimed “Number One Ladies Detective Agency” series, set in Botswana, is one of my favorite novelists. In his latest work, from his Isabel Dalhousie series, entitled The Lost Art of Gratitude, he relates that Isabel, the Edinburgh-based editor of a philosophical journal, has received a letter from the company that prints the journal.

“They had bought a supply of superior Finnish paper, they revealed, and would keep some of this for Isabel if she wished; a sample was enclosed. The offer reminded her of her obliging butcher, who, from time to time would pull something out from under the counter and say that he’d been keeping it for her, some delicious cut that he thought she would particularly appreciate.  Small acts of commercial friendship, binding together customer and provider.”

These days, “small acts of commercial friendship” are especially appreciated by customers. And especially savvy on the part of providers, most of whom need to explore every way possible to win the loyalty of customers who have less disposable income, and usually more choices, than ever before.

I like it when Shenequa, my Starbucks barista, sees me approaching the store and fills a cup with my “usual”, a tall Pike Place, and then asks me how my family (every member of which she knows by name) is doing.

Likewise, I appreciate it when I stay at one of the chain of Kimpton Hotels, and they automatically provide me with feather pillows and a room near the elevator. Sure, they got that info from an online profile that I filled out, and so it’s different from Shenequa’s personal gesture, but it’s no less appreciated.

I enjoy reading comments from the customers of a bank for which we manage a customer satisfaction survey. It’s not uncommon to read something like “I love this bank. My banker called me last week to tell me about a special CD offer you had. He remembered me saying, months ago, that I wanted something short term with higher interest. It wasn’t a lot of money, so I was surprised he remembered. I won’t forget that.”

In an increasingly impersonal world, these small, but important acts are distinctive, and memorable, whether they originate from a highly sophisticated customer relationship management system, or the attentiveness of a caring employee or business owner.

What could you do, today, to demonstrate your “commercial friendship”, to bind you and a valued customer closer together?

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Richard Hadden (twitter at http://twitter.com/rehadden) is a leadership speaker, author, and consultant who helps organizations improve their business results by creating a great place to work. He and Bill are the authors of the new book Contented Cows MOOve Faster, as well as the acclaimed business classic Contented Cows Give Better Milk. Learn more about them and their work at ContentedCows.com.

As many are aware, FedEx, the world’s largest cargo airline, and my business alma mater, lost two dedicated pilots and an MD-11 aircraft last week in the first fatal crash in the company’s 37 year history.

Since our first book, I’ve written and spoken extensively about the company’s high performance culture in which going the extra mile is the rule and not the exception. Though I’ve been gone 20 years, chills ran down my spine this morning when I read an internal account written by a fellow employee of lengths the company and its employees went to in order to pay respects to the fallen pilots and their families. Some excerpts…

“As all of you know, one of the fallen pilots was based in San Antonio.  First Officer Tony Pino is a retired Air Force officer and has been flying with FedEx for a little over 3 years. On Friday the 13th of this month, Pino jumpseated out of San Antonio for the last time with a promise to his wife that he would be home Thursday the 26th.  Today, we received about 12 of the Pino family and friends on the ramp, along with 35 uniformed pilots and approx 70 of our FedEx family to fulfill that promise.

” In Narita, Japan there were a number of pilots in full uniform to present the remains of both pilots to the aircraft and see the flight off.  In Oakland for a “gas and go” there were 25+ full uniformed pilots that went up the stairs and paid respects to the fallen ones.  In MEM a full color guard received the two and took them to a hangar where Fred Smith, Dave Bronczek and a large number of executives received 400-500 pilots and personnel that were bused to pay respects.  My understanding is that Mr. Smith was there for the duration.  People signed a book for each family.

“After which, Captain Mosely was flown to Portland Oregon this morning where the Ramp Team received the family and had approx 80 employees lined up on the nose dock.  Their operation was without any issues or concerns and was a very moving presentation according to the Senior Manager.

“F/O Pino was taken to a MEM funeral home and escorted for 12 hours by 2 crew until time for the day-turn show time.  A full honor presentation accompanied the loading.  Flowers were also sent to the MEM funeral home and all of those were loaded on our flight 379 along with crewmen (2 were formal escorts). Our pilots were not ever left without escort from Japan until the funerals and will not be unless the family requests otherwise.

“At San Antonio, it rained today until approx 1400hrs, skies cleared and the sun came out.  It was a beautiful afternoon.  We received the family and parked them on the tarmac at approx 1650hrs along with the guests and uniformed crew.  We made arrangements to have the flight land on the closest runway and touched down straight across from our ramp with a perfect landing.  The aircraft blocked at 1734hrs and the flowers from Mr. Smith  (gorgeous 6’ tall arrangement) and the book signed by all in MEM were presented to the widow and 3 boys.  Tony’s mother and other family were also present.

“The body was covered with the American flag and the pilots and honor guard stayed at full attention then moved to salute when the pallet started in motion forward.  It was lowered and the honor guard stepped up on the loader.  Mrs. Pino came forward with her son, hugged the casket and spent a few moments with her late husband.  She retreated and the transfer was completed to the hearse with proper respect and military bearing.

“I have a ramp agent that indicated in his 32 years with FedEx it was the proudest moment he has experienced.  Our FedEx Team did an exceptional job of honoring these two pilots. Our loader operator, stairs, marshaller and others were absolutely perfect in their execution. One of the pilots authorized to be here was in full UPS uniform and he was absolutely awed by the respectfulness.

“We still work for the best company in the world because we fill it with the best people in the world!  Please feel free to share this with your teams as they also should know as well.”

As we go about trying to figure out what is (and what should be) the new normal in our post-AIG world, it pays to remember that there can still be places where people care about each other, and where work is something more than a pure commercial transaction. That ain’t all bad.

A thought leader in the arena of leadership and employee engagement, Bill Catlette is a seminar leader, keynote speaker, and executive coach. He helps individuals and organizations improve business outcomes by having a focused, engaged, capably led workforce. For more information about Bill, his partner Richard Hadden, and their work, please visit their website at www.contentedcows.com

In our September issue of Fresh Milk, our free monthly leadership and organization newsletter, we proffered ten ideas for impoving your employee retention efforts. Then we asked our readers to participate in a contest by giving us an 11th idea. The winner was promised a copy of Contented Cows Moove Faster, our book about Discretionary Effort and what it takes to get it. Thanks to all those who submitted ideas. The winner is Sharon Burdine, Vice President and Manager of Benefits Administration for Simmons First National Bank, based in Arkansas.

Sharon’s idea #11:

Our CEO always tells us to “catch someone doing something good” and then to recognize and reward them for it.  To help do that, all associates at all levels are able to give QCS (quality customer service) awards to anyone who goes the extra mile either for a customer or a co-worker.  A QCS award can be anything, from cash to a gift, up to a $50 value, and can be given immediately, which contributes to the effectiveness of the reward.  In addition to the immediate rewards, quarterly winners are chosen from each our 8 banks, and those quarterly winners win a lunch for themselves and their supervisor with the CEO and other top management at their location, as well as a trophy and $500.  To top it off, at the end of the year, all quarterly winners attend a nice dinner off-site with their supervisors as well as the CEO and other top management at their bank, and at that dinner, the annual overall QCS winner is awarded with another trophy plus $1,000.  Then, each of the 8 bank winners come together at our Corporate headquarters for lunch with their CEO and the Corporate CEO, and one of their names is drawn for a cash prize of $5,000!

To make sure everyone is aware of the QCS award winners, monthly publications are issued with the names of all associates receiving and giving QCS awards.  As space permits, stories that led to the rewards are also published.  Additional quarterly and annual editions of the QCS newsletters announce those winners and tell their stories, and show their pictures when they were presented their award by management.

It’s a really great program!  It has achieved for us great customer service ratings from shoppers (consistently above 95%), as well as a continual stream of very nice notes from customers, which also get published in the QCS newsletter (with the name of the customers withheld).

Thanks Sharon for your idea, which not only improves employee retention, but customer retention and development as well! And thanks to all those who took the time to let us hear from you with your ideas.

Richard and Bill

A thought leader in the arena of leadership and employee engagement, Bill Catlette is an author, seminar leader, keynote speaker, and executive coach. He helps individuals and organizations improve business outcomes by having a focused, engaged, capably led workforce.

Richard Hadden is a leadership speaker, author, and consultant who helps organizations improve their business results by creating a great place to work. He and Bill are the authors of the new book Contented Cows MOOve Faster, as well as the acclaimed business classic Contented Cows Give Better Milk. Learn more about them and their work at ContentedCows.com.

On a day when the Dow tanked another 508 points in a long string of losing days, some good news, any good news, even a little piece is most welcome. Such a nugget climbed into my in-basket this evening in the form of an email message from the 92nd Street Y in New York.

Business partner, Richard Hadden and I rendezvous there two or three times a year and catch a lecture by a business chieftan or other notable. Though it’s a long trip from our respective domiciles, we’ve never been disappointed in the experience. Anyhow, the text of the email follows, unedited. Consistent with our experiences with these folks, I thought it was a class act. Clearly, these folks are going the extra mile.