Mike has his own unique style. He draws on more than 27 years experience. He has worked most positions in the service industry and feels at home in more major cities than most people.
Is the question Seth Godin asks on his blog - it reminds me of a quote i once read from the HR people at South West Airlines: ” It is not technical skills we are looking for it is nice people. We can train people to do anything technical, but we can’t make them nice” .
When I conduct training’s for front line staff I ask them what in your opinion is a wow experience and when did you last have one. Invariable the same happens no matter what group I do this with: a) out of 25 - 30 people only 3-5 have had a wow service experience.
b) when I then ask them to describe in detail what is was, 9 times out of 10 the best experience always have to do with some one who was exceptionally nice - never ever do people mention the chandeliers in the reception area, the 6-foot flat screens in their room or any of the other features that are listed in a hotel brochure - always we come back to nice - my conclusion on this is: wow - what an opportunity, obviously very few people do it and it costs virtually nothing to implement - A huge opportunity indeed as Seth Godin says. I could not agree more.
We have begun a new season, and we have already had very educational experiences and met some quite interesting people. By the looks of it we also have some very interesting months ahead of us.
Leadership in the computer industry – a different perspective
It was fun reuniting with the management team from Zepto Computers – they did a GROW Leadership programme during 2007/08, and I had been looking very much forward to seeing them all again for a recap and brush up. Working with a group of leaders in the computer industry is a challenging job because of the special nature of their personalities – different from the type in hospitality. But they have definitely begun to develop a deeper understanding of how their interactions have an influence on each other.
Focus on the customer – creating lasting value
We have now kicked-off the 3rd module of our Service Management Diploma cohort. They spent the spring semester working on how to create value in a service organisation – this autumn we keep our focus on the customer. How do we go beyond satisfaction and create real lasting loyalty. That is the big question and we will be looking for some answers here.
If you missed our Feb 08 posting on how they got a grip on strategy take a look at this.
Growing talent the action learning way
We are in the process of designing a talent development programme – all action learning based and all very secret. The customer is one of Denmark’s leading companies, and it’s growing rapidly – partly due to their ability to constantly explore new ideas and ways of learning and we are proud to be contribute to their process.
Conference in Munich
In Munich on 1st of October 2008 I am giving at presentation at the Euro Attractions Show (EAS). The topic will be: “An enlightening and stimulating exploration of how to create and maintain outstanding service in your organisation”. If you are attending the conference or the show drop me a note.
Be prepared to integrate Integral Theory in your future plans This autumn I have decided to study some more Integral Theory and how we can apply that practically to management and leadership. Exciting workshops will be held in october in Boulder CO in the US. You can learn more about the event here.
Integral Theory is definitely not mainstream thinking – yet – but we are going to see much more of this in the coming years. Here is a taste of what integral leadership is about. My favoured integral leader is Fred Kofman take a look for your self:
The latest trends – we’re off to Shanghai
Come November and we are off again on one of our more exotic Urban Safaris – this year we are taking 12 hotel GM’s to Shanghai to explore the latest hospitality developments. We are staying at the spanking new Renaissance and have 4 full days to explore the city.
No new trends force us to improve the existing trends
Once we get Back to Europe I head of for Manchester and will be presenting “No New Trends” at the FOOD DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION on November 11th 2008. I will present my view of what I see as a flourishing creativity – the many new solutions to the well known mega trends such as individuality, health, ecology, industrialisation and automation. We see creative ideas expressed in meal shops, fast casual, co-creation, DIY-Food, minimalist buffets etc.
Wrapping up the season – from south to north and back again
End of November I have an Action Learning facilitation job in Athens, and the last stop for 2008 before I go hibernate in Marseille will be a workshop on Service Profit Chain in Helsinki.
So that’s the game plan – as I mentioned if this offers possibilities for a link up with some of you then please let me know.
Our group of 18 mangers studying for the Service Management Diploma met for their second workshop last week.
They are now halfway through the first module and preparing for their final assignment for this module.
Next year we shall be looking at module two: Grow Value.
We had asked each trio to prepare a presentation that would recapitulate one of the subjects that we had covered in our first workshop. This team decided to visualise the topic ‘Mindset’ - each person represents body, thought and feelings respectively and as the H.C Andersen Fairytale was read out they each illustrated these perspectives - it was a show I shall not forget soon. - Thank you !
Later in the day my colleague Lothar Friis challenged the teams on team work and problem solving - Lothar is a master at not only creating these seemingly unsolvable problems but also in converting the experience afterwards into meaningful learning.
He did that using a ‘fishbowl’ debrief of one team while the other team watched.
We had a blast as you can see.
This weekend I came across some writings by James Flaherty - author of Coaching: Evoking Excellence in Others
“… there is no knowing outside of doing: we didn’t learn to walk by someone explaining it to us; we had to practice driving to be able to do it; we learned algebra by working many problems; we can play the piano because we rehearsed for hours”
This is also the philosophy that is at the heart of the GROW: leadership program that we offer. If you would like to become a great manager/leader you will need to move from theory to application. You will need to do things and see what happens - no amount of books and reading will get you there - to really know you must first do.
