Testing Courtesy

Testing Courtesy

The generally accepted theory today is that the common courtesy of yesteryear has faded in direct proportion to the rapid increase in our schedules.  If you could identify that a high level of courtesy at your place of business would give you a competitive advantage, would you train your employees for it?

In general (non-scientific) terms, I submit that courtesy remains healthier in the small towns than in large centres.   Yes, we all know each other and therefore we are obliged to say hello on the street or wave to every vehicle we recognize, but does this carry over to newcomers or those passing through?  I am going out on a limb here and maintain that we still rank higher on the friendly scale than our city cousins, but there has been a decline overall.

However, there are common courtesies that we should all practice daily, and if they become habits they will have a positive effect on those around us (enthusiasm and friendliness are contagious) and the spinoff is that people will want to be around us more frequently and will remember our businesses as having offered quality products with exemplary service.

The following common courtesy ideas (reminders) are not intended as admonishment for a past infraction – as my girls will attest, they were commonly read the riot act from our 753-page Etiquette Book if they were caught licking a knife or (ugh!) drinking from a bowl – it is more a checklist of the basics that are most apt to fall by the way as our lives become more hectic and impersonal:

·      noticing when someone is approaching a door to a building at the same time as you and holding the door open for him/her to enter first

·      giving compliments when another has done a good job

·      returning phone calls and emails in a timely manner (whether it is “no thank you” or “yes, maybe”)

·      being available to others without making them feel like they are imposing (it only costs time!)

·      thanking your customers

·      arriving on time or early for meetings and appointments (when I worked at The Brick, we were considered late if we did not punch in 10 minutes early – Vince Lombardi time, google it)

What other basic principles of courtesy were you taught (it occurs to me that my girls may be the only ones in the community able to differentiate between the uniforms of a butler and a chauffeur, thanks to Elizabeth Post.)  See how I thanked her there - that was me being courteous…let’s all brush up.  Hey, it might rub off on our city cousins. 

Leadership

As our region grows and we plan for achievement of greater potential, we will rely heavily on community builders to show the way – form plans, build foundations, assemble teams.  So what is the difference between leaders and managers?  Each has a valuable role and yet each role is very distinct, and no dream is successfully realized without a leader.

Contemplate a public meeting where the community has gathered to share information whether or not to begin a daunting new challenge – something that could change the face of the community and how it functions and succeeds into the future.  This challenge may be construction of a new arena or the transition of ownership of a major property. 

During this meeting, many ideas and perspectives are shared.  Pros and cons are weighed.  Facts are presented and feasibility is weighed.  Leaders among the group are listening and a vision is forming.  They are sitting among the group, reflecting on previous endeavors and drawing on the experiences gained through mistakes made and obstacles overcome.  They are measuring the comments and evaluating the common goals – a dream is at stake and the leaders are identifying the risk.  Can the people involved accomplish the dream?  One of the leaders will rise to speak, and the room will recognize the community builder as one who will have the answer, waiting for the inspiration and motivation that will be released,  the unifying message that will be delivered with emotion and sincerity.  The group sees the vision clearly and understands the importance of moving forward as one, trusting in each other and believing in the dream.

We have these leaders in our community.  They work alongside the team and never see themselves as being part of a hierarchy.  They encourage and listen to input and value a broad range of ideas.  They share the load and are always fostering teamwork, identifying training opportunities or outside expertise where necessary.  Everyone involved in the project works tirelessly toward a common goal and is internally motivated rather than by external benefits.  

The evolution from managing to leading is possible within each of us.  Look inward, understand your fears and accept there may be risks.  If you have the ability to dream of greatness, you have the ability to lead.  Transformational leadership consists of a vision and a passion.  The process of developing your vision, selling your vision and leading the way will require enthusiasm – once distributed among the group, your enthusiasm will generate all the planning and action components that are required to find your way forward.  Lead the charge.  Lead change.

Partnering

In the early stages of forming our Northern Lakes Economic Development Corporation we chose our motto “partnering for sustainable economic growth”. We felt the importance of focusing on partnerships was worthy of being our primary goal. The difference in our communities today – because of population distribution, product and service availability and the increased mobility of the consumer – demands that we partner with our neighbors to offer a regional advantage.

When I was young, most families did not travel to the city more than once or twice a year. My family went once a year to North Battleford to do our Christmas shopping and to visit my Great Aunt Ida (thank you Aunt Ida, if you hadn’t lived near North Battleford we would have never left Leoville!). Other than this annual trip, all our needs were met – social, recreation, education, retail – within ten miles. Our town had a theatre, hardware store, school, hospital, gas stations, post office, grain elevators, sports teams, bowling alley, restaurants, lumber yard, groceries, library, plumbing/heating/electrical…everything. Not anymore.

Today’s world sees each small town with something to offer, but no small town can offer everything. People are traveling farther for various legitimate reasons on a daily basis and are filling their needs in the most convenient or cost-efficient place along their route and it is very difficult for rural businesses to find their competitive advantage, but there are many very strong businesses that remain and thrive in our small towns. And we all want people to know what we have and we try hard to entice them to visit us and find out for themselves what needs of theirs can be accommodated in our communities.

Much the same way that our small towns now partner together to form hockey teams and 4-H clubs, so must we also share regional resources to attract people or groups of people to patronize our businesses and tourism industry. Our shared vision can give us strength in numbers – we must share information, ideas, knowledge and financial resources to mount a cohesive campaign in order to supply the full package of what others will be looking for when they evaluate whether to establish a business or to travel or live in our communities. I accept that if someone is traveling from Prince Albert to Chitek Lake he or she may stop for fuel in Shellbrook, coffee and fish hooks in Spiritwood, groceries for the cooler in Leoville and end up doing a variation of the same when they travel back to PA. I expect that they will learn something in each town as well – view a poster for a motorcycle rally in the Shellbrook gas station, find a phone number for a good used ATV when buying fish hooks in Spiritwood, see that they can get a tire changed in Leoville…even if we are not conscious of the link between our towns, it is formed in the minds of those who are outside looking in.

We have come a long way from the days when each town pitted a team against the other in recreational activities. We are now on the same team (realistically and metaphorically) and will realize more collective benefit from forming a strong common force through co-operative partnerships.

Further interesting perspectives can be found in “13 Ways to Kill Your Community” by Doug Griffiths

http://www.douggriffiths.ca/speeches.php?id=26

Serving

“We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles, rather than by the quality of our service relationship to humanity.”

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

We are beginning a new year full of hope and promise in a most successful province that still has vast unrealized potential. There is opportunity awaiting us in the areas of financial wealth, career advancement and quality of life. Have you thought about your personal plan for giving back to your community?

Many people will be setting goals at this point in the year, and I encourage you to include a goal that will see you taking steps toward leadership in an area that is important to you. With the opportunity we are facing comes longer work hours and more commitment to family and career objectives, so it will take a conscious decision and a concerted effort from you to stay involved once you decide to join a volunteer organization. However, doing so will add a dimension to your life that will help define your character as a humanitarian.

Reflect back on your formative years or your early career – what organizations helped you get where you are today? Chances are you learned about agriculture, public speaking and volunteering through a 4-H club. Perhaps your town had a Boy Scouts or Girl Guides squad, a hockey team to which you belonged or a softball team. These clubs exposed you to the concept of teamwork and demonstrated the value of a combined effort to achieve a goal. The skills you learned from a mentor are within you now.

As our civic and service organizations – Lions Clubs, Church boards, sports teams and youth groups – evolve, so too does their leadership. It is incumbent on us to be proactive, to join our communities’ volunteer organizations to strengthen and replace the long-time leaders. Learn from them and succeed them.

Get excited about 2012!

Heading into the last weekend of 2011 and the first of 2012, we will all take a break from talking about the weather in order to ask each other “got your New Year’s resolutions lined up?” Most people are happy to tell you that they don’t make any resolutions because they cannot keep them. I avoid resolutions, but I do set strong personal, business and financial goals each year.

The exercise of setting meaningful goals is only exciting and successful if you devote the proper amount of time to doing it right. A goal is an important accomplishment and is absolutely always achievable if you build in several incremental steps to getting to your end result. For example, four years ago when I set the goal to get a motorcycle there were 10 important steps (or sub-goals) that each led me closer to owning and riding my own bike. If I had set a major goal without the minor steps, I would still be wishing I had a motorbike! I needed to build in such factors as: where to find the money; what kind of bike would be best for me; when to order the bike to meet my timeline; how to learn to ride; how to earn a M driver’s license. Set specific timelines for each step, but be flexible when faced with the realities (but don’t delay your timelines out of procrastination or fear).

Not all my steps happened in the order I had them listed. There will be some things beyond your control in terms of sequence, but you will also be surprised at what steps can be achieved earlier than expected simply because you are conscious of a step and you recognize an opportunity to knock it off the list. I thought that I would be fully licensed before my bike arrived, but I spent the first season riding on just a learner’s and completed my road test a full year after getting my bike! The most important factor in accomplishing the goal I set was checking back to my list often. Each month I would see what steps were still remaining and figure out what I was able to do next to get one crossed off the list.

Another important motivator in achieving the steps to your goal is to tell people your intentions. My big mouth can be a gift and a curse because I enthusiastically tell people what I am going to do and then I feel obligated to follow through (because in a small town, you know very well people will ask you how that crazy pipe dream is coming along!) More than once I have heard myself saying “yes, I can do that” only to walk away wondering “what was I thinking?” But I have always followed through and proven to myself and others that I can achieve great goals with careful planning.

There will be goals you want to set that will scare you almost into mental paralysis – set them anyway. Each year when I look back at the goals I had set, I realize that I over-achieved some of them greatly (funny when I think of how nervous I was setting them). Last year when I arrived back from a solo trip to California and back, I got off the bike and walked up to the house thinking “I can’t believe I just rode to Cali and back by myself”. After the first year of purposeful goal-setting, I had the confidence to set more (and more aggressive) goals. Abraham Lincoln once said “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” When you sit down to write some goals for 2012, contemplate what you think your life should look like and then make the goals match the vision. It will happen for you almost automatically when you begin crossing off the accomplished steps and a year later you will look back and say “is that all there is to it?” Good luck. Have fun.

The Varying Degrees of “Thank You”

I received a phone call recently from someone who wanted to express a general thank you for a community event that was appreciated, and it started me thinking about the effect that different degrees of gratitude have on me. I realized - without too much contemplation – that there are three distinct levels employed by us all and that they each invoke a directly proportionate reaction or feeling from the recipient.

Polite thank you – this is the socially minimal one we were all trained to use as a perfunctory method of accepting an item or service from someone with whom we do not share any particular bond. These are important that yous because they prevent us from being considered rude and they may enhance our service experience (if you fail to give one to the maitre’ d you may not have the opportunity to give one to the waiter!)

Deliberate thank you – such as the one I received when a kind citizen took time out of her day and made a point of calling to express her gratitude for something that impressed her to the point of reward. The giver generally wants to encourage a behavior so that it is repeated, and the recipient of such a deliberate gesture experiences a feeling of satisfaction (well, that just made my day!)

Profound thank you – I experienced this one for the first time while helping out at the Friendship Inn on Thanksgiving day. There is nothing like it and you can’t fully understand it until you feel it. To offer something (that is taken for granted by many) to someone who would otherwise not have it, to have someone thank you in a low voice that contains honest and deep sincerity…well, this kind of thank you might choke you up and make you want to do more.

Let’s use Christmas to begin releasing a lot more profound thank yous. In our community, we have daily opportunities to assist our neighbors who need us. Whether you have a few dollars for the Salvation Army kettle or a couple of hours to help deliver food hampers locally, I invite you to experience for yourself the powerful spirit of giving. And thanking.

The Rural Way

Thumbing through the history book ‘A Tapestry of Time’ recently caused me to reflect on the circle of life and how I am now old enough to recognize certain cycles. The historic article that gave me pause was an account of how Spiritwood’s Centennial Arena was built and some of the fundraising toward the cost – this is the arena that we are now replacing with the new yet-to-be-named hockey and skating rink.

The most notable common factor between the 1967 version and the new arena (because it would not be fair to compare years to completion or cost) is that both facilities were only attainable with a great deal of volunteer labor. To leave every task to the paid general contractor and his crew would result in not only a prohibitive price tag but also an extended timeline during which two facilities would need to run con-currently because of a lengthy completion date.

A second strong and very obvious link between the old and new projects is the amount of money the citizens of the area have solicited through fundraising efforts. Indeed, many of the major contributors to the project of ’67 will doubtlessly have contributed to the project we will see at tomorrow’s first hockey game!

I stood inside our bright, beautiful new rink today in what I intended to be a visual evaluation, a construction update as I have done recently…and from the upstairs lounge area looking out at the gleaming ice and shiny boards, I was overcome with a profound sense of pride. This is the basic principle of the rural way of life – we did it together!