Yesterday we were back at the Sunnyside Park hotel.
And this time they got it right…
Because we’ve stayed here before, they had our information on the system.
I was excited. I love it when providers get it right.
I love to promote great experiences!
So, off to my room I went.
As I walked in, I heard the toilet flushing. Non Stop.
It was obvious that the room was not guest-ready!
So, here we go…
I picked up my suitcases and trudged back to reception.
Another ticket/key for another room.
I found the second room.
Then I went to have dinner with my colleagues. After dinner I went back to my room.
To find that this toilet had no water.
Yip…
So I saw the guy from Maintenance again! (He had come to investigate the flushing toilet as well)
He was angry.
YIP!
The guy from Maintenance was the angriest.
He says they should not treat customers like that.
Then he went down and arranged for another room. This was after I had called reception. The maintenance guy realized that it would be my third visit to reception.
So he fetched the key.
So here I am, wondering why it seems that the only really customer centric person in the story (meaning the one that got furious on behalf of the customer) is the maintenance man…
Maybe because he cares.
Getting it right and wrong
06.03
When your customer service department sucks, it really sucks!
05.30
So here’s the story – Really, it happened like this…
I was in the shop where I regularly buy groceries, when a woman stops me to tell me that I should not buy so much dog food, as there is a special at the Checkers Hyper.
Now I love customer service stories, and I love bargains…
So I diligently unpack my trolley, and take only one bag of dogfood. Planning to go to the Checkers Hyper later…
So this afternoon, I phone Checkers Hyper:
Is the special on dogfood still on?
“Yes sir, you pay for one bag and get another bag free.”
So I drive there.
All the way – FOR DOGFOOD!
(Crazy, but true)
And then I find that the dogfood has run out!!!
True!!! (Unbelievable??)
Why could the customer service lady not tell me on the phone…
Well, you see, they do make amends. They’ll phone me when the new food arrive. I must just buy one bag, and then leave the receipt at customer service.
And they’ll phone me when the new stock arrive.
Sounds fair?
BUT what about the fact that I have to drive there again. All the way…
Why could they not tell me when I phoned them that the dogfood was finished? (They surely knew? How else was the strategy for the delivering of receipts in place when I arrived 15 minutes after the phone call? Maybe I was unlucky? Maybe someone bought the last dogfood as I entered the store?)
Still…
The special was not a special anymore.
(Did I mention it’s the end of the month – I had to pay the carguard for the parking, had to work my trolley through a full shop, actually bought some other stuff. And then got the news about the dogfood)
I felt cheated.
Suckered.
I left.
Sometimes specials just aren’t as special as they could be.
About Mojo
04.16
I was reading a book on Mojo.
Interesting.
It’s all about energy, creativity and passion. The things we are not always paid for (initially), but eventually leads to success, happiness and self-actualization.
The opposite, according to the author is Nojo.
Yip, Nojo.
Tired, stressed and too busy to live life to the full.
As one walks through the streets, it seems as if a lot of people have lost their Mojo.
No one can find it for you. Only you.
Only you can turn Nojo into Mojo. Only you can stop being too busy, too stressed and yes too involved in things that are urgent and not important, instead of finding time to do things which are important but not urgent…
It’s about the small things that make big differences.
Validation
04.13
One of the Leadership students shared the following link
Wonderful video about the power of appreciating others:
Importance of Healthy Living
04.12
David Patient is passionate about life.
For 27 years he has lived in the shadow of death.
He has been diagnosed with HIV.
He could have given up. But didn’t.
Today he remains healthy by living a disciplined life. He excercises regularly, he takes time to think, to plan, to appreciate and to enjoy.
Living in the shadow of death has taught him about the light of life.
We can learn from him.
Lessons from Jonathan Jansen on Leadership
03.16
Interesting person, Jonathan Jansen. I like him. He’s intelligent, humane, a visionary and a challenger.
When I listened to him talk on Leadership, I once again realized how privileged we are to have leaders and educators of his calibre in South Africa.
So when he talks about leadership, he makes it clear that it’s about deep moral purpose. About clarity. About knowing why you do what you do.
He’s got his purpose sorted. Get the university’s racial relations sorted and build it to a world class institution.
As a parental leader: Decent kids despite the high levels of corruption in the country.
He explains his first days at the UFS. What leaders should do. He spent nights in the hostels, chatted to students, listened to their tears and anger. Understood their stories.
Then he set out to address it.
He calls it ethnographic leadership. Listen to all things, then take action. It’s also important when you speak and how you speak as a leader…but there is a moral obligation – to speak!
He understands that he has 29000 great students.
And 1000 troublemakers.
Both sides of the political spectrum – traumatized by what they did not go through.
He quotes Jim Collins, he also lives the philosophy: The UFS is good, but not great yet.
And it’s about the people as well…
Of course.
And the example.
Exemplary leadership.
And followership.
Understanding why people would follow you.
And remaining deserving of the following.
By the example – respecting others, being on time, not sleeping around…
Yes, someone people should aspire to.
Like Mandela.
And there’s more.
Leadership is not only about command and control. It’s not technical or muscular. It’s not about HE-MAN.
It’s about feeling.
Emotions.
Can you feel your organization?
Do you know what’s happening in the lives of your people?
And then there’s even more.
Equanamity of Leadership:
About even handedness. About taking both sides with you. Especially in a divided environment. Especially racially divided.
Like Mandela…
As is shown again in Invictus…
There is no choice between reparation and reconciliation.
You do both.
The next thing:
To have the courage of your convictions…
Where are people who did it because of convictions?
Fatima Meer? Albert Luthuli?
Now it’s all about gain – about reading the wind, and turning the sails – for personal benefit.
That’s why Jonathan forgave the Reitz 4.
Because his mother taught him to do the right things irrespective of the consequences. It’s not always about popularity or personal gain.
It’s about courage!
But there is more:
Acknowledgement of your own brokenness.
Confronting your own demons. Looking in the mirror. Understanding who you really are.
Then understanding others.
What does vengefullness bring you?
Rwanda…
The Middle East…
South Africa?
What kind of country do you want?
You decide.
But there’s more:
Counter Cultural Leadership –
Forgive those that do not deserve it.
Embrace those that offend you.
Mandela again.
Then the story.
On CNN.
The Palestinian and his daughter. Their house blown away. The twin sister dead.
The interviewer:
“Doesn’t this fill you with anger?”
“Angry, with whom?”
That’s the kind of leadership we need.
Lessons from Ndaba Ntsele –
03.14
Guest Lecturer for the MBA on Wednesday – Ndaba Ntsele.
As he started talking, I was fascinated by the power of his story:
He started selling apples as a young kid on the streets of Soweto. This was during the heydays of Apartheid. He was six years old. One street corner was not enough, he had to “grow” the business. And someone had to collect the money. So he got a white guy with a motorcycle.
There are no limitations if you are an enterpreneur. No excuses. No political obstacles.
He loved his first Morris Minor. Purchased while he was still at school.
And his mercedes…
It opened doors.
When he needed security, the policeman needed a car for his sister’s wedding.
The best way to get people not to be prejudiced is to get rich.
Easy!
Find opportunities in everything. Fly first class. Guess who you meet?
Influencers.
First class people…
Like the head of the bank…
And one day, when you need money. Yes, you’ve got it. A businesscard.
While in America, Ndaba saw opportunities.
Like a small company called NIKE.
Guess who asked for the licence to sell in Southern Africa.
More wealth.
No stress about politics and the system. If you want to find things to complain about, to prove why you cannot succeed, you always will.
And if you want to succeed – you really want to, you won’t blame others or the system. You will build success.
Now he is one of the richest men in the country. No it’s not because of government grants, political connections, tender-trickery or any of the latest ways to make money in South Africa.
It’s because of the spirit of the enterpreneur.
So when the planes fall out of the sky, he does not complain. He gets the contract to service them. Then he finds the people to do it. Not based on color or political correctness.
No.
He finds the best whites, the best whites, the best of every kind.
Because “they hunt in packs.”
His lesson is easy.
It’s up to us.
Up to you.
Then, this week, I read Seth Godin’s book, Linchpin. And it all came together.
We need more linchpins.
Urgently.
Reflections on war – MBA visit -Tuesday 9 March 2010
03.14
On Tuesday I was on leave, teaching the MBA class about Diversity. Interesting thing, Diversity, especially if you’re South African. In South Africa diversity is often considered to be a difference in race, rather than differences in story. Every human being has a unique story. Still, we tend to think in categories: “women, age, race, class,” and the stereotyping continues…
Well, I took the group to the War Museum. Yes, the Anglo-Boer War museum. We talk about the fact that wars tend to be harshest on the faceless. The women and children. The victims.
We talk about leadership, values and war. Elria who works at the museum shows a passion that always brings the conversation to life. We talk about Emily Hobhouse, we talk about De La Rey, we talk about Sol Plaatje. Because we are humane the discussion is always insightful. Race, Language and Gender are forgotten when we realize that people have suffered, people are suffering and the more we understand and feel for others, the greater our own stories become.
Yes, it’s not about politics, power and production. It’s all about stories…
They still don’t know?
01.26
Now, I haven’t been to Sunnyside Park hotel as often as my friend, Riaan. So let’s use him as an example (he has frequently visited the hotel over the past few months).
Tonight I checked in with him. Although we’ve both stayed at the hotel several times, we always have to fill in the form at check-in.
The same form?
Is it not possible to have all the information on a database somewhere and just let the customer check whether the details are the same?
And then verify with an ID?
No, they want you to write down your pedigree – home address, home phone, cell no…
Until next time.
When you do it again?
Or go elsewhere…
As I read through the previous blogs I’ve written, I’m becoming concerned. I am really not a difficult or nagging person – now if these things happen all the time, is that what’s normal?
Is it normal for instance for Panarotti’s in Mimosa Mall to have a broken ice cream machine and a broken coffee machine – on Sunday night when the kids eat free – no milkshakes? Come on folks?
Are you serious about business, or are you just out there?
Wake up and smell the coffee.
Oops, sorry – you can’t – the machine is broken!
Third Dimension
01.22
This week I had the opportunity to talk at ABSA’s regional conference. I used Photoshop to create slides in 3D, and Hendrik was willing to let me experiment (we also threw in some Da Vinci themes to add to the mix)!
Hendrik and I tried to create idea that there is one dimension we are missing in business.
The personal dimension.
The dimension that really matters.
So often we chase after goals, dreams and other aspects of life, instead of pausing to live now and then.
This afternoon as the conference came to an end, the last keynote speaker put it so well -it came down to the following:
“We all have a certain time to live, we cannot increase it.
But we can decrease it.
And we should be aware of the factors that “steals” our time – overload, negative stress, worries, unhealthy living, traffic and noise.
So, to remain as healthy as possible – remember what’s needed: simplicity, positive stress, celebration, healthy living, peace and quiet.
They seem to be easy to achieve.
But they are not.
Because they lie in a crucial dimension that we often miss.
Happiness.