Attitude of Excellence w/ Kevin Burns

Why Leadership Is Not For Everyone

2010-04-26T10:23:00.000-06:00

Here's what companies believe about leadership:

If we increase the leadership capacity of our people, we can make them better performers.
If we offer them leadership training, they will do a better job.
If we make leadership a priority, our people can become better self-directed.
If we bring in leadership experts, we can grow our talent better.

But then most organizational training only ever gets an employee to a level of "competence" not excellence. Excellence is what separates mediocre organizations from excellent organizations. Building leadership WITHOUT building excellence means you will continually be training in leadership (year after year) - and your people won't understand why. You're trying to build a house on a shaky foundation.

In order to find your performance average, you take all of the numbers (best and worst) into account. There is a reason that poor performers perform poorly and it has nothing to do with their leadership capacity. Training poor performers to be leaders doesn't improve their performance - in fact, it may inhibit it. When you tell a poor performer that he is being offered leadership training, what message does that send? Keep on performing poorly?

Not everyone is meant to lead and not everyone is meant to enroll in leadership development. Without followers, there are no leaders. Some are just meant to follow. Those who don't display excellence in their efforts should NOT be considered for leadership training. BIG mistake.

Strive for excellence first. Find those who naturally offer excellence in their work, their relationships and their quality of life. Then, offer those people the chance to be come better leaders.

Stop thinking leadership is just another course like Time Management that can solve the problems of your organization. It can't. Trying to turn an average worker-bee into a leader is a waste of organizational resources and a threat to the average worker who is probably happy with just being an average worker.

First, make your organization excellent. Then start looking for the natural leaders who helped you get there. Train only those people.
--
Kevin Burns - Excellence Attitude/Culture Strategist
Speaking Web Site http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Finding Your Excellence In A Wasteland of Mediocrity

Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
Follow Kevin on Twitter @attitudeburns
The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel

Everyday Should Be Friday

2010-04-22T21:35:00.002-06:00

Everyday should be Friday - Filter-Free Friday. But too many want to play it safe. Too many want to be invisible. Too many don't want to offend. Too many are afraid of not being liked anymore.

Being liked is what those with a poor self-image worry about. If you need to be liked then you are giving up the need to be respected.

People respect people who don't lie - people who tell the truth. And Filter-Free Fridays are the days to tell the truth - in a non-hurtful way.

Today is the day you speak the truth. If the service was not "fine" then don't say it was. If the meal was not "fine" then tell the truth. If a co-worker needs a breath mint, then say so - privately.

Filter-Free Friday is not for embarrassing others. It is a day to tell people the truth - in an effort to make them better.

So, what needs saying today?

-- Kevin Burns - Excellence Attitude/Culture Strategist Speaking Web Site http://www.kevburns.com Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™ Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™ Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Finding Your Excellence In A Wasteland of Mediocrity Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email Follow Kevin on Twitter @attitudeburns The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel

Foreign Languages In Later Years

2010-04-20T23:24:00.000-06:00

If you were exposed to a second language from birth and spoke it every day of your childhood, you would be a fluent speaker of that second language by adulthood.

The same could be said of exposure to computers: if you were exposed to them from early childhood and used them every day, you would be considered quite fluent in computers by adulthood.

That is exactly the average Generation Y: exposed to technology, computers and smart phones their whole lives. So they would expect that penchant for technology to continue into their work. However, here's where they become dismayed and disillusioned: if their ability with computers and technology becomes limited by computer illiterate Baby Boomers who are still confounded by email.

You see while computers and technology were a part of the average Generation Y childhood, Baby Boomers have only been exposed to it all in the last 20 years or so. Think of how difficult it is to learn a new language at fifty-five years old. It's not as easy as when you are a child. Neither is riding the technology curve.

Boomers have a great sense of work ethic. Gen Y have a great sense of technology (and how to get the work done quicker - much quicker). Gen X has a great sense of changing the rules and doing away with traditions.

Oh, and Gen X and Y, don't give the old-timers a hard time about their computer illiteracy. Don't even give them a break. Give them a hand - in learning how to come up to speed on technology. You've all got something to teach each other. Now all you have to do is find some sort of common ground way of communicating. Good luck with that.

--
Kevin Burns - Excellence Attitude/Culture Strategist
Speaking Web Site http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Finding Your Excellence In A Wasteland of Mediocrity
Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
Follow Kevin on Twitter @attitudeburns
The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel

Yes, We Can Do That

2010-04-19T23:16:00.001-06:00

It happened this week in Whitehorse, Yukon but it could have happened anywhere. I walked into a diner (that's what the sign on the door read) at 11:25 am. Besides the one guy in a chef's jacket, I was the only person in the restaurant.

"Are you still serving breakfast?" I asked.

"No. We stopped serving breakfast at 11," he replied while emphatically concentrating on the "11."

We turned and headed for the door which left him plenty of time to offer to serve a customer who wanted food - food they just stopped serving 25 minutes before. But he said nothing. It was as though enforcing the 11 AM food-rule was more important than putting a paying customer in a seat in his otherwise empty (non-revenue generating) restaurant.

In fact, I could have ordered a toasted egg salad sandwich with bacon and an order of fries (which is eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast) to prove a point but I believe that "negative cash-flow" is a lesson that trumps dumb food rules.

We walked a block up the street to another restaurant which, in the window, showed a sign for a 7 AM to 11 AM breakfast special.

Inside, I asked the lone server, a sixty'ish, small woman if they would still serve breakfast?

"Just the basics," she offered unapologetically. "Eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast. So what'll you have?"

"Eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast will do just fine," I answered while taking my seat in this much busier restaurant.

If you are only prepared to serve your customers in a certain way, between certain hours and only on certain days, you are certain to find a certain attrition in your business - certainly.

Restaurants that restrict the hours of certain food groups, car dealers that will sell you a car up until 9PM but only be available to fix it until 5PM or hotels that offer you a noon check-out but shout to co-workers down the hall and run a vacuum outside your door at 8AM are examples of making it tough for customers to have an excellent experience.

Excellence is simply saying "yes we can do that" when you already do it and put away the inflexible rules that make you look dumb.
--
Kevin Burns - Excellence Attitude/Culture Strategist
Speaking Web Site http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Finding Your Excellence In A Wasteland of Mediocrity
Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
Follow Kevin on Twitter @attitudeburns
The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel

T.G.I.Filter-Free Friday

2010-04-16T00:36:00.000-06:00

Don't waste another Friday keeping the truth to yourself. Today is the day that filters come off and you speak your mind, offer your opinion and help others move toward excellence - in a non-hurtful way.

Today is the day you speak up when that guy in the next cubicle uses his speaker-phone to have conversations instead of using a handset.
Today is the day when you lean over to the next table in the restaurant and ask the person on the cell phone to take their call outside if they are going to speak so loudly.
Today is the day when you ask people who are freely dropping the f-bomb to politely tone down their language.
Today is the day when you politely re-focus a clerk's attention back onto serving you instead of having side-conversations with their co-workers.
Today is the day when you make the person you are conversing with (either in-person or on the phone) the most important person in your life at that moment.

Today is Filter-Free Friday, a day when you remove the filters that stop you from expressing what is on your mind - in a non-hurtful way. Use this day to its full advantage. You will soon discover the freedom you feel at no longer swallowing your comments. You will no longer feel frustrated that people just don't "get it." Your life will begin to change when you discover how empowering it is to say that one thing you've been thinking but have held back so as not to create a disturbance. You will find yourself focusing on excellence - especially in yourself.

Excellence does not come as a result of swallowing your feelings, being afraid to express your truth or by being afraid of the insensitive actions of others. Excellence comes when you fight through your discomfort and take a small risk.

Speak up today. If you can think it, you can say it - in a non-hurtful way.
--
Kevin Burns - Excellence Attitude/Culture Strategist
Speaking Web Site http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Finding Your Excellence In A Wasteland of Mediocrity
Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
Follow Kevin on Twitter @attitudeburns
The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel

Encouraging Your "Grasshoppers"

2010-04-14T22:59:00.000-06:00

"If you can snatch the pebble from my hand, it will be time for you to go Grasshopper." (1970's TV Series Kung Fu)

At some point, if the teacher is a good one, the student will surpass the teacher's ability. At that point, it will be time for the student to find a new teacher because the student has achieved Excellence.

So what is the excuse of your organization? How come you don't have a continuous parade of students (employees) who are surpassing the abilities of their teachers (managers)?

The modern-day manager is supposed to be more than a policeman who passes out memos and enforces the rules. The modern-day manager is supposed to be a coach, teacher, motivational speaker, family therapist, conflict diffuser, ally, inspirational mentor and thoughtful friend. Didn't you get the memo on this?

If you're a manager, have you read a book in the last 90 days that will help you be better at any of it? Look, as a manager, you need to lead by example. If you won't do the work to improve, then don't complain when your staff won't do the work either. And, don't be surprised when their ability surpasses yours. You're standing still while they continue to grow every day on the job - regardless of whether you hold them back or not.

Here's the thing though: the moment the student surpasses the ability of the teacher, the student achieves Excellence. That means that the teacher, by comparison, is mediocre - until they learn something new.

C'mon managers, encourage your Grasshoppers. Force them to be better than you - more excellent than you. You will be doing an excellent thing for your organization.
--
Kevin Burns - Excellence Attitude/Culture Strategist
Speaking Web Site http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Finding Your Excellence In A Wasteland of Mediocrity
Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
Follow Kevin on Twitter @attitudeburns
The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel

Numbers Don't Tell The Whole Story

2010-04-13T10:53:00.000-06:00

It would easy to run a business or any organization by concentrating simply on the numbers because the numbers don't lie, do they? The numbers tell you how you how you are doing. If you have numbers, you don't really need charismatic leaders, encouraging managers or highly-motivated staffers do you? No, if it were all just based on numbers, you could have personality-deficient drones running your place of work. (Wait a sec - isn't that what's already happening?)

You see, focusing only on the numbers is what sinks most organizations into mediocrity because it's the things outside of the numbers that dictate how the numbers come to be in the first place. Let me explain:

54% of customers choose to do business with an organization based on Attitude factors: ease of service, approachability, friendliness, after-sale service, return policies, etc.
Over half of your customers choose you for something other than product knowledge.
Any customer who really needs product knowledge can probably find it on YouTube.
It's the Attitude Factors that separate one organization from another.

Do you have a favorite coffee shop? How about a favorite restaurant, clothing store, hair stylist, etc? What makes these places your favorites - product knowledge? Or is it because of how you are treated when you get there?

Good managers do more than judge team performance by just the numbers in a report. They tune into the attitudes, behaviors and factors that you don't see - the factors that move the organization from mediocre performer (found in the numbers) to an excellent performer (the reason why people call it their favorite).

Excellence is an Attitude. An excellent manager will encourage their excellent employees to bring their excellent personalities to work. Mediocre managers, however, will settle for any warm body in a job. Any manager who settles for a mediocre employee is a mediocre manager running the mediocre organization into a permanent state of mediocrity.

For some managers, excellence seems like too much work - but usually just for those who don't demand it of themselves. Try to discover that by simply reading a numbers report.
--
Kevin Burns - Excellence Attitude/Culture Strategist
Speaking Web Site http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Finding Your Excellence In A Wasteland of Mediocrity
Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
Follow Kevin on Twitter @attitudeburns
The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel

Why Aren't You Being Excellent?

2010-04-12T22:13:00.008-06:00

You have a choice. You can show up at work and be mediocre or you can choose to be excellent.

Knowing that you have that choice, why would you choose something other than excellent?

Because your boss won't let you.
Because you don't get paid enough.
Because you've only been trained to be competent - not excellent.
Because this is a dead-end job and what's the point.
Because management doesn't acknowledge you when you are excellent.
Because it's easier being ordinary.
Because you don't want to stand out and be noticed.
Because you're lazy and being excellent means more effort.
Because you just don't care.
Because it's not your department.
Because you haven't been trained to be excellent.
Because ... well, you get the picture.

Being excellent is not something anyone can do to you and it's not something that is chosen for you. Excellence is not something your boss teaches you. Excellence is not something that you can be forced to do against your will. Excellence is an Attitude you choose to work with.

As a customer, I enjoy it when a staff member makes their manager look bad by being excellent. I know it embarrasses the other staffers and the manager when one person takes the initiative to be excellent. After all, there's no effort required in being ordinary. I think employees should embarrass their bosses more often this way.

After all, why is it the manager's responsibility to decide when it is time for you to be excellent? Maybe it's time for your manager to become excellent but maybe the only way they'll ever get there is if they are forced to do it - because they were embarrassed by one of their staff.

I've never seen a manager fire an employee for being excellent - at least none that won the ensuing lawsuit.

Go ahead. Be excellent. I dare you. Because here's the thing: after a while of doing it, excellence becomes the new ordinary for you. Then you are playing in a class all by yourself.
--
Kevin Burns - Excellence Attitude/Culture Strategist
Speaking Web Site http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Finding Your Excellence In A Wasteland of Mediocrity
Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
Follow Kevin on Twitter @attitudeburns
The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel

Good People Doing Good Work

2010-04-11T23:28:00.001-06:00

Good people want to do good work for good wages so that they can have a good life. And managers are responsible for ensuring that these good people know what is expected of them.

Expectations need to be clear. When good people attain those expectations, it's up to management to set the bar just a smidge higher. Once the new expectation has been met, set a new standard.

The problem though is that managers become too busy putting out fires, settling petty disagreements and attending too many meetings to be able to check in regularly, to recognize achievement when it happens (not just once a year) and to make sure that the work they give to good people is challenging enough to engage but not too challenging causing disengagement.

That means a manager needs to manage - every day. Managers need to set their people up to excel - not just be competent.

An Attitude of Excellence is about giving your best, doing your best and being your best. Performance expectations need to be conducted regularly - not just once a year - unless you only open your doors once a year.

The market can change plenty in a year. Are you keeping up?

--
Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist
Speaking Web Site http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Creating An Oasis of Greatness In A Wasteland of Mediocrity
Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
Follow Kevin on Twitter @attitudeburns
The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel

Yellow Ties, Blue Cactus and Snarls

2010-04-08T22:27:00.001-06:00

It's Filter-Free Friday™ again - a day when you turn off the natural inhibitors that prevent you from speaking the truth and start telling people how you really feel. The intent is not to hurt, but to help. Whether it's a business, organization or an individual, today is the day you get to say what is on your mind in an effort to help people make a better effort.

I had supper last night at the Blue Cactus in Ottawa after being referred by friends.

I went to www.bluecactusbarandgrill.com and was able to make my reservation on-line. I picked my exact time and number in our party and received a confirmation email within a few minutes. Then, a half-hour prior to my reservation, I was sent an email reminder of my reservation. Brilliant customer relationship management. (This is simple software that any doctor's office, dentist's office, hair salon or any place that offers appointments could use. It is simple and allows your clients to touch you when they're free - and you don't force them to sit on hold while telling them that their call is very important to you.)

The restaurant decor was outstanding. Neil, our server, was friendly and knew his work. The food, however, was kind of ordinary. Neil brought me a feedback card to get my thoughts - mostly compliments except for the kitchen staff who must not taste their food before it leaves the kitchen - or chef has a very dull palate. Regardless, I gave my opinion, my name, address and phone number. I have nothing to fear. I didn't condemn, nor did I become abusive or hurtful. I simply offered an opinion - an honest opinion - in an effort to help them serve their patrons better.

So, that guy that wears the same soup-stained yellow tie to work every day - he gets a polite suggestion from you that drycleaning might be in order. The clerk that snarls through serving you gets asked if you have done something to offend or irritate them. And today, you say something to the person who always seems to be cheery and helpful - something you have failed to do but never have.

It's Filter-Free Friday™. Speak the truth. Stop being ordinary. Find your Greatness.

--
Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist
Speaking Web Site http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Creating An Oasis of Greatness In A Wasteland of Mediocrity
Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
Follow Kevin on Twitter @attitudeburns
The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel

Just One Warning

2010-04-07T21:51:00.000-06:00

What happens when you turn eighty years old and find yourself alone?

It suddenly dawns on you that you treated people poorly your whole life. And now when you could use a good friend to talk to, a great love to depend on, a grandchild to share joy in, a purpose to awake every morning for and something that could bring joy to others, you find your health failing, your spouse gone, your friends who've left you behind and grandchldren you don't see anymore. You have no purpose but to get out of bed and hope - no, pray - that someone comes by today to share a few words of conversation.

Your only joys are the distant and seldom happy memories of the past and the hope that maybe tomorrow, maybe, someone will want to share a little time with you.

What you do in this very moment can impact your life decades down the road. Be gentle. Be caring. Be the friend you would want to have if it were you. Do something nice for others without the expectation of something in return.

If someone owes you a favor, you probably will never collect. People will never want to share your company out of obligation.

Every action today has a consequence tomorrow. Choose wisely. Life is not a run-through. It is a once-only performance worthy of Greatness.

--
Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist
Speaking Web Site http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Creating An Oasis of Greatness In A Wasteland of Mediocrity
Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
Follow Kevin on Twitter @attitudeburns
The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel

If Only The Same Rules Applied

2010-04-06T22:01:00.001-06:00

Imagine walking into a bar and overhearing a couple of strangers discussing your job performance. Then, your attention is drawn to the TV above the bar where you see a picture of your face with the word, "Under-performing" featured under your portrait.

Dejected, you walk home to find a newspaper laying on your step and the headline reads your name followed by, "Is It Time He Was Fired?"

After a restless night's sleep, morning radio's call-in show is all about you: your lack of production, your below-par performance and your seeming unwillingness to explain why you are overpaid for such sub-standard results.

And to top it all off, just as you find your rhythm in your work day, you are constantly interrupted by small groups of people who stick their heads over your cubicle wall and yell, "YOU SUCK" at the tops of their lungs.

Such is the life of a sports figure. That's an average workday when a public sports figure seems to be under-performing or hitting a dry spell in production.

Maybe the same rules should apply to every person, sports figure or not. Imagine if your performance were under the watchful and judgmental eye of the public.

Maybe the same rules should apply in how we treat sports figures. Perhaps everyone's performance should be open to judgment and public discussion. Maybe then, the half-hearted efforts and "good enough" attitudes would cease to be.
Maybe.
--
Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist
Speaking Web Site http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Creating An Oasis of Greatness In A Wasteland of Mediocrity
Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
Follow Kevin on Twitter @attitudeburns
The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel

A Filter-Free Friday Garden Experience

2010-04-01T16:28:00.000-06:00

We went plant-shopping this week. It seems that the garden store offers free replanting of your chosen plant into a pot of your choosing and then finishes it off with some decorative bark or stones to hold in moisture. It's a nice touch and more than enough people inside the store were willing to fall all over themselves to make our experience exceptional - except the cashiers.

While wrestling with our newly potted plant (almost 3 feet in height) through the cash lane, we inadvertently left our box of plant food on the check-out counter in clear view of the two cashiers - both teen'ish. Since it was a slow time of the day, no one was in line behind us. We pushed our cart across twenty feet of shop floor before we reached the door, continued into the parking lot where we took a few minutes to offload the plant into the truck and secure it. A lot attendant came up and offered to take our cart away, placing a 25 cent piece with us as our cart still had our quarter. We then drove away only to have to return when we realized we left the plant food behind. Back at the store, we found the two cashiers sitting up on the counter beside our box of plant food doing much of nothing.

Walking our forgotten purchase out to us could have been the icing on the cake of an exceptional service day. But sadly, all of the hard work of the rest of the staff was negated in a single "meh" moment (meh - a term indicating apathy or indifference to a situation - used mostly by Gen Y and younger). Still, we are likely to return to shop there again because the rest of the staff were attentive and helpful.

In the meantime, I have sent the store an email outlining my experience as I have told it to you. Why? Because it's Filter-Free Friday™, that's why.

Filter-Free Friday™ is the day you get to turn off the filters that prevent you from speaking up when you feel you could have been served better or when you feel someone needs a round of applause. Today is the day you craft letters or emails of face-to-face communication that tells the truth to a person or a business who you feel needs to hear the truth. Pretend you are being called upon to give evidence at a trial and tell your story without emotion and without blame. Just the facts and perhaps your impression of how the situation could have been better handled. Then, once you have "made the world a better place" (wink), you can rest easy knowing that your concerns and ideas have been heard and that the experience for others that follow will be better.

It's Filter-Free Friday™. So who could stand to hear the truth today?
--
Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist
Speaking Web Site http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Creating An Oasis of Greatness In A Wasteland of Mediocrity
Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
Follow Kevin on Twitter @attitudeburns
The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel

What I Would Offer To University Grads

2010-03-31T17:53:00.001-06:00

I was asked today, what few words of wisdom I would offer to university grads at their graduation ceremonies this year, just before beginning life on their own. Here are three pieces of advice I would offer:

First, today you may be the most educated students of your university, but you are about to become the least educated members of the workforce. Those who you will begin working with have also had their own lifetimes of experience on the job - practical experience. Officially, theory stops today and practical implementation of your knowledge will be augmented with life experience and workplace challenges. Those you will be working with have already done most of what you are about to experience. Seek their counsel and listen carefully. It may save you a great deal of difficulty and disappointment.

Secondly, most university grads will never achieve a 6 or 7 figure paycheck, as much as they think they may deserve one. You are not entitled to a 6-figure paycheck by your graduation. What your diploma entitles you to is to compete with every other graduate who will be seeking the same job as you and want the same promotion as you. You are, however, by your graduation, entitled to continue to learn, to become a valuable member of your workplace and your community, to help those who can't help themselves and to serve people well. You are also entitled to be grateful and thankful for your education, a chance many didn't have or perhaps didn't take. You are entitled to be grateful to your parents who have helped in some way and you are also entitled to be a decent human being when you get out into the real world.

Lastly, you entered university to close the gap between what you knew and what you needed to know. Don't let that strategy be left at the door after today. You spent four years of learning, studying and testing to get to where you are today. The same rules apply in the real world. There will always be a gap between what you know and what you need to know. The only way to close that gap is to do what you have done here: read, learn, study, experiment and pass your tests. The real world that you about to enter, operates on the very same principles.

The truth is, after applying themselves for four or more years to acquire book-knowledge, some will end up believing they have been given their diploma in "knowing everything." They will ignore the wisdom of others and likely end up wallowing in a lifetime of mediocrity. Others, who have open minds, will achieve or experience some degree of greatness.

For those who paid attention to these meager offerings, good luck on your journey.

--
Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist
Speaking Web Site http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Creating An Oasis of Greatness In A Wasteland of Mediocrity
Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
Follow Kevin on Twitter @attitudeburns
The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel

Managers Are Boring Their Staff

2010-03-30T21:19:00.000-06:00

Managers are encouraging the relentless pursuit of mediocrity through repetition, routine and regurgitation that disengages people to treat the work as just a job. Managers who are too focused on following the rules and not enough on encouraging new ideas for new times serving new customers with new products are making it impossible to become organizations of greatness by forcing workers to stick to routines instead of rewarding innovation.

Everything about your business has changed except how you let your people do the work. Innovation is what engages people. Innovation is what gets people excited about coming to work. New things get people to re-focus (think about how happy your people get when they receive a new computer). They love new challenges and new products. Why would you think they wouldn't enjoy a new way of finding solutions to age-old, boring traditions that take too long to accomplish and are, well, they're boring?

Tradition, however, encourages boredom. Repetition encourages boredom. Boredom encourages disengagement. Stop focusing on doing things they way you've always done it. Your new Gen Y hires don't have those same traditions and they don't understand why you're still doing it the old way. Managers who can't relate to their staff also make it hard for them to feel excited about the work.

--
Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist
Speaking Web Site http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Creating An Oasis of Greatness In A Wasteland of Mediocrity
Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
Follow Kevin on Twitter @attitudeburns
The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel

What Has Google Done To Your Business?

2010-03-29T23:06:00.000-06:00

If you want to just hang out and do things the way you have always done them, you're dead. Google has changed the way we do business, the way we deliver, the way we sell and the way we hire our people.

Think about the number of times you've showed up in a store and didn't need a salesperson, just a cashier. By the time most of your customers get to you they already know more about you than you think they might. If you think that not having a web site gives you an advantage in that regard, then you're not getting it. A business without a web site is a business that can't be trusted. If you haven't got a web presence with testimonials and satisfied customers then you can't be trusted - and people won't buy from you because you have no on-line reputation.

Even the new people coming to our workplaces have a different idea about what they need to know and what they don't. Most new young workers won't remember facts and figures because they can access the facts and figures on Google when they need that information. If they don't need it always, they won't remember it.

If you think you're running the same business or organization that you were five years ago, hiring the same kinds of people and delivering the same customer expectations - you are out of touch with your own customer base.

Sure, you can run a business this way but it will always be a middle of the pack performer - mediocre.

Greatness requires visionary thinking and an embracing of change. Whether you like it or not, your customers are changing their buying habits. Are you changing your selling and service habits to match them?
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Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist
Speaking Web Site http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Creating An Oasis of Greatness In A Wasteland of Mediocrity
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It's Filter-Free Friday™

2010-03-26T08:31:00.000-06:00

Several months ago I proposed the notion of a "Filter-Free Friday™" - not a day that you rip the filters off of your smokes and go "cowboy" but a day when you turn off your "I can't say that" filters and you say exactly what is on your mind at work, at home, at the restaurant, standing in line at Starbucks. Basically the notion is that if you can think it, you can say it.

I am starting to see some references of Filter-Free Fridays™ on the Internet these days. The idea is starting to pick up steam so, it being Friday and all, let's remind everyone how Filter-Free Friday™ works.

Filter-Free Friday™ is the day when you stop worrying about what people will think about you and actually say what is on your mind - in a respectful and non-hurtful way.

If your pasta at lunch today is salty, tell your server it's salty - it's not "fine."
If you have putting up with a co-worker's bad body odor for days, today is the day you say something - not in front of others to embarrass the poor soul but pull them aside and make a comment about how others are affected by it and too afraid to say something.
If someone parks poorly encroaching on a second space and you can see them doing it, give them a gentle reminder that they might want to straighten their car a bit so others can use the next space.
If someone gives you exceptional service at Starbucks (or wherever) today, say something to them.
If a co-worker has gone long enough without praise that you think is deserving, say something even if you're not the boss.

You get the idea don't you? Stop saying nothing and start saying something. The purpose behind the idea of Filter-Free Friday™ is to tell the truth in a respectful and non-hurtful way. The purpose is to make bad service better for the next person, to offer hope and encouragement when someone does something right, to turn off the filters that stop us all from accepting ordinary and mediocre when it could have been great and to encourage people to start telling the truth instead of swallowing and internalizing it.

Everyone deserves to receive something better and we can all use a reminder that we could do better. Filter-Free Fridays™ is designed to stamp out the word "fine" as a response to, "how was everything?"

We'll start this little experiment with one day, Friday, and see how it goes from there. Maybe you might get used to doing Filter-Free Fridays™ everyday.
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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture

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Disinfect Workplace Bullies

2010-03-24T23:56:00.000-06:00

In walking through the hospital today, I noticed a janitor sweeping up fallen leaves from some of the large plants in the common area. He was addressing the things that visitors to the hospital could see, not the things they can't see - like those who were sick enough to be admitted to hospital who had touched door handles, arms of chairs, vending machine buttons, elevator buttons and counter-tops. How often do you see janitors wiping down the coffee vending machine with disinfectant spray? How many dirty hands touch the daily-mopped floor versus how many flu-infected hands touch the elevator buttons or touch the arms of a chair in the Emergency room?

Now before you go thinking I'm some sort of weird germophobe, let me explain why I point this out.

Every single business and organization runs like this hospital: they spend an inordinate amount of time on things that might address how they are perceived but little or no effort on things that might affect their customers and clients profoundly. A poorly disinfected waiting room could result in a patient's second trip to Emergency in a few days. But if there's litter on the floor, one might perceive the hospital to be unclean. So you clean what they can see and ignore what they can't.

Think about when an organization offers their people a chance to air their griefs as a team-building exercise - but no one does because the staffer they want to complain about is sitting beside them. What about organizations whose front lobbies are immaculate but their shipping department can't seem to get a delivery done on time to save themselves. Then there are organizations who preach a safe and happy workplace but refuse to reprimand workplace bullies for fear of the employee union.

Management's failure to address a workplace's silent issues is no different than a hospital janitor rarely wiping down bacterial surfaces. Either way, someone will end up not well enough to come into work.

And then you have absenteeism which costs you money; big money. Soon it becomes a lousy place to work because your standards are lax. Your culture suffers and your new-hire candidates become more mediocre. If only you had just wiped the doors more often, enforced the rules and dealt with the bullies, you could have kept your good people.

A germ is a germ. Disinfect it before it makes your whole organization sick.
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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture

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Talent Without Skill Is Nothing

2010-03-23T22:52:00.001-06:00

I'm not comfortable with attending the social events at conferences because: 1) I am at work when I am at a conference, and 2) I'm really not very good at small talk.

As bad as I may be at small talk, my next door neighbor is, hmmm, let's say he's "inept" at making even the slightest conversation. I have no idea what he does for a living because, well, because communication seems almost painful for him and we've never gotten that far in a conversation. (Yes, I know that's small talk. I told you I wasn't very good at it.)

I hope he's not in customer service or sales. My line of work would probably make him catatonic.

Which brings me to this question: are you skilled in all of the areas you need to be for your work? I have heard far too many people say that they have the gift of the gab and that's why they're in sales. The gift of the gab isn't enough - unless you only want to be a mediocre salesperson. No, being "skilled in the sale" is where I would put my money.

Each person has a natural talent for something. But raw talent alone will only ever allow you to achieve mediocrity. Talent alone is seductive - thinking you don't have to work hard because you have talent. It's why too many with real talent only ever achieve mediocrity. But it is putting skill on top of that talent that drives you right into greatness. That means that even if you have talent, you still need to build skill.

Let me explain. Tiger has talent. Ovechkin has talent. Kobe has talent. So what? Without practice, they'd all be just average players.

You may have talent for whatever it is you do. But if you aren't honing your skill everyday, you're wasting your talent. You're as ordinary as every other mediocre "player" like you.

The quote goes: There's no difference between the man who can't read and the one who won't read. In the same way, talent without skill is lazy - a one-way street to the vast wasteland of mediocrity.

Be better than that. Stop being ordinary. Find your greatness.
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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture

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What If You Don't Speak The Language?

2010-03-22T21:44:00.009-06:00

The summer of 2005, I spent 5 weeks in small-town, rural Quebec in a French immersion course learning the language. With my high-school French as a base and a lifetime around my French-speaking relatives, I built my vocabulary quickly. Then there was Jean-Louis, whose house I shared. We would converse each night for at least an hour. In week one, I understood maybe 5% of what he was saying. At the end of week five, I was conversing with 95% accuracy.

But I will never forget that first week where 95% of conversation was over my head.

Starbucks is another place where newbies get all nervous at the counter because they don't speak the language. A "venti, skinny, double-shot, extra-hot, no foam, no whip, caramel macchiato" runs fear through the veins of newbies not wanting to be embarrassed when they order a "medium coffee."

P'shaw. There's no such thing as medium because a tall is a small, a grande means large but is the medium size and a venti is Italian for "twenty" and refers to the 20-ounce sized cup - a large. Then there's the coffee. C'est confusant.

How about sending a courier package? Do you speak "courier?" Did you know that "height X width X depth" divided by 194 will give you the dimensional weight - the billable weight of your package - not the actual weight? And that the formula for calculating brokerage, duty and taxes varies but not based on weight or contents?

Are you speaking your language or the language of the people you serve? Take the time to educate clients in how your industry works. Speak plain language. (IT guys are famous for not getting that one.)

Build your relationships based on clear communication and trust, then you can build on that to bring people up to speed. Organizations and people of greatness make it easy for customers to follow them and they don't embarrass their potential customers or make them afraid to do business with them by using jargon.

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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture

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Being Busy Is Not An Excuse

2010-03-21T22:28:00.000-06:00

Have you ever used the excuse, "it's too busy" as a way of not paying attention to details, taking too long to get back to customers, missing project deadlines or being late for appointments?

Isn't the purpose of being in business ultimately to be busy?

If you can't handle juggling a few balls and still get your project in on time, can't get a meal out in a timely fashion, can't show your client or prospect some respect or show up on time because you're too busy, then I will guess that you won't have to worry about being too busy for long.

If your 100-seat restaurant gets bogged down after 60 chairs are filled, then take out 40 chairs and do a great job for 60 people instead of a lousy job for 100.

If you're leaving yourself ten minutes to get to your next appointment twenty minutes away, then start scheduling in 30 minutes of travel time - but show your customer/prospect that you think they are important enough to be there early.

If you can't seem to handle the details to get the project done on time, then delegate something or admit that you're over your head but don't let your project team grind to halt because you're "too busy.".

At a sporting goods store sale today, one clerk served one customer while 6 others waited for service. The clerk leaned against a stack of boxes while the customer took his time trying on several pairs of shoes - not acknowledging the others who waited. We didn't wait. We left, found a store where the clerk served us promptly, checked us for our walking style, brought out four pairs of shoes, allowed us try each, helped a couple of other customers at the same time and rang us through while we gladly paid a premium for premium service.

What's the point of having a sale to bring in more customers if you can't handle the numbers once they arrive?

Do one thing well. Be outstanding. Be the standard to which your competitors will measure themselves. Don't offer mediocre service (or none at all) and blame being too busy. You may end up solving your own problem of being too busy.
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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture

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Raving About the Continental Breakfast

2010-03-18T12:13:00.008-06:00

The hotel clerk handed me my room key and then a coupon for a free continental breakfast the next morning. The previous three nights I had stayed in a hotel that included a full, hot breakfast buffet of scrambled eggs, sausages, toast, oatmeal, cereals, bagels, etc. After being treated to the hot buffet for breakfast, the continental breakfast seemed like a cheap, half-hearted effort.

There was a time when a free continental breakfast was fashionable. Now, customers expect their hotels to make a fuss over them. A continental breakfast seems like the very least a hotel could do.

In fact, here's where the market is going and what other hotels are doing:

The Hyatt Gainey Ranch in Scottsdale, Arizona offers guests a margarita upon check-in.
The Gansevoort in New York and Turks and Caicos offer guests a Sony Reader Digital Book for the length of their stay.
Opus Montreal offers guests Xboxes and PlayStation in their room because packing these can be a pain.
The Zetter in London boasts an interactive guide to local restaurants, bars, clubs and more - all through the room TV - as well as 4,000 music tracks.
The Crescent in Beverley Hills leaves a loaner iPod in every room loaded with music.
Seven hotel in Bangkok lends you a mobile phone preloaded with all contact info for recommended restaurants and bars in the city.
Doubletree still offers a hot cookie upon check-in (a little thing but a deliciously nice touch).
Hotel Palomar in Dallas will offer you a goldfish in a bowl as a companion for your stay.
Toronto’s Hazelton Hotel offers a pillow menu including the Therapeutic Siesta Body Pillow and the Snore No More Pillow.
The Esperanza in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, will place a painting or sculpture of your choice from the hotel’s collection in your room upon request.
At the Four Seasons Hotel Washington, you'll get the loan of a Kindle, featuring 80 different newspapers from 15 countries at the breakfast table.
The Whatever/Whenever service at W Hotels around the world includes free services like staff running errands to get your favorite perfume or foreign newspaper.

So how is that continental breakfast tasting right now? Doing the bare minimum is not how an organization achieves greatness. What was once a nice perk years ago is well below ordinary now. I mean honestly, would you rave to your friends about the continental breakfast? What is your organization doing to add value? How are you separating yourself from being ordinary and mediocre? Become the standard that everyone else follows. Find your greatness.
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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture

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"Ordinary" Is Never A Favorite

2010-03-18T00:00:00.001-06:00

Do you have a favorite? A favorite restaurant, favorite food, favorite drink, favorite TV show or favorite sports team? How about a favorite make of car, vacation spot, airline, hotel or coffee shop? Do you have a favorite friend, co-worker or boss?

Everyone has a favorite something. Some parents even have a favorite child - even though the right answer is "I love all of you equally."

But now here's the interesting question: are you anyone else's favorite? Are you the coffee shop's favorite customer? Are you your doctor's favorite patient? Are you your waitress's favorite customer? How about at work? Are you your boss's favorite employee or your customers' favorite representative?

If you're not a favorite, you'll never achieve great success. It just can't be done. You can't rise to the top in people's minds by sitting in the middle of the pack. The middle of the pack is for the mediocre.

Are you OK sliding through life just being ordinary? No one picks "ordinary" as their favorite. You find life changes when you stop being ordinary and start finding your Greatness. Greatness is where you find your favorites.

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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture

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Would You Still Do It?

2010-03-16T22:56:00.001-06:00

If your customers couldn't tell the difference between a sauce of Mushroom Cream Reduction and Campell's Cream of Mushroom soup, would you still do it?

If your clients couldn't tell the difference between Starbucks and Folgers while they waited in your lobby, would you still do it?

If your customers couldn't tell the difference between 128-bit and 32-bit encryption when processing their transactions on-line, would you still do it?

If your boss couldn't tell the difference between you giving 100 percent and 60 percent effort, would you still give 100 percent?

If the rest of the volunteer committee you sit on couldn't tell the difference between you giving the project your full attention or giving the project lip-service, would you continue to accept the accolades for a job well-done?

What you do when no one is looking is what separates mediocrity from greatness.
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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture

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How To Make $5.50 At Lunch

2010-03-15T22:02:00.001-06:00

Sitting in an average franchise restaurant, I ordered the Southwest Chicken Sandwich with tossed salad. After I finished lunch, the waiter, who had not visited the table since he delivered the meal, asked, "How was the sandwich?"

"It was OK," I replied. It was an apt description of an average meal.

"That's it?" he asked. "Just OK?"

"Just OK," was my reply. It was nothing more than I had expected and I didn't expect a lot - just an average sandwich in an average restaurant.

I explained that I really didn't understand the brown gravy on a sandwich when I was informed that it was a peppercorn sauce - apparently without peppercorns (in hindsight, I probably couldn't taste the peppercorns because of the overpowering vinegar in the pickled banana peppers). All in all, pretty average.

When I was presented with the bill, our waiter had discounted the meal by $5.50 for telling the truth.

So, are you over-paying for your average meal by untruthfully answering "fine" when you're asked how your meal was?

Answering "fine" instead of telling the truth is costing you $550.00 per year in extra charges (based on eating out twice a week for 50 weeks). And your restaurant is still making average sandwiches because you're afraid you'll hurt their feelings.

Stop being a pushover customer. It's costing you money and you're not inspiring the restaurant to perform better.
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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture

Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
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