The Three Laws of Performance

I recently finished reading “The Three Laws of Performance,” by Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan, and although I have read many books on leadership, this book, and this approach, is different.

In The Three Laws of Performance the focus shifts from trying to fix problems, as has been the traditional approach in business and in life, to a focus on transforming companies, and in so doing, increase performance results to heights never before seen in your company, and in your life.

There are a number of excellent examples of companies that have been transformed by using The Three Laws of Performance in the book, which has also received endorsements by several world leaders as a result of what they have been able to accomplish in company towns.

In a couple of exceptional and powerful examples in the book, companies took on the challenge of changing an entire community, given the manner in which the company was the community and vice versa. Using The Three Laws of Performance communities with diametrically opposed cultures have found a way of shaping a new and powerful future, where none existed in the past.

Steve Zaffron & Dave Logan have found a way of correlating their Three Laws of Performance into three core leadership attributes that are both simple and complex, but they require courage to implement.

The Three Laws of Performance and the Leadership Corollaries are:

The First Law of Performance:

- How people perform correlates to how situations occur to them.

Leadership Corollary 1:

- Leaders have a say, and give others a say, in how situations occur.

Second Law of Performance:

- How a situation occurs arises in language.

Leadership Corollary 2:

- Leaders master the conversational environment.

Third Law of Performance:

- Future-based language transforms how situations occur to people.

Leadership Corollary 3:

- Leaders listen for the future of their organization.

Obviously, it’s not enough for me to merely point out these laws of performance and their corresponding leadership traits, and I know, even in writing this, that I have fallen far short of my objective of inspiring you to want to read this book.

So, I’m encouraging you, challenging you, to go beyond my writing in this instance and read the book, if you want to be a part of a truly exceptional and successful business, and life for that matter.

Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan have helped to successfully transform many companies that found themselves “stuck” in a rut of mediocre performance, and you can do the same.

Isn’t that prospect worth $20.00 or $30.00 at Barnes & Noble?

Fire & Life Safety - Priority #1

I had a “reminder” pop up on my Outlook the other day; to remind me that it was time that we conduct another fire drill.

As it happened, I’m no longer attached to that Hotel project but the reminder served to remind me of the importance of a full fire and emergency plan, AND, that you conduct regular, spontaneous fire drills in your Hotel.

It’s always been my practice, as soon as I join a new Hotel, to get my hands on the Fire & Emergency Plan, AND, to find out what is being done to ensure that life safety is a top priority within the property.

I have frequently been shocked at the response that I have gotten and even more shocked by the lack of ongoing training and drills held for employees, and as I stated immediately above, I believe it is all the more valuable to conduct spontaneous drills.

Obviously, guests and participants in meetings need to be advised, or, if you are fortunate enough to have a gap in meetings that coincides with the need to drill, that is even better. The less people you have to take into your confidence the better.

I would contact the local Fire Department and our alarm monitoring company that morning, let them know exactly at what time I was going to pull the alarm, and promise to call them as soon as the drill was completed.

I would also take a handful of Managers without “assigned duties” in the event of an alarm and ask them to position themselves in key areas, moments before I pulled the alarm, and then be prepared to provide feedback afterwards.

Then I would go off somewhere in the building and pull a pull station, or, create smoke under a smoke alarm, and wait for the emergency response team to arrive on scene.

Not always, but sometimes, when the emergency response team arrived, I would create a scenario, such as; “there is smoke seeping out from under that guestroom door, what are you going to do now?”

Also on occasion, when they opened that guestroom door, I would have someone laying face down on the floor five or six feet in the room, then let the emergency response team know that the room is filled with smoke, there appears to be someone whose feet you can just see ahead. What now?

I’m sure you can guess that some people did not like my drills very much, but I can also tell you, in my Hotels, fire and life safety really was a top priority, always.

Is it a priority where you are?

Grooming Policies (How many piercings is too many?)

Hotels are the last bastion for conservative grooming policies although I have seen many traditionally conservative Hotel companies become more flexible over time.

I have to admit that although most people, (okay, probably everyone I know), would describe me as fairly conservative as well, I too have become more “open” to relaxing some of the grooming policies that I once held sacred.

I’ve always had a policy of meeting every single applicant during the interview process. Not that I didn’t trust my department managers, but rather that I liked to meet everyone that was potentially going to work at the Hotel.

I felt that it was important that every team member know the General Manager, and hopefully, got a sense of me during our conversation, as much as I hoped to get a sense of them.

I also liked to be that last opportunity to judge their service ethic, see whether they exuded that sense of service that you look for in every employee.

On one occasion, I found myself travelling quite a bit and we were in need of a house person. The need was quite immediate and I got a call from a relatively new Director of Human Resources asking if we could bend the rule on this occasion to help out the Housekeeping team.

She advised me that in my absence, the Director of Operations had met the candidate, as had the others you would expect, and references were excellent, etc...

We agreed to move ahead and also agreed that I would meet this candidate, to fulfill the other part of my personal mandate, upon my return.

I returned a week or so later, inquired if the young man was on duty, and once confirmed that he was, I asked what section he could be found so I could go and add my welcome.

Imagine my surprise when I approached the young man, who upon hearing me, turned his head to expose his pony tail dangling from the back of his head like a shampoo model.

I contained my shock and then went to find the Director of Human Resources and asked her what the @#%$ she thought she was doing hiring someone with a pony tail?

The answer?

Apparently, at her last Hotel, with another Hotel company, pony tails were acceptable, and she had “assumed” that our grooming policy was as liberal and understanding.

And that, is how pony tails became acceptable in that Hotel company. Precedent was now set and the clock could not be turned back. With one flick of his pony tail our company grooming policy was changed.

That said, I have to say that he was a very tidy, polite, well-mannered, well groomed young man and he quickly established himself as one of our best employees.

And I came to realize that the world had not come to an end, although an era certainly had.

What about you? What’s your tolerance for longer hair, piercings, tattoos, and the like on hospitality employees? Where do you draw the line with what’s acceptable?

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In Search of Service – The Rule of 10 & 5

People are always trying to overcomplicate service, and the end result is often that staff are so confused about the 10 or more “minimum standards” that they are supposed to be using at every guest interaction that their service seems rehearsed.

For example, I used to love it when an employee responded to a guest inquiry with an “it’s my pleasure.” And I could be wrong, but I believe that Ritz Carlton were the first to use it as a standard response for their team members.

Now, everyone is saying it, at most every Hotel company, so you have to ask yourself, is it really their pleasure? Of course not, and as a result of its over-use, it no longer has much of an impact on me at all, except when I can tell it is voiced by someone who truly embodies the service culture that we all strive to create.

I would like to see more companies focus on the basics, first, and do them well, CONSISTENTLY.

Take the 10 and 5 rule, remember that one?

When a guest comes within ten (10) feet of a team member(s), the team member(s) should cease their conversation to acknowledge the approaching guest by making eye contact. At approximately five (5) feet team members should acknowledge the guest(s) with a warm greeting, whenever appropriate.

When is the last time a Hotel company spent any time on this during their new team members’ orientation?

I don’t know about you, but at the end of the day, I still want to feel welcome when I stay at a Hotel, and valued as a customer, not looked down upon by staff members who appear disgruntled by the fact that you have interrupted their discussion of what they did on their days off, to ask for their assistance or directions.

A Hotel is supposed to be a home away from home, an oasis, in the middle of the concrete jungle.

In my home, I make people feel welcome, I acknowledge them when they enter a room, I approach them, rather than waiting to be approached, I use their name, and I let them know that I appreciate them coming to visit.

Isn’t that what it’s all about?

Isn’t that what makes people want to come back, again and again?

Nobody sits around their dining room table talking about how much they want to go back and visit their surly Uncle Frank.

It’s all about the basics, do those well, and then you can dazzle me with all of your other special attributes designed to make me want to stay at your Hotel, but if I don’t feel welcome, I won’t be back. 

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Don’t Burn Those Bridges – Not Even By Accident

How many of you can remember, early on in your life, or certainly in your career, where someone cautioned you by telling you; “be careful not to burn your bridges.”

And I’ll go you one further, which is to say, and that I have written about before, is that I believe that at least in our business, “it’s all about relationships.”

And yet, how many of you recognize this situation?

You need something, from a client, a supplier, a peer, someone in your company, it doesn’t really matter who. What matters is that you need a response, you need some information, and you need it from them.

You have emailed, now more than once, and you have had no response. You have called, now also more than once, but in both cases you did not reach the person, so you left them a voice mail, and still you have had no response.

Days have passed, maybe even a week or more, and you still have had no response, nor any indication that they are away, and in fact you may know very well that they are not away.

So what conclusion are we to draw from this scenario?

Well, I don’t know about you, but I draw several possible conclusions or opinions in from this situation.

1) They think that their time is more important than mine, or, their challenges are of a higher priority than mine, in spite of the fact that they may not even fully know what I need/want from them.

2) This is how they run their business, or their division, etc., as may be the case. And this is a particularly dangerous one as it can cost you business. I can tell you, in some instances, it has cost them my business.

Regardless, it does not paint a positive picture, it does not demonstrate a value for our relationship, and it certainly does not demonstrate that you value my business.

Bottom line, whether you intended it or not, that bridge of ours has just gone up in flames, so don’t be surprised when a business relationship sours after you have treated someone this way. They may be standing at the other side of that burnt bridge, and they may not be willing to join you in the re-building process.

Make timely communication a priority for yourself, then lead by example, and set minimum standards in your company for communication responses. Mine, have always been 24 hours. EVERY phone call, email, letter gets a response within 24 hours of being received, without exception.  

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Great Leaders - Common Traits

I consider myself a “student of leadership,” which is my way of recognizing that leadership is a journey and that we must always be expanding our ongoing education in leadership.

Being a better leader and having a richer life is an ongoing search, for the rest of our lives.

That’s why I love reading as much as I can on the subject. I’m fascinated by the stories provided by some of history’s greatest leaders.

There is so much that we can learn from the great leaders that have preceded us, and, from the experiences that shape us as we move forward in pursuit of becoming great leaders, and leaving our mark on the world. We must never stop learning.

There is a common trait that I have found among many of these great people.

Leaders see the world through the eyes of others, they recognize that it isn’t about them, and that the more you take self-interest out of the picture and instead do for others, the more you end up benefiting your own interests, in both the short and long term.

Great leaders inspire others with their passionate commitment to what they believe in. They love what they’re doing, and they’re doing what they love.

A good leadership story has the power to engage hearts and minds. It has these elements:

- Draws on your own past and lessons learned along the way.

- Engages the audience through emotional connection because of its relevance to them.

- Inspires others because it is fuelled by your passion.

- Displays the struggle between your goals and the obstacles you faced in achieving your goals.

- Illustrates with vivid examples.

- Teaches an important lesson.

Our actions, as leaders, can, and indeed must, serve a larger purpose – a societal good that moves us all forward. 

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Succession Planning - Are You Ready for Change?

I recently read an interesting article in the Globe & Mail, that got me thinking about succession planning, and more specifically, how few companies really have a clear succession plan in place. Do you?

It is surprising to me, after all these years, to still run into people in our industry who tell horror stories of how challenged they are by a recent departure at the Executive or Department Head level.

The crux of the story is usually centred around the fact that some man or woman has given their notice, or perhaps been terminated, and as a result, people have suddenly realized that not only do they not have a successor in mind to quickly fill the void, they don’t know half of what this person was actually doing on a day-to-day basis.

Then, in a state of panic, with a dash of denial tossed in, they ask the departing Manager to show some underling about his or her job before they leave, in the hope that if this person shows someone else what he or she does on a day-to-day basis, it may not be necessary for the Division Head to have to roll up his or her sleeves and pick up the slack.

This process never ends well, as ultimately, the assigned underling ends up covering the departing Manager’s job for anywhere from days to months, during which time the job is posted within the company, and for some inexplicable reason, HR and/or the GM are surprised when the underling applies to permanently fill the vacancy.

What did you expect? He/she has been doing the job, or so they think, for the last several months, and usually not having heard anything to the contrary, they believe they are doing an excellent job. They don’t know if there are other duties that would normally be covered by the Manager, that they may not be doing, or, any other particulars about the job, specifically.

Why? Because no one has told them. They were just happy that the main job duties were being covered, and no one else more senior had to pick up the slack.

What can you do to avoid this problem?

Ensure that you have a detailed succession plan in place, that covers all of your Managers and Executive level positions, and then, don’t write it and put it on a shelf never to be looked at again, until that fateful day.

Review it, as a Leadership Team, not less than quarterly, and, make it a priority with all of the Managers, tied to their annual performance review, which is presumably tied to their annual goals.

Have one specific goal that requires EVERY Manager to be actively identifying and then training their successor.

This will ensure that it is a priority.

I would also suggest that there is value in identifying core training that you want ALL of these potential successors to receive PRIOR to any advancement. I have seen far too many Managers either over-promoted, or, put into positions without the proper foundation to ensure their success.

This is your business, don’t you want to know that it is always being managed in a consistent manner to ensure that you do not suffer the consequences of an unexpected departure. Be prepared.

Remember, people don't plan to fail, but they do fail to plan.