Be the light that others follow.

The other evening while at a school function with my son, I chatted with a gentleman named Richard who ran the audio-visual department for the district. I had a great time talking with this guy.

Richard told me he received a B.A. in Engineering in 1963. He worked on mainframe computers and eventually learned to service all sorts of technology ranging from cars to overhead projectors. Eventually he found his niche in graphics, and he returned for his M.S. degree in Graphic Design in 1997.

I asked him a question that I’ve asked people in jobs ranging from ice cream scooper to CEO: “What’s the best part of your job?”

Richard told me that last year he set up the school districts’ new computers and LED projectors in such a way that the manufacturers from Japan came out to study what he did so they could offer that configuration to other customers.

“It felt good to hold court with 7 senior product engineers from Japan and teach them something about their product that they never imagined,” he told me. “And my boss let me spend a whole day showing them around the district. That made me feel pretty good.”

I joked, “Did the engineers give you a good tip?”

“Nah,” Richard dismissed with a wave of his hand. “At my age, it just feels good to be appreciated.”

You know you are the right kind of leader when others glow in your presence!

Guess what? Appreciation feels good AT ANY AGE.

I didn’t have to twist Richard’s arm to get him talking about his position or his area of expertise. Why? The appreciation Richard received at work–and the interest I took in him–increased his engagement. He couldn’t NOT talk about work, his role, and his school. And as an added bonus, Richard really liked me. How do I know? He gave me inside secrets like which seat in the room offered the best vantage point for seeing and taking pictures, and where I could find a computer down the hall for checking email.

Why did Richard seem to give more/care more than any other district 203 employee I met that same night? Maybe it’s because Richard felt appreciated at work. give me such great attention? Why was Richard so nice and helpful to me? Maybe it’s because I expressed interest in him first. 

If you want to create a whole new level of engagement with those around you, find the thing that each one is really good at. And then demonstrate appreciation by expressing interest, thanks, awe, praise, or attention. It’s simple, free, and ignites the passion in others. And as an added bonus, when you express interest in others, you become the light. They will follow you around as if you were the Sun, and they shining plants in your garden.

Start you week off right: Shine your light on someone today!

It's MORE THAN OKAY to stand out from the crowd!

I recently used a car service to get to the airport, and from the moment the car arrived I noticed that something felt different. The driver jumped out, greeted me by name, and took my bags, asking if I wanted them stored in the trunk or the car with me. Then, the driver opened the car door for me and stood back patiently while I hugged my family goodbye. I immediately noticed that the air inside the car lacked the faint smell of alcohol-induced puke that many city cabs acquire, and when I sat back, I caught a hint of clean, fresh air. The floor beneath my feet didn’t squish or crunch, and I consider that a bonus. The driver had thoughtfully moved the front passenger seat all the way to the front in anticipation that I might have legs and wish something called leg room. Finally, he offered me a crisp copy of the Wall Street Journal to read, and he pointed to a series of plugs that I could use to charge my laptop and phone.

What impressed me had nothing to do with the concept of taking a taxi to the airport or the vehicle itself; I was impressed with the driver, a young man named Justin.

My expectations were exceeded. And I said so. Justin* said something like this:

“I pretend that this car is my car, and my company. Then I try to think of all of the things that I like when I’m a passenger, and I try to do that for each customer.”

Don’t just train your employees to deliver cookie-cutter products, because product consistency is not enough to drive customer loyalty.

For example, on my last visit to a popular sandwich shop chain, I got an identical sandwich to one I’ve eaten in every state in the country: same product, same ingredients, same taste, same wrapper. But on this occasion, the sandwich maker named Tammy never established eye contact with me, she mumbled when she spoke, and then she asked me to repeat every word I said several times while chiding me with —

“What? You gotta speak up.”

The food is awful, but at least the waiter is rude...

Tammy’s sandwich met my expectations, but her personality left a lasting and negative impression on me. Tammy acted like she rented her job, and she didn’t care if I ever did business with her–or her large chain–again. I won’t return to that outlet store. And if I receive similarly poor personal service from that chain in the future, I will eat at a new sandwich shop.

Require more from yourself and your employees. Find ways to deliver personable, customized service that makes customers want to spread this word: WOW! Charge your employees to deliver special, unique ways to engage customers and create positive memories, like Justin did when he drove me to the airport. He not only met my expectations of getting me to the airport safely and on time, but he also added personal, special touches that will make me do business with him again–and his company–when I return to Chicago.

Act as if you own the company, and then ask yourself these two questions:

• How am I providing service that creates lasting and positive experiences for my customers so they will come back over and over again?
• How am I empowering my employees so that they can do the same thing?

*If you need a lift to or from a Chicago airport, book a ride from Justin T. with AAA Express by calling 630 355 4411.

Now where can I get me some of that?

You don’t need an advanced degree to know that financially well-off people have the means to buy top-notch creature comforts and the best quality health care along with luxuries like second homes, sexy sports’ cars, and plastic surgery (should nature not endow them with perfect features). But can money buy happiness? We who are not wealthy take comfort in the saying, “Money can’t buy you happiness” because it assures us that we aren’t missing out on something just because we weren’t born into a trust-fund family.

But unfortunately, that saying is as lie. The truth is that MONEY CAN, INDEED, BUY YOU HAPPINESS. But what you spend your money on determines if you end up with short-term excitement, or lasting, long-term happiness.

Associate professor of psychology at Canada’s University of British Columbia, Elizabeth W. Dunn found little research on the correlation between money and happiness, so she began conducting some of her own studies. She and other researchers came to some very interesting conclusions that might shine a light on how the size your wealth relates to the state of your happiness.

1. Buy fewer things but more experiences. You might think that putting in that backyard swimming pool will bring you happiness. Sadly, that happiness rarely lasts. Why? Once the pool is in, you find that it’s not enough. You now need new outdoor furniture, pool toys, lights, pool covers, a security fence, etc. Then you need to have the pool maintained and cleaned. And once it’s “perfect”, most people move on to the next big project instead of savoring the joy of the current one. Toys provides short-term excitement, but not happiness. Research says that happiness increases when you invest in experiences. Instead of spending on toys, spend on travel. Rather than buying a Picasso to hang on your wall, learn to paint. Don’t focus so much on the $200 bottle of wine at the expense of missing out on the mountain view or something as sensational and free as a kaleidoscopic sunset. If you want to spend money on a gift for yourself, spend it on a gift that keeps on giving. In other words, don’t expect to experience happiness in things that are readily held, consumed, and gone.

What do you get when you combine your new car with your new pool? More misery.

2. Spend money on others, not yourself. Dunn’s team did an experiment with college students whereby she gave them cash ranging from $5-20 and asked them to spend it by the end of the day. These were college kids. It makes sense that they would spend that money on college-critical supplies like cigarettes and beer, right? Turns out, the students who spent their money on themselves experienced less happiness than those who spend the cash on someone else. Why is that? According to Dunn, “Almost anything we do to improve our connections with others tends to improve our happiness as well, and that includes spending money.” If you want to infuse some happiness into your day, drop some money in a Salvation Army kettle, give a donation to a local homeless, women’s, or animal shelter, or take a friend with you to the museum. Those who give of their time and money reap happiness, and the more you spread it around, the further it goes. That’s why former heads of state like Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, corporate titans like Bill Gates, and Hollywood celebrities like Matt Damon and Sean Penn spend so much time doing charitable work. Yes, certainly, their work helps others. But their giving makes then happier, too!

3. Consider the real cost before you spend your money. Years ago my cousin showed me his brand new Jaguar convertible. He pointed to the place where the cars’ iconic hood ornament had been removed. “You don’t want to know how much that little metal jaguar is going to cost to replace!” He explained to me that the actual cost of the car isn’t very high. But he told me between insurance, maintenance, and repairs, you need to figure spending about 1/4 of the cost of the car each year just to keep it going! People do this all of the time. They romanticize the benefits and minimize the true costs when they plan to make a purchase. That quiet home in the country sounds romantic, for example. But the reality is that most people don’t consider the social isolation, the bugs, the inconvenient commute to work, school, shopping, etc. And rarely do people account for the loss of access to city life, like nice restaurants, cultural and sporting events, etc. Dunn suggests that you do a realistic pro’s and con’s list before you open your checkbook in a pursuit of happiness. What does this have to do with buying happiness? Misery avoided is happiness gained!

So how are you going to buy some happiness today?

This would be funny if it weren't true.

Do you remember the “cold war” concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (M.A.D.)? Essentially, this military strategy suggests that when two enemies point weapons of mass destruction of such high-yield and volume at each other, it creates a natural deterrent to pushing the LAUNCH button. If either side were to attack, the other would launch an immediate counter-attack which would result in the complete, utter and irrevocable annihilation of both the attacker and the defender. Lose-lose.

Since the “cold war” is over, I want to make this concept more personal and relevant to you. So I want you to imagine that you and your significant other were to enter into an agreement to cut each others’ hair every three weeks. Now let me ask you a few questions:

• Assuming that most people could develop some level of hair-cutting talent, how would your hair look right now?
• Thinking about your relationship with your significant other at this very moment in time, would you want him or her to pick up the scissors and start cutting your hair?
• Do you think you might tend to act a little sweeter, a little kinder, as the hour of your haircut approached?

The Moral: Be nice to those who have the power to make you look good or make you look bad.

Let me relate this to leadership. Imagine if you were to enter into a relationship with your employees at work by which employees would interact with their customers with the same level of enthusiasm, passion, and engagement that you gave to your employees. Now let me ask you a few questions based on that:

• What kind of service would your customers receive?
• If the CEO of your company were on Undercover Boss working alongside your employees, would you be proud?
• Do you think you might tend to be a little more engaging with your employees if you were conscious that they could make or break you?

The Moral: Engage those who have the power to make you look good or make you look bad.

According to Gallup, disengaged employees cost US companies $350 billion each year. In other words, how you engage your employees matters to your business, because how you engage your employees will either…

• Increases or decreases your costs
• Increases or decreases your productivity
• Increases or decreases your quality

And if you’re in the business of customer service (and every business is in the business of customer service), keep this in mind: How you treat your employees will directly increase or decrease customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

The Tip: Today, wrap your head around this one simple mantra—I will treat my employees like I want my employees to treat our customers.

Something from the dumpster? Or one-of-a-kind art?

Years ago I ate at a restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I saw a giant cork board made from a scrap of wood and wine corks. The wood was rough, and the corks were just the typical variety that came out of bottles they opened at the bar; but when an artist combined those worthless elements together, they formed an intricate, one-of-a-kind piece of art on par with a quilt or a piece of stained glass.

The French have a word bricolage, which loosely means to make creative and resourceful use of whatever materials are at hand (regardless of their original purpose). In English, we might use the phrase “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” to describe a similar concept. The essence of bricolage is to convert something of little value to something unique and priceless.

Smart leaders realize that all of their employees have value, even the ones whose value might be a harder to spot.

My friend, Terry, managed a team of customer service representatives for a hotel chain. All of his employees were successful to varying degrees at performing their jobs. However, the nature of the job changed quite suddenly. Over night, the job went from providing customers with knowledgeable, personable service to requiring service reps to act as sales agents required to “upsell” every caller to purchase more expensive goods or services.

Terry told me that some of his best reps struggled to make the change. It seemed to Terry that the reps who were the most knowledgeable, friendly, and personable with customers–in other words, the ones who knew how to build loyal customers–were the worst at selling. His most experienced reps couldn’t hit their sales numbers. After all reps were given training on the new policies and performance standards, they were told that they had four weeks to reach their sales quotes, or they would be out of a job.

Terry related to the customer service representatives who excelled at one part of the job but struggled at another. Terry was great at strategic thinking, win-win problem solving, and creating loyal employees; however, Terry struggled with delivering bad new like telling people that they didn’t cut it.

So Terry harnessed his own strengths when he met with his boss. Terry told his boss that the very thing that his employees were bad at doing should be viewed as their best selling point, one that they could use to add value.

“What if I repurpose our poorest performing sales reps to create a concierge service program offered to our top guests of this hotel chain? These A-list customer service reps will exist to offer a level of service that rivals any 5-Star hotel,” Terry promised.

Perfect AS IS! Let him be unique. Use his gifts.

This concept later evolved into the Starwood Preferred Guest program of the Westin family of hotels.

Leader, look around you. See that employee who has a hard time sitting still because she’s busy talking to her coworkers? She is a natural leader, and people listen to her. Don’t view her as broken; view her as bricolage, possessing traits and skills you can harness to accomplish some great things. How about that guy who works alone doing research all day? You want him to be a team player, I know. But how about you let him conduct research that he shares with the team? He can do what he does best while helping you and the team succeed. Don’t view him as a caveman; view him as a creative who offers you and your team a competitive advantage.

Some of your worst employees are perfect just the way they are. They might look like a scrap of rotten wood or a old wine cork. Be an artist. See their beautiful potential. You need them and can use them to get uncommonly good results.

We all have different strengths. Encourage it! Where average leaders cry for uniform standards, great leaders make room for unique specialists! Which of your employees do you need to re-evaluate and tap into today?