I was a volunteer ski patroller for a number of years. We usually patrolled in a team of two.
One morning, Grandpa Willis and I teamed up for the day. Grandpa Willis wasn’t my grandpa or my kid’s grandpa, but he was a wonderfully, kind, and wise man who my kids called Grandpa Willis.
It had snowed about 12 inches of Cascade Crude overnight. That thick wet snow that makes skiing a real chore. I was, and am, a darned good skier, but I was having a heck of a time that morning. As we stopped on the hill, I told Willis, “I’m having a heck of a time in this crude.” Willis replied, “Ya, I just can’t get forward in this stuff.”
I thought, “Ya, I need to stay forward too,” and off I went, staying forward and skiing better. A minute or two later I thought, “Look at him. He’s not having any trouble skiing in this crude at all. That was just his, very nice, way of telling me to get forward.”
If I had seen someone skiing like me, I’m sure I would have said, “You need to stay forward in the crap or it will eat you up.”
I’ve used Willis’ wonderful teaching technique many times over the years and think of him often.
Another similar technique is giving people the time, and maybe a nudge, to come up with great ideas for themselves rather than forcing implementation. This is really effective in your Personal Development Interviews.
Here’s an example. Johnny The Bagger is a story from the book, The Simple Truths of Service written by Ken Blanchard & Barbara Glanz. Johnny is an autistic bagger at a grocery store who changes the entire culture of the store.
I introduced Johnny to our entire team here at American Retail Supply by giving each person their own copy of the book and asking them to read it on company time.
Now, I could have then had a company meeting after they read the book and asked each team member to come up with ideas to be Johnny. I’m sure it would have been valuable.
But I thought it would be more valuable if I just gave them the book and let them do what they wanted. Shortly, I had a number of people tell me about what they were going to do to be Johnny.
I’m guessing that by them coming up with what they were going to do, it had far more impact on them than me telling them to come up with something.
Now it’s time to combine this teaching idea with “Atta Boys”. See Secret #32 in The Happy Customer Handbook. When someone shares what they are doing to become “Johnny” share it with your entire team and watch other “Johnnys” appear.
You can get my hardcopy book (not an e-book), The Happy Customer Handbook, 59 Secrets to Creating Happy Customers Who Come Back Time and Time Again and Enthusiastically Tell Others About You at www.TheHappyCustomerHandbook.com. Your cost is $2.97 and that includes shipping and handling.