Energized Employees Power Profits – Embracing a Culture of Learning from Mistakes – “Engineering Projects – When Things Go Horribly Wrong”

Dave Hill - Empowering Employees and Leaders

Back in July 2000, my wife and I decided to build a large wooden fort in our back garden for our young kids. The cost of a fort “kit” was well over $1300, which was well beyond our means. As a frugal Irishman I would never be able to convince myself to spend that kind of money anyway. The next best thing was to do some reverse engineering and build it ourselves. It would be a great weekend project. On the way home from work each day, I would pass a store that sold garden forts, and they had a beautiful fully assembled one in the front parking lot as a display. Every day for about a month I would stop for about 10 minutes, pretending to check it out, and then covertly take out my tape measure and measure up a few parts and enter them with diagrams into a small note book. The reverse- engineered plagiarized design started to come together slowly but surely, and soon we were ready to buy the materials.

We arrived at the local hardware store in our old Ford Escort station wagon to choose the best pieces of wood from the lumber section and bring them home. By the time the wood was loaded in the car, it was weighed down to a level where the exhaust pipe was nearly scraping the ground. There were big sheets of plywood and a plastic slide tied with rope to the roof, and the 4 x 4 pieces of wood were stacked thickly in the body of the station wagon. We drove home carefully, making sure we did not lose any of our precious cargo. When we arrived home, our young kids were elated with the thought of having a wooden play fort. This was going to be a great weekend….or was it?

That weekend there were noises of bits of wood being cut, nails being hammered, and the grunts and groans of hundreds of screws being inserted into the structure. Bit by bit it started to take shape. At some stage during the assembly, I discovered that I had miscounted the amount of 4 x 4’s I needed for the frame. Since I was in the middle of assembling, I asked my wife to go back to the hardware store and get a 10 ft. length.

The total cost of this play fort was going to come in under $300, and we were having a fine time “barn-raising” as a family, putting it together. It is always a good day when you can apply your engineering skills to some home projects and get to stand back and admire the workmanship and revel in the cost savings.

Then came the bad news; my wife arrived home with the piece of wood inside the car and I could see that she was somewhat upset. She looked at me and said, “I have good news and bad news”. “What’s the good news?” I asked”. “I found a really great piece of 4 x4”. “What’s the bad news then?” She smiled sheepishly and said, “I managed to fit a 10 ft. piece of wood into an 8 ft. long car.” She then showed me that she had pushed the piece of wood all the way into the car so she could get the hatch door closed. Unfortunately, the last push had also caused the piece of wood to hit the front windshield causing it to pop out and break. The cost of the fort was due to be about $300, the cost of the additional piece of wood was $25, and the cost of a new windshield was about $200. The new cost of the fort was now $525!

The fort was finally finished on the Sunday evening. My wife put the finishing touches to it by painting vines on the sides using the light of a lamp she had brought from the living room. Immediately there were shrieks of joy from our kids as they climbed, chased each other, and slid down the slide. The negativity of the broken windshield became a nuisance of the past, and I put the memory in my story file to use at a later date.

As an engineer of nearly 30 years, I have made my fair share of mistakes while doing projects. I have been lucky that I have nearly always been surrounded by positive, uplifting people and have grown to learn that mistakes are normal and part of gaining experience, but most importantly, they are things you get over and sometimes you even get to laugh at them. I have been at meetings where we were wrapping up projects and celebrating our success with a special lunch. Sometimes the meetings would include a segment to encourage people to talk about what went wrong. People would talk about improvement opportunities for the next project. Occasionally, there would be a competition and gag prizes for the person who confessed to causing the biggest mishap. Not only did this help diminish the embarrassment of making mistakes using lighthearted humor, it also provided a forum where people could learn from each other’s mistakes.

A positive forum for learning from mistakes is highly beneficial to any organization. The benefits can include:
1. Creating a culture where people openly admit mistakes and are not afraid to let others know (rather than keeping quiet and hoping that the mistake does not get noticed or lead to adverse conditions such as an accident)
2. Giving us the opportunity to do things differently and benefit from the results- Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
3. Building morale and improving teamwork and camaraderie by diminishing the negativity associated with errors
4. Inspiring people to set far reaching goals and push the limits of technology without the hindrance of career limiting reprimands

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on creating a workplace culture that embraces learning from mistakes. Please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2010 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Attention Grabbing Presentation Skills – Get Noticed and Promoted –“Presenting To Hostile Audiences”

Dave Hill - Presentation Skills Article

In May 2005, I was at a review meeting at the corporate office in a conference room. People were taking turns to present technical information to upper management for approval. The person speaking before me was presenting on a very unpopular subject. His presentation dragged on and on, and I could feel the negative energy level rising in the room. I had gone to this meeting feeling relaxed; the information I was presenting would benefit the company and help implement new regulatory safety requirements. I had also brought along the two page procedure which described the process for implementation. It was short and to the point. The concept I was presenting was logical and was already being implemented informally at the company’s chemical plants. I felt it would only take a short time to get the nod of approval. That was the plan…the result was very different.

I stood up and gave a short outline of my proposal and its benefits to the organization. At the same time, one of the executives who were visibly infuriated by the previous speaker quickly scanned through my procedure. He then aggressively flung it on the table and declared, “This is rubbish“. He then picked it up from the table and threw it down again, repeating, “This is rubbish“. The room with 20 of my peers and numerous executives went deadly silent. My boss and I looked at each other, and I immediately stated that I would address the concerns outside the meeting. Ah yes, another fine day at the corporate office. I went back to my office after the meeting; I was furious and humiliated. The vice president of my department came to my office a few minutes after the meeting and sat down to talk to me. I think he was trying to understand if I was angry enough to quit. I was very close. Less than a month after the disastrous meeting, my safety procedure was approved as written, and a few months after that at the company Christmas party, the executive came up to me and stated, “I have been told that an apology would be in order“. Somehow this did not make me feel much better.

This story leads into this week’s article on using persuasion techniques to help gain consensus on the concept you are presenting.

10 Success strategies for persuading potentially hostile audiences
1. If people suspect that they are being “tricked” or “coerced”, you could break the bridge of trust and set yourself up for failure for future presentations.
2. When your presentation has been developed, consider reviewing it with your peers to make sure the content is fine tuned to your audience and their level of understanding.
3. If differences in opinion or conflict are a possibility, you can open with remarks such as, “I realize that many of you today may have issues with what I am presenting. It is important for me to tell you that I have spent a lot of time trying to see this issue from your viewpoint. We may not agree on everything, but we do have common goals. How we can get to the common goals is what my presentation is about today“. This can help the potentially hostile audience understand that this is not a one-sided viewpoint. It sets the scene for a decision making partnership.
4. It can be very beneficial to identify common ground at the beginning of a presentation. This sets the stage for possible agreement. On the contrary, if you were to start off on an unpopular topic that immediately hits a nerve; you run the risk of emotional conflict that can remain throughout your presentation.
5. Use respected sources of information wherever possible to build credibility.
6. Identify any “fuzzy logic” in your presentation such as statistics that are hard to nail down. This can help the audience trust that the information you are bringing to the table is not lop-sided. You might say, “One of my challenges in putting together this presentation was to give you specific, hard facts to help you make good decisions; however, I must be honest and tell you that some of the examples are based on limited data, but I still feel they are relevant“.
7. Provide supporting information in your presentation to demonstrate that other successful people in industry or in the community (that the audience can relate to) are either in agreement of the concept you are presenting or are practicing it. This will help deflect the perception that what you are presenting is radical or nonsensical.
8. Arrive early to the meeting and take time to have conversations with as many audience members as possible. Use humor where possible to diffuse tension. Try to remember people’s names as it can be beneficial to be conversational with them during the presentation using their names. An example would be, “John, I have heard you talk about this and I respect your views. Similar views are shared by Steve and Michael, and I feel that we can all reach a reasonable conclusion with some minor changes”.
9. Build your credibility wherever possible, let the audience know how much experience you have with a subject, dress like a professional, and have the posture and speaking skills that will help build your credibility.
10. When conflict is potentially going to cause emotional barriers for progress, it can be very beneficial to build allies. If possible, meet with some audience members one-on-one ahead of time to explore the potential resistance, and to make your case in a non-explosive/emotional forum. If someone in the audience helps support your concept, this can be a huge benefit to gaining consensus as a group.

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on presenting to potentially hostile audiences. Please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2010 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Attention Grabbing Training Skills – When Things Go Wrong – “Emotional Conflict and Violent Agreement”

Dave Hill - Article on Organizing Training

In a high speed “do more with even less” workplace environment, disaster sometimes rears its ugly head.

Imagine you’re in a highly technical training class with subject matter that would bring strong emotional viewpoints to the table. There is no doubt that there will be conflict and heated arguments.

This article covers a not-so-perfect training session being conducted by a contract company that specialized in the technical subject. As someone who also provides training on technical subjects and training technical people how to present information effectively, there are some lessons we can all learn from this.

How could a technical training session being conducted by a highly qualified company come unraveled at the edges and set us (the customers) up for potential failure?

The training class was being organized by our group at the corporate office to train and educate technical workers on a radical change in the way they would normally do things. My boss and I had attended this training class a year previously when it was conducted by the owner of the company, someone who was highly respected in industry. The training had been of a very high quality.

A few days before the recent training session, we were informed that the owner would not be conducting the training; it would be an employee that we were not familiar with. It surprised and concerned us that the owner would only be attending the training session in a support role. When we talked to the alternate instructor by phone before the training session, we started to have concerns.

Fifteen minutes into the training, a trainee in the seat to my right, nudged me to get my attention, and whispered sarcastically, “Is this his first time doing training?” Not a good sign!

What went wrong during this training?
1. The trainer appeared nervous and inexperienced.
2. He did not provide a very clear up-front description of the concepts that would be covered, and how all the different parts would fit together to help our company move forward with the significant change. He should have provided a detailed example to help portray how the technical information was to be actually applied.
3. He appeared to be unfamiliar with the material on the slides, his awkward long pauses between sentences gave the indication that he was frantically thinking about what to say next. He was also spending a lot of his time reading the words from the slides using his laser light to annoyingly “bounce” from word to word. He would fly past information when it was clear that attendees needed clarification on specific points.
4. Occasionally his boss, the owner of the contract company, would interrupt him and tell him he was wrong, and correct him.
5. The owner of the contract company was taking notes (as the employee was delivering the training) and developing new slides on a laptop (it appeared that our training session was also being used to help develop better training materials).
6. At times, there were emotional disagreements between the class attendees and the owner of the company that made for awkward moments.
7. I give the instructor some credit for trying to use humor in his training, but he was off-target. The trainees were already grumbling about blatant sales pitches being included in the training material (the contract company also provides services to help mitigate identified hazards). He would make comments such as, “I will not go into this in too much detail because my company does not provide this service – ha, ha, ha”. With groans from the trainees, his boss, the owner of the company scowled, cringed, and politely told him to stop using humor.
8. The instructor had not taken the time to customize his presentation so that the calculation tools and methodology and spreadsheets would mirror those that our company uses. These differences made an already complicated subject even more confusing.
9. During breaks, there were trainee conversations that gave a clear indication of frustration.
10. The emotions were very high during the training. There were even times where people were even portraying “violent agreement” (emotionally charged arguments where everyone was actually in agreement!).
11. Side conversations were not controlled by the instructor, and were disrupting to the training session.
12. The trainees filled in the training evaluation sheets, and it was indicated that they rated it “fair to poor”.

What Were The Results?
1. The contract company, and particularly the instructor, lost a lot of credibility (I would be hesitant to recommend this instructor to anyone).
2. My boss and I lost a lot of credibility as we had organized the training session.
3. The new program we were trying to “sell” to the trainees was off to a very rough start. We knew that they would be grumbling to upper management and hurdles for progress would potentially appear.

What Could We Have Done To Make Sure The Training Was Successful?
1. We should have spent a lot more time preparing for the training session:
• We had assumed that we would get the owner of the contract company doing the training; we should have confirmed this.
• We should have spent time with the instructor customizing the training using our company-specific spreadsheet tools, terminology, etc.
• We should have made sure that there was a very clear picture of the training structure up-front. This would have helped the trainees understand how all the different parts fit together

What are some of the other things I learned during this three day training?
1. Before the training session, we had prepared numerous “actual” technical examples for the trainees to work through, and for the trainer to facilitate. These were scheduled for day three. The trainer and his boss suggested that we split the class up into five groups, get them to solve the problems, and present the results to the rest of the class one by one. They indicated that this would be more effective and more controlled, given the emotionally charged atmosphere. This was great advice and worked exceptionally well.

I would appreciate any comments, tips, or personal stories on training sessions. Please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2010 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Energized Employees Power Your Profits – Listening Skills – “Hear Me Out”

Dave Hill - My Dad

My poor dad- he always getting himself into trouble. He was overweight, and my mother would nag him to leave the cream out of his coffee. As an automatic response, he would mischievously pick up the carton of cream while her back was turned and empty it into his coffee with an impish smile on his face.

The smile literally was knocked off his face when he was on vacation with my mum on an island called Lanzarote off the coast of Africa. He was walking along the beach, paddling in the water while huge surf was pounding ashore. He was watching the waves and taking evasive steps up the beach anytime he saw big waves. My mum, walking on the dry sand nearby shouted to him to get away from the water. My dad, with his automatic stubborn reaction, somehow decided to rile her up by going a few feet closer to the waves. A split second later in a moment of lack of concentration, the “wave of all waves” towered towards the beach and crashed over his head, knocking him off his feet. It would be great to be able to say that he learned his lesson and gave my mum a good laugh; however, when the wave was knocking the breath out of him, his full set of false teeth shot out into the surf to be lost forever. Have you ever heard an angry man complaining without any teeth? He spent the whole vacation toothless and speaking like a cartoon character. He could not eat anything with more texture than puree, and he could not effectively talk to people and tell stories. These were one of his favorite pastimes. Talk about getting himself into trouble! My mum still gets angry when she tells this story. My childhood memories of arguments they had while tuning out the other person’s point of view still ring loudly in my ears.

Many years later, when old age hit my dad, he needed a hearing aid- but that did not help his listening skills. I would be half way through telling him a story, and occasionally I would see him put his hand to his ear to switch the bloody thing on. The frugal Irishman in him somehow gave him the logic that it was better to save the batteries than to hear what someone was saying.
My dad was a great man, but there were some character traits that infuriated our family – listening with respect and empathy was one of his shortfalls.

Having worked for nearly 30 years as an engineer, I realized that I am a “chip off the old block” with more than a touch of stubbornness, and I also have continued opportunities for improvement in my own listening skills. I sit in technical conflict meetings and instead of listening to someone’s point of view, my mind is working at 100 mph, focusing on my rebuttal. My other focus is on identifying when I can cut the other person’s conversation off and interject my point of view. Not a good success factor. It is something I need to continue to focus on improving.

The company I work for has an extensive library containing books, CDs, and DVDs, and I have used a set of CDs on listening skills several times in the last couple of years on my commute to work. I spend 90 minutes in my car commuting every day, and the library helps me upgrade my effectiveness as an employee without any impact to my personal or workplace time. The only issue I have with these CDs is that the audio presenter has the most monotonous, brain-numbing voice. Ironically, I would actually find myself tuning out the listening skills CD! Recently, I decided to change tactics. I did another search of the library and found a Steven Covey DVD on “Habit 5” (Listening Skills) of the Seven Basic Habits of Highly Effective People. The DVD was about one and a half hours long, and I watched it over two lunch breaks. It was easy to watch and was very informational. The guidance was good for the office and good for the home. It also provided listening skill guidance for parents and teenagers. With two teenagers in the house, I realized the importance of listening with empathy if I want to maintain a healthy relationship with them. Another CD of Steven Covey’s that I have listened to recently is called “The 7 Habits for Managers” which also addresses listening skills from a leader’s point of view.

I have decided that these will be the learning tools for me to use as ongoing refresher training on listening skills. My company sees the value in providing tools to employees to upgrade their personal and professional development. The areas they provide tools for include leadership, management, communication skills, people and business skills, technical/functional skills, team development, computer skills etc. The library is just one of tools they provide, there are also many other opportunities for classroom training for those that prefer that. As someone who has a passion to learn, but limited spare time to invest, this library provides a no-cost, no-personal-time-lost means of developing myself.

What are the effects of bad listening skills in the workplace?
• People do not feel that their opinion is valued
• It is difficult to have a win-win negotiation
• Employees aim for win-destroy
• Emotions can come to the table, rather than beneficial discussions
• Employees can become apathetic
• Customers can feel alienated and go elsewhere
• Research shows that generally people only listen and mentally process 25% of what is being said

10 Ways to Maximize Listening Skills:
1. Make listening skills one of your core competencies. It is a vital skill for you to become an effective communicator. Understand that listening skills are difficult to learn and maintain, and need to be re-visited with refresher training.
2. Keep an eye out for employees who need additional coaching on listening skills. Do not allow them to fail due to a lack of communication skills.
3. Face to face meetings are typically the most beneficial. This allows you to be attentive, sit upright in your chair, lean in, make eye contact, smile, and use other visual techniques to convey to the other person that you are actively listening.
Give a clear indication that you are listening using techniques such as nodding your head, rubbing your chin, making “uh, huh” sounds, repeating back some summary information, asking questions, making comments
4. Keep contradictions out of your mind, as they significantly impede your level of listening.
5. Do not bring your emotions to the table, as it can deflect your thoughts and ability to listen and fully comprehend what they are saying.
6. Be respectful and build relationships that will set you up for success in future discussions and negotiations.
7. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Understand where they are coming from and what challenges they are dealing with
8. Minimize distractions- if there is distracting noise, move to a quieter place. If people are having side conversations, politely ask them to focus on the discussions at hand. Avoid the conversation going off on a distraction tangent.
9. Do not allow your focus to wander. Keep your thoughts tightly concentrated on the other person’s words, intonation, and the full picture of what they are trying to convey. Look out for signs of stress or anger. Arguments can develop from misunderstandings and emotional triggers.
10. Taking notes can help demonstrate that you are actively listening. Notes will also help you focus, summarize any key points, and help you recall any questions you may have.

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on listening skills. Please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2010 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Energized Employees Power Your Profits – “How Busty Blondes Help Make Great Workplaces – Southwest Airways and Beyond”

Dave Hill - Fun in the Workplace

Several years ago, I was traveling from Houston to Dallas on a Friday evening flight. It had been a tough week, and I wanted to get home. A few minutes before take off, we were taxiing towards the runway as an unwelcome voice came over the antenna, “Sorry folks, we have just had word from air traffic control that a thunderstorm has moved into Dallas, and we have to stay put for at least 20 minutes until we get an update”. Twenty minutes became forty minutes, and forty minutes became two hours. If you fly enough, you know the routine! At every weather update there were groans of frustration. What I remember about this flight was the attitude of the airline stewardesses. They did not miss a beat trying to keep the passengers amused and distracted. They told jokes, they held quizzes, and they kept the atmosphere upbeat. People talk and write about the Southwest Airways culture of fun; however, nothing will compare to seeing it in action. On this flight, there was one event that I will never forget. It is something I have mentioned to people when making small-talk, and also something that I include in speeches when I am doing keynotes on the benefits of incorporating fun into the workplace.
Sometime during the two hour delay, one of the stewardesses found out that an elderly passenger on board was having his birthday. The passenger was a man in his 80’s. One of the stewardesses got on the microphone and announced that there was a “birthday boy” on board. A few rows in front of me I could see the old man, and I smiled as I saw the other stewardess, a very pretty busty blond, bringing him a bottle of “bubbly”. The old man was sitting in the window seat, and she approached him, all eyes were on her. She lent in towards him, handed him the bottle, and immediately started singing happy birthday to him in the same kind of sexy, husky voice as Marilyn Monroe sang to President Kennedy on his birthday in 1962. The old man had a huge smile on his face as he and the stewardess had this “intimate” moment. There was no doubt in my mind that this was an incredibly great birthday gift for him. The stewardess had found an opportunity to bring humor to her workplace, make an old man happy in a humorous, dignified manner, and make the passengers chuckle. She had embraced the workplace culture that Herb Kelleher had initiated during the early years of Southwest Airways. I have no doubt that this stewardess is proud of the company she works for and what it represents. It does not surprise me that during tough economic times, Southwest Airways was able to continue to succeed.
I do about 20 business trips a year that require me to fly, and I choose to fly with Southwest as much as possible. I have had my fair share of flight delays and other hiccups along the way, but I remember things that want me to help them succeed. I remember my boss and I being abandoned by a competitor airline in Corpus Christi, Texas, when the last flight at night was suddenly cancelled and we were on a day business trip. The employees at the airline gate desk had literally walked away from the passengers without telling us what was going on, and when we chased after them, we were abruptly told that we were out of luck this evening, and should go to the ticket desk to arrange travel for the next day. At the ticket desk, we were informed that we could get on the stand-by list for a 2 pm flight the next day. This was not acceptable to us, so we went to the Southwest desk and they immediately put us on the first flight in the morning, and even asked us if we needed help getting accommodation. They phoned a local hotel to get us rooms and a hotel shuttle bus. That little bit of customer service will get Southwest Airways my business for many, many years.
One final note on Southwest that I love to tell people about is that I was at the back of the plane and was listening to two stewardesses chatting on a flight late at night with the lights dimmed and most people snoozing. One stewardess said to the other, “You know, I am going to work for Southwest for a couple of years and then I should have enough money to be able to afford to go to rodeo school!” As an Irishman who grew up in small towns, these words were music to my ears. Where else in the world could you hear those words?! Southwest doesn’t just hire funny people- they hire interesting human beings that bring character to the company.

10 Benefits of Having a Workplace Culture that Embraces Fun:
1. Enhance your customer service – Imagine having clients that have such a good experiences that they are actively talking about your company, and recommending it for business.
2. Stimulate workplace passion and creativity.
3. Evoke a culture of helpfulness and balanced fun.
4. Recruit talent and retain valued employees.
5. Elevate performance and morale.
6. Enhance teamwork, motivation, and recognition.
7. Understand the competitive advantage of a fun workplace
8. It can help empower employees to be successful.
9. Benefit from employees working hard, playing hard, and having fun at both.
10. Diffuse conflict with humor

Recommended reading
The Levity Effect by Adrian Gostick & Scott Christopher

If you have any advice, thoughts, or comments on embracing fun in the workplace, please feel free respond to this blog or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.) www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved

The Empowered Workplace – “What Do You Do When Workplace Violence Rears its Ugly Head?”

Dave Hill - Workplace Violence Article

This is our dog Megan. She has anger management issues. Our family life is kept hectic- transporting kids to activities such as soccer games and practices, music lessons, etc. There are days when we rush home to grab some high speed food and then dash out the door again. Our dog, Megan, follows us around the house putting on her “pretty face”- puppy eyes, ears pricking up, and a goofy smile just to entice us to love her so much that we will take her for a long walk. As we rush out the door, we say goodbye to her, and you can see the bitter disappointment in her face. We return a few hours later to find the contents of a waste paper basket strewn all over the floor. She looks at us sheepishly with guilt written all over her face. She does not make eye contact when we reprimand her and call her a “Garbage Dog”. I often wonder what goes on in her mind once we leave the house. Does she get animated and verbally angry? “I hate this family, I sit here all day waiting for them to come home and take me for a walk and they just come home to taunt me. Why do they bother to come home if they don’t want to go for a walk? I bet they are out there walking some other dog. I hate them, I hate them so much. I am so angry; I am going to show them who is the boss in this house. I am going to throw the garbage. Dirty tissues, candy wrappers and other nasty stuff – that will teach them a lesson. Oh no, what have I done, they will never forgive me…”
The dog throwing the garbage is a frequent demonstration of aggression. I would like to be able to say that all acts of aggression that have crossed my path are laughable and tolerable; however, that is not the case. I have been on the receiving end of workplace verbal aggression that humiliated me and sucked the energy out of me, but most importantly, I have witnessed the end of someone’s career when physical violence came into the scene.

Dave Hill - Article on Workplace Violence

It was Christmas day, December 25th, 1981, and I was on a cargo ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Christmas, the season of good will, was about to unravel at the seams and result in an engineer officer getting sacked. There were personality conflicts between some of the senior officers and the junior officers, and “pushing buttons” to get a reaction was the game at hand. An engineer cadet mischievously took a bite out of the 2nd Mate’s (deck officer) sandwich without asking as he was out of the room. He got rebuked and jostled by the 3rd engineer officer, which caused the 6th engineer officer to react violently and beat up the 3rd engineer. With emotions in the room flaring, the scene progressed when the 2nd deck officer came back into the room to find a fight scene just finishing, and a part of his sandwich missing. With anger, he shouted at the 6th engineer, “If you hit me that will be the end of your career.” That’s when the 6th engineer officer hit him in the face, and the 2nd mate fell down, concussed. Merry Christmas, all. The 6th engineer was sacked when the ship got into port a few weeks later. It most likely ended his career.

To this day, I still wonder how a good engineer could end up getting sacked over a sandwich. How did the personality conflicts deteriorate and get so out of hand? How and why did physical violence invade the workplace?

What Can We Learn From This?
As an engineer of nearly 30 years, I have grown to learn that conflict is a natural part of working with people. I have also grown to learn the importance of dealing with conflict, rather than living with it. Differences of opinion, different motivations, emotional conflicts, misunderstandings, ignorance, manipulation, and prejudice are just a few of the aspects that can “light the fuse” of a conflict. If not managed appropriately, conflict can potentially escalate to violence. What are some of the devastating effects that can result from conflict in the workplace?
• Loss of respect and trust
• Employees setting each up for failure
• A culture of doing the minimum
• Increased turnover of valued employees
• Loss of profits
• Energy levels and creativity are sucked out of the workplace
• Deadlines get missed
• Teams that are not cohesive become inefficient

Ten Ways Exceptional Workplaces Handle Worker Conflict and Violence
1. Train people at all levels of the organization in conflict management, negotiation skills, and listening skills
2. Deal with conflict right away, rather than having it fester in the background
3. Have zero tolerance for violence
4. Hire people with exceptional communication skills and impeccable ethics
5. Do thorough background checks when hiring
6. Address unresolved conflicts efficiently and effectively through workplace resources and have a policy and a process that is flexible enough to cover different scenarios
7. Develop a culture of respect and trust, and have a workplace that embraces diversity
8. Energize and empower employees.
9. Create a workplace with an aura of balanced fun-energy. Levity can help derail conflict in the heat of the moment.
10. Evoke an open-door culture where employees will speak up when they identify that conflict is not getting resolved, or if they have a concern that it may escalate to violence

Further information on this subject can be found at www.fbi.gov/publications/violence.pdf

If you have any advice, thoughts, or comments on conflict and violence in the workplace, please feel free respond to this blog or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.) www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved

Energized Employees Power Your Profits – “Understanding Job Trade-Off’s and God’s Sense of Humor”

Dave Hill - Article on Job Trade-Off's

It was July 13th, 1998, and I was on top of my house putting on a new roof covering. I was installing new tar-type roof shingles after removing three layers of old ones. My wife and I were aching and hurting from carrying the heavy bundles of shingles onto the roof. I remember thinking to myself, “I never want to be so poor that I have to do this again.” Anyone who has done this type of work will relate to how physically punishing it is. At that time, I was employed by a major insurance carrier as a Property Insurance Loss Prevention Specialist in Canada. My job was to visit heavy industry locations, identify major equipment breakdown risks, and recommend actions to reduce the risk. I worked out of my house as a field engineer, and would go to the corporate office every year for my performance review. My boss was very happy with my performance, I was doing exceptional work going over and beyond what was expected, but every year he would give me the same story, saying, “You must remember, Dave, that in the present economic climate, a 2% pay increase is not too bad.” This boss was not liked by any of the field engineers for many reasons. His character and ethics were questionable, and we did not trust him or respect him. When he decided to move, it was a breath of fresh air. I was not at all concerned when he announced that he was transferring to the company’s insurance division in Dallas, Texas.
Fast forward 3 years, and I have resigned from the insurance company after finding a new career that would allow me to do more of what I liked and would also pay me nearly double the money. It would involve me working at the corporate office of a chemical corporation in Dallas, Texas, USA. As far as I was concerned, I would never work in the property insurance industry again- I was sick of being poor.
I arrived at the corporate office, and within a few weeks I was given the assignment of organizing a meeting with the insurance carriers, and basically giving them a scolding over some loss prevention reports that were not timely and accurate. The insurance carrier representatives arrived into the conference room. Tension was in the air as they knew that we had issues with the work they were doing. Low and behold, who should walk in the door – my ex-boss from Canada. I ended up reprimanding him and his direct reports in a professional manner, and we came up with a solution to make sure our corporate insurance needs would be met. I smiled to myself thinking that God not only has a plan for me, he also has a wicked sense of humor. Some years later, this not so nice ex-boss went to work for a company called Enron, the infamous energy company that went belly-up. God had not finished messing with him.
This week, twelve years later, I came across a woman in her 30’s who was describing her job working for a marketing company. She said it was so perfect that if they asked her to sign a lifetime employment contract, she would sign it immediately. She stated that she has a great relationship with her boss, and that she loves everything about the work she does.
This woman is one of the small percentages of people who do not have to deal with job trade-offs. I have had three different careers, each of them have been extremely rewarding and have helped me grow as an engineer; however, none of them have been perfect. Each one has had significant negative aspects.
Career #1 – Engineering Officer on Cargo Ships – working in 120 degree Fahrenheit engine rooms, being away from home for 6 to 9 months at a time, working 7 days a week, dangerous.
Career #2 – Loss Prevention Specialist in the Property Insurance Industry – I did not respect or trust my boss. I was not paid well. I had to travel a lot.
Career #3 – Principal Risk Engineer – My work included regular conflict.

What can we learn from this?
1. Every job has its trade offs. There are very few “perfect” jobs. It is so important to look over your shoulder periodically, and reevaluate your job. What do you like about it and what do you dislike? The aspects you dislike are the trade-offs. Ask yourself the question, “Are the trade-offs worth it?” If not, why be in a job that is not meeting your needs?
2. Identify what you need to do to move to a job or new career which will incorporate more of what you have a passion for, and less of what you dislike.
3. Write down the steps to make change happen and set goals (research the job, identify training needs, get career guidance etc.)
4. Talk to people doing the job or in the group/department to find out what the expected trade-offs are. Make sure you are not stepping into an arena of unexpected job challenges.

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on job trade-offs. Please use the comments section below or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com –
Thanks, Dave

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

The Empowered workplace – “What the Ku-Klux-Klan, Flashing, and Two-Headed Babies Can Teach Us about Workplace Humor”

Dave Hill - You Have to Laugh!!

Prior to flying out to joining a ship in Singapore as an engineer officer in 1983, I had to fly first to London, England, to the head office for briefings. At the head office of this distinguished shipping company, it was normal to be escorted to the office area by a very “proper” building porter wearing full uniform and white gloves. Once in the office, hot tea was served by “tea-ladies” with the company fine china. At the beginning of the economic downturn, I went to the London office for the usual briefings and was surprised that the tea ladies had been “let go”, and tea was now self-service out of generic mugs. It wasn’t difficult to envision that tough changes were on the way.
As an engineer of nearly 30 years, I have been through company downsizing, restructuring, and even “survival mode”. The cargo shipping company mentioned previously owned 65 worldwide cargo ships, and after a tough downturn, they were left with only 6 ships. I somehow still managed to stay employed. This was a shipping company that had been in business for 200 years.
Three careers and many years later, I reflect back on how I have been successful, surviving lay-offs, even getting healthy pay increases and promotions during tough times. What has helped me become successful includes working hard and volunteering, having a passion to help people, having daily enthusiasm to learn new things, and, most importantly, having a healthy sense of humor.
I would describe my sense of humor as Irish, twisted, witty, occasionally sarcastic, sometimes crazy, and at times over the top. In general, I have put it to good use, and the following is what a previous boss wrote a few years ago in my annual performance review:
“Dave is a master of using his sense of humor to diffuse tension. When he is around, the atmosphere becomes more friendly and cooperative. He always sees the humor in things, helping to avoid or defuse difficult situations”.
Having said that, I have had to learn over the years to be considerate when using humor in the workplace. At times, I pushed my humor too far and I have been lucky that I have not gotten into serious trouble. People nearly always laugh at my off-the-cuff, twisted humor; however, that is not always an indication of it being appropriate. My advice to anyone using humor in the workplace is to be thoughtful of your audience. If a single person would be offended or insulted it is not worth saying. Learn humor boundaries by exposing your funny-bone in little steps. Making fun of yourself is a great starting point. It is usually the safest kind of humor.
The following stories are examples of going over the top. Under different circumstances the misplaced humor could have got me a formal reprimand or even sacked:

Dave Hill - Careful When You Cross the Line

CROSSING THE LINE

The KKK Award
My boss walked into my office unannounced; with him were my two co-workers. They all sat down smiling. I was being presented with a safety achievement award. My boss at the time happened to be a fairly conservative engineer. The award was an engraved glass cube about 3 in. high, covered by a small velvet bag. Without missing a beat, I took the glass cube out of the bag and put it on my desk. I then put the velvet bag over my fingers and shouted out “wow, look at this, a Ku Klux Klan puppet”. My boss and one of my coworkers immediately left my office in shock leaving me with my African-American co-worker who was slowly clapping her hands, laughing and saying, “You are one sick, crazy Irishman Dave”. The bottom line is that the humor was totally inappropriate. My thoughtless intent was to purely get a laugh, but the fact that I made some of my coworkers uncomfortable made it improper.

Elevator Ego
I was at an upper management meeting in a corporate office conference room as a technical advisor. A few days earlier, the electric motor shaft had snapped on the executive elevator. The automatic safety systems had kept people safe; however, as you can imagine, there was an element of concern.
The upper management had a rule at these safety meetings that if anyone made a sarcastic comment, they had to put 25 cents into a cup which was on the table. At other meetings, I had observed them dropping 25 cent coins into the cup while making humorous cynical comments. It seemed to bring an air of joviality to serious and sometimes conflict ridden meetings. Being a company with a strong focus on safety, the discussion on the table was what we could do differently to make sure there would not be any more elevator breakdowns. The question was posed to me, and the correct answer would have been to “do periodic testing of all the elevator motor shafts to check for cracks”. My wife likes to say that I do not have wires connecting my brain and my mouth, and what came out of my mouth was the statement, “We should limit the elevator to one… ego… at… a… time”. As I simultaneously dropped a quarter into the cup, the silence in the room was deafening. The humor was sarcastic, way off-target, and inappropriate; I was lucky to get away with just getting scowled at.

Dave Hill - Consious Effort Not To Cross the Line

STAYING ONE STEP BEHIND THE LINE

Flashing Human Resources
The event was the corporate office Mardi Gras party that was being held in a local pub. This was a “pump up the employees” evening event, and the company provided free beer and Cajun food. As an Irishman who likes to relax and have fun, I arrived in a jovial mood. About 100 people had already arrived, and there at the door was the human resources (HR) manager handing out beer voucher coupons. He was throwing Mardi Gras beads at the people lined up to enter. As I was approaching the door, my mind immediately went into “play mode”. My twisted Irish wit slipped into gear, and I mischievously thought to myself what a great laugh I would get if I was to lift my shirt and expose my naked chest at the same time that beads were being thrown at me. Here is the discussion that went on in my head in a flash – “Ok Dave, this prank could get you huge laughs and you could go down in corporate history as the engineer who flashed at HR. Even if you do get sacked for disrespect, what a great story you will get to tell for the rest of your life“. Then the voice of experience and rational thinking came to play, “That would be very tasteless Dave, and in addition, you are married with two kids that you have yet to put through college. What would your wife say when you will have to explain that you got sacked for flashing the HR?”

This rational thinking took a split second, and I was quite happy smiling to myself, imagining what would have happened if I had allowed my recklessness to take charge and if this scene had actually played out. I have matured to the point that I understand (most of the time) when I have the potential to cross the line, to consider the consequences, and most of all, to understand the appropriateness of my actions.

The Two-Headed Baby
It was May, 2009, and I was walking through the chemical plant with a young electrical engineer. During casual conversation, she mentioned that she was three months pregnant. As we were walking to inspect an electrical transformer, she noticed that one of the chemical reactors was being opened for routine maintenance and inspection. She stopped walking and said that even though it was safe for her to be in the area, her instinct as a mother-to-be was to take no risks with her pregnancy. An impish smile came to my face as my twisted Irish sense of humor was toying with me to say the words, “I bet it would hurt like heck to give birth to a two headed baby”. The words were on my lips, yet again I refrained from saying anything aloud.

What can we learn from this?
A healthy sense of humor can help you get noticed and promoted; however, it is very important to understand boundaries. A remark made at the wrong place at the wrong time can literally destroy a career whether you have 1 year experience or 30.
1. Make fun of situations rather than individuals
2. Be thoughtful of your audience, if one person would be hurt, insulted, or embarrassed, then it is not appropriate
3. People laughing does not always mean that the humor was fitting
4. If your humor is off-target, apologize quickly
5. Do not use sarcastic or other negative humor

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on this subject. Please use the comments section below or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com
Thanks,
Dave

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (bio – Keynotes – Workshops etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved

The Empowered workplace – “Negotiating with Humor and Dog Massages”

Dave Hill - Bali Indonesia

If there is one thing I hate with a passion, it is shopping, but if there is one thing that makes it tolerable for me is when I am in a foreign country where playful bargaining is part of the game. Our family lives fairly frugally, and one of the things we save up for are internationally travelling vacations. In June 2008, we found ourselves in Bali, Indonesia, staying in a basic beachfront Balinese cottage. Along the shore was a boardwalk where small nick-knack shops were located. While walking along the boardwalk it was common to get pestered by the local peddlers, “Do you need transport?”, “Come into my shop mister – good price for you”, “You want massage?”
After we had been there for 2 weeks, my wife had been checking out the stores to buy some gifts. She wanted me to do the bargaining to get some good prices. As a seasoned bargainer, I decided I would try and get a bargain by going to a store about half an hour before it shut. My wife, two kids, and I walked along the boardwalk in the darkness, smiling at the locals who were saying, “You want massage, you want transport?” We arrived at the store where my wife had seen the trinkets that she wanted to buy. As we entered the store, my kids saw a dog and immediately had it lying on its back as they made friends with it and caressed it. My wife pointed out the ear rings, necklaces, and bracelets she wanted, and the storekeeper and his assistant put them on the counter. The games began as he gave me the first price with a cheesy smile on his face. I immediately went into play mode, became animated, and jokingly stated – “I am an Irishman, I am a very poor man, my country has had a potato famine”. I offered him about a quarter of the price he was asking and he shook his head in fake distress. He counter offered with what he called his best price. Backwards and forwards we bargained, until about ½ an hour later, we got to about 50% of his original asking price. With a big smile on my face, I stated, “This is my final offer, this will make you happy, it will make me happy, my wife will be pleased, and my children will be ecstatic“. He smiled and shook my hand and we had a deal. I then added, “See, my children are so happy they are giving your dog a free massage – even your dog is happy!” With that last statement, he and his fellow store owner burst out in belly laughter and were just about rolling on the floor. As we walked away from the store, I could still hear the uncontrolled laughter. It was a good night of bargaining.

So how can this translate to the workplace?
Negotiating is a very common occurrence in most workplaces. As an engineer, I find myself negotiating with project engineers to make sure that there are enough safety features in the proposed design to keep people safe. We have to work together to make sure we get a final concept that works with the constraints of budgets etc. When we are trying to convince people to consider our point of view, we are in negotiating mode. A win-win negotiation is the best outcome, and it can also build bridges for future wheeling and dealing.

What can we learn from this?
A healthy sense of humor is a powerful tool for dealing with negotiations. When people are laughing, it is very difficult for them to be angry or stubborn. Imagine the relief you feel when someone makes a humorous comment during a tense moment.
When tension in the workplace is not managed correctly, there can be a gradual erosion of respect and trust amongst employees as well as other destructive mechanisms such as:
a. Employees do not work creatively together to come up with a mutually agreeable solution
b. Future negotiations are set up for failure from the start
c. Energy levels and inventiveness are sucked out of the workplace, and employees can lack trust and be instinctively combative
d. Teams that are not cohesive become inefficient and unproductive

Eleven ways exceptional workplaces negotiate successfully and build ongoing relationships rather than adversaries:
1. Seek win-win negotiations, not win-destroy
2. Aim for a long-term relationship of mutual respect and trust
3. Be truthful- being deceitful will destroy the success of future negotiations
4. Negotiate using lighthearted humor- smile and laugh at appropriate times
5. If a preposterous offer is made that is way-off, make it clear that it is not worth negotiating if rational thinking is not being brought to the table
6. Keep the negotiations respectful
7. Use active listening skills, don’t cut off the other persons sentence and jump in with your contradiction
8. Use emotional wording such as:
a) “The offer you have put on the table is generous. It makes me feel that I can trust you and that you understand the importance of both of us succeeding.”
b) “Imagine my predicament: we made a bid for your project that you accepted, we shook hands, and a week later, the price of steel sky-rocketed. It would help me out if you could work with me to get a bit more funding. I feel awful about asking, but I am boxed into a very difficult corner.”
9. Make fun of yourself (the safest type of humor)
10. One of the most powerful negotiating relationship builders is to give the other person an additional benefit once the deal has been made (in Bali, the shopkeeper got a free massage for his dog). This creates good-will for future negotiations
11. Negotiate face-to-face so you can observe body language. Smiles can go a long way, narrowed eyes can mean skeptical, lack of eye contact can mean deception.

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on this subject. Please use the comments section below or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com
Thanks,
Dave
Dave’s Public Speaking Website (bio – Keynotes – Workshops etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved

Getting the Exceptional Workplace – “Taking Customer Service to the Doctor”

Photo by Lauren Nelson

It was a Wednesday afternoon in September, 2009, and I was at the doctor’s office to have a chest infection checked out. While reading an article on leadership in the Small Business Magazine, I witnessed an event that disturbed me. At the reception window a woman in her 30’s was checking in for her doctor’s appointment. They pulled her details up on the computer and pointed out to her that she had a balance overdue of $20.29, and told her that she would need to pay that today. The patient was soft spoken, and explained that she could not pay the deductible today or the outstanding amount on her account due to her financial circumstances. The receptionist said that she would have to check with the doctor to see if he would still see her today, considering the inability to pay. The receptionist came back and stated that the doctor would see her, but she would have to provide a specific date for full payment of all payments due. She also said that in the event of non-payment by that date, there would be an additional $15 penalty. The patient explained again that she was in financial difficulty, and could not give a specific date for payment. The receptionist then asked the woman if she would like to set up a payment plan. The woman nodded, and she was then brought away from the reception area through a door to an inside office.
What disturbed me was that the receptionist had conducted the conversation in such a loud manner that everyone in the reception area was able to hear what was going on. I imagined how embarrassed I would be if I had been in the young woman’s position. She maintained her composure, but my instinct told me that she had been publicly humiliated. Nobody deserves that kind of treatment, and I began to wonder if I wanted to remain a patient of this doctor. I, like many people, have been challenged financially at periods of my life, and can relate to being in a difficult position. It was great that the doctor had a system to work out a financial plan; however, it would seem to me that the doctor’s office could easily have a system which also maintains human dignity. The patient could easily have been directed to go to the more private back room at the first indication of financial difficulties. If you were this woman, would you come back to this doctor in the future? Would you recommend this doctor to your friends? Is there an opportunity for customer service improvement? – Absolutely.

Dave Hill - Customer Service

Now let me take you to one of my favorite customer service locations- the beer- brewing supply store. The Texas temperature has dropped below 90 F, and I get ready for one of my favorite hobbies- brewing beer. I started this hobby over 20 years ago using simple techniques. However, with annual investments and upgrades to equipment, I now own overly complicated high-tech equipment. I get the ingredients from a supply store in Dallas, Texas. As someone who only visits the store a few times a year, here is how I get treated:
I open the door, and nearly immediately my name is shouted out “Daaaaaave!”, making me feel as good as Norm from the TV series Cheers. Immediately I am asked how I can be helped, and I am pointed to where all the different ingredients for my recipe are located. They help me adjust the weighing scales to take into consideration the weight of the container, even though they have showed me how to do it 30+ times over the years. They do this every time I visit without complaint (I can never remember the sequence of pressing the scale reset buttons). Once I have the malted barley ingredients weighed out, I typically find that one of the store employees is there without prompt, offering to put the grain through the grinder mill for me and package it so I do not get my clothes dusty. They then go down my list to make sure I have all the ingredients I needed and then they question me on any other things I may have forgotten so I do not have a repeat trip. On one particular occasion as I was paying for my ingredients, another customer came in with a bottle of his home-brew beer and asks the store owner to taste it for quality. The owner takes a drink, asks me to taste it, and then comments “this is so good, I would pay money for it”. I could see the customers face light up with pride. Before I left the store, the owner made small-talk and jokes with me, and also reminded me that the club was having a party soon and to make sure I turned up. I left the store feeling good.
Since I have been brewing so long, I now regularly receive catalogues for supplies. The online purchase of ingrediants is sometimes slightly cheaper than the store, but I would not think of going that direction. I feel loyal and I want them to succeed.

Dave Hill - My Home-Brewery

TEN THINGS YOU CAN DO TO KEEP YOUR CUSTOMERS LOYAL
1) Train your employees on the importance of customer service and the expectations
2) Get feedback from your customers – what do we do well, what can we do better – have a competition to encourage feedback
3) Keep the contact with the customer positive, start by smiling and ask “how can I help you today”
4) Embrace respect, trust, and levity in the workplace, get employees talking positively about the workplace away from the office
5) Teach your employees name memorizing skills – remembering names makes customers feel important
6) Promote an office with a culture of helpfulness and teamwork. This shine will come across to customers
7) Make sure everyone knows what the customer wants and what their role is in helping the customer
8) Make notes in the file on previous customer discussions so that you have small talk ready
9) Go out of your way to help customers – do something extraordinary that they will communicate to friends
10) Listen to your customers needs, do not interrupt. Use listening skills

SOME RECENT CUSTOMER SERVICE OBSERVATIONS
1) I have seen a waiting room where most of the reading materials incorporated light hearted, fun reading material instead of the usual doom and gloom of the newspapers and magazines
2) My financial planner has a big screen TV where he would normally have the channel set to a station which showed the daily stock price trend. During my semi-annual visit to his office while the recession was at its worst, he had me laughing because he had chosen to play cartoons on the TV instead. He told me and my wife that the financial news was too depressing for his customers and so he was taking action.
3) When I recently went to get a new pair of glasses, the store manager set the stage for fun. He immediately started toying with my wife and me and pointed out glasses that he did not want me to choose. “If you are John Lennon you can choose these round glasses, if not, don’t even think about it!!” Catching onto his playful demeanor, I responded “so it looks like I need to choose frames that are somewhere between a John Lennon and a Sarah Palin style!!” We spent over half an hour in this play mode, and the glasses buying experience was totally enjoyable. Price was good, quality was good, and the customer service experience was exceptional.
4) I am at the airport security at the stage where you hold up your boarding pass for security to look at just before you enter the metal detector frame. I held my boarding pass rigidly, and the security girl smiled at me and stated, “You do that so well, I bet you practice!” Catching onto her smile and her playfulness, I replied “Some people try to wing it; I practice in front of the mirror until it is beyond perfect”. She laughed and waved me through. Security screening was an energizing process for me that day.
5) I am at the dentist, and he has taken the time to make some notes on a conversation we had at my previous visit. “How did your vacation to Ireland go”? “Your daughter has just started high school, how is that going”. His small talk is personalized, and makes me feel validated.

If you have any advice, thoughts, or comments on this subject, please feel free respond to this blog or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio – Keynotes – Workshops etc.) www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved