leaders by sg...

GET A NEW 'JOB' AT YOUR WORKPLACE
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Most leaders tend to learn the most when new opportunities come their way
through a new job, a business or personal crisis, or some other
significant challenge. But we don't have to wait for a new job or a
promotion in order to find opportunities to extend ourselves.

The key is to look for developmental assignments - roles and activities
that provide opportunities to grow as a leader. Since developmental
assignments do not require a major job shift or a move to a new
organisation, they offer a practical, effective strategy to strengthen
your leadership knowledge and skills.

We can learn how to do something new, practice new behaviours and overcome
our weaknesses.

There are several easy ways to pursue developmental assignments without
moving to a new job.

Take on temporary assignments. Look outside your job description or
department for projects, task forces, one-time events and activities that
you can take on for a short period of time.

Reshape what you do. Explore whether you can add new responsibilities or
reshape your current job - either permanently or on a temporary basis. It
may be more doable than you think.

Consider moving a responsibility from someone else's plate to your own,
trading tasks with a colleague or taking on a project that no one
currently "owns".

Also, re-examine responsibilities that may be part of your current job but
have received little attention to date.

Seek challenges outside the workplace. There are many opportunities to
learn leadership lessons through personal experiences and challenges that
fall outside a formal job setting.

It is often possible to find growth opportunities in non-profit,
religious, social and professional organisations, schools, sports teams
and even in your family.

Regardless of where we find developmental opportunities, it is important
to pursue them with a plan so that we learn what we really need to learn.
Without a plan, our developmental efforts will be haphazard at best.

There are several steps each of us can follow to create a development plan
that works for us and addresses our own personal strengths and weaknesses.

To begin, it is important to define what you need to learn to be more
effective.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

What do you need to know to be better at your job today and to prepare for
future assignments and opportunities?

Take 30 minutes to think about this and write down your thoughts.

Once you've determined what you need to improve or learn, take time to
consider the many directions you might take.

For each area where you want to improve, come up with several possible
assignments.

Consider assignments within your current job, temporary assignments and
even options outside the workplace. Make a list of all your ideas.

Once you have gathered information and ideas, it is important to set
priorities. Perhaps you've identified several immediate or short-term
opportunities, such as travelling overseas for an international sales
conference or editing a newsletter for a co-worker on maternity leave.

Take advantage of these immediately and postpone or stagger longer-term or
more intense opportunities.

Another way to prioritise is to choose an assignment that has the most
value to you. For example, if learning to manage change is your critical
goal, pick an assignment that will require you to solve a problem or
establish a new direction.

After you select your assignment, take some time to think things through
and address the following questions:

How would you get feedback on your performance?

What past experiences can you draw on for this assignment?

What formal body of knowledge can help?

Who could advise you on tackling the assignment?

Who would be a good coach or role model?

Are you anxious about the challenge? How would you make sure you face your
fears and address those aspects of the task?

Who can provide support and re-energise you if the task starts to feel
overwhelming?

Finally, get going. Good planning gives us a map, but ultimately it is up
to each of us to take action, learn and become a better leader.

Cynthia McCauley is a senior fellow at the Centre for Creative
Leadership, an educational institution dedicated to leadership training
and research worldwide. She is also the author of Developmental
Assignments: Creating Learning Experiences without Changing Jobs.

GOOD SERVICE: IT'S ALL IN THE ATTITUDE
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Looking after customers will make or break any business

A quick, anecdotal survey among overseas residents and visitors to
Singapore on the quality of service they have received here delivered some
unexpected results.

It was rewarding to learn that most people said the service they received
had been courteous and friendly. There were a few too many blank faces
but, generally, a willingness to present a helpful image and a welcoming
air. After all, people do like to feel welcomed.

Less comforting were the views about product and price knowledge, speed of
delivery and general service standards, suggesting there was considerable
room for improvement in training staff and monitoring their performance.
Opinions ranged from "not up to standard" to "very poor". Comparisons were
often made with the United States, that bastion of cheerful, informed and
willing service.

The most startling summary I got was "clueless" and I found this to be a
good description of some of the service I have received recently. The
word is not widely used in Singapore but its meaning is frighteningly
obvious.

Poor product knowledge - especially in computer and electronics shops -
and a lack of awareness of prices and offers, even in restaurants, led to
frustration and a feeling that perhaps the customer was being cheated. On
two recent occasions, I found loyalty-card points for restaurant bills
being "miscalculated". Not a good way to end a family meal.

How important is good service?

We do not eat somewhere just because the service is good but we may avoid
a restaurant if the service is bad. We prefer to shop where the assistants
know their stock, smile, treat you politely and seem genuinely interested
in your needs.

Good service is needed for the survival of any business; it becomes
critical when massive new hospitality enterprises such as the integrated
resorts are being launched. So, what is first-class service?

It is knowledge and care-based. We can test the knowledge - but do we? Not
often, I think. Sellers answer that product specifications frequently
change and it would simply be impossible for every assistant to know every
product.

Maybe, but surely we could have product-range specialists? It is very
off-putting when you ask a sales assistant about a refrigerator only to
learn that the information on the price tag is the extent of his knowledge
about it.

Too much service is "reference-based". For example, when you speak to your
relationship manager at the bank, it seems that even your simplest
questions have to be referred to a supervisor. This indicates that
training is being carried out on your time and at your expense. And
hearing "your call is important to us" over the telephone is the ultimate
service insult.

Knowledge is one thing - care is altogether different. We cannot always
get perfect service nor can our knowledge of what we are selling always be
up to date. We will not always have the stock a customer wants. But we can
present a helpful, can-do attitude instead of the "don't have",
semi-resentful response we sometimes get.

Caring is an attitude to the customer. It can be explained; it cannot be
trained. The standards needed for good care are personal, not corporate.

The culture of a company may encourage or discourage customer care but it
is up to the individual to exhibit the passion to get it right. Are we
still teaching individual passion? Are we providing the morale to trigger
it?

Service standards cannot be subjected to the type of measures achieved by
check-list questionnaires. You know good service when you see it and, my
goodness, you definitely know it when you don't.