Keeping up or giving up

A businessman in Canada confessed about being in a very embarrassing experience. Listen to his story:

 Over the weekend, I left Montreal on route 20 heading toward Quebec City, when I decided to stop at a comfort station. The first toilet stall was occupied, so I went into the second one. I was no sooner seated than I heard a voice from the next stall:

“Hi, how are you doing?”

Well, I am not the type to chat with strangers in highway comfort stations, and I really don’t quite know what possessed me, but anyway, I answered, a little embarrassed, “Not bad.”

And the stranger said, “And, what are you up to?”

Talk about your dumb questions! I was really beginning to think this was too weird! So I said, “Well, just like you I am driving east?”

Then, I heard the stranger, all upset, say, “Look, I’ll call you right back. There is some idiot in the next stall answering all the questions I am asking you. Bye!”

Have you ever said something you wish you didn’t? Have you ever been caught in an embarrassing situation? Have you ever cracked a joke you thought was funny but which turned out to be distasteful to other people?

I surely have, and I can assure you I didn’t feel very good about it.

Here are some more questions:

Have you ever offended a client?

Have you ever offended a friend - or worse, someone you love dearly?

If you say you haven’t, then I admire your sense of imagination and delusion.

In conducting customer service trainings, I touch on a business concept called service recovery. Business recovery is when a customer complains about a product or a service, and sincere efforts are done in order to rectify the error and win back the trust and confidence of the customer. This concept has convinced me that everything is recoverable. Every misstep can be taken as useful information in crafting the next attempt for delivering customer satisfaction.

Mistakes are made all the time. But recovering from mistakes is what distinguishes the novice from the professional. And another word for doing this, for recovery, is reinvention.

Life is a series of seemingly small reinventions. Every experience you have provides you with feedback. If you allow it, this feedback can help you figure out how to get what you want.

In my line of business, thousands of participants rate me all the time. They put down their scores and comments on survey sheets. In other words, they provide me with feedback. And God has been gracious with me. Most of the feedback I get is good and positive. The real challenge comes when I get negative feedback. When I do, I fight the feeling of disliking it, and I subdue the attempt of trying to defend myself against the negative comments.

You may not be in the training business, but you are being rated as well. Suppose your boss tells you he is not happy with your performance? Suppose a customer writes your boss complaining about the poor way you handled the account? Suppose your officemates let you know that you are not welcome in their company? What would you do? How would you react?

Would you take the negative feedback personally and as reason enough to stop what you’re doing? Would you respond emotionally and break down? That’s not reinvention; that’s what you call giving up.

Take it from me. Negative feedbacks are the most important information we can get. If only we don’t respond emotionally to setbacks or disinterest, we can reinvent almost everything. We need to refine, polish, improve and work on our approach until it becomes second nature. That is when success comes within our grasp.

Keep it up. Don’t give up. Improve, improve and improve! With head bowed lowed, ask God to give you the grace to be humble; and with chin held up high, march back into the work place with resolve to make things better.

Keeping up is better than giving up. Over time, you will realize that what I recommend is true. Ask me. I’ve got tons of stories to prove it.

(Attend this once in a lifetime seminar on “The Leadership Factor” featuring Dr. Harold Sala, Francis Kong and Jim Collins (video) on November 27 at the SMX Convention Center. Call Pam or Kriselle of Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. at 632-6872614 or 09178511115 for further details.)