Archive | Leadership

Perceptions

Daar bestaan ‘n persepsie onder sportliefhebbers dat die Proteas chokers is.  En dalk ook die Stormers, want hulle kom só naby, maar net nie tot by die beker nie.

Immediately I hear you say but it’s only someone’s perception. When you do this you unfortunately dismiss the other person’s perception and in reality that perception is their reality at that moment in time.  Perceptions can only be altered when an individual is provided with new reliable information that compels them to change their perception.

All this got me thinking about schools and businesses that struggles daily with how their customers perceive them.  You can ignore these perceptions or you can take a brave step back and look at your organisation through your customers’ eyes.  Which ever way you choose, remember that perception is so powerful that it can make or break you!

Hoe dan nou gemaak met hierdie choker necklace wat ons manne saamsleep?  As ek Graeme was, sou ek minder verskonings maak en meer probeer uitvind waarom die mense dink ek en my span op kritieke oomblikke nie die wa deur die drif kan trek nie.  Omdat ek graag sal wil hê die mense tuis moet op Vrydae ondersteunershemde dra, sal ek probeer uitvind waarom hulle dink dat ons chokers is.  Die naakte waarheid is dat hulle persepsie die enigste is wat regtig saak maak.

A customer or supporter’s perception of you or your company, team or family evolves from a variety of sources:

  • Their experience with you in the past
  • Their experiences with others that offer what you offer
  • The actual experiences of their friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances with you or your competition
  • Their interpretation of the experiences of their friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances
  • Their interpretation of what your policies and procedures actually are
  • Their opinion of what your policies and procedures should be
  • Their translation of what you have told them (The Training Bank).

Believe it or not, it’s a person’s perception that affects his behaviour. Each person uses past experience and processes current communication in making decisions and acting accordingly.  Expectations are developed regarding a situation, service or product.

In order to influence a change in someone’s perception, eventually in the hope of affecting his/her behaviour, you first need to have a clear understanding of that perception.  What does the person believe is true?  Once you know that, you can work to influence change in thinking.

Of jy nou ‘n skool bestuur, produkte verkoop of ‘n krieketspan aanvoer, dit gaan nie help om stroomop te swem nie.  ‘n Sinvoller oplossing is om uit te vind wat jou ondersteuner/kliënt se persepsie van jou is.  Méér nog, om te begryp dat hulle persepsie vir hulle die enigste werklikheid is.  En dit is met hierdie werklikheid, reg of verkeerd, waarmee jy moet handel. Miskien moet die woord eerder wees, onderhandel?

As jy verstaan waar persepsies vandaan kom en wat hulle ‘n werklikheid maak, kan jy hulle volgende keer oor die grens moker.  Maar as jy dieselfde persepsies ignoreer of as onbenullig afmaak, mag jy paniekerig raak en op die kritieke tydstip been voor paaltjie betrap word.

Image: Ambro

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Wie maak vir Gansbaai lekker?

 

Image: Dr Joseph Valks/FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

Die gestoei oor watter spanne in die finaal van die Super Rugbyreeks gaan speel, het my onwillekeurig laat wonder wat maak ’n span of mens suksesvol.  Hoe bepaal jy hoe goed jy/skool/besigheid is en is net die wenners altyd die beste? 

Miskien lê die antwoord op dié vrae opgesluit in die bekende liedjie van oorlede Worsie Visser, Wie maak vir Gansbaai lekker? In een van die aangepaste Gansbaailiedjies antwoord ’n ander kunstenaar dat dit die seemeeu is. 

Ek wil hiervan verskil, want net mense wat daarvan hou dat ‘n seemeeu op hulle kom bollie, sal hiermee kan saamstem!  Die iets wat Gansbaai lekker maak, is net jy en jy en weer jy!  Jóú betrokkenheid maak Gansbaai lekker.

If you have never heard of Worsie in your whole life, let’s use the words of Joe Dolan to tell you who is responsible: It’s you, it’s you it’s you …

Success relies heavily on commitment and investment. Commitment from everyone involved in the process, be it education or be it Gansbaai. To achieve any form of success the role players will have to invest skill, time and passion.  

And a lot of themselves.

Eighty percent of success is showing up. – Woody Allen

You don’t have to be famous. You just have to make your mother and father proud of you. – Meryl Streep

Image: Dr Joseph Valks/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Legends

Die polemiek woed weer in die pers oor wie die beste is of was.  Wie gee wie die reg om hom of haar as die beste ooit te klassifiseer?  Amper tot legendestatus te verhef …

Tydens ’n besoek aan die KKNK het ek ontdek dat sommige mense soos oom Gert van Tonder skielik ‘n legend geword het, want al die jonges wat saam met die oom gesing het, het hom ‘n legend genoem.  Is dit dalk omdat hulle hom van hulle doek- en Wielie-Walie-dae onthou, want oor sy sang kan dit nie wees nie.

Hierdie kwistige gebruik van legend voor en agter het my laat wonder oor wie en wat nou eintlik ‘n legend is. 

Volgens my beskeie mening is Staal Burger, tannie Evita  Bezuidenhout en die Toyota-bakkie ‘n legend.  Maar om sommer links-regs enige iemand met die titel legend te bekroon, wil vir my ‘n bietjie goedkoop voorkom.

Ek vermoed die mense probeer eintlik sê die betrokke persoon is ‘n held. Maar in hierdie tyd waar alles cool is, het held ook seker êrens in die stof gebyt?  Legend is nou die woord op die tong.

Nou hoe lyk ‘n legend dan nou eintlik?

Om as ‘n legend geklassifiseer te word, voel ek, moet die persoon as eerste vereiste darem sy/haar eie leeftyd kan oorleef.  Daarmee bedoel ek, jy moet darem lank na jy die tydelike met die ewige verruil het, nog altyd oor gepraat of onthou word.

Legends moet ook ‘n bietjie opgeoffer het vir ‘n saak groter as hulself. Om net op ‘n KKNK-verhoog te verskyn en liedjies met drie versreëls te sing, plaas jou nie summier in dié klas nie. Nostalgie of te not!

Legends moet ook guts hê.  Soos ‘n Wolraad Woltemade wat ten koste van homself sy perd die branders inry om absolute vreemdelinge te red.  Om net Kaptein span die seile te sing, laat jou nog nie eens uit die hawe kom nie!  Sarah Palin het die eienskap netjies raakgevat toe sy die volgende opmerking gemaak het: “…the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mum; it’s only the lipstick.”

Wat vir my egter die belangrikste aspek rondom ‘n legend is, is die stories wat hy/sy vertel.  En ook die stories wat van hom/haar vertel word.

Suid-Afrika het vandag genuine legends nodig. Nie kunstefees- legends nie.  Legends wat ook leiers is. Mense wat bereid is om stories, wat as ‘n morele barometer sal dien, vir die kinders en mense van Suid-Afrika, te vertel. Mense wat ons onvoorwaardelik as morele voorbeelde aan die wêreld kan voorhou.

Fred Harburg meen as leiers die krag van ‘n storie verstaan, maak hulle ‘n blywende verandering. Hy verwys in dié aanhaling na ‘n maatskappy, maar ek dink dis net so van toepassing op enige land in die wêreld. When a company is blessed with leaders who express compelling stories about things that matter — grounded in fact and reason, tied to values that are widely embraced, constructed with logic and expressed in positive, emotionally passionate terms — people not only listen, but are moved to action. 

As ons leiers hierdie tipe stories begin vertel, kan ons almal lustig saam sing met al ons helde op die verhoë dwarsdeur Suid-Afrika. Ek sal dan weet dat die legends van hierdie land se stories ‘n verskil gaan maak wat langer as die 90 minute van die vertoning sal duur.

There used to be a time when the idea of heroes was important. People grew up sharing those myths and legends and ideals. Now they grow up sharing McDonalds and Disneyland. (New York, 1989) – Bob Dylan

True Legends never die. – Unknown

Image: mieliestronk

 

 

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Missie of Visie?

Foto: Graur Codrin

Al gewonder oor wat is missie en wat is visie? Klink dan amper dieselfde!

Dalk gevoel jy moet onnosel wees omdat dit voel of net jy nie verstaan nie. Dit lyk dan, as jy na al die instemmende kopknikke om jou kyk, of almal op dieselfde bladsy is. Net jy nie …

Wees verseker jy is nie alleen nie. Baie van die kopknikke is soos die hondjie in die Cortina se agterruit. Dit knik maar onwillekeurig kop. Verstaan of te not.

Dewald de Kock van die Stellenbosch Gemeente het in sy aanbieding by ‘n onlangse onderwyskongres, KDA Great Escape, hul visie met die afgevaardigdes gedeel. Ek dink dit is so relevant en toepaslik, dat ek dit graag hier aanhaal:

  • Haal diep asem.
  • Beleef ‘n groter storie.
  • Skep luistertyd.
  • Leef omgekrap.

Hierdie is mos nou iets waarvoor ek ook my kop kan knik!

Om oor na te dink:

  • Make your life a mission – not an intermission.  – Arnold Glasgow
  • The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision. – Helen Keller
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Meet om te weet

Meet om te weet is ’n spreekwoord wat baie maklik kwistig gebruik kan word.

Só ‘n gemeet kan baie keer tot ontdekkings lei waarvan ’n mens dalk liewer nie wíl weet nie. Soos om op die skaal te klim. In die meeste gevalle is dit baie geriefliker om nie te weet hoeveel jy weeg nie!

Miskien is dit hier aan die einde van die eerste derde van die jaar tog nodig om ten minste iets te meet.

Kom ons vra ons af of dít wat ons gedoen het besonders was of net weer plain doodgewoon?

Om jou hiermee te help, kan jy jou lewe/skool/besigheid aan die volgende verhaaltjie uit Seth Godin se boek The Big Moo meet:

Reggie fixes bikes in Mt. Kisco, New York. For every bike he fixes he does his best. Then he spends five extra minutes doing something special.

During that first hour, Reggie is a perfectly fine bike mechanic. He pays attention to detail and follows established protocol. He is careful and focused and diligent. Like one thousand other very good bike mechanics, he gets the job done and earns his pay.

In the last five minutes, though, Reggie transforms himself from a workman into an artist. In those few extra minutes, he becomes remarkable.

Sometimes, all he does is carefully clean the chain. Other times, he’ll take the bike out to the potholed parking lot and be sure the gears are adjusted properly. And sometimes, especially if the bike is for a cute kid, he’ll attach a horn or some tassels – anything worth noticing.

The astonishing thing isn’t how unusual Reggie is. The astonishing thing is how easy it is what Reggie does, and how many people don’t do it. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing accounts payable or product design. Those last five minutes make it easy for your customers to find the difference between you and everyone else.

It takes 99 percent of the time you spend just to be average. The remarkable stuff can happen in a flash.

Beslis iets om aan te kou.

Foto: m_bartosch

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Go Big or go Home!

Last week, while I was waiting to be served coffee in one of our local malls, the story of the New York cabbie (Tom Peters: Crazy Times call for Crazy Organizations) suddenly sprung to mind.

Why think about that, you may well ask. The reason was plain and simple: poor service … again! Or should I say, NO Service. I could have crawled to Colombia to harvest  my own coffee beans. Roast and grind it and made a cup of coffee before the waiters even condescended themselves to approach my table. The waiters and manager in this particular shop definitely never heard the story, for if they did they would have given their customers a WOW service! They would have made my experience special! But  they did completely the opposite!

As the story goes, Harvey Mackay was taking a cab ride to La Guardia Airport. When he got in the cab the driver gave him a piece of paper that said: Hi, my name is Walter. I’m your driver. I’m going to get you there safely, on time, in a courteous fashion.

After that he offered him a choice between newspapers and what music channel he would like to listen to. He also offered a snack basket and a cellular phone for his use.

This cab driver took a common experience and transformed it into something special! Not so with the staff of the coffee shop.

Luckily I had my own WOW experience at the small Greek Taverna Yamas in Somerset West later that week.

It was an experience that lived up to all my favourite adjectives: WOW, remarkable, great, awesome and unforgettable!

The food at Yamas is amazing and affordable. The menu is small and so is the taverna. The cutlery doesn’t match and there is no fancy signage that hangs above the main entrance. But if you want to go and eat there, you have to book in advance for there is a waiting list to get a table at Yamas.

Why? The key to this question lies with the owner/front of house/waiter/dishwasher, Barry.

I don’t know if Barry is familiar with the story of the NY cabbie, but he provides the same having a good time feeling to his restaurant. You enter as a stranger but leave as a friend and fan.

What can my useless friends in the coffee shop learn from Barry?

  • It’s not just the food or venue. It’s the service! Take time to spend personal time with your customers and talk to them like real people without thinking what you can make them buy. Make a connection to the heart of your customer.
  • Surprise the customer with spirit, character, personality and last but not least, energy. Try to look if you enjoy what you do.
  • Go beyond what the customer expected. Deliver more than what he thought he will get.
  • Make it fun! Make it an experience. Make it WOW!

There is a saying: Go big or go home. I want to change it to: Go GREEK or go home!

Thank you Barry for showing that I don’t have to go to NY to take a cab ride to experience WOW.

I will be back. Soon.

Yamas!

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