SAXTON | people | connecting and communicating

A 'bad' day at home is better than a good day in Timbuktu. How do I know? Because I've trekked to Timbuktu, walked the Sahara, drifted in a dugout canoe, and sat atop a spitting camel in 35 degree heat... all in the quest for adventure and new material for conference presentations on service, change and resilience, unique insights to our modern world on the ancient road to Timbuktu.

Yes, there really is such a place but before media reports of the recent French liberation from al Qaeda, few people believed it actually existed. Much has now been destroyed in the North West African country of Mali: natural, physical and human resources. But, hopefully the human spirit will remain resilient, as we all must in the face of unwelcome change because most paths to success have detours to dreams.

Yet, how often do some staff see customers as interruptions to their day?  Or slip into the trap of thinking customer service is just a few insincere smiles? Or, worse still, think serving another human being is beneath our dignity?

Switched on management  and staff no longer regard customer service as the ‘soft fuzzy stuff’ but a competitive edge that can yield tangible bottom line results!

There are many dictionary definitions of service. One defines service as: "Being a servant to a master."

As adults, we've been on our chosen path for some time now and have met with inevitable obstacles along the way, which even a genius couldn't have foreseen when we were born.

Most of us weren't born geniuses but from childhood, were tested for our IQ. We may have been accepted into Mensa or disappointed at the results. Some may debate the socioeconomic validly of such tests and others point with glee to those so-called clever individuals who seem to have led tragic lives. Nevertheless, our Intelligence Quotient, better known simply as our IQ, became a recognised measure of brain-power but not necessarily of success.

Remember when your parents used to say: "Money doesn’t grow on trees"? We'd roll our eyes skyward but do you ever catch yourself saying the same to your children?

Our notions of cost and value change, as do our value systems. About 20 years ago I was a member of Rotary and met many delightful people through that association. One such gentleman was the then New Zealand Consul General.

He was dignified, urbane and successful - at the top of his profession; which is probably why over two decades later, I vividly recall a story that seemed somewhat out of character with his distinguished diplomatic posting. One day at lunch, he proudly proclaimed that he had never spent a cent on the purchase of paper clips.

So said Napoleon Bonaparte before his death in 1821. Nearly two centuries later, we need hope more than ever in our organisations and our personal lives.

Have you ever lost an important business deal or contract? Or, more importantly-lost a loved one or friend? Are you worried by lost health or wealth; loss of job or loss of perspective? Whether that loss is temporary or permanent, you need to dig deep for courage to get on with getting on-to find hope in seemingly hopeless situations.

When you’ve lost whatever is important in your life, it’s important to find hope and as a leader, to help others find hope within themselves.

With rapid change in today’s world, too many people look back on the ‘good old days’, recalling less complicated times. Reminiscing can certainly be pleasant, but it’s futile to long for a return to the past, rather than look to the future.

Even with turmoil in todays’ world, it’s worth remembering that we should enjoy the present because in a few years, these times will become our ‘good old days’.

What can you to help your customers in these uncertain economic times, even if it doesn’t result in immediate payback to you?

When we think of helping occupations, our minds traditionally turn to the caring professions of nursing, social work and emergency workers. But, every career has the capacity to care; to combine the head and the heart; to feel we make a difference to both our own pocket books and fill pockets of need in others, through random acts of kindness.

Like the planet, itself, work environments always change. Sometimes, change is dramatic in the form of mass redundancies or financial woe, which see tremors of fear sweep through an organisation, as if impacted by a tsunami. More often, it’s the ripple-like impact of more minor change that ebbs and flows, when employees feel needlessly threatened and dis-empowered.

One of the key challenges facing management today is to help finesse inevitable change in order that both individuals and the organisation can best drive and thrive on change.