Matthew McConaughey’s hero
‘3 things I need in my life every day’ – This was the theme of actor Matthew McConaughey’s Academy Award acceptance speech for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his part in Dallas Buyers Club. He needs “Someone to look up to, someone to look forward to, and someone to chase.” My favorite part was the person he is chasing. “I am chasing my hero…my hero is me in 10 years. Every day, every week, every month, every year of my life, my hero is always 10 years away. I am never going to be my hero, I am not going to attain that, I know I am not. That’s just fine with me, because that keeps me with somebody to keep on chasing.” It is well worth the three and half minutes to watch McConaughey’s acceptance speech.
Virtual engagement – One big trend I see becoming a critical tool in helping Customer service reps, call centers, and anyone who uses conference calls to build stronger relationships — is virtual calls. Picture your Customers having the ability to click a button on your website to have a Skype call with your employees. It may only be one way, where the Customer can see the employee only, or two- way where they can see each other. Regardless, seeing someone face-to-face forces employees to stay engaged, ensure they will not be distracted by anything else, increase the amount of smiling and overall friendliness.
‘I gave my best’ – This may sound mean or unsympathetic, but one of my least favorite sayings is ‘I gave my best’. To me it is an unacceptable crutch; I don’t want to hear it. My personal feeling is when the goal is to accomplish greatness, go where no one or team has gone before. I wasn’t asking for your best effort; your best is what you WERE capable of in the past, previously. I was expecting you to figure it out, try 1,000 ways, and if need be, try another 1,000 ways. Innovate, lose sleep, get around it, find loopholes, research, sweat like you never have before. Every extraordinary accomplishment, invention or revolution was not a result of someone giving his or her best. Somehow that person or group found a way to do what no one else could do, they did the impossible, they did what no one had ever done before. The real issue is not the effort that is in question at the moment or during the event, it’s the effort leading up to it. Whether you win or lose, get the sale, or ace the test, it is all determined in the effort given in preparing for the event. Every match is determined long before the contest happens. So the next time you fail, before you want to make yourself feel better by saying, “I did my best,” consider whether you did your best in the preparation. The actual effort given in the event has the least to do with the outcome.
Johnism
Many times the cheaper the Customers go, the more it costs them.
