Leadership Aptitude

The definition of aptitude from Dictionary.com:

noun

1.  capability; ability; innate or acquired capacity for something; talent

2.  readiness or quickness in learning; intelligence 

I recently finished reading The Customer Service Revolution by John DiJulius.  He has some good ideas, I recommend the book.

HOWEVER, John refers to Leadership Aptitude, but his emphasis is on the client experience while I believe it applies to how to create a completely engaging company culture.  FIRST you need Leadership Aptitude, then you, your people, your entire company can have Service Aptitude.

What is your Leadership Aptitude and how well are you applying it? Are you developing your individual strengths as a leader? Each leader has a unique set of skills and it is essential to polish them.

Here are some thoughts from the book:

1. "What employees experience, Customers will."  Correct.  Our Clients will never have the best experience if we do not first fully engage our employees.  (80% of employees are NOT fully engaged.) 

2. "Make price irrelevant."  I totally agree.  Great leaders accomplish this through their employees, Clients, vendors, and community.

3. "Leaders of great companies are obsessed over their company's Customer experience, down to the smallest detail."   Again, I think the emphasis here should be their obsession is first with their employees' experience, and second with the Client experience.

4. "What are we teaching" (our employees)?  We must be role models.

5. "What is more important:  Hiring, or training?"  John believes 75% is training.  I disagree.  You have to weight them equally.  If you fail in either area your employees cannot consistently deliver a superior Client experience.

6. "...make sure every employee walks in the shoes of their Customers."  I totally agree.

7. "Don't ask the Customer what they want;  give them what they can't live without."  Too many leaders get stuck evaluating the status quo (tactics) rather than breakout growth strategies.  Of course John and me want you to ask clients lots of questions, but do not stop there.  Use that data to see what they do not see because "Customers can only think in terms of what they have previously experienced." 

8. "Customer Service Vision Statement and Supporting Pillars."  This is an interesting adaptation of how I develop company culture cornerstones (mission, vision, values, accountability) with Clients.  There is something here to consider...  you can link your vision and your values more tightly.

9. Never and Always lists.  I got the idea of Always/Never Standards from John years ago.  He encourages shorter statements, which in many cases (not all) is beneficial.

10. I never agree with anyone 100%.  John has a lot of advice that is great, but my approach would be different in certain areas.  Maybe this is because of my decades of experience with I.T. resellers and service providers.  Nevertheless, if you want additional inspiration on improving your client experience, you will enjoy John's book.

The challenge is, how to implement what appeals to you. We help entrepreneurial leaders develop NEW habits to overpower their less productive ones. Our work often extends into company culture and employee training to "make price irrelevant."