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by Michael Hoffman, CSP*
Today’s business environment is crazy, chaotic and distracting.
It’s the ‘tornado’ of business, and as a leader you
often find yourself in the center of the storm. This is when your people
skills need to be just that…skill. But as an effective leader you
must develop skills that allow you to step out of the tornado and be deliberate,
consistent and successful in your management.
In business, and especially in the hospitality industry, success is determined
by people. As a leader of your organization, you can have a tremendous
impact on the behavior and the productivity of your people.
Following are five simple things that you can do on purpose right now.
What’s great is that these skills don’t cost any money, can
be implemented immediately, and results will be realized quickly.
- Communicate on purpose. A professional knows what he is going to say,
when he is going to say it, and why he is going to say it. The more
you approach a situation “on purpose” the greater control
of your circumstances.
- Communicate with complete language. Language is more than just words
it’s the position of your body, the look on your face, the tone
of your voice. If you’re not careful, the tornados of your business
you carry on our shoulders will communicate more effectively than any
words you’ll use. Enter your hotel or any situation with a smile,
lift up your eyebrows and have a positive attitude. 92% of your communication
is through your paralanguage! That’s everything that surrounds
your words.
- People emulate the environment they are in. If you set the tone for
a pleasant workplace, where your employees are empowered and enjoy high
self-esteem, your guests will know they are entering a place where service
is the culture and this will be reflected in their guest experience.
- Successful people have high self-esteem and your business needs successful
people. As a professional it is your job to reinforce the self-esteem
of each staff member. People cannot view themselves from the outside.
We work in a vacuum of data about ourselves. If your staff member is
doing a good job, then tell them! Take notice of a job well done. They’ll
do it again. Be specific about what they said or did, and make sure
you let them know the impact of their actions. This adds the glue to
your observations and gives meaning to your feedback.
- Very few people have the desire to fail. Most of us come to work wanting
to be successful. As a leader it is your job to provide people with
the tools for success. This includes specific feedback for improvement
as well. If an employee is acting inappropriately, tell them exactly
what action needs to be changed, the more specific the better. It’s
hard to fight facts. Tie their actions to the impact it had and then
add an alternative. The cleaner you can add impact to an action that
needs to be done differently and connect the alternative the more useful
your observations.
Remember as your tornados swirl; use your leadership communication skills
to be the calm in the storm. One of my favorite sayings is: “I will
know a person with skills, under pressure.” People are your most
important business asset, and the most important thing you can do is invest
time as a professional person and a leader in polishing your skills to
approach the tornado…on purpose.
*CSP = Certified Speaking Professional
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