Passion and Service

“When you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.”

Recently, while back in Toronto I was out with a friend and had two very interesting experiences. In preparation for a trip south I decided to pop into a store to pick up a new bathing suit. As we entered the Bikini Village store at Yorkdale, there were two female employees there and no customers. We went to the men’s section and even at 6’ tall I had to tip toe a bit to reach the Nike pairs I was interested in. Not once did one of the retail clerks ask if I needed help. I made my way to the dressing room, tried on 3 pairs, one of which I decided to purchase. The Clerk went to the cash to ring it in. I asked “May I ask how long you’ve worked here?”  "This February marks four years” she replied. She gave me the item in a bag and we walked out. My pal Glo and I both remarked on the ineffective shopping/service experience - this would not be our first place of choice to shop at in the future.

On the way home I stopped at a full service gas station (Yonge &York Mills) given the cold temperatures. The gentleman who politely served us with a smile asked if I needed my oil checked, to which I replied “No thanks”. He then proceeded to clean the front and  rear windshields (without being asked) which were quite dirty. When he returned for my credit card he had quite the smile, despite the frigid temperature. He returned again for my signature, and I was happy to give him some cash for a cappuccino in gratitude for his service.

By way of context, in the former case the young ladies were no older than mid 20’s while in the latter the gentleman appeared no younger than 50.

Two points of reflection:

Talent is not Enough...

The last couple of years have been like a tsunami for the global economy. Who would have thought ten years ago that GM would be facing bankruptcy, or that IBM would stop making PCs? Without question, today's global economy and rapid pace of change are creating many challenges that organizations must rise to.

There is one thing that hasn't changed much, however:
organizations don't achieve results, people do!

Naturally, it follows from this that the primary challenge of any organization is to identify, hire, engage, develop, and retain talent in a manner that is superior to the competition. If you are not rising to this challenge effectively, then the projected outcome is simple; your organization will not be able to compete effectively for employees - or clients - in the long run.

In the pursuit of talent excellence, one practice that many organizations engage in, which is a real cause for concern, is the tendency to use training or coaching as a cure-all. For some this may be effective, but for others it isn't. The reality is that when a person is the wrong fit for the job, all the training and coaching in the world won't bring them to the same level of performance as a "Right Fit" person.

To put it another way, if a sales position requires Donald Trump for high performance, but you have hired Mother Theresa, there is no amount of training and coaching that can bring about the results you need. Mother Theresa has talent, integrity, and enough valuable attributes to qualify her for sainthood, but she is not the right person for your job. Read on...