Today is Tuesday, so this post is on positive personal impact.
Today, I’m going to show how positive personal impact overlaps with, and supports and enhances outstanding performance.
There’s an old saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. The corollary to that is “performance is in the eye of the customer”. Your internal and external customers are always judging your performance. For purposes of this discuss, think of your boss as an internal customer.
If you go back to the concept of “performance is in the eye of the customer”, some thoughts on customer service apply here. I have developed a model of customer service that I use with my consulting clients. It begins from the premise that after any interaction your customers rate you.
I’ve taken the word rate and created an acronym R.A.T.E. R stands for responsiveness; A stands for Assurance; T stands for Tangibles; and E stands for Empathy. There’s a very important, but somewhat subtle point about customer service here. If you notice only one of the four – tangibles – is what you actually do or deliver to your customers. The other three are the emotional measures by which people judge you. I believer that these emotional measures are at least as important as the tangibles you deliver – especially when it comes to creating positive personal impact.
So, you have deliver the tangibles – whatever your job. You must produce results. That’s the cost of a ticket to the career star sweepstakes.
However, you have to pay attention to the other three factors: responsiveness, assurance and empathy if you’re going to make a positive personal impact while you’re performing. Let’s look at each of these in detail.
Responsiveness
You have to ensue that your boss and your internal and external customers see you as someone who is willing to help, someone who understands what needs to be done and is willing to do it. Other people need to think that you will give them:
- What they want
- When they want it
- In a manner that they can use it
Assurance
You have to be able to convey trust and confidence. People need to feel that you are going to deliver. To do this, you must be very knowledgeable about your boss, and your internal and external customers and their needs and wants. You need to be clear on what you can offer them to help them meet their goals.
Empathy
Your boss and customers must perceive you as an individual who understands, cares about and pays attention to their needs. To do this you need to be willing to walk a mile in your customers’ shoes. You have to demonstrate to you boss and customers that you are aware of and sensitive to their unique and individual needs.
The common sense point here – to make a positive personal impact, you must do more than deliver results. You have to be seen by your manager and your internal and external customers as a person who is responsive to their requests. You have to build trust with these individuals, and you need to demonstrate that you understand their needs and issues.
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading. Log on to my other blogs: www.CommonSenseGuy.com for common sense advice on leading people and running a business, and www.CommonSenseDay.com to learn more about Use Your Common Sense Day -- November 4, and to read stories of common sense in action; and my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.
I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.
Bud
PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open. Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.
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