Today is Wednesday, so this post is on Outstanding Performance.
John Miller is a friend of mine. He is a fellow speaker who lives here in Denver. John has written a couple of books. I often give one of them QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability in Business and in Life.
I like this book. It is simple, anecdotal and interesting to read. I also like its message. A red bar running across the top of the cover says “eliminate blame, complaining and procrastination”. Eliminating blame, complaining and procrastination is a great way to become a top performer.
Chapter 24 of QBQ! is entitled “A Great List of Lousy Questions”. I love this chapter because John uses it to illustrate the kinds of blaming questions a lot of us ask ourselves a lot of the time – and then he provides some examples of the kinds of questions we should be asking ourselves if we are going to eliminate blame, complaining and procrastination.
Here are a few examples:
Lousy Customer Service Questions:
- When will shipping start getting orders out on time?
- Why do our customers expect so much?
- Why don’t customers follow the instruction?
Better Customer Service Question:
- How can I serve our customers better?
Lousy Sales Questions:
- Why are our prices so high?
- Why won’t customers return my calls?
- When will marketing give us better brochures?
Better Sales Questions:
- What can I do today to be a more effective salesperson?
- How can I add value for my customers?
Lousy Marketing Questions:
- When will the sales people actually deliver our programs?
- Why won’t field sales people learn more about our new products?
Better Marketing Questions:
- What can I do to better understand sales reps’ issues and concerns?
- How can I learn more about what our customers need and want?
Lousy Management and Leadership Questions:
- When am I going to find good people?
- Why aren’t people motivated?
- Who made that mistake?
Better Management and Leadership Questions:
- How can I be a more effective coach?
- What can I do to better understand each person on my team?
- How can I be a better leader?
- How can I communicate better?
If you’re like me, you’ve probably asked yourself one or more of these lousy questions on a few occasions. The trick is catch yourself asking these lousy questions, and to turn them into better questions.
If you notice, all of the better questions have the word “I” in them. Keep asking yourself these “I” questions, and pretty soon you’ll find that you’ve become an outstanding performer, adding value to your company – because you have eliminated blame, complaining and procrastination.
Try it – it works!
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading. Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense. Check out my other blog: www.CommonSenseGuy.com for common sense advice on leading people and running a small business.
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.
Comment Preview