Nan Palmero, MBA

Sometimes You Have a Bad Day

My family and I attended one of the most amazing weddings in New Jersey this June. My parents flew in on American Airlines, I flew in on my old friend, Southwest Airlines and my sister tried a new airline – JetBlue. I’ve not yet had that the pleasure of travelling on JetBlue, but my pal Smitty is a pilot for the airline, so they enjoy a positive mindshare due to our friendship.

Curiously, I asked my sister, Laura, her thoughts of the airline. “It’s fine.” I responded “It’s fine? That’s it!? Don’t they have satellite radio and tv for each seat and new planes?” She agreed that those amenities were all present and nice. As she explained, her issue was her flight attendant or specifically, the attitude of her flight attendant.

During Laura’s flight, the perks of JetBlue were all agreeable and welcomed. Sadly, her first JetBlue brand experience came off as flat as a day old Coke. The flight attendant, as the face of the company, turned a potentially remarkable experience into one that was just passable. It was no longer about the technology and the conveniences for my sister but her emotional connection to the airline because of one flight attendant’s attitude. She moved safely and comfortably from one part of the country to another and that was about it. There was no excitement surrounding her experience. This is not to say that JetBlue isn’t a great airline with passionate people, it just happened that my sister wasn’t able to tell a great story about them due to this.

We have all had similar experiences to those my sister had. Our expectations of a brand can be different from the actual experience due to the interactions with a person. Is it possible that this flight attendant was usually fantastic and was simply having a bad day? You bet. It happens to you and to the best of your people. Is it possible that this flight attendant had an attitude that was not fitting for the brand and culture of the company? Potentially. There are simply not enough facts to determine the answer. Considerations can be made, though to reduce these potential branding issues. As Zappos and Rackspace know, it is critically important to your company and brand experience to hire the right people that fit the culture which helps provide a consistent brand image. To take it a step further, companies can build the right teams and systems to support those people that project your brand image.

Anticipate bad days, because unfortunately, negatives in life happen. How can you develop your team to further care for one another so that when those unexpected days pop up, your team is ready to pick up the slack for the member of the team? If procedures aren’t in place, will you take this opportunity to help tow the line for the team? You can lend a hand and share an encouraging word. It makes the world a better place, it builds community between you and your team as well as goodwill for the day you might need a helping hand. I challenge you to do more than your share.

photo by SpackleToe

Privacy Concerns Don’t Matter

There’s so much chatter surrounding your privacy online. People are often amazed when I tell them that I not only know where they live but how much their house cost because of the local tax appraisal district website. *gasp* If I take five minutes I can likely find your email address, figure out where you work and call you there too. So what? What if we simply lived our lives online as if everyone was watching? What you’ll soon find out is that the majority of the people don’t care. The other few will likely not say anything for months until they see you in person, then say “hey, I’ve seen all your Facebook photos, looks like you’ve taken some cool trips.”

In a recent message Craig Groeschel said “When you have integrity, that’s all that matters. When you don’t have integrity, that’s all that matters.” What if you simply lived your life with integrity both online and offline? Would that help erase your privacy concerns a bit? How frequently would you be worried about that photo popping up or that statement you made when you had one too many?

What if you thought differently? Instead of fretting over what Facebook and every other social network is doing to keep your information safe, turn the entire issue on it’s head. EXPECT that they will broadcast your information to the world. What can you do instead to help promote a cause, your personal brand, inspire others or be an asset to someone in need? What if you took the privacy fears and turned them into a microphone instead, HOPING that people would hear all about you and your mission?

Photo by Dave Pearson

My View on the Burns, Bacsik, Bowen Issue

shame mask — Shame Mask - Rothenburg Torture Museum

During a recent Spurs game, Mike Bacsik (@mikebacsik) wrote despicable tweets that would make most people cringe. Today, Peter Burns (@peterburnsradio) and Bruce Bowen (@bowen12) hosted Mike to talk about the situation. Unfortunately, the discussion between Bruce and Peter turned sour. Each was passionate about their position. Mike was wrong, undoubtedly, and some suggest that Bruce and/or Peter was/were also wrong.

I know that I’ve been wrong before in the past, even if it was just once, and I’ve said and done things that I wish I could take back. I know though that I’ve been forgiven. I’d like to ask you to forgive Mike and if you think Bruce was wrong and/or Peter was wrong, forgive them as well. Check out Colossians 3:13-14 (MSG) – 13 Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you.14 And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

One day, I’ll certainly be asking for your forgiveness and I hope you’ll extend it to me. I look forward to being able to do the same back to you. It makes the world a better place because love beats anger, hate, frustration, fill in the blank – every time. So, forgive that person that’s wronged you; show them love instead. Lead the way and teach your enemy how to forgive.

You’re the Worst, I Have Proof

Have you ever been told “that person can do no wrong in your eyes” or “give the guy another chance, he’s a really nice person”? This past week I found out that those preconceived notions have a name: Hypothesis Bias or Confirmation Bias. In the case of someone you may not like, you’ll look for comments, actions and intonations to help support your reason for not liking that said person. On the other hand, for a person that you’re fond of, you’ll easily gloss over flaws and mistakes simply because that person is held in high esteem.

The trouble comes when there are people with whom you deal with at the office (and at home, but that’s for a different blog) that may have made a mistake or gotten cross ways with you in the past. You’re now carrying your Hypothesis Bias with you and potentially pre-punishing that employee or coworker for past grievances. Today, determine who that person is that is receiving the effects of your negative Hypothesis Bias, grab the mental sheet of paper where you’re keeping a list of all the things you don’t like and why you’re entitled to those feelings, fold it up as a paper airplane and toss it out. Now, whip out a bright white sheet of blank paper and start over with that person.

Your Hypothesis Bias may have been preventing you from a great associate and *gasp* potentially a friend whom you had previously dismissed. Come back and share how it’s going!

Jesus and the iPad

The past few weekends have been brilliant in proving that audiences vary all over the world. Two different events with which I had a personal experience painted a vivid picture. First, the iPad launch. I’ve read a number of tweets, blogs and even a clip on Modern Family asking why someone needs an iPad. It’s not really a computer, ebook reader or netbook. It’s just…different and it’s at $500 in it’s least expensive form. But you can read books on it! You know where else you can read books? In books. Consider Luis Soriano, who has a “biblioburro” or a “library donkey” in Magdalena, Colombia. Children in his part of Colombia will walk up to 40 minutes to get to school. He’ll ride 5 to 8 hours to get books to kids. The iPad’s price, need for electricity and web seem preposterous in those terms. Think of all the books we could buy in developing countries! Nonetheless, Apple raked in about $150 million in sales the first weekend.

Easter weekend, Bay Area Fellowship in Corpus Christi decided to turn the funnel around on their congregation. Instead of just asking for tithes, Bay Area Fellowship had their congregation donate goods such as luxury cars, furniture and HDTVs and gave it away to attendees on Easter Sunday – $2 million worth, actually. The giveaway was so large that Pastor Bil Cornelius was interviewed on CNN, Fox, MSNBC and a number of other national outlets. Critics came out denouncing the church for giving unnecessary items to people who weren’t in need. The church’s response? A saved soul is a saved soul. We give away food and medicine in developing countries to entice people to come to church and we give away gadgets and other items of interest to a developed country to entice them to come to church, the goal in both being eternal salvation.

In both of these cases, the general population could make arguments against both Apple and Bay Area Fellowship. Each, though, decided to ignore the naysayers and move forward with their mission. Apple with their plan to build a closed platform that hasn’t existed as a notable device in it’s size and capabilities (other tablets already exist but mostly nobody cares) when people need books in the far reaches of the world and Bay Area Fellowship who gave $2 million in expensive goods to move people closer to God when others could argue that should be done in developing countries with food.

Can you look at what you and your company are working on, power through the dip, and push out what really matters? It’s tough to ignore the crowd, you won’t ALWAYS succeed, but when you do, folks will notice.

Pause The Music

My mornings usually start the same way; with me sleepily stepping into the gym. I turn on my music, put one foot in front of the other on the “dreadmill,” lift weights, get cleaned up and head to work. I’ve met a few people at the gym, but chat rarely. You can count on a “good morning” or “hello” and a warm smile as I rest during reps, while the headphones blare. I may be guilty of yelling my greetings due to the volume (don’t judge me). Today, though, I plopped down on a machine, started my exercise and a friend came and sat beside me, so I pulled the headphones off. After we exchanged pleasantries, I kept the music off. I noticed something. The sounds of people breathing, the weights clanging, more huffing, sighing and grunting from those people around me. The silence and the sounds between those seemingly random noises affected me.

You typically hear people talking about cutting through all the noise and getting clarity. I think sometimes it’s more than noise. It’s music. The music is made up of the things we love, things we’re passionate about, and activities that we enjoy. It’s not noise, it’s the music of our individual life and it may just sound awful to others, so they call it noise.

I think my experience impacted me this morning because I read an interview about Tachi Yamada, M.D., president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Health Program. The title was Talk to Me. I’ll Turn Off My Phone. I’m fantastically guilty of NOT doing that and I’m usually doing three things at once and leave people feeling less than special. And I’m sorry. I don’t want to be that guy anymore. Technology, connectedness and being in social situations is my music. It’s time to pause the music from time to time. I’ll fail, because I enjoy my music, and I’ll try to pause it again. I’m starting today.

Passion And Action Combine For Excellence

Steven Hope walks the Chisholm Trail bearing a cross.

On Saturday, my buddy, Choco and I were driving back to San Antonio from an event we put on in Victoria for a client. As we buzzed along US 87 we spotted a guy walking with a cross. For the record, I have never stopped for a hitch hiker or a person doing something out of the ordinary on the highway. Saturday, though, was a different day. Choco and I looked at one another and decided that we should stop and have a chat with this guy to see why in the world he would choose to do such a thing. Here’s Steven Hope’s story on why he is carrying a cross.

After watching his video, you could come away with a million thoughts.
“This guy is crazy.”
“I wish I had the faith to do that.”
“Just another radical Christian”
“That’s amazing”

I simply thought “I wish I had as much passion, conviction AND action as Steven.” Most of us, simply bounce from one day to the next, guided by our social norms, bills, families and the like. Our lives turn out to be shaped much by the consequences of our circumstances, more than being shaped by a vision of what we want from our lives, our relationships and our careers.

After I turned the camera off, Steven, Choco and I discussed the amazing things that have happened to him along his 60+ city tour and how he was repeatedly delighted. Choco and I simply listened to the seemingly magical events that affected Steven. Now, I live an incredible life, surrounded by wonderful people, but I feel that I could easily take a lesson on clarity matched with action from Steven. Meeting Steven has inspired me to renew my search for even greater clarity and action. Steven’s words and actions were tied together. That’s why his message was so impactful. If nothing else, Steven’s story is a great example of how powerful it is to do what you say you’re going to do.

If you’re already acting on your passion and you know it, can you share your experience? How did you figure it out? How did you know that you were on the right track? What did it take for you to get started? Was there any confusion if you were on the correct path?

Want A Better Life? Be Likable

It’s funny how frequently we forget to apply the basics in our lives. We’re then reminded, smack our foreheads and think “DUH!” That’s probably why we were fascinated by “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader” and why The Golden Rule never goes out of style. Simple things brought back to our attention create new found fascination. Well, here’s one for you. Are you interested in going far in life, getting things that you want more easily than others and having people say “yes” more frequently than they say “no”? Try this: be likable. Be likable like a happy dog that greets you with a wagging tale.

Likability can be extremely persuasive when you’re trying to accomplish your goals. Are there people that can do with out it? Absolutely! It oftentimes requires greater positional authority, though. So, for example, if you’re trying to convince someone to donate to your cause, hire you for a job, return an item after the warranty period, you need to realize that you’re selling. Former Publicis CEO, Bob Bloom writes in his upcoming book “We seldom buy from someone we do not like.” So how well are you doing selling your services, ideas and requests?

There you have it, go be likable. Are you unsure if you’re doing a good job at being likable? Smile at people all week, see what kinds of responses you get. Are you interested in really becoming likable day in and day out? Go pick up a copy of the classic “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. Once you get it, keep it forever and read it over and over again throughout the course of your life. If you’d like it as a PDF so you can print it or read it on your Kindle, you can pick up a copy gratis (PDF Link).

Photo by San Antonio Photography

Little Extras Make The Difference

Last evening I was reading some of Ed Wallace’s Business Relationships That Last where he spoke of Max the Cab Driver. Max would pick Ed up in a British taxi in immaculate shape with bottled water and an ear ready to listen to Ed’s life stories. He would remember the little details such as Ed’s newborn, so he would gently tap on the screen door to not wake the baby. After Ed’s first ride with Max, he hoped to book him for the next week. Unfortunately, Max was booked typically booked two to four weeks out. Max explained that the extra little efforts he made were the same ones that people do for their friends. This was how he turned “fares into friends.” What do you do to enhance your personal brand or your company’s offering that is a small extra to make your customers feel as if they are getting a friend’s bonus? How has it paid off for you? Share in the comments!

photo by Caro Wallis