Connecting Service Providers with Confidence in their Gifts and Abilities

Christmas, the celebration of light coming into the world, has completed and launched us into a new year with a futuristic ring to it - 2010.  I was very young in '68 when Stanley Kubrick gave us 2001, A Space Odyssey;  its images of fast food dispensed in a machine, talking to someone over a live video link and space missions all seemed possible but a very long way off. The idea of being cut off from all human connection as the astronaut seemed unlikely and unappealing; with the passage of time I perceive it to be even less so. While in Barbados after Christmas I observed folks staying indoors warming themselves by the fire of the strongest Wifi connection instead of playing in the sun and spending loads of vacation time on facebook. We need one another and it's fascinating how many ways this idea manifests itself!  Sound more philosophical than 'service bloggish'?

Our needing each other is one of the reasons automats and fast food dispensers aren't as mainstream as once imagined. People crowd cafes and retail coffee shops to be around other people, even if they are 'social networking' on their laptops and smart phones while there.

The challenge in managing service providers that attract, maintain and increase business is linking them with their gifts and what they offer their clients in a world where we appear to be uber connected to each other and yet having less and less close or intimate contact. How does one engage a client when they're busy texting or emailing someone else?   How do you empower and teach your staff to understand the actions of a distracted client have nothing to do with them?  How do you get slick at hiring folks who delight in enacting with others so much that they'll persist in the attempt to pry someone away from the safety of the internet connection and into a face-to-face encounter?

It starts with the individual responsible for driving the business - to use 'from the top down' lends another hierarchical roadblock along the path of service enlightenment - 'it's the boss's idea to do this, not mine' - and example after example of bad service experiences enforce the idea that people don't simply 'do as they're told'.  Mentoring and modeling are a start - and connecting folks to what's great about themselves is a step that can't be missed.  Mirroring back their great qualities, their creativity and initiative builds confidence and encourages the use of gifts they may not even be aware they possess - until you show them.

I saw evidence of this while vacationing in Barbados - organizations and businesses demonstrating strong leadership had stronger, more engaging service providers... and those left to their own devices.... well.... let's say the experience didn't invite a return visit.