1000 Resaons why I could not blog for 75 days

And you really thought I was going to list that?

My apologies to all the readers and especially to the ones who asked if any more posts were coming. A few tweets and thats how active (rather passive) I was with my postings. I recall the words of my mentor, Ray Kennedy who told me long time ago "You can give a thousand reasons to say why you did not act but focus on finding the one reason why should and things will be different".

Thankfully I hit upon the one good reason why I must blog regularly. Yesterday, I got to watch a fantastic movie - Julie and Julia.

True stories of two people - Julia Child who pursued her passion to be a professional chef way back in 1950's and revolutionized the way America cooks by authoring a Masterpiece cook book called "Mastering the art of French Cooking" and Julie Powell in 2002 connects with Julia through this book and enriches her dreary life. I am not doing a review but this movie is guaranteed to inspire you for one or all of the following reasons;

a) If you have a tough going at work and want to turn to something away from the depressing day when you get back home

b) If you like to cook or if you are a foodie

c) If you wanna start blogging or If you are a blogger who has stopped for some reason/ without a reason.

No points for guessing which one of the above inspired my fingers to move. I felt so close to Julie when she blogs her experience everyday about the challenge/goal she sets to herself - To make 524 recipes from Julia's cookbook in 365 days.

I share the same feelings as as Julie did whenever I post articles. I am upset when I feel a blog post would not engage my readers. Ask me how...well I just know. I always have my readers (you) in mind before I hit the submit button and like Julie I am so eagerly waiting to look at the smiley that you rate and hear feedbacks.

In fact I fell out of my chair the way Julie reacts at office when she sees her first comment. She shrieks in utter joy to her friend in the next cubicle then frowns, sits and says, "It's from my mother, it doesn't count". I received my first comment from Ram, a great friend to a blog post titled "When will the markets recover?". Unlike Julie, the comment counted a lot for me. He did not post his comment on my website but sent me a copy of the mail that he forwarded to his colleagues and he wrote "A simple story but guess its reality for all of us. Positive thinking and proactive effort is the need of the hour".

It's Amazing how much People, Movies, Books and Feedbacks can inspire you. David Mcnally said it best: Even eagles need a push and it sure holds good for me.

Having said that I furnish for you the list of people who make a positive impact and inspire me everyday. A little bonus for the long wait and certainly a New Year treat in case any of them are not on your "Follow list". I am certain that you will get to delight yourself connecting with these"Awesome People".

Like Julie, my personal countdown for 2010 is a 100 Blogs in 365 days. Feedback as they say is the breakfast for Champions. So, keep rating and writing your thoughts.

Wishing you a Very Happy New Year,

Arranging your mind creates Happiness

Its celebration everywhere and festive mood with crackers going off every now and then on this Diwali day. I dont know how but I just managed to catch a bad cold. Relaxed on my bed, I immerse myself in thoughts - little lessons taught by my mom that supplements the Secret of happiness.

As a child, I remember always wanting more than what I had. That meant looking at other kids who wore Nike shoes, brought Cheese Sandwishes for lunch to school while I carried the traditional "Thayir Saadam with oorkai" (Curd rice with pickle), owned cricket bats that had Sunny Gavaskar's autograph and countless other things which I was envious about. When I went back to Mom to ask her to buy these for me, she would simply say - "Be grateful for what you have son coz there are many who dont even have what you have". She also encouraged me to share what I had with those who were less fortunate. Initially, I did not fully understand & follow what she said. However her principle never changed and as I kept hearing those words over and over again, I started believing it. Once I understood the power of gratitude and started to arrange my mind, YES - "ARRANGE MY MIND" - my life is surrounded with HAPPINESS.

Let me now share with you a lovely story that I read about "Arranging your mind".

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.

His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when I told his room was ready.

As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.

'I love it,' he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

'Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait.'

'That doesn't have anything to do with it,' he replied.

'Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged .. it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it.

'It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.

'Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away. Just for this time in my life.

'Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!

'Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing.'

Be thankful for and share what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never have enough - UNKNOWN

“Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly make your choice NOW”
Meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com

10 Minutes extra

I did a session yesterday for a group of new recruits undergoing induction program at one of my client's. It was quite interactive and lot of fun, filled with role plays and simulations. Whenever I have interacted with employees at inductions, I have found most of them with bubbling energy and enthusiasm. Hardly anyone is nervous about his/her career and future. There is immense self belief, a desire to perform and grow.

When I finished the session, I left the new recruits with the words, "You are what you think you are. If not for the organization, make a difference to yourself and you can do that by asking yourself three questions at the end of everyday at work;

a) Have I brought a smile to anyone's face and made them happy?

- Even if that means, paying a simple but sincere compliment.

b) Have I learnt something new today?

- Perhaps, even lessons from Succesful failures. Our daily objectives should include a honest effort to improve on yesterday.

c) Have I shown the same commitment and enthusiasm that I showed on the first day I joined?

- Yes or No, just prepare yourself to make sure that the answer is a BIG "YES" for the next day. Remember, You cannot consistently perform in a manner which is inconsistent with the way you see yourself.

If the answer is Yes to all, then you have had a fulfilling day and are making consistent progress. If not, don't worry - you will just need to spend another 10 minutes extra. That's all it takes to answer these 3 questions positively. As they say, the difference between Ordinary and Extra ordinary is that little extra."

If organizations and managers in particular could follow through and provide the right environment, there is every chance that employees will outperform their own beliefs. The Result - "Growth of the Employee = Growth of the Organization".

“Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly make your choice NOW”.
Meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com

Secret of Happiness

This story is from a very popular book which has had an impact on millions of people all over the world. As I am reading through the book perhaps for the 5th time in English (I have read it once in German as well - the book has been translated into 63 languages), I decided to pause and pen this story down which has a deep meaning.

The story goes like this..

A certain shopkeeper sent his son to learn about the secret of happiness from a wise man. The lad wandered through the desert for 40 days, and finally came upon a castle, high atop a mountain. It was there that the wise man lived. The boy had to wait for a couple of hours to meet him and narrated his story of what he had come to seek. After listening attentively, the wise man said that he did not have time just then to explain the secret of happiness. He suggested that the boy look around the palace and retun in 2 hours. "Meanwhile, I want to ask you to do something", said the wise man, handing the boy a teaspoon that held two drops of oil. As you wander around, carry this spoon with you without allowing the oil to spill.

The boy began climbing and descending the many stairways of the palace, keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. After 2 hours, he returned to the room where the wise man was. Well, asked the wise man "Did you see the Persian tapestries hanging in my dining hall? Did you see the garden that took the the master gardener 10 years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?.

The boy was embarrased and confessed he had seen nothing. His only concern had been not to spill the oil that the wise man had entrusted him. "Then go back and observe the marvels of my world", said the wise man. 'You cannot trust a man if you dont know his house'.

Relieved, the boy took the spoon and returned to explore the palace, this time observing all of the works of art on the ceiling and the walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains around him, the beauty of the flowers and the taste with which everything had been selected. Upon returning to the wise man, he related everything in detail that he had seen.

"But where are the drops of oil that I entrusted to you?' asked the wise man. Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy saw that the oil was gone.

"Well, there is only one piece of advice I can give you, said the wisest of wise men. The Secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to to forget the drops of oil on the spoon".

Taken from the book "ALCHEMIST" by Paulo Coelho.

Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly, make your choice NOW!
Meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com

?=$, from Enquiry to Sales

When a customer calls (Phone or F2F) an organization seeking information about a product or service that they offer, it is an enquiry - rather a sales opportunity. Most organizations at the senior management level do understand the importance of converting every one of these calls or interactions into sales i.e money. Are the frontline teams trained and ready to translate ? = $

We are still not through with the recession and I decided to check how the front line staff (reservations) in hotels of different categories deal with telephone enquiries. I found the results of this exercise a bit disappointing even with some popular five star hotel chains and hence a gap between the senior management's thinking and the reality with the front line teams.

Everyone of the calls had a similar opening and infact the same scenario. My friend made a call as a foreign national staying in a hotel where she was not at all happy with the service. She said that she was going to stay for 2 more days in chennai and that she was returning on the 19th September for a week. She was calling to make sure that her stay during that period was more comfortable in a better hotel. A couple of hotels asked her to send an e-mail requesting the hotel to make the booking and that they would reply to her mail. This I thought was utter nonsense. The agent could have very well said - "we dont need your business miss". With a million choices out there, remember no customer is going to send you an e-mail request just because you want it that way.

In most cases, the agents did not seem motivated by the new business and just took the reservation down for the stay starting 19th September insisting on credit card details. This is good but just not good enough. I am not even talking about recommendations and upsells at this stage. Not a single hotel had a reservation agent who empathized and said "I am so sorry to hear that Madam. I understand you've had a bitter experience but you have just called the right place." - despite the fact that she mentioned in the beginning of every call that the hotel in which she was right now staying was lousy. In fact there was no attempt to invite her to stay the last two days of this visit and make it better for her. She had two more days and that is pretty decent business.

Most of the agents were not trained to listen. This is exactly the gap and the reason for many enquiry calls not getting converted. Great reservations agents listen to their customers first. If you ask them they say, "We look at why they called and what they need, not what we have and what we offer".

If you are a reservations / sales manager reading this blog, then I recommend that you close this gap by:

•Making agents realize how much of a difference they can make by handling these enquiries efficiently,
•Boost their confidence and train them to listen,
•Make random audits of not just your team but also of the competition
•Compare and review performance during these audits regularly with your team.

In my opinion, if you listen carefully - you can also sell why they need what you have.

There is an old saying - "Customers dont care how much you know until they know how much you care".

Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly, make your choice NOW!

Meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com

Take the first step and everything else will follow

A very good friend from Germany was visiting Chennai last week and I must admit that it was a fantastic, fun filled, happy experience introducing her to my family and getting her to feel the culture and traditions of South India. I was amazed by the compromises she would make to adjust with the situations that were extremely unfamiliar to her and under normal circumstances would have made a European rather uncomfortable. When we tried to help her be a European, her statement to get going was "I am in an Indian family now and I do exactly what you do" - and that humility I admired a lot.

Back to the title of this blog, she actually was on a world tour covering different countries, India being the last one. One of the days while we were having dinner, I raised this question about how she planned the world tour at such a young age. In fact I was intrigued to ask this as I found her facebook page filled with envious comments. It all triggered off at a birthday party few months back where she met a common friend who mentioned about something called as "Round the word tickets". Getting back home she googled to find some great deals and thought she must make it and put that down in her "Dream list". She tried her luck filling up the vacation form (6 weeks vacation) and got a pleasant surprise from her boss - "Approved". In the meanwhile, the bank loan that she had applied for the World tour got processed as well. It was all falling in place and suddenly she was feeling like Phileas Fogg of Around the world in eighty days. Unlike Mr. Fogg, she did not have to prove a point to anyone that she could cover the world within a specified time and of course she did not have a man servant like Passepartout travelling with her. Well, she is such a nice person that her friends around the world decided to be Passepartout's. I am happy I was one of them who helped in her a small way fulfill her dream.

To me, her first step was to google and write down this desire as a part of her "Dream list" and the dream came true in no time. I am not amazed by this because I find this happening all around me and I firmly believe that if you take the first step...everything else will fall in place - Whatever you dream to do.
Dream BIG and Take the FIRST STEP!

Deilight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly make your choice NOW!

Meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com

It is this moment that counts

Think of leadership and leaders, then the word inspiration cannot skip your thought. A team may not always be able to achieve its goal by setting clear objectives, training, execution, consistently monitoring and measuring the path to success. There are times when the entire team may doubt their own potential to acheive the target/goal. Despite all the efforts of working to the plan and working hard, the dream that everyone believed suddenly starts to fade due to one big obstacle. Moreover, the track record and history at overcoming this challenge also many a times reflects nothing but disappointing failures.

People often need to be reminded that its a lot to do with the mind than the obstacle itself. Such situations demand the leaders to step in and inspire the team. How do you do that as a leader?

• Show courage & belief in the team
  
• Remind the team of the dream
  
• Talk about how hard the team has worked to get thus far
  
• Tell them that it is this moment that counts
  
• Make them believe - "we are the best"
  
• Get into action straightaway
  
• Most importantly, keep your speech short but powerful
  

I was inspired to write this blog after I watched the movie "Miracle" that Disney made in 2004. The movie is dedicated to Herb Brooks -the American ice hockey coach, best known for coaching the U.S. hockey team to a gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics in an event known as the "Miracle on Ice". Brooks died in the year 2003 in a car accident. The film states in the end "He never saw it. He lived it."

Click http://www.gettingtodelight.com/blog.php to watch Kurt Russel's (who plays Herb Brooks) speech to his team.

Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly, make your choice NOW!

Meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com

Drawing inspiration from the sprint King

Yes, Usain Bolt it is - who set the 100m world record in a stunning 9.58 seconds at Berlin on 16th August. Whenever I see any human being achieve what was considered impossible or that which has never been done before, I am in total awe and feel my adrenaline high. These are the people who keep reminding me - "Yes I can". Following the win, Bolt mentioned in his interview: "I think it will stop at 9.4 but you never know. I dont run for world records. I will just keep going".

Watch Bolt break the 9.6 barrier in this video below - click the link if you are unable to access - http://www.g2delight.blogspot.com/

He reminds you of......well nothing - No comparisons :)



If you are following my blogs, a few weeks ago when Roger Federer won the Wimbledon sixth time and set a record for maximum Grand Slam titles by any male (15), I made a point where Roger also quoted that he does not play for records.

It certainly is not a rhetoric statement of the "Greats", rather the truth. Echoing the words of Usain bolt, we should also keep telling ourselves "Just keep going". With the commitment and passion, things will automatically fall in place. Whenever I need a push, I watch efforts/achievements like these and it really inspires me to progress through a tough/testing moment.

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts" - Sir Winston Churchill

Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly, make your choice NOW!

Meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com

Building Yourself as a Brand

Branding yourself by discovering your strengths, developing on them, managing your weakness and positioning yourself the way you want others to perceive you is important for success in todays business world. I certainly was one of the happier and benefitted participants yesterday in the Personal Branding workshop organized by Ficci Ladies Organization (FLO). We had some exciting speakers from the corporate training field in India that included Mohan Raman, Ganesh Anantharaman, Kesan and Nina John share their views about this topic

I was reminded of Satya Sai's explanation of "You" by Mohan Raman - "The Way you see yourself (Personal), the Actual You (More enlightening and spiritual) and the way others see you (What's required in today's business and social world). Personal branding is the third "You" - our ability to get people to associate our name with something we want to be linked or connected with. Perhaps an image, style, words, profession etc. It was rather interesting to note that in many cases (Celebrity world), people have created their brand unconsciously and used that as a strategy in the latter part of their lives to achieve what they wanted.

Ganesh and Kesan introduced "The temparament instrument" which happens to be the brain child of Professor Pradip Khandwala (IIM - A) and that is a great tool to know about yourself. I realized that I had a greater allery to ambiguity that I thought I had from this highly validated and proven instrument. I have worked on a couple of other instruments in the past and have noticed striking similarities - This means that I have good news and bad news.

Well, the good news is that I have been honest and spontaneous about answering these "Strengths questionnaires" which has made me more "Self Aware" and that certainly is a strength. However the fact that scores havent changed much over the last 6 months also reflects that my plan is not working to its best. Time to make changes to the plans and I am making that NOW! Hey, that is also a sign that I am getting my tolerance levels better (Reducing the allergy to ambiguity factor). HURRAY!!

For those of you who are interested to know your strengths, I recommend you to start with Dr. Martin Seligman's VIA Character Strengths test @ http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx

I had some great insights and benefits from this online survery too which ranked 24 of my Character strengths in the order of significance. Dr. Seligman recommends that we pay more attention to the top 5 called "Signature strengths" and find ways to use them more often.

Overall, it doesn't matter what instrument you use but your top priority is to build yourself as a Brand. These surveys, tests and instruments are the first steps to "Know thyself", Once you know what you are - make a plan to use the strengths, manage your weakness and promote the brand "You" to move from the ORDINARY to EXTRA-ORDINARY,

“Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly make your choice NOW”

Meet me at : www.gettingtodelight.com

What is that?

I got a video forward recently from one of our family friends, Mr. Sriram with the title "What is that?". When I watched it, I could not resist writing back to ask his permission to include the video in my blog. He replied that his friend from Rallis India was the one who had sent it to him and deserved a mention. Since I had problems loading the video file, I decided to check out if youtube had the same video and yes it is one of the most popular ones with over 1,206,340 views and shares a "5" start rating by 3077 people.

Patience seems to be a diminishing quality in most of us as we grow up and become an adult. We want peace and quiet when we return home from work forgetting that we were kids too. We cannot repeat an instruction more than once to a colleague and start complaining. When a new hire wants you to teach him/her the task again, we term them "incompetent" and send them back to the HR department. We have zero tolerance to customers requests and call them "Strange", "Difficult" or "Not possible".

We get restless when we have to wait - for a bus, at the dentist, in the middle of a traffic snarl or even for the rain to stop. Nothing's gonna change by getting upset or emotional.

Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret - Ambrose Bierce

Here are some things that you can choose to do from now:

• Take it easy, hold your nerves, smile and enjoy the moment wherever you are.
  
• Give your love, respect and attention to the elders at home and the family. They truly deserve it.
• Your customers are the very reason why your company is in business and the fact that you still have your job. Engage with them, build rapport and take efforts to fulfill their requests.
  
• Listen to your colleagues, offer to help them when you see they are busy.
  
• Be Happy and delight someone everyday.

Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly, make your choice NOW!

Life is like a game of tennis

Sunday last was just amazing as I sat up watching the match between Andy Roddick and Roger Federer. Almost every game, the final set in particular - I was either tweeting or chatting with friends on the possibility of a Roddick win. I wasn't totally shocked or surprised about Roger setting a record and winning his 15th Slam - He definitely is a true champion. Whenever we hear the Champions speak after they set records, they all often say that they never started playing the game with that intent. Neither do they sit back and relax after achieving the unprecedented feats. Roger in fact mentioned that he will go on to play the game with passion as he just loves it and if he can win more, its all the better.

I like MacAnderson's blogs, quotes and books. Even though I have not read his book "Charging the Human battery" completely, I thought it will be great to pick up one page of this book and pen it down for you. It talks about "Tennis and Service"

"Serve and Grow rich". Someone once said, "Life is like a game of tennis. The player who serves well seldom loses". Financial wealth is fleeting but what we do for others is lasting.

Serving others makes us feel good about ourselves because in our heart's we know it's the right thing to do. As Martin wright said "Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time". Even the simplest gestures demonstrates this - think about opening the door for someone. They say "thank you" - You say "You are welcome". Your heart smiles because you feel good about yourself. You did the right thing.

Create a Service culture, where your employees focus on serving the customer and serving each other. Good things will happen and you create a company about which everyone who works is proud of. People definitely understand that Customers pay the bills and their salaries. However it is serving each other with a smile in the heart, that makes it a great place to work.

Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly, make your choice NOW!

Meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com

Negative thoughts - Worse than Swine Flu

I had a wonderful 2 hour session today with some boys and girls who are aspiring to be flight stewards and air hostesses in the near future. I was speaking about customer service and I wrote the word "Emotion" on the whiteboard, circled it and asked the guys to come up with all emotions they could think of and demonstrate the same with a bit of body language or facial expressions as they mentioned the word.

First word was "Joy", then "Happy" which was followed by "Smile" .There was bit of fun and humor in the class as the kids who were in this brainstorming session attempted to facially express these words. Then someone set the ball rolling for the "CONTRA" words. I heard "Sad" after which I did not have time to turn back even to look who was voicing out the words from the group of students. I realized the mood in the classroom getting a bit more serious and within 60 seconds there were 14 negative emotions fired at me without a pause. (I did not think there were so many negative emotions - it included words like Dull, Collapsed, Shock, Frown and so on).

What amazes me is that the human brain faces a big challenge when it has to open the the positive pages of it's dictionary. It has to first look for the keys, open the book, search for the pages, find the words - My my, that is a humongous task. The brain finds it a lot easier to shift gear the moment it has an opportunity.

When it gets to negative words / thoughts or influences, - beware they can be more contagious than Swine flu. As regards to the disease, everyone realizes that prevention is better and wears a mask. I recommend that you also wear an imaginary helmet to block these negative thoughts as they are silent killers.

Perhaps negative feelings are also like the automatic sensor taps in wash counters of unclean public toilets. Show your hands and the water flows out - dirty water. Withdraw your hands to stop getting more dirty. In other words, pull yourself out when surrounded by the negative - It's the only way out.

If only we could reverse this and make positivity more contagious, we will not only make a difference to our lives but also to the people around us.

Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly, make your choice NOW!

Meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com

Reinventing your business

Few weeks ago, I heard "Allegria" by Cirque du Soleil (CDS) - the entertainment company based out of Canada. I had never heard the music before and somehow it was powerful. I also tried to recollect something I had read/heard about CDS. The thing which instantly flashed in my mind is that this company had reinvented its business and I had read about it somewhere - Nothing more. I left it at that thinking I should perhaps read more about CDS.

Yesterday I had a nice lunch with a couple of good friends from the hospitality industry. The topic of our discussion was about how hotels compare what the competition do and then try to apply similar practices into their own. It includes customer attracting techniques, sales promotions, cost cutting measures etc. Interestingly business owners also are keen to find out if a competitor in the industry has paid a bonus or increment during these times of recession and act based on that information. None of us who were dining were business owners ourselves but it did not appear logical for any of us to do something like that - in particular w.r.t human potential related issues.

When I returned home I was curious to see if I had any articles or books in my library that spoke about companies which reinvent the business on their own without taking a look into the competition. I browsed though Tom Peters "In Search of Excellence", then went on to read a few pages from "Built to last" by Jim Collins. These books certainly talk about Successful companies and the authors make some extra ordinary comparisons. Somehow, I wasn't happy as I could not relate our discussion for the day. Luckily, I just hit upon CDS while browsing the net and I was absolutely convinced reading about this Canadian company.

CDS was started in 1984 by a group of street performers (perhaps 20 people) who were entertaining people in Quebec city lead by Guy Laliberte. Today, they are a 1 billion $ company with many awards for innovation and have a workforce of over 4000 employees. How did they do it?

During the early 90's the circus industry was declining & every other circus company in town was benchmarking one another and maximizing their share by tweaking traditional acts. These included hiring more famous clowns and more skilled lion tamers, multiple show arenas with 3 rings. It really meant increased costs for the company without altering the audience experience in any major way. Moreover the circus industry was catering to a limited segment of the audience (the Children and adolescent) who were more attracted to the Nintendo's and Playstations. Besides, there were also sentiments rising from animal welfare activists. Circus worldwide began to dwindle and slowly wipe out.

CDS, all this while was least concerned with what the competition was doing. They created a new market with the adult theater customers by offering them an unprecedented experience - the fun and thrill of circus coupled with intellectual sophistication & artistic richness of the theater. They were ready to pay more for such quality entertainment and newer experience. Unlike traditional circus shows having a series of unrelated acts, for example, each Cirque du Soleil creation has a theme and story line, somewhat resembling a theater performance. Although the theme is vague (and intentionally so), it brings harmony and an intellectual element to the show—without limiting the potential for acts.

"The only way to beat the competition is to stop trying to beat the competition" - W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne in their book Blue Ocean Strategy.

I am not suggesting that every business owner, leader must be oblivious of the competition but I just think one does not need to "Be" the competition and mimic every aspect.

Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly, make your choice NOW!

"Cross training after Crossing 40" - Learning never stops

I must say that I have returned from a high spirited, energizing visit to the Emirates. Although it has been 2 weeks, Le Meridien Al Aqah beach resort in Fujairah is just so close to my heart that I continue to enjoy this moment now thinking about all the people who made a difference and a great impact on me. I am happy to write this blog about one such person (there are many more). There are two reasons why I begin this blog with him;

1. It's a promise I made to him that the next blog I write in my website - it will be about him.

2. I was more than impressed by his action and genuine effort to help another department in the hotel.

Velayudan (in the pic) is the Chief security officer (CSO) at Le Merdien Al Aqah beach resort. Dedication to his role, respect for the job and honesty are always qualities that I have admired in this man. With due respect to all the CSO's that I have worked with in my life, I have never come across anyone who is so specialized in fire fighting and one who trains the entire team with utmost sincerity on emergency procedures.

You might then be wondering what he is doing at the reception of this hotel. Yes, he is checking out a guest. This man is over 40 plus and has spent many years of his life in hotels with a different perspective (Safety and Security of customers and employees). In my view and also from what I have seen overs the years, "Security and Service mindset" are usually a kind of mismatch. So, I asked him what made him do a cross training at front office and learn Opera - the Front office system to check in and check out customers. He said that at first he just wanted to help the department on weekends when the reception gets crowded owing to 150 arrivals or more and an equal number of departures. Once he started to interact with the customers, he started to enjoy what he was doing. He said that through this exposure he understood his own job better, his perception about people and the way he looked at others changed. Above all, he realized that it takes very little effort to learn something new even when you are 40 plus. Most important thing is to take the first step. I probably have mentioned this before but it applies to this situation again and hence I write it as Zig Ziglar saiys - People who dont take the first step will never take the second.

I interviewed the Front office Manager (FOM) of the hotel later to find out if he felt the CSO's presence as an intrusion to his operation. The FOM was candid to admit that at first he thought it minght be, but now he thinks Velayudan is a great help and god send on weekends in particular.

The General Manager in fact thinks it would be wonderful for all HOD's to go through some cross trainings. A chance to discover oneself as well as a learning experience. But he would never push for it as such efforts are individual and cannot be a forced affair. I think he is absolutely right!

Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly, make your choice NOW!

Engage your Customers

In his 10 Commandments of Exceptional Customer Service, Mark Sanborn writes;

Marketing creates demand.
Selling creates transactions.
Service creates customers

This is absolutely true and your company must create customers by providing great products and service, however there is fierce competition out there who are able to very quickly imitate your product and match the service with cheaper rates. The big question now is how do we keep the buyers coming back or retain them?

Customer retention and loyalty increases only by ENGAGING and INVOLVING them. It's the relationship between your company or its associates that keeps the customers stick to your brand. As I keep working on my current assignment at Le Meridien Al Aqah beach resort in Fujairah UAE, I interact casually with some of their regular clients and I learn the reasons that make them frequent this hotel.

One guest from Holland commented that the butchery chef knows well that he loves Mayonaise and he makes sure that there is Mayonaise Sauce on his table whenever he dines at any of the restaurants in the hotel. In fact the guest actually calls this Chef and informs him about his next visit before he even contacts the reservations team. WOW!

Another Customer from Germany who are visiting for the 10th time said "Almost all the staff know our name and even my favorite beer and as he was mentioning that to me, a smiling associate handed out a Heineken from a tray of assorted drinks to him at the General Manager's Guest Cocktail party.

Take a look at the picture below - It's the Associate Grafitti wall located back of the house where the staff involve their guests as well in writing about the hotel. A perfect example of engaging customers.

This wall is filled with positive things about the hotel and it really inspires the associates as they walk the corridor to start work each day.

Southwest airlines is another great company that is well known for engaging their customers. Watch this flight attendant making the in flight announcement in his Rap style as the passengers clap with him.

Teaming up to thank the boss

I am a raving fan of Le Meridien Al Aqah beach resort not just because I have worked in this place but because this hotel, it's leadersip and the employees continue to amaze me consistently. Today, I am glad to back in this hotel which has bagged numerous awards in the past. On the 7th May 2009, the hotel once again won 4 more at the MENA (Middle East and North Africa Travel Awards) in Dubai. I am here in the hotel now, not as an employee but as a consultant and I can feel the pride and happiness around the associates (as they call themselves now with the Starwood) about winning the awards. The smiles, greeting each other over the achievement and sharing the celebrations with the customers is a treat to watch.

As an example of how they celebrate and thank each other, I recall the year 2005 when the General Manager of the hotel, Mr. Patrick Antaki returned from the World travel Awards held in United Kingdom with a trophy for the "Best Leisure hotel". As a gesture and a surprise to the GM, we arranged a a little party on the 15th Floor lounge of the hotel which had a fantastic view of the Ocean and what he saw was the picture below;

Yes, it's the associates forming a human chain on the shores to thank the boss. Winning is indeed about being together at all times and expressing gratitude to your collegues and customers.

Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly, make your choice NOW!

Meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com

Are you just there or really present?

I am completely in love with the location from where I write this blog. It's the 15th floor club lounge of Le Meridien Al Aqah beach resort in Fujairah with a panoramic view of the vast Indian Ocean and blue skies right in front. As my laptop was booting up, I stood by the enormous windows taking deep breaths enjoying the precious moments. Life is indeed a gift. I worked in this very same hotel for 3 years until December 2005 and ironically not once can I remember taking time alone at this lounge to appreciate the beauty of nature and life. Life is about the present moment and I am happy I did that NOW!

I originally intended to write about my flight to Dubai and the little things I noticed on-board, customer service of course. I flew Emirates and the check in agent at the airport was helpful to give me an aisle seat next to the emergency doors as requested. Throughout the flight I paid attention to how the staff performed and it actually does not take an expert to understand the motivation levels of employees. It was evident that some of them were REALLY PRESENT to serve customers while the rest were JUST THERE for a paltry sum they were paid (at least they thought so and one of them even mentioned that to me while I was deplaning).

The "Just there" (JT) employees had rigid faces and;

1. Used expressions like "towels?" when they were serving cold /hot towels with very little politeness.

2. Were whining to their colleagues on why he/she did not clear a tray in a particular row after the meal was served. Obviously the passenger had not finished eating.

3. Refused a timid passenger (who did not speak fluent English) use the toilet after the flight landed saying it was filled with soiled linen. I had to intervene, talk the flight attendant out of his laziness to help the poor passenger out of his agony.

4. Acted without thinking on basics. One "JT" employee connected a laptop of a passenger to the socket near the emergency doors in order to charge the battery until the safety hazard of the wire getting in between was pointed out by.......who else but one of them that belonged to a different category below.

The same flight also had the "YAY" employees who were Really Present with a bright smile and a warm greeting.

1. I remember Lyn who escorted me all the way to seat 37C and commented with enthusiasm ,,Perfect seat for a comfortable journey".

2. She tried to help a man who did not speak English with the details of his transit time at Dubai on his way to Jeddah. I saw no signs of frustrations and in fact volunteered to help her with the translation for which she was thankful.

3. One flight attendant who was energetic all through took position in the middle of the aircraft after we landed and was thanking every passenger as they crossed him to get down from the plane. The really present ones can make an impact even with a Single phrase. He only said "Thank you for flying Emirates" with a true Smile.

4. These guys kept the passengers engaged and also were having fun on the job.

If you are just there, your customers can spot you easily just as much as they appreciate the "Really present" ones which is what I have done.

Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly, make your choice NOW!

Meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com

47 year old Susan Boyle, a name that nobody knew until 15 days ago has taken the world by storm when she decided to dream of becoming a professional singer, get on stage and perform despite knowing she was facing a hostile audience at the Britain's got Talent show.

Over 100 million views in two weeks, more clicks as the clock ticks. Yes, that is the status of Susan's video on you tube since 11th of April 2009 when her talent was first broadcast to the world.

Her plump figure, curly hair and presumably clumsy appearance was received with laughter and cynical reactions from the judges and the audience as she walked on stage. One could see contempt in that voice of Simon Cowell - one of the judges when he asked ,"What is your name darling?". Susan's response of becoming a professional singer to the likes of Elaine Paige only got more eyes rolling and frowns when she was asked "What's the dream?".

However as she started to sing "I dreamed a dream" from Les Miserables in an angelic voice as sweet as nectar from heaven, everyone at the Clyde auditorium in Glasgow Scotland was stunned, filled with remorse and felt ashamed for mocking based on her looks. Then they stood and applauded the biggest suprise that even the judges have seen in the 3 years since this show began.

Watch Susan at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY before you read further.

I choose to highlight four statements as lessons for all of us:

1. One local newspaper which I was reading yesterday had an article about Susan Boyle with the headline "Some dreams begin at forty seven".

2. I know what they were thinking, but why should it matter as long as I can sing? It’s not a beauty contest. - Susan Boyle, The Sunday Times.

3. After the performance, Amanda Holden, another Judge said, "I am so thrilled because I know that everybody was against you. I honestly think that we were all being very cynical, and I think that's the biggest wake-up call ever. And I just want to say that it was a complete privilege listening to that."

4. Walt Disney coined "Dream, dare, do" as his business philosophy and since the time his team started believing in these three words, disney has achieved unparalleled success. Susan is an example of how this is so true in any individual's life as well.

Delight yourself first, to delight people around you. Most importantly make your choice NOW!

Meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com

Unleash your employees creativity

I recently had a meeting with the Executive director of a potential client about helping them set up a training center and a training process for their teams. They have been in business for many years now and there has been a hollow in their employee learning and development programs. I found them candid and there was an earnest interest to get the facility up and running ASAP and offer employees the right environment to learn, perform & grow.

While we formalized on what, when and how to's of the assignment, I was also shown the space that had been identified as the training center. The room was clean and basic but the walls appeared naked. So, we spoke about decorating them with some ready made motivational stuff that include wall posters, customer service graffiti, great quotes of leaders etc. Then a flash just crossed my mind - Hang on...just as much as the owners are keen, the employees need to be involved in their own learning and development and it starts with them. So, I suggested that we talk to the employees from each department and let them unleash their creativity to decorate different sections of the wall that will provide a motivating environment for them and their co-workers. That way we could also discover some hidden talents in the form of artists, poets, interior designers and may be even to help the company in it's re branding efforts. The Management found the idea cool and hopefully it should pay off.

Pixar which is well known for making blockbuster movies like Finding Nemo and Toy Story is a great example of a company that provides a great learning and development environment. They set up what they call as Pixar University (PU). One would certainly expect them to conduct classes on movie making. They do that YES and also classes in Sculpture, drawing,singing, pottery, theatre and more.

When Randy Nelson, the Dean of PU was asked how teaching employees pottery or singing will help Pixar, he said:

We have made the leap from an idea-centered business to people-centered business.
Instead of developing ideas, we develop people
Instead of investing in ideas, we invest in people.
We are trying to create a culture of learning, filled with lifelong learners. It's no trick for talented people to be interesting, but it is a gift to be interested. We want an organization filled with interested people.

Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly, make your choice NOW!
Meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com

Formula to Success

I have been asked many a times during training sessions and in particular by the people who regard me as a Mentor about feeling demotivated on failing to achieve something. The follow up statements I am used to hearing are:

I have given it my best shot and I can't think of any better way

(or) I am lost. I don't know what to do next.

For those of you still caught up in this low morale feel, I am glad I found this video of Allan Pease who is highly regarded worldwide as a body language expert . His book titled "The definitive book on Body Language" has sold over 1 million copies and is great fun to read.

He talks about GOALS and how a 3 step formula saved his life after being diagonised of advance Prostrate cancer. With doctors confirming 98% chances he would die in 3 years, he chose to study the remaining 2% who survived and battled it out.

What I loved most is Allan deciding to write out an audacious goal without a deadline to speak at Kremlin and Vladimir Putin becoming his fan later.

To summarize Allan's Formula for success:

1) Make the decision to have a clearly defined goal / goals - Decide what you want to do first and the how's will follow.

2) Have a written plan of action with deadlines - It's the difference between Millionaires and Billionaires. Have a continual list to prevent running out of what to do next when you face an obstacle with one.

3) No matter what anyone says just follow through with your goal - Everyone around you, those who love you in particular will try to stop you. They dont want to see you fail. Just go through with it.

Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly, make your choice NOW!

Meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com

Creating Magical moments

You visit a restaurant in town with your family or friends, have a nice meal and then ask for the check. The waiter brings you a black or brown leather folder containing the bill and a little comment card for you to fill about the food, ambiance and service. As you take the plastic money out of your wallet, you pass the comment card to one of the ladies around the table and ask them to fill it. You then settle the bill and leave - "Ordinary"

Most restaurants / hotels forget that settling bill is also a part of the dining experience.

Let's take the same scenario where you have just had a nice meal with family or friends and have asked for the check. How about getting a huge colourful cotton candy on your table, the smiling waiter in a nice tone says "With every check comes a cotton candy with compliments" before presenting the leather folder to you?

You can see the child in everyone popping out suddenly eager to reach out to the candy with giggles and laughter. There is so much fun around the table as you are settling the bill. Yeah, that's the magical moment which gets etched in your memory and will be talked about. - "Extraordinary"

Did it cost the restaurant a lot of money to do that? Was it asking for too much from the waiter - Not at all!

Great service organizations consistently work on these little touch points to create memorable experiences and that's what makes the best stand out from the rest.

Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly, make your choice NOW!

Meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com

The "YOU" factor - Lead change & Be Happy

Couple of days ago, I was flipping the pages of various books at the Landmark book stores in chennai when I chanced upon a "Serenity prayer". Most often when I browse the pages in this manner, words check in and check out from my mind but this one got registered and said I will never leave. Here's how it goes:

God, I pray to you to grant me 

the serenity to accept 

the things I cannot change

courage to change the

the things I can

wisdom to know the difference 

between the two.

Easier said than done I agree. Let me borrow an example from Stephen Covey's 90-10 principle of life to talk more about this;

You are having breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffe on to your business shirt. You can't change what just happened coz it's beyond your control. What happens next is determined by;

Emotional Reaction: you curse. You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over. She breaks down in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your wife and you criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. A short verbal battle follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish her breakfast and getting ready to go to school. She misses the bus. Your spouse must leave immediately for work. You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school. Because you are late, you drive 40 miles per hour in a 30 mph speed limit zone. After a 15-minute delay and throwing $60.00 traffic fine away, you arrive at school. Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye. After arriving at the office 20 minute late, you realize that you forgot your briefcase. Your day has started terrible. As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse. You look forward to coming home.rWhen you arrive home, you find a small wedge in your relationship with your wife and daughter. Why all this and why such a bad day? Is it because of the Coffee, your daughter, wife, traffic or YOU? - "You" know the answer.

(or)

Responsive action - ideally what could have and what should have happened;

coffee splashes over you. Your daughter is about to cry. You gently say: “It’s okay, honey, you just need to be More careful next time.” Grabbing a towel you go upstairs and change your shirt. You grab your briefcase, and you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus. She turns and waves. You arrive 5 minutes early a cheerfully greet the staff. Scene starts the same in both cases, ends totally different - See the difference?

You really have no control over 10% of what happens in your life. The other 90% was determined by your emotional reaction (or) Responsive action.

Now, go back to the prayer, read it again. I recommend that you in fact chant it everyday until you discover the secret formula for happiness. 

Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly, make you choice NOW!

Meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com

Techie as a cabbie

How often do you come across a well groomed cab driver who will;

Smile, greet and open the door for you - Help you with your luggage when you get in and get out - Remind you to put on your seat belt for safety - Play music after checking with you (limited choice though) - Pick up a nice conversation in fluent English explaining en route attractions during a 4 hour drive - Stop for a snack at a great place recognizing need (Growling stomach) - Thank you for choosing him and hand over a business card at drop off

Perhaps you can expect the first four basic courtesies from a well trained cab driver of a 5 star hotel but certainly not in the remote parts of Maharashtra. I should say we were lucky to find SILVERA (our driver's name) on our return trip from Shirdi to Pune.

Though initially I was overawed by Silvera's customer service skills and professionalism, it did not take me too long to find out that he owned not just this Chevrolet Tavera but 17 more similar ones. He was replacing one of his drivers that day who had applied for a day's leave. I have read about a General Manager of a hotel wearing the bell boys' uniform for a day but I had never heard of a travel company owner (18 vehicles) acting as a driver. So, naturally I took advantage of our driving time to get an interview done and have published the summary;

me: It's just a day's leave requested by your driver and yet you to choose make this 8 hour trip (to & fro) - Is it about money?
Silvera (SIL): It's not just about money, yes I certainly lose about 4000 Rs/- in case I happen to park the vehicle in the garage but driving is my passion. When there is an opportunity like this I seize it to:
(a) Lead by example - It shows my drivers how much I value their job and the business itself.
(b) Interact with my customers and get direct feedback
(c) Experience what my drivers go through and I could relate with challenges they face while driving.
(d) Meet my business partners across the state (Tie-up's with travel agencies - talks about his lunch with the one at Shirdi that afternoon).

me: do you have any business rules or philosophy?
SIL: Customers are really everything to the business" and hence I believe in providing them "Safety, Comfort and Service". His business cards reads that!

me: how do you recruit your drivers?
SIL: Mostly references from my team or known contacts, but the basic must haves are a Valid license, min 5 years experience on road (for knowledge of routes within the state) - I verify this. Basic english is an advantage but it's hard to find.

me: How do you ensure your drivers provide the same experience to Customers as you have given us?
SIL: I train, talk to them and convince them that customers will be happy to pay for Safety, comfort and Service. They are getting better everyday and I can see that. Though I may not be able to guarantee the same level of service at this stage, I am striving to achieve that.

me: How do you handle customer complaints?
SIL: I take them very seriously. Infact my drivers know that if I get any speeding complaints from the customers, that will be their last day at work. Safety stands at "Position 1" amongst our beliefs and I cannot compromise on that (he jokes about Anthony, one of his drivers who has got a couple of driving too slow complaints on the highway).

me: How long have you been in this business and what is your long term plan?
SIL: 6 months since I started off and I wish to own a few VOLVO buses and may be even challenge NEETA Volvo (which has the biggest market in Maharashtra) in the future.

me: Only 6 months, so what have you been doing all this while?
SIL: I am a SAP Consultant and continue to work for a SEI-CMM Level 4 IT Company. I have been an IT professional for 13 years and decided to start my own business. I have always been fond of vehicles and even as early as school/college days I would drive heavy trucks. Right now, I am on notice period and ready to take on rental car full time. I have managed it over the last 6 months simply from home with mobile phones and with the hep of a director-partner who is a retired military professional.

For that surprise news - "Techie as a Cabbie", we had to stop for refreshments and take a breath of fresh air. The journey after that was equally impressive and touching in a way when I got to learn about situations and challenges he has had to deal with in his personal life and keep his dream going.

I recently read about how visionary companies have become successful from the book "built to last" by Jim collins where he writes about leaders of these companies having BHAG"s - Big Hairy Audacious Goals. Let me cite an example from the same book to quickly tell you about BHAG's. In 1890's, City Bank (as Citicorp was then named) was an unspectacular regionanl bank with only a president, a cashier and a handful of employees. Yet president James Stillman set the almost ludicrous (but certainly stimulating) aim "to become a great national bank" and IT DID BECOME ONE.

I could see Stillman's confidence and commitment in Silvera when he spoke about owning Volvo's and perhaps challenge NEETA travels.

To know more about Silvera's business or to utilize his services if you are in Pune, log on to: www.virgotransline.com.

Delight yourself first to delight people around you. Most importantly, make your choice NOW!

meet me at: www.gettingtodelight.com