Many of the memorable stories that we’ve covered so far focus on a company’s stellar response to an usual situation … but what about those day-to-day service stories? Superb service is not limited to out of the ordinary circumstances. It can be incorporated into the very fabric of your business, showing up in even the most common of instances. That’s why we love this next story shared by a customer in Streetsboro, Ohio.

The story was posted on Reddit under the appropriately titled topic of “I have never in my life seen this level of customer service” and included this genuine, thoughtful thank-you note.

But the best part of this tale is that despite the fact that this image was shared on the internet, random commenter’s starting pointing out that they knew exactly which business this was, “I used to live in Streetsboro and I know exactly who that is. He’s a good man, stay with him!”

Now that’s the definition of memorable service! The praise continued with non-customers, too, with one commenter saying, “It’s little things like this that earn business. If I got this card I would never use another mechanic in my life.”

The belief that you should do your best to “make things right” with customers in tough situations is a recurring theme among those companies with legendary customer service. That said, even the greats of the customer service world will have a hard time topping the story below.

In an outstanding example of taking care of customers, Bungie Studios, a popular game developer in the industry, raised the bar for their willingness to take care of their fans.

The story begins with a distraught father whose son had to receive liver transplant surgery around the holidays. Since being in the hospital left his son unable to play the newest release of his favorite video game franchise, Halo, his dad reached out to Bungie.

The response he received from the company went far beyond what anyone expected!First, the entire Bungie team signed and sent a card with get-well wishes. To make up for missing out on playing Halo, the team built him a custom helmet based off of the main character and sent it along with shirts, toys and custom art from the game’s designers.

His father later posted a thank you thread and a collection of images on Christmas day, which was when Bungie visited his son in the hospital and brought the gifts. “He was absolutely shocked when he saw the custom helmet from Halo Reach! Bungie, you have played a huge part in making this smile! My family can’t thank you enough!”

It doesn’t take a slew of consumer data to support the argument that your regular customers are your rock. As such, taking care of them is not just the right thing to do. It’s also good for business.

Consider the case of regular Gaylord Opryland hotel customer Christina McMenemy, who stayed at the resort three years in a row for the annual BlissDom conference. During each stay McMenemy found herself entranced by one of the features in her hotel room—an alarm clock that played light music; as in, the kind that you’d experience in a highend spa.

McMenemy says, “You probably think I’m insane to obsess over a clock radio.” But, her rationale for her fondness for this item was that she had never slept better than she did while using it. For three years McMenemy tried to find the exact model clock from her hotel room, but to no avail. McMenemy had nearly given up hope when she messaged the company’s Twitter page during her most recent trip to Opryland.

@GaylordOpryland Where can I buy this Sharper Image clock radio in my room? None in stores have the “spa” sounds & I’ve never slept better!

Gaylord Opryland @GaylordOpryland

@mommystory Unfortunately, our version isn’t available to the public, but here is a Shaper Image alarm clock like it: http://amzn.to/ADMXzL .

Christina McMenemy @mommystory

@GaylordOpryland Yeah, that one doesn’t have the spa sound. Been looking for one after loving the 1 in my room for 3yr now at Blissdom. 🙁

Resigned to her fate, she attended the conference and let the alarm clock hunt go. But upon returning to her room she was surprised to find not one but two spa clocks and a letter with her name on it.

Opryland recognized an opportunity to make sure a long-time customer had one of the best experiences ever. And they didn’t just win a customer for life; they also bought plenty of goodwill with folks at the conference (and beyond) who subsequently heard about the story.

“You reaffirmed that there are still companies out there focused on great service, and you’ve made a lifelong fan out of me.” Christina McMenemy.

Customer-centric is an approach to doing business that focuses on providing a positive customer experience both at the point of sale and after the sale in order to drive profit and gain competitive advantage. We reproduce here a series of anecdotes that showcase some ‘customer centric’ efforts of prominent and even not so prominent organizations.

A rigid attitude might just be the antithesis of great customer service. Proving that they’re a company that knows how to have a little fun, this next story from Sainsbury’s supermarket highlights how your support team should spot great opportunities to do things that are quirky and out of the ordinary.

Lily Robinson (three and a half years old) was quite confused by one of Sainsbury’s products called tiger bread. In her eyes, the bread didn’t resemble a tiger at all, and in fact looked very much like a giraffe. It’s hard to disagree with her!

With a little assistance from mom and dad, she wrote a letter to Sainsbury’s customer service department. To her surprise, customer support manager Chris King (age 27 and one-third) told her that he couldn’t agree more. He explained the origins of the name: “I think renaming tiger bread giraffe bread is a brilliant idea – it looks much more like the blotches on a giraffe than the stripes on a tiger, doesn’t it? It is called tiger bread because the first baker who made it a long time ago thought it looked stripey like a tiger. Maybe they were a bit silly.”

Lily’s mom enjoyed the letters and ended up posting them on her blog. Before long, this cute correspondence was a viral hit, and the pressure was on for Sainsbury’s to change the name of the product to the much more appropriate giraffe bread.

Knowing the customer was certainly right in this instance—and spotting an unusual opportunity to do something fun—Sainsbury’s changed the name of the bread and put signs around their stores that give a humorous nod to Lily’s original idea.

Conflict triggers strong emotions and can lead to hurt feelings, disappointment, and discomfort. To successfully resolve a conflict, one needs to learn and practice the ability to quickly reduce stress in the moment and remain comfortable enough with his/her emotions to react in constructive ways. Staying in touch with one’s own emotions is particularly important in the midst of an argument or a perceived attack. Read on…

Dave runs a marketing company. A client had accepted some work without criticism but, sixty days later, still hadn’t paid up. Dave was getting irritated: after all, cash flow was tight. Dave started emailing his client requesting payment. After a while, he was very surprised to receive an email back from the client asserting various inadequacies with the service Dave’s business had provided and making various allegations of incompetence against Dave’s staff.

Dave was indignant and sent off a long, businesslike and polite email, but one which made his position clear. He got back another email from his client like the first. So Dave responded in kind, and got another unacceptable reply (and no cheque). Dave responded, got another reply (and no cheque).

By this time Dave was frustrated and he called his Business Consultant. Before going on to read the resolution, below, what would you do in Dave’s position? (It’s a safe bet the client could have kept up the emails indefinitely rather than pay up.)

________________________________________

When Dave called the Consultant, Robert, asked to see the emails. Robert had no way of knowing whether the client was right about the quality of the marketing. On reading the lengthy emails from both parties, it was interesting to see that, under Dave’s polite and business like writing style, there were plenty of little attacks. Robert pointed out that there was a point in the letter where Dave wrote “I attach another copy of the invoice for your convenience”.

“Are you sure you’re doing that for his convenience? Do you know he has lost the previous copy?” Robert asked Dave—it felt a lot more like Dave was electronically waving it under the client’s nose and shouting “pay up!”. Of course the client was giving as good as he got, but Robert didn’t have access to the client, so there was no chance of any mediation process (and no need either).

The obvious point is that Dave and his client were in a fight. Strong word, perhaps, but let’s call a spade a spade.

From this we can say that (1) whether or not he felt he was in the right—or even whether he was right—Dave was colluding with the client in perpetuating the fight. He was as responsible for it as the other party. Most people believe that if you walk away from a fight, the other side is going to walk all over you. This is not usually the case. Dave had to be brave enough to just stop fighting.

Then (2), an attachment to being right (even if you are right!) always stops you moving forward. Dave had to let go of that need to be right, if he wanted the situation to move forward (something most business owners find very hard).

The practical action Dave took was to draft an ultra-clinical, very short and objective response to the client’s recent email, answering the points of fact raised, but not rising to the bait of any allegations, or anything that didn’t have to be answered. He resisted the temptation to have a go at the client, or to ask for the money. To his surprise he got a similarly brief clinical response which required, in turn, an even shorter response.

The client paid up two days later.

________________________________________

There are two principles of emotional intelligence at work here which Dave needed to be reminded of:

(1) If you’re in a fight, you’re equally responsible for it and, if you want it to stop, stop fighting.

(2) An attachment to being right will always stop you moving forward (more precisely it stops you communicating fully and therefore prevents you from finding a resolution).

Applying principles of emotional intelligence almost immediately resolved the problem (at no cost) and Dave’s business got paid. Any other intervention would have been costly and time consuming, at the very least.

Working well with others is a process that begins with emotional awareness and our ability to recognize and understand what other people are experiencing. Once emotional awareness is in play, we can effectively develop additional social/emotional skills that will make our relationships more effective, fruitful and fulfilling.

Martha owns a small chain of shops. It is a mature business, and Martha has decades of experience in retail. For various reasons, she wanted to increase the revenue from the shops and was sure that her sales staff had room to improve their selling skills.

Accordingly she recruited a Consultant to deliver some sales training. Now, the Consultant had no way of knowing at that point whether the staff needed training or not; nor could he be certain that improving the skills of the staff would in itself increase sales. Nevertheless he went ahead with what the client asked for.

As it happens, the store staff felt disinclined to have their skills improved and, during the training session, decided that there was nothing the Consultant could teach them. It was not the happiest of experiences.

In the end, the means by which the business increased its revenue as advised by the Consultant was for Martha to recruit a part time admin assistant.

Before reading, below, how this came about, you might like to ponder the issues this story raises.

Martha’s business, like many small businesses, was run on limited staff. And Martha, like so many owners of small businesses, had a deep belief that it was her job to do all the paperwork.

Now retail is notoriously heavy on paperwork, so Martha spent much time in her office dealing with it all. Her other job was delivering stock to the shops. Having loaded miscellaneous stock into the van, she would drive it to each shop, pausing for no longer than was needed to open the door, thrust the merchandise into the shop and leave for the next one.

When Martha hired an assistant, the following things happened. The assistant did all the paperwork. Martha still delivered stock to the shops but now she was able to spend time with the staff in each location. The staff realised that Martha was as interested in them as she had always claimed but previously had failed to demonstrate. The staff became more enthusiastic about the business. The staff became more motivated and more productive. The staff sold more…

Emotions shape all human interactions. Emotions are particularly important in sales because of the need to engage, understand and motivate customers. Emotional intelligence helps sales professionals to become authentic in their conversations with clients and create positive relationships. When we are able to understand how others feel, we manage relationships and sales situations more successfully and more effectively. Read on…

A few years ago, it was time for Sam to replace his car. Off he went to Bristol Street Motors in Stroud, where he had already bought two second hand cars, in search of a third. He discussed with the salesman his particular needs: “I was quite happy to buy another Ford Focus as I needed fuel efficiency (I did a lot miles then), reliability and so on.” The salesman picked up on the fuel efficiency. “Have you thought of a diesel?”, he asked.

“No”, I replied. “Why not?” “I don’t like them.” “Have you ever driven one?” “No”, Sam had to admit.

“Well, there’s one”, he said, pointing out of the window. “How about giving that a spin?”

Sam didn’t really feel he should decline the offer, so he did. They drove halfway to Cirencester and back and Sam realised that all his prejudices about poor driveability and a sound like an old London taxi were completely irrelevant. What was commendable was that the salesman, who came with Sam, made no attempt to talk about the car, let alone to suggest that he had been right all along. He just sat there, chatting with Sam about what he did at work, and other things. Sam duly bought the car.

The moral: If you want someone to change their opinion, you give them an experience, if you can. Experiences put us in our emotions and that’s the place where we change our views.

Selling is not about you and how you feel. It is about how your prospects feel. Emotions drive sales! Emotions are powerful and they control our thinking, behavior and actions – all the things that also control our motivation to buy. Many sales professionals only communicate at the superficial level of selling features and benefits with a one-size-fits-all approach. This approach creates an unstable foundation when attempting to connect, engage, inspire and build value. Read on…

Jack went to a retail outlet to buy laptops for himself. He made it clear to the salesman that he wanted to buy just two laptops – nothing else – so, when the salesman attempted to sell him some ancillary products, he politely asked him to desist. Moments later, the salesman had a second go, and Jack explained firmly that he only wanted to buy two laptops, so please stop trying to sell him other things. Undaunted, the salesman carried on and Jack felt it necessary to threaten to walk out if the salesman didn’t stop.

Amazingly, the salesman still persisted – so Jack walked out, the laptops not bought. He walked straight into another shop and explained very clearly that all he required was two laptops. The second salesman duly obliged and sold him two laptops. The nice twist in this story is that, apparently, at the billing desk this salesman just happened to mention that Jack would benefit from a certain product – and Jack bought it!

How come the second salesman succeeded where the first failed? The key thing is the intent behind both salesmen’s behaviour. The first salesman’s remuneration is based on performance as defined by value of sales, so the salesman has a clear interest in making the additional sale – as evidenced by his persistence. The second person is on a salary and has no personal interest in whether the client buys or not.

Of course, he has a wider interest in the success of the business of which he is a partner and knows that that success is based at least as much on customer service as it is on price. He believed Jack would find knowledge of the extra product of value. In short, the first salesman was pushing the extra products for his benefit; the second was doing so for the customer’s benefit.

And the twist in the tail of this interpretation is that, of course, the first salesman believed that everything he said was of value to the customer. It was. But the reason he said it was his self-interest; the benefit to the customer was secondary. And Jack picked up this self-interest. Human beings are very good at picking up unconscious communication around needs. Although, consciously, the first salesman surely believed he was acting primarily in the customer’s interest, unconsciously he had a need, had an expectation, that Jack would buy the additional items.

The crux of this article is the observation that people are very good at picking up hidden expectations such as this, and they interpret them as demands. The salesman would never say “I demand you buy this extra item”, but that is the message the customer picked up. We don’t like demands being made on us. We resist them. The louder the demand, the more we resist. Hence Jack walked out when the demands became intolerable.

Because the second salesman wasn’t making an unconscious demand – he was genuinely and simply being helpful – Jack was convinced of the reasonableness of the proposition to buy the additional item. Extreme examples are useful to point out phenomena that are prevalent in a much diluted form – so diluted we don’t notice them. For all of us who do not force our services and products down the throats of prospects, it is worth remembering that the person we are talking to may still be feeling ‘sold to’, may even be aware of a sense of demand. You know that you were being demanding if you feel any sense of disappointment when the prospect declines to buy.

It’s a tough one to eradicate completely, but the principle way forward is for the ‘seller’ to let go of their need to make the sale more important than the buyer’s need to solve a problem. Find out from prospects what their issues and problems are, and demonstrate how your service or product solves them.

Think about a time when you have been overwhelmed by stress. Was it easy to think clearly or make a rational decision? Probably not. In order for you to engage your emotional intelligence, you must also be able use your emotions to make constructive decisions about your behavior. When you become overly stressed, you can lose control of your emotions and the ability to act thoughtfully and appropriately. What should one do in this situation? Read on…

A trainer walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she did so, she raised a glass of water. Everyone expected they’d be asked the old “half empty or half full?” question. Instead, she asked, “How heavy is this glass of water?”

The answers ranged from 8 oz to 16 oz.

She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. What’s important is how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it’s not heavy. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will be numb and feel paralysed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change but, the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes”.

She continued, “The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralysed—incapable of doing anything”.

It’s important to remember to let go of your stresses. Put your burdens down when you can. Don’t carry them for hours and days and months.

Remember to put down the glass!

Being able to connect to our emotions—having a moment-to-moment connection with our changing emotional experience—is the key to understanding how emotion influences our thoughts and actions. For this, one has to practice mindfulness. It helps shift our preoccupation with thoughts toward an appreciation of the moment, physical and emotional sensations, and brings a larger perspective on life. Mindfulness calms and focuses us, making us more self-aware in the process. Read on…

Two travelling monks reached a ford in a river where they met a young lady of the night. Wary of the current, she asked if they could carry her across. One of the monks hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up onto his shoulders. Together the monks strode through the river until they reached the other side. The monk set the woman down on the other bank. She thanked him and continued her journey.

As the monks continued on their way, one was brooding and preoccupied. Unable to hold his silence, he spoke with anger. “Brother, our spiritual training teaches us to avoid any contact with women—let alone that sort of woman—but you picked that one up on your shoulders and carried her!”

“Brother,” the second monk replied, “I set her down on the other side, while you are still carrying her”.

“It is only when you let go of the desire that it can fructify”

The force of desire becomes the obstruction if it is not let go. Letting go transforms this force into a ‘pull’ force. The pole vaulter uses the pole as a support to gain height. Yet, to clear the horizontal bar, he has to drop the pole.

A Swach मन knows when to nurture a desire and when to drop it.

The behaviour of a leader is always under scrutiny and hence it is of utmost importance that all his/her actions should always convey the core values of a righteous, empathetic human being. That is the true mark of a credible leader.

Hanumant Singh was the royal prince of Banswara and he sat out of the posh offices of the State Bank of India, where he was a Chief Manager. One day a villager came to see Hanumant Singh in his office. This person stuck out like a sore thumb. He was older, had a stubble, wore a pink turban, had soiled and slightly torn clothes and carried a stick and a cloth-covered bundle in his hand. He walked slowly and asked for directions to Singh’s office. Everyone turned around to see this person, who was clearly out of place. The office was located in the posh Cuffe Parade, a very rich area in South Mumbai.

As soon as Singh heard that someone from his home town had come to see him, he stepped out of his cabin and went to receive the person. The old man squatted on the floor. Calmly, Singh helped the man to sit on a chair. Common man and royal prince then engaged in a dialog in Rajasthani. The employees at the bank could understand very little of the exchange. Someone in the village had sarcastically told the person that if he met the prince, all his problems would be solved. So this person actually made the trip to Mumbai to meet his prince.

At Singh’s behest, and with his ration-card in hand, one of the employees at the bank took a cab to the Azad Maidan ration store and bought rice, wheat and sugar for the villager. Grain used to be rationed in India during the time and a ration-card was required for its purchase. Singh didn’t need government ration – after all he was royalty.

But for the villager, the gift was as valuable as gold. Not only did he get his ration, but he also got royal treatment from none other than the prince of Banswara. There was a look of great satisfaction in eyes.

While sharing came very naturally to Hanumant Singh, it was his behavior with a person of much lower stature that opened the eyes of the employees that day. They witnessed the whole episode firsthand and saw Hanumant Singh display the same calmness and gentleness that puts everyone at ease. To them that was a fine example of consistent behavior by a leader which builds credibility.

As they say your behaviour towards someone who is inconsequential in your life depicts your true character and credibility in the eyes of the world at large. The story below highlights the same, how an erstwhile prince, who is also the manager of the existing Indian cricket team is invited to the team selection of a local bank branch. Not only does the prince come he also genuinely gives his recommendations to the players. A mark of a truly great and credible human being…

A local bank branch was trying to form a cricket team. They were a bunch of bank employees who were very keen on competing in the local league. They were looking to select a squad of 15 from about 25-30 other bank employees. Some of the folks had not even held a cricket bat properly and most of them did not even have the proper clothing. The venue was a dustbowl in the Oval maidan in Mumbai .

Now imagine a passionate 21 year old trying to pitch this to the Manager of the Indian cricket team! Yes, he had the nerve (or the foolhardiness) to talk about this and invite the great Hanumant Singh to the Oval. The ex-Indian cricketer, national selector and Manager of the Indian cricket team could politely have declined. He could have dismissed the idea and hardly offended the young man at all.

But the royal prince of Banswara showed up at the ground wearing his navy blue Indian cricket hat, to watch them play with a tennis ball and shoddy attire, for a full hour.

By his actions that day, Singh shared his cricket experience and selectorial abilities. He did not let the tennis-ball cricket, or a dustbowl maidan setting get in the way of sharing his knowledge. His total down-to-earth demeanor enhanced his credibility amongst the branch team.

What makes a great manager stand out and build his credibility in the eyes of his team? As they say actions speak louder than words. Give credit where it is due and do not forget the smallest input or effort by a team member because it is the team together that creates the largest impact.

One time, a Manager was examining the list of invitees for a lunch to celebrate the success of a project. As he looked over the list, he noticed that they had left out one person who had worked hard in the scoping phase of the project almost 18 months ago. This person was instrumental in scoping out the project, carrying out the vendor evaluation and preparing the capital approval request at the start of the project.

The Manager mentioned this to the Project Sponsor and she readily extended the invitation to the person. Needless to say, the person was surprised at getting the invitation. Later on he found out that the Manager had recognized his contribution to the project and he came and thanked him for going out of his way to include him in the celebration. His demeanor towards the Manager completely changed from that day on!

Anyone who has been in sales would have at some point during their career made sales call for prospecting clients. And sometimes even that one phone call can make or break a connection to a potential prospect. How is it that credibility can be established even via a phone call? Read on…

Maureen (a receptionist at AG Salesworks) encountered one of the rudest and pushiest sales people she had ever come across. No, it wasn’t a used car salesman, and no, it wasn’t one of those ladies at the perfume counter who sprays before asking.Surprisingly, it was someone from a very reputable technology company looking to sell Maureen’s company additional services.

Here’s how the conversation went: Maureen: “Hello, this is Maureen with AG Salesworks, how can I help you?”

Salesperson: Hi Maureen, I’m Salesperson from Reputable Technology Company. Could you transfer me to your Marketing department? Maureen: OK, may I ask what is the nature of your call? Salesperson: I’m from Reputable Technology Company. Maureen: Yes, I am aware of this, but why are you looking to speak to the Marketing department?Salesperson: You use our services. (This was not the case; a partner used their services.) Maureen: OK, are you looking to sell us additional services, to network with us, or perhaps to look into our services?

And then the Salesperson went into her pitch. She had no idea that she had called into AG Salesworks’ main line and that the Marketing Director’s name was available over their website. In fact, she didn’t even have the faintest idea about what AG Salesworks does as a company. On top of that, she sounded miserable to have to call anyone.

Hesitantly, Maureen still transferred her — but not without informing her Marketing Director first about her tone throughout the entire interaction. As someone who has prospected for a number of years and just recently moved into an inside sales role at AG Salesworks, Maureen was taken aback by this salesperson’s complete lack of respect for their prospects’ needs or time.

This is what was going into Maureen’s head throughout the conversation: “I don’t care what you do, or what “reputable” company you may hail from, until you’ve established credibility and stated the real reason you’re calling. Neither do the rest of your prospects, nor, in this case, the decision maker. Furthermore, if you did your pre-call research, you would know why your product or service matters to your specific prospects, and would stay away from that elevator pitch.”

Without your research, you have no credibility, no matter what. If this salesperson had done her pre-call research, she would have never called into AG Salesworks’ main line to begin with. She would have known who she wanted to talk to by looking at their Management page and would have been patched through seamlessly.

The moral of the story? Do your homework. Know your prospect’s needs. It could mean the difference between a helpful call that wins you a sale and an unhelpful call that wins you a poor credibility.

Many times managers rely on team members to deliver at short notice. And when the team members do exceed expectation, if the manager makes a special effort to highlight the same, it definitely makes his credibility go up a notch or two in their eyes and creates greater loyalty.

A manager was once talking very highly of one of his direct reportee’s with his peers. This person had delivered a project very successfully overcoming some challenging obstacles. The standout factor was a creative way in which the contract was worked out with a software company. The company was put on the hook to take complete responsibility for delivery of the end product. As it turned out, two unforeseen issues caused high complexity. As a result, the contract-bound software company had to put their most expensive and skilled expert on the job and deliver the solution.

This manager wanted to showcase this project as a stellar example on the kind of leeway project managers have (and should exercise) while managing projects. He wanted to do this at one of their monthly Town Hall meetings. His boss would have none of it, since Town Halls were not meant for project training. The manager spent at least an hour arguing with his boss as to why this project should be presented. Needless to say, his direct reportee – the project manager and for whom the manager was fighting – was present during the whole discussion.

This was a good example of a leader building credibility in his team-member’s mind and winning loyalty as well.

What happens when people make promises which they know they will be unable to live up to? Disappointment and loss of credibility are the natural outcomes. Hence it is important to commit only when you are reasonably confident on delivering on the promise.

In 2000, a new contractor had joined a company on a six-month contract. After the first two months or so, the Head of the Division (HOD) noticed a certain lack of interest in the new person’s behavior and work ethic. In his discussions with the new hire, HOD could make out that he was quite intelligent, hard-working and eager to make a mark. However, the HOD could not match those personal attributes with his work ethics. This person did not contribute to discussions, kept watching the clock and displayed a general apathy towards work.

As the HOD probed further, he got to know that during his interview he requested “read only” access to the company’s BW (Business Warehouse) system so that he could further enhance his BW skills. The hiring manager agreed and promised he would get the requested access. At the time BW was a promising skill-set to have, and he wanted to further his knowledge as he worked in another technology.

However, he realized a month after he joined, that he would not get access to BW, since that system was controlled by a manager in another department. The manager who interviewed this person and who he reported to had no control over the BW system. That manager promised a prospective employee something that she could not have delivered since she did not have any control or ownership over the BW system.

This is a classic case of a person (the hiring manager) losing credibility in the eyes of another (the contractor).

The root of the word “credibility” is “credo,” which means “I believe” in Latin. Put simply, credibility is the feeling of trust and respect that you inspire in others. If you’re going to invest your time, energy, and enthusiasm with someone, you want that person to be credible and worthy of your trust. Hence credibility plays an important role in building inter-personal and even inter-organizational relationships.

There was once a miser. He thought he was very clever. Once he happened to lose his purse containing a hundred pieces of gold. He was in great distress. He went to the town crier and asked him to announce a reward of ten gold coins to one who would restore the purse to him.

After a few days a farmer came to him with the purse. He had found it lying in his farm. The miser counted the money. He found that the purse contained a hundred pieces of gold. He thanked the farmer for the pains he had taken.

The farmer now wanted the reward as announced. The miser said that he had all ready taken the reward because there were a hundred and ten coins in it. The farmer now understood how clever the miser was. He, therefore went to the judge.

The judge sent for the miser and heard him. He at once understood that the miser was a trickster. He decided the case in favour of the farmer. He said that the purse contained only one hundred pieces of coins and therefore the purse could not belong to the miser. The miser had over reached himself and therefore had to suffer.

Moral: Do not play upon the credibility of others.

The story below is about a woman’s experience in the workplace and undoubtedly mirrors the dilemmas faced by women in general. It’s a first-hand telling of the kind of sexist incidents that can affect our work environments, and a description of what kind of support and accountability that women need to overcome these circumstances.

It’s Tuesday and one of my supervisors hosts a training class that I’m set to deliver lunch for. Entering with sandwiches, chips and cookies aplenty, I notice how hot it is in the conference room. As I take off my sweater, one of many layers, my supervisor announces to the room: “And here’s your entertainment!” The moment moves in slow motion yet happens so quickly. I hear crickets and see blank stares. I’m floored. One moment I’m delivering a delicious lunch and the next moment I’m being marked as a stripper. Objectified. I’m unsure what to do, say, or how to react. I look over at the other participants, my fellow colleagues. A couple of them chuckle uncomfortably, one walks out (not sure if it’s in response to what’s happened), others just sit quietly. I sit there in disbelief and eat my sandwich, cringing inside. But his comment lingers for the remainder of the day. It keeps me up that night.

It’s Wednesday and I’ve had time to process my supervisor’s comment. I don’t realize how much of an impact it has on me until today. I’m taken aback. I’m embarrassed and humiliated. But most importantly, I know I have to confront him and the situation. When I arrive to work and see my supervisor, I’m immediately uncomfortable. In other words, I want to punch him. I decide instead that it’s time to share what’s happened with my shop steward, our union’s onsite go-to person for any workplace issues. I’m ashamed and afraid to speak out about what’s happened for fear of not being taken seriously. But in the first bright spot in my week, my shop steward is completely supportive and sympathetic! As we talk she creates a space that allows me to express my discomfort and frustration without judgment. She offers advice and suggests next steps but ultimately leaves me with the autonomy to create my own resolution. She lets me decide what’s best for me and reassures me that I have her support no matter what. I realize for the first time that my union and shop steward are truly here to protect me and help ensure that my workplace is safe and productive.

After crying it out with my shop steward, I pull myself together and prepare to confront my supervisor. I’m very nervous. Trembling actually. I ask to speak with him in his office, handy notepad in hand, shop steward by my side. She explains that I’m requesting an informal meeting to address a concern. Like me, my supervisor has the right to a witness but chooses not to have one. I appreciate the gesture. I shut the door behind me, sit down, and dive right in. I begin by describing what happened so that there is no confusion about why we’re here. I tell him how disrespectful and inappropriate his comment was, especially coming from my direct supervisor. I make sure to emphasize that people, especially women (like his wife and daughter) get harassed every day and that one place we should have control over it is in the workplace.

And much to my surprise, he’s very receptive to my concerns. The look on his face tells me that my words resonate with him. He recognizes that he not only disrespected me, but also hurt me. Rather than go on the defense, he expresses his gratitude for my work ethic and our work relationship. He apologizes almost immediately, acknowledging his mistake and taking full accountability. He commits to being more conscious and aware in the workplace. Contrary to my initial fears, he makes me feel heard and validated. We both recognize this as a learning opportunity to improve our work environment. He thanks me for being courageous enough to speak up about it. Shortly after our discussion, we make our way to the training class, now in it’s second day, that heard his initial comment. He apologizes to the entire group, holding himself publicly accountable for his mistake and the effect it had on me. It was a powerful moment.

At work or even in our personal lives we sometimes feel unhappy that we are asked to be responsible for work beyond our purview. The story below shows how when we do extend ourselves and bring a sense of ownership to all that we do, it can actually become a game changer.

One of my clients wrote me about how a small change she made led to big results at her job. Here’s the background: In our coaching sessions, we often discussed the ways she was expected to go above and beyond at her job. She didn’t like being asked to do these extra things because she wasn’t paid for them. We covered a number of issues related to this but one idea we discussed was changing her perspective on the situation. Instead of ‘feeling forced’ to do something, what did it look like if she viewed it from a different perspective. She decided to look at it through the perspective of opportunity and impact on her future.

She decided she wanted to try a different approach and had great results. I asked her if she would write her story so that I could share it. Here’s the story she shared with me. “Amy, I decided to take a different approach with my job responsibilities and can’t believe how well it went. Hope you don’t mind reading my story – We had a big marketing launch 2 weeks away and my boss really hadn’t brought me into it. He was working with a lot of people from different groups and one of them invited me to a meeting about sending out a big invitation email. On the call, everyone was asking me what our group wanted and what they should do. So, I started telling them what I thought we should do. I also promised to follow-up on a number of items and track down some answers. Regular calls started and I was one of the main contributors. All the while I kept updating my boss by email and a couple weekly 1:1 meetings.

The project went really well and the launch was a big hit. I worked a lot of extra hours but didn’t seem to mind this time. I really enjoyed leading my parts. Plus, I got some good face-time with my boss’ boss! She was so pleased with my work that she sent me a really great email and a small spot bonus! It felt really good. I suppose the opportunity kind of fell into my lap but I fought my urge to push back and decided to instead show my ability to take initiative and solve problems. Thanks again. See you Thursday!”

I love these kinds of stories because sometimes it is a small change that can really lead to break-through moments that move someone’s career forward. Her email came to me a couple weeks ago and since then she has been acting like an owner. Now her boss is starting to bring her in to more important meetings and collaborating with her rather than giving her action items. She is feeling less forced to take on responsibilities outside of her role as she is seeing them in a new light and how they can impact her future. She is well on her way to better relationships at work and a satisfying, promising career.