Do you actually allow your employees to have “Yes” moments?
By Steve Moran
When I go to conferences, I almost always lug along a bunch of video equipment that helps me get the most and best content for you, the reader. The big challenge/frustration is that unless I can make friends with someone who has space on or near the conference floor, I have to pack it up in the evening or worry about security.
Most times I am pretty successful. No place is it better than at the NIC conferences, where they use the same photo guy and same video folks each time. They have become my friends and let me stash my stuff. At most other conferences this is fairly easy to make happen, but not always.
A few weeks ago I was at a conference where I asked the conference organizers if they would mind me keeping my bag in their temporary office overnight. Their response was an immediate, emphatic NO!
Why?
Simply because it was easier to say no than yes.
Senior Living “Yes” Moments
This is a big challenge for senior living, it is almost always easier and safer to say no than to say yes to a request that is outside the norm. Somehow we must figure out how to help team members look for ways to say yes whenever they possibly can. “Yes” moments are important for two reasons: most importantly, it is the right thing to do; and secondly, it is often moments where delight shines through.
Check this story out as an example.
The Delta Flight Attendant Who Charged for Overhead Bin Space
American-Israeli violinist Giora Schmidt just barely made it onto a Delta flight with his very, very expensive Italian antique violin. There was no empty bin space. Checking it was not an option. The easy solution for the flight attendant would have been to make him miss the flight. It would have been easy to say no.
Instead, she made the following offer to other passengers: if just one of them would move their soft stuff to under the seat, there would be room for the violin. The payment you are asking? Well, in return she got Giora to promise to do a concert — right then and there — for all the passengers on the flight.
Two passengers moved their stuff. He played for the bin space and EVERYONE WAS DELIGHTED!
You can read the longer story and see a clip of him playing on the plane at Classic FM.
This Kind of Publicity
This kind of publicity, this kind of storytelling is powerful beyond belief. It made me proud to be a Delta frequent flyer (take that American Airlines!). I promise it is a story that makes every Delta employee proud to be working for Delta.
We must be willing to not just allow these kinds of yes moments, but to be actively saying we trust you enough that we will allow you to create delight.
