Response to an email spammer

Posted by Nancy Reece | February 22nd, 2012

The email subject line was:  Follow-up request for online instruction

Then the message started this way:  I trust this finds you well.   This is  Jeremy, reconnecting.  It’s been a while since we were last in touch.

Then I knew it was a spam message.  I’d didn’t think I’d inquired about instruction,  but I knew I’d never met this person, or even corresponded with them.  It was a classic attempt to catch my attention with spam.  So here’s the response I sent:

Dear Jeremy:

You and I have never met or even corresponded.  So when you start out your email with an obvious catch line and a lie about our relationship, what makes you think I’d want to do business with you?  I want to work with someone I can trust, that I know will honor his word.  You started out in your first communication with me by lying.  So there’s no trust and certainly no desire to even consider your product or on-line seminars.    Business goes where it’s invited, and stays where it’s treated well.  Please add a little integrity to your approach – you’ll be amazed by the results.

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What Do You Tolerate and Reward?

Posted by Nancy Reece | February 13th, 2012

Culture is measured by what you tolerate and reward.

 I once worked for a CEO who had a two pronged focus  – financial health and the avoidance of failure.  As long as the monthly financials were in line and there was no bad news, he tolerated almost anything.  Instead of catching employees doing something good, the emphasis was on catching them doing something wrong.  Rule after rule was implemented, designed to prevent something bad from happening.  He didn’t value big successes as long as nothing was lost.  He avoided feedback.  The result:  Sunday night found me dreading going to work on Monday morning.   I don’t think I was the only employee feeling that way.

 I worked for another inspiring CEO who tolerated nothing less than outstanding customer service.  He promoted that culture by putting employees first. He inspired us to always go the extra mile and he loved to celebrate the stories of employees delighting our customers.   I saw him get angry only once, when members of our senior team were having parking lot conversations instead of going directly to him.  He didn’t tolerate the lack of respect and he rewarded risk taking and continuous improvement.  He valued feedback that made us stronger.  The result:  I loved coming to work and so did the other employees.  We were making a difference, and it was fun.

 What do you tolerate and reward?

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How to Say Yes & Honor your Word

Posted by Nancy Reece | January 30th, 2012

 

I had the opportunity to spend time last week with Linda Grajewski, the founder of a ministry called Gaits to Heaven.  She works with the Lakota people on the reservation in North Dakota.  By using horses to create bonds between the women and children of the reservation and the volunteers, they experience first hand the love of Jesus, gain skills that will enable them to set a new direction for their lives, and have hope for the future.   ( http://gaitstoheaven.org/ )  As we discussed her ministry, her vision, and her needs, she talked about the challenge of fund raising.

 Raising funds as a not-for-profit is difficult as the best of times.    Linda told me that she never counts a donation on paper until she has the check in hand, because so many times people don’t follow through with their word to give.   That’s simply a lack of integrity. 

Integrity is about honoring our word.  Once we’ve given that word, not honoring it breaks trust and leaves us with a reputation we don’t want.  It is always better to carefully consider whether we can honor our word BEFORE we give it.  If we feel we’d be unable to follow through on the commitment, then we shouldn’t make the promise.  Once we’ve given our word, anything less than following through, lacks integrity. 

 This insight has caused me to change how often I say yes.  I think hard before I commit to attending an event or meeting.  I ask myself how I will feel about following through on the commitment before I say yes.  The result:  I say no more often.  I also honor my word more consistently.

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Why We Should Select Leaders Using the Three C’s

Posted by Nancy Reece | January 23rd, 2012

 

“The character of leadership is built one moment, one truth, one action at a time. It isn’t about the big public displays, but the private character that inevitably shines through in those public moments. It’s about thinking of others as more important than ourselves, faithfulness in our relationship with God and those closest to us, integrity, kindness, and honor. What small things do you need to pay attention to in your life?” 

This was Monday’s Lead Like Jesus (www.LeadLikeJesus.com) devotional.  It hit in the early morning after I had watched a morning news show about Newt Gingrich’s victory in South Carolina.  It was interesting to see that only 6% of the voters in South Carolina thought he had strong character, and yet he won 40% of the vote.  It’s a trend I’ve seen over the last several years in elections.  The person who wins doesn’t always have the best competence and character in the race, but they often have the most chemistry.  The three C’s – character, competence, and chemistry – are the foundations for any selection of employees, elected officials, or leaders.  First we screen for character and competence, then we see if the chemistry is the right fit for our company, church, or country.  We’ve been getting it backwards.  Gingrich says he’s had a change of heart and learned from failure.  But the question is – who has the better history of making the little decisions that are of such  infinite importance. Character counts (www.charactercounts.org)

 “Good and evil both increase at compound interest.  That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance.”    -C.S. Lewis

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What Do Tim Tebow and the Indy 500 Have in Common?

Posted by Nancy Reece | January 18th, 2012

I grew up in Indiana.  Every Memorial Day my parents washed the windows on the house and listened to the Indy 500 on the radio.  We wanted to know who would win.    The “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” was more exciting when cars, wall, and drivers collided.  Who was it? Was anyone seriously hurt? 

There’s a whole army of people out there just waiting for Tim Tebow to crash and burn.   Tebow is that rare person who is publicly living his life with integrity.  He lifts up his faith in Jesus, he thanks God for his blessings, he shares his wealth with others, and he helps those in need.  For many of us, he is an inspiration.  For others, he is “the greatest spectacle in football”.  They are waiting, like vultures, for the first mistake he makes so they can say “I told you so.  He’s a hypocrite like the rest of us.” 

The reality is – Tim Tebow will make poor choices.  He’s human, after all – we all make mistakes.  It will be in those moments that his character and integrity will be tested, refined, and strengthened. Will he be sincerely regretful and make amends as quickly as possible?  That is the mark of an ‘Integrity Fanatic’.  We don’t do everything right, we’re not perfect – in fact we screw up a lot.  But my prayer for Tim Tebow, myself, and fellow fanatics is that when we do, we’ll repent, sincerely apologize, and make amends. 

It’s the crashes of life that build character, integrity, and faith.

Churches aren’t sanctuaries for saints – they are hospitals for sinners.

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4 Tips to Develop Gen iY Employees

Posted by Nancy Reece | January 10th, 2012

 

Are you struggling to work with Generation iY employees?  Tim Elmore’s research (Generation iY:  Last Chance to Save Their Future), www.GrowingLeaders.com   indicates that one of the “lies” we’ve told those born after 1991 is “you are special”.  Parents and educators want the kids to know they are loved and deeply cared for.  As a result, the last half of Generation Y’s believe they are truly remarkable.  They encounter culture shock when an employer delivers a message that they aren’t measuring up.  When performance reviews are completed, the statistical bell curve says 10% of employees should receive an outstanding rating.  But coming from a world of grade inflation and self-esteem building, Generation iY think they are much better than average.  After years of hearing the “you are special”  message,  they experience culture shock when they are reprimanded or they don’t advance quickly.  They quit, or they feel stuck and frustrated, affecting their attitude at work.  What can you do as more and more young people enter the workforce?  Here are some suggestions from Elmore’s research:

(1) Mentor your young employees.  Let them know you believe in them and have their best interest in mind. 

(2) Give them short term projects to experience wins and help them acclimate to the realities of working in the real word. 

(3) Take the time to affirm what they do well before discussing improvements they need to make.  Celebrate when they do perform well. 

(4) Be alert to signs of depression or other stress-related illnesses in young employee and steer them toward appropriate employee assistance programs. 

If this sounds like more effort than you‘ve spent with your employees in the past, my advice is to get used to it.  The next generation of employees will do best when their employers build intentional relationships that mentor, challenge, and role model integrity.  Then they can indeed be “special”.

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Customer Loyalty – HP vs. Costco

Posted by Nancy Reece | January 3rd, 2012

 

Sixteen months ago, I bought a new HP (Hewlett Packard) 6500 wireless printer.  It was the top recommendation in Consumer Reports, it was easy to set up, and seemed to work well initially.  I did have some problems with it going offline for no reason, called HP for support in the first 30 days and they helped me set it up differently.  That solved the problem then, but over time the going offline problem got worse.  I would have to unplug the machine to get it come back on line.  Finally this fall, it got so bad, I went out to the web and searched the problem.  It became pretty obvious that this model had a major problem and no obvious fix, so I called HP customer support.  The polite representative told me to hold my comments until he’d finished( nice way of warning me I wasn’t going to like what I heard)/  He then proceeded to tell me I was 135 days out of warranty, that this was a hardware issue and because I was a “valued customer of HP”, they would sell me a new printer for only $99.00.  I told him I’d called for a fix, that it was obvious they’d had a manufacturing flaw with this model, and that I thought they should make it good in a better way than offering me a printer that I could find on line for the same price.

I went to do some research, and found that the new generation of HP printers was having the same problem.   So somewhere, HP knows they have a big problem, and rather than stand behind the product, they’ll see if you’ll trust them another time.  I felt used.

Turns out I bought my HP printer at Costco.  They have customer concierge services  http://shop.costco.com/en/Customer-Service/Concierge/2nd-Year-Warranty.aspx , and extend the manufacturer’s warranty.  So I boxed up the non-working HP printer, took it back to Costco, and they gave me a full refund – no hassle. They even looked up the transaction at the store, since my bookkeeper had my receipt.   I turned around and bought a new printer at Costco – this time a Canon.  I didn’t trust HP anymore. 

So, who won my loyalty as a customer?  Costco – I’ll purchase all my electronics there in the future, I’ll tell my friends and family to do the same – and I ‘m blogging about it.  Costco wins with integrity, big time.

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Kudos to These Companies who Honor their Word!

Posted by Nancy Reece | December 27th, 2011

 

I specifically signed up for a Gmail account to use for on-line ordering.   Of course, once you’ve ordered from a company, they use your email address to send sales alerts – some companies send them more than once a day.  I know this is part of life on line, and that’s why I only use the Gmail account for ordering.   Almost all sites, when you order, give you the option to uncheck a box so you won’t receive their email alerts.    I always ask not to be put on a list at a store, as well, and the clerk will assure me I won’t receive the alerts.   70% of the time you get them anyway.  I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve unchecked the box that says send me email alerts, only to receive them anyway.  Then I have to go and unsubscribe.  That only works about 50% of the time.  When they won’t honor their word in this way, there is a cost.  I no longer do business with that company. 

Rather than a long list of offenders, here’s a list of those companies who have honored my request on whether or not to receive their email this season. 

  • Zappos.com
  • Canon
  • Staples
  • Southwest Airlines
  • The Container Store
  • Chico’s
  • White House/Black Market
  • Famous Dave’s

 Thanks for doing what you say you will do.

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Take This Christmas Story Quiz

Posted by Nancy Reece | December 22nd, 2011

 

As children, we hear the story of Jesus birth told.  Over the years we continue to hear different versions,  so I was surprised when I first took this quiz years ago to realize how distorted my view of the story was from Scripture.  Here are a few of the questions – see how you do.  Answers are at the bottom.

1) What did the innkeeper tell Mary and Joseph?

a) no room in the inn  b) you can use a stable  c) both a & b  d) none of the above

 2) Jesus was delivered in a

a) barn   b) manger  c) cave   d) unknown

 

3) The wise men found Jesus in a:

a) manger   b) stable   c)  house   d) none of the above

 

4) Who told Mary and Joseph to go to Bethlehem?

a) the angel    b) Mary’s mother   c) Herod    d) Caesar Augustus

 

5) Who saw the star in the east?

a) shepherd    b) Mary and Joseph   c) three kings   d) none of the above

 

Answers:

1) D  Luke 2:7                      2) D –Luke 2: 7 –  possible a cave since stables were usually in one, but unknown

 3) C – Matthew 2:11                       4) D – Luke 2:1,4               5) E – Matthew 2:1-2

 

Merry Christmas

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace good will toward men.”   

 Luke 2:14

 

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The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Being an Integrity Fanatic

Posted by Nancy Reece | December 5th, 2011

Let’s start with the ugly.  I recently had a lapse in integrity – and was challenged on it by a neighbor –because I branded myself as the Integrity Fanatic.  He was right and it was painful.  At the same time, we’re all human and none of us is perfect.  It’s about whether we make amends and fix our bad choices that enables us to live out our commitment to integrity.  I had made a poor choice and voluntarily confessed and tried to make amends.  Unfortunately, he believed that as the Integrity Fanatic I should never, ever make a mistake.   That’s the ugly – unrealistic expectations.

Next is the bad.  It’s the word fanatic.  It means a person with extreme zeal – so I believe it defines who I am around integrity fairly well. But depending on which generation you are in, being a fanatic can be bad.  For the oldest generation in our society – born before 1945 – the word fanatic means passionately crazy – in other words, out of control.  And being out of control isn’t something they value.  I actually knew this when I picked the name, I just didn’t realize how prevalent the dislike would be in that generation. That’s the bad – there’s a group of people who simply don’t relate to the idea I’m trying to convey.

Finally, the good.  Calling myself an integrity fanatic has made me hold myself to a higher standard.  I was recently in line to enter a club with a cover charge – famous for it’s dueling pianos.  As I struck up a conversation with another person in line, she invited me to use the special entry word for the birthday party being held upstairs and save on the cover charge.  I found myself seriously considering it – and then remembering that wasn’t an option.  Similar challenges happen more often than I expected.   So while I could beat myself up for not having the right first response, I know that being an integrity fanatic has set a higher moral compass for me.  And that’s the good.

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