In Sheep’s Clothing
16Feb2007 Filed under: Branding, Seth Godin, Personal Brand, Human Resources, Customer Experience, Professional Development Author: DUST!NWe’re on the lookout for wolves.
You know… back-stabbers, saboteurs, spies and just plain evil-doers.
We suspect they’re among us. The wolf in sheep’s clothing.
But there’s something much more dangerous in our midst, also masquerading as sheep.
This “silent killer” of companies is much harder to find than the wolf. He wears the disguise well, even fooling himself. Her mission is so well embedded, if she doesn’t kill the company she most surely kills herself - her future.
This assassin might be you.
It is not the wolf you should fear, instead you should be looking for the PEOPLE in sheep’s clothing.
These are the people who are sheepwalking (thanks Seth) - mindlessly staying in line and feeling as though they’re “doing their job.” This is the cashier at Walgreen’s telling me I can’t purchase a giftcard with my credit card, but not knowing why. Worse yet, it’s the manager telling me the same thing - “It’s just our policy. That’s what they [corporate] told me.”
It’s the pilot not fighting orders to keep passengers on the tarmac. Even after he realizes he is close to having a mutiny of passengers on his hands. He knows they’re much less likely to fly his airline next time, but he’s just “doing his job.”
What a far cry from Southwest’s interpretation of the golden rule:
Treat others the way you want to be treated
Answer every letter
Call back
Bend the rules
Do the right thing
Find ways to say yes
Treat with respect
This is an excerpt from a wonderful luncheon presentation I recently attended. Kris Holt and Scott Moore of Southwest Airlines came and spoke to our marketing association in Tulsa, OK.
Look at that list again.
Bend the rules? Find ways to say “Yes”?
Are you doing that?
Better yet, are you building a culture that encourages it?
Stop pulling the wool over your employees’ eyes. Stop pulling it over your own.
2 Responses to “In Sheep’s Clothing”
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'Casual Fridays' is about what happens when work is less about appearances and more about the humanity within. How do we strip away office politics, corporate jargon and red tape? Wouldn't we rather clothe ourselves in creativity, ideas and productivity? It's an ideal at least worth chasing.
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Steve
February 16th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Good follow-up on Seth’s post, which I, too, read with interest.
Who do you think is to blame? It’s easy to fault the clerk at Walgreen’s, but I think the real problem lies with the leadership. Look at Southwest — their philosophy comes from the top down and is baked into their culture.
Not saying the clerk gets a free pass, but the root of the problem (IMHO) is leadership.
Thanks for adding to the discussion.
DUST!N
February 16th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Thanks Steve.
The lion’s share of the blame probably shouldn’t rest on the employee. Not the manager either. Corporate’s hands aren’t too clean, but there’s an even bigger issue.
In my opinion, we’re to blame. Not Steve and Dustin, but all of us. We’re too afraid to take risk and do the right thing for fear of reprimand. We’re too busy to talk with managers about our lousy experiences in their store, restaurant, etc. We’re too skeptical of our employees’ abilities to give them an ounce of freedom (why in the world did we hire them then?).
It’s a global issue that demands local action. It’s a corporate epidemic that requires individual initiative. It’s OUR problem. What am I going to do about it?