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Want to become involved in advocating for family friendly policies in America? MomsRising is organizing millions of people to work together to change our culture and our laws to be more family friendly. Using the power of the Internet MomsRising is electronically supporting citizen involvement in creating policies that will support families at home and at work. For more information visit http://www.momsrising.org/

The June 2008 issue of Fortune Small Business published an interesting article entitled "How To Navigate Customer Service" by Jonathan Blum. Although it focused on the technology used by Kayak.com to route customer service calls and e-mails, I found the philosophy behind the routing more interesting. Kayak.com has no customer service department. Everyone in the company, including manager and senior leaders, answers the customer service telephones and responds to e-mail for about twenty minutes each day. The technology routes these incoming messages to the proper staff member. What a concept! Wouldn't it be impressive if every company, large or small, required their leaders to participate daily in customer service issues. Imagine the power of INFORMED leaders who have the frontline opportunity to understand what their customers like or dislike. What a powerful way to run a business!

Several years ago Oprah produced an entire show on the topic of saying "No.". Women are notoriously bad at saying no. Research done by Carol Gilligan from Harvard discovered that women make choices first for others and put themselves at the bottom of the list. We often don’t say “no” because we feel guilty, we’re afraid of offending, and sometimes, even afraid that it would reflect poorly on our work. Consider that an alternative to “no” might be “not now”. Being polite and helpful doesn't work if you're overscheduled and exhausted every day. If saying “no” or “not no” sounds too harsh, try this statement: "That sounds very interesting. Let me think about it and get back to you." This gives you some time to decide what's really important… more volunteer work or five hours of sleep at night. When you do get back to the person asking for help be firm and clear that you are saying no. Never use the word "maybe" and don't offer an excuse. Start protecting the time you need to take care of yourself. Remember, like a well, it must be filled for others to drink. When you are completely depleted by life's demands then you have nothing to give to life and loved ones.

So many times your open door policy has resulted in constant interruptions and last minute meetings that eat away at your day. You want your employees to be able to openly communicate with you but you also need to get your work done. What can you do? Start by systematizing and documenting information that can be easily answered in written form. Design an employee FAQ handbook or update the one you have to include the answers to questions that your employees routinely ask. Have an employee newsletter that goes out regularly and covers company news, changes in applicable human resources laws and new policy and procedures. Last, but not least, when an employee comes into your office to talk, welcome them and then schedule a convenient time in the future for the two of you to talk. This gives the message that you make their concern or questions a priority by setting aside uninterrupted time to talk. You can also have fun with this. Stick a RED card on your door or cubicle when you do not want to be disturbed and a GREEN one when you are available. It is possible you might also need to retrain yourself and others so that you are not bombarded by Instant Messages (IM) or unwanted e-mail. It’s a brave new world that can swallow a time capsule unless corralled at the start.

If you find yourself overwhelmed by your "to do" list, then it's time to decide what you really need to do and what you can release. For at least one week, keep a notebook with you at all times and record every activity from your day - both work and your personal activities. Your next task is to set aside some private time to sit down and go over your list. Start by crossing off completely unnecessary activities that don't enhance your life or career. Perhaps that extra twenty minutes you spend everyday traveling to the local coffee joint in the morning could be replaced with a coffeemaker at home that can be setup to brew automatically in the morning. Then add your favorite type of muffins to your grocery list. The next step is to identify what could be done by someone else. Errands, dry cleaning drop-off/pick-up, etc. should be delegated to a family member or you can hire someone locally to do this for you. Last, but certainly not least, go through the essential activities. Buy a planner for these tasks and schedule them into your day. Open your planner every morning and start at the top of the list… at work or at home… and keep going until you are done for the day. And remember—if you don’t get it all done, you probably put too much on that list. Besides, the only person who truly EVER had their work done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe. (For those of you who never read the book- just check it out!

Just about every major company or non-profit has a mission statement for the organization. I almost despair sometimes at the inane missions: "Be best in class". "Increase shareholder value" "Become the gold standard of the industry". So who doesn't think that? What company aspires to be bottom of the heap? Rather than work on the larger organization, I've decided that individual mission statements could very well be the building blocks for the larger organization. After all, an organization is nothing more than a collection of individuals. What would happen if rank and file, top to bottom, decided what could be a worthwhile, bigger-than-life outcome that would use their individual talents and make a contribution to the whole? You'd have your personal mission statement within the context of the company. I would have mine. Then, we'd see where our missions joined together to create synergies. If you want to try this, here are some general guidelines: See this organization as your work of art. What picture-what future outcome-would you find so compelling that the very thought just makes your spirit soar? Don't be hampered by today. A mission is an aspiration-an optimistic view of possibilities. What talents could you use and/or develop to make this outcome a reality? What behaviors would you commit to in order to make this mission come closer to reality? Make the above three answers into one clear, no-doubt-about-it statement. Write in present tense and to create a mission statement that is quickly read while sitting at your desk. Share your individual mission statement with others who have created theirs. Decide how you overlap and where you can support each other. Now you're ready to write short term, action filled goals to move toward this preferred future. Visioning isn't just for big corporations and highly paid leaders. To get the best from yourself, from your employees, encourage personal missions and then help each other follow through to make a collective reality.

Are your teams coming up with the same old tired solutions to new problems?  Do they drag their feet when a decision has to be made?  Is there a definitive lack of new product or service ideas that will affect the bottom line in the coming months?  Instead of replacing employees or placing pressure on teams to come up with new ideas, consider training your people on how to tap into their innate creativity.  Here are a few, pardon the pun, creative ideas you can use to get your staff moving in the right direction. 1.  Bring in a creativity coach to work with the team to teach them new ways of thinking. 2.  Hire a local artist to bring in supplies and spend the afternoon creating and working on a piece of art while employees watch.  Have the artist discuss their thinking process. 3.  Have someone come in and teach your staff to meditate and ask them to spend some time meditating every day. 4.  Put teams in a room with poster board taped on every piece of reachable wall.  Hand them colored crayons and markers and ask them to brainstorm ideas for products for services… no matter how silly their ideas might be. 5.  Hand out beautiful, personalized company journals to employees and ask them to write down any and all ideas they have throughout the workday and bring the journals to read out loud at brainstorming meetings.

In one day, I experienced the following: a store clerk who looked like she was bored stupid and begrudgingly took my money for an item. a waiter who got our order wrong, never apologized, and never thanked us when we left. a customer service rep who told me how many barrel hoops I’d have to go through to get an answer, never explained why, and never once said, “would you please…” All of these are examples of bad manners. Plain and simple. And obviously a forgotten skill. It is certainly true that company leadership and corporate culture affect not only the bottom line but the customer experience as well but there are other factors involved.  Companies can create a memorable customer experience without much expense by teaching employees the rules of etiquette. Unfortunately, it seems that schools and families have abdicated the teaching of any of these rules so it is up to the company to teach employees themselves. Following are a few basics to help you get started.  Rather than make these rules, make them tips and make them fun.  Send out a few every month in the employee newsletter and catch employees using what they learned and praise them.. 1. Remind employees to always smile and look customers in the eye when speaking to them. 2. Employees who deal with customers over the phone should answer on the first or second ring, ask permission before putting a caller on hold and make sure that the customer is not left holding for more than a few seconds. 3.  Even when a customer is red, hot mad an employee should always keep their cool, be polite, agree that the situation is frustrating and do everything they can to find a solution. 4.  Remind employees that they should never carry on a  personal conversation on the phone or in person with another employee while customers are waiting to be served. 5. Please and thank you are small words with huge impact. Try it!

Are your employees engaged? Employees are engaged when they are involved in and inspired by their work. They are committed to their employer and invested in the success of the company. Engaged employees are easier to retain and they make a difference in the bottom line by creating enhanced relationships with customers. How do you go about creating engaged employees? Follow the steps below. 1. Be approachable. Don't just say you have an open door… really have one. 2. Encourage and value their input. 3. Offer additional benefits such as flextime, tuition reimbursement, managerial training and technical training. 4. Communicate clearly and honestly at all times. 5. Survey employees regularly to get feedback on how to improve their working environment. 6. Bring in consultants to help them with issues of work/life balance or organizational skills. 7. Make an effort to make work fun. Have a book of the month club and provide all employees with a copy.

Security rests in adaptability. Our current uncertain times can either freeze us from action, or create a space where we strengthen our ability to adapt. Remember, survival is based on "requisite variety". That's a fancy biological term that basically means the organism that has the greatest number of responses to a situation has the greater chance of surviving. Watts Wacker, a noted futurist, offers things we can do to gain more options for ourselves: Learn to be a better listener. You don't learn when you are talking. Read a trade magazine from a different industry. Find two things in every issue that relate to your business. Let your kids tutor you in a subject they know more about than you do. Volunteer, and see the world through a different window. Read what has stood the test of time. Read Aristotle, Shakespeare, Adam Smith. Reading the great books helps frame your thinking.

In the scheme of culinary talent, I cook a little better than average. The operative word is "cook". I cook killer soups: soups that vary in ingredients and size; soups that range from stick-to-the-ribs to light-and-fancy; soups that contain whatever leftovers haunt the Tupperware containers. But baking? That's another matter. Personally, I have this aversion to following recipes. Maybe that's why I like soups. Broth is pretty forgiving about whatever you add to it. But baking—there's the rub. Fail to follow directions and angel food cake tastes like the devil. Brownies turn into blackies. And lemon chiffon pie tastes like Chiffon dish detergent. All this makes my lemon cake nothing short of a miracle. I don't follow the recipe (natch!) and the result is a tangy confection that can be frozen and sliced into delicate pieces of pure delight. It has become my signature dessert for guests and a gift I send to friends, to colleagues, and to clients. Besides its mouthwatering sweet/sour deliciousness, folks seem just blown away by the fact that I took the time in this too time-intense world to bake them a cake. I realize the power of the old Pillsbury ad: "Nothing says lov'n like something from the oven…." Lemon cake has become the metaphor that connects our relationship. You, too, have your own version of lemon cake. What time will you spend to connect with someone who is important to you?

John is like many sales folks. He's clever, competent, competitive and VERY hungry. In fact, looking at his bank account, he's begun to feel some panic when he sees that his services aren't being retained at the normal clip. Face it, John is scared. The desperation comes out in conversation. "I've just got to book some business. I'm making tons of cold calls a day. I think I've lost my edge. Why aren't people hiring me?" The answer: because John is TRYING to sell. He's focusing on himself and his need. And the self-service inevitably comes out. What's John to do? (1) Stop cold calling. It's only feeding his feelings of rejection. The negative spiral just sends him deeper into deeper pit. (2) Go back to his files and look for clients with whom he had a great rapport and did good work. Read the files and then visualize the relationship he had with them. (3) Call these past clients but not to sell. Instead, it's time to let them talk about their current state of affairs, how they are doing, and just catch up. If there's a way John can help them, great. But that's NOT the object of the call. John's call is strictly to be of service with no personal agenda. That's it. Results? John finds himself relaxing into his natural state of being. His finds that's clients are delighted to hear from him. One or two begin talking about new ways they might use his service. He makes a few appointments. This is not a fairy tale. It happened to a wonderful sales colleague whom I coached. She discovered that when she let go of her needs, her internal well began to fill up with fresh ideas, renewed relationships, and possibilities for work driven by the clients and not by her. Serving beats selling many days.