Are your managers sabotaging customer service?

Are you asking them to be managers, or developing them to be leaders?

There is a difference between managers and leaders. And that difference is not subtle. Managers are generally put in place to manage, to keep things under control, to make sure policies and procedures are followed, and to execute the daily work of the organization in ways that are predictable and safe. Leaders, on the other hand, are there to effect change. Leaders are responsible for identifying problems and barriers to effectiveness, and then bringing about changes in processes, systems and staffing that make the products and services better. These two roles are very different! To further complicate things, it is not uncommon for executive leaders to expect managers to also be leaders. Without clear expectations and significant training, this dual expectation can be confusing, and disruptive for the business and for the customers of the business. It is somewhat schizophrenic…keep things under control, but change things!

A recent case in point:

A family member recently went to an urgent care clinic to have a metallic sliver removed from her foot after an accident at home. She brought her highly-trained service dog with her to this visit, and was told by the med tech that, by policy, dogs were not permitted in the examining room. She then took vitals and checked her in. (Actually, the American Disabilities Act ensures that service animals are permitted in almost all places, regardless of such rules). My family member did take her service dog with her anyway into the examining room. Apparently, the tech alerted the physician, telling the doctor that she was afraid of dogs, who again told my family member that the clinic was no place for dogs, that it was “not hygienic.” Fortunately, to avoid conflict when she needed immediate care, and despite being treated like she did not understand hygiene, she was able to leave her service dog with her husband, who also accompanied her, but at the cost of unnecessary anxiety, and a violation of her rights.

This is a case of a physician (who should have known better what the law requires) acting as a manager requiring compliance to policy, not as a leader willing to make necessary changes to accommodate the patient/customer. The policy should have been questioned and changed to conform to the ADA, and people should have been properly trained and structured to accommodate my family member.

How managers fail the leadership test:

These kinds of situations are not uncommon. Staff are frequently put in situations where the needs and wants of the customer are at odds with company policies and procedures. Managers are often in situations that are highly stressful, maybe full of conflict and disagreement, and it is a test of resolve to get the work done. It is these situations that test leadership, and everyone is watching. If expectations are unclear, managers will often fail to meet the test in one of the following ways, often in the presence of the customer:

• The rational approach: “What is the problem, what does the policy tell us, what are the alternative solutions within policy, and what can we do now to get things under control? If the policy does not permit this, then there is nothing I can do.” This approach keeps feelings out of it,but communicates to the customer a non-caring attitude. Where is the empathy for the customer, whose needs have not been met? This was the first-line approach of the tech.
• The avoidance approach: “Why is this my problem to fix? Somebody needs to work on this, but there is nothing I can do.” This approach clearly communicates that they are dealing with someone with no power at all, regardless of title. While the tech did not say these things, her eye-rolls and demeanor communicated this to my family member.
• The emotional response: “Why is this happening and who is responsible for this? It is going to cost a lot of time and money to get things back on track—money we do not have, and someone is going to pay! There is nothing I can do!” This is “blame and shame” at its finest, and often done in the presence of the customer, who is now losing all confidence in the organization. When the physician describes the situation as not being “hygienic,” she was using a form of blame directed at my family member, leaving a very unhelpful dynamic to the entire situation, and declaring herself as powerless.
• The occasional tantrum response: “Good grief! None of this should be happening! We should not have to deal with this stupidity. There is nothing I can do!” After the procedure, the physician encountered the husband, telling him that, in the future, they should not bring a dog to the clinic and that this should never happen. This undermines the entire reputation of the company, tempting the customer to just walk away.

What is missing here? None of these approaches work effectively, and all undermine customer confidence and good will. What happened here is a function of people in manager/leader roles thinking that they must perfectly follow policy and protocol (as they understand it). But perfectionism is not an effective leadership trait. In fact, it is paralyzing, a significant obstacle to accomplishing anything of value while revealing a control orientation that defeats accomplishment. Closely following the rules, conforming to arbitrary standards of performance, and being a “good soldier” does nothing to cultivate creativity, innovation, or the human spirit that drives customer responsiveness and customer satisfaction. Leadership requires the ability to operate freely, loosely and with imagination that is “out of the ordinary.”

Eight principles to guide developing managers as leaders:
If you want your managers to be leaders focused on customer satisfaction, here are eight principles to guide your development of those managerial leaders:

1. Leaders know that the job description does not define the leader. You define your job.
2. Leadership requires a hearty dose of courage— the willingness to take the risks required to do the “right” thing for the customer.
3. Managerial leaders need to be inspired to achieve great things, to use their talents to do great things. Nothing else will achieve great things.
4. If a manager is to be a leader, they cannot complain about not having the answers to difficult questions, or the inability to solve problems. Leaders are expected to own the work, to have their customers’ interests as a priority, and to understand not only the rational content of the work, but the emotional content that everyone brings to the work.
5. There is usually no one right way to get things done. The challenge is to act, and choose a way, so that there is a path to accomplishment. If the choice is wrong, stop, learn, redirect, and go forward.
6. Doing something different is what is necessary in difficult situations—if we expect to land in a different space, with different results. Doing this, of course, opens the leader up to criticism, and even embarrassment. Doing and being different makes others uncomfortable in their ordinary routines.
7. Expect managers to take full accountability for what is happening on their watch. But full accountability requires full responsibility, and the full authority to act on that responsibility. Too often, managers are given responsibilities, but not the full authority to act on that responsibility. That is cruel.
8. Folks who intend to get things done seldom wait for opportunities to find them. And they never wait for permission from others. They take charge, step out, and move forward to help the customer meet their needs and wants. This is what sets outstanding leaders apart from managers. The only way to find out if you can achieve great things is to attempt to achieve great things. Nothing else will get you there.

Being a leader is very different than being a manager. As a leader, you get to create the instruction book on how you will go about leading others. Just remember: everyone is watching, and judging what you say and what you do, especially the customer of your organization. How your managers lead when the customer has needs and wants that are not being met makes a difference in how the customer relationship develops. Managers think it is their job to manage the words and actions of the people in their charge. But leaders create an environment of open communication, open dialogue about possible improvement and innovation, open consideration of things that might go wrong, and the courage to change things so that the customer is satisfied.