I will make a bold assertion. To be an effective leader YOU MUST be a consummate story teller. The art of inspiring people to engage in consistently extraordinary service behaviors begins and ends with stories. While I can teach many transactional skills, amazing service is not a paint by numbers enterprise. It takes impassioned, other-focused people emulating examples of greatness – therein comes the art of leadership storytelling. Catalytic visionaries like Dr. David Feinberg, CEO of the UCLA Health System (and focus of my recently released book “Prescription for Excellence“) spend considerable time talking with customers and collecting stories that they use to initiate and close every staff meeting. Through this listening and story sharing, David has galvanized a patient experience culture and enraptured people with story.
When was the last time you shared a story of customer experience excellence? Did you link the story to your key service values? At the risk of sounding like I am 5, please tell me a story.
Better yet – share that story and a constant stream of similar examples with your people. Your stories set the foundation for building a “legendary” service culture and humanizing expectations for customer experience greatness. I’m listening…
