How to Find the Work You Love by Simon T. Bailey

I am astounded at how many people roll out of bed every day, every week, every month, and every year to work for a company that is subpar in its treatment of its most important asset—people. There is no spark of enthusiasm when the alarm goes off on Monday morning. Why not? Perhaps it’s time for a career audit. You may discover that your job is a liability instead of an asset.  

The University of Phoenix (one of the largest online accredited colleges for working adults) invited me to give the commencement address to an audience of 10,000 people in Atlanta, Georgia. I shared with them that some people graduate from college and settle for a cubicle, a check, and a cup of coffee, only to wake up 20–30 years later to realize that the whole world has shifted. Then there are those who hop from job to job looking to find a fit. Do you know anyone like this? 

Here’s the deal: you were never created to work a job. You were created to find your universal assignment, also known as your life’s work!

A job is what you are paid to do. Releasing Your Brilliance is what you are made to do. 

When you find your life’s work, you will automatically position yourself to become the czar of your field, industry, and marketplace. According to Dictionary.com, a czar is defined as “any person exercising great authority or power in a particular field.” That’s right, I am telling you that it’s time to become the dominant force in your life’s work. 

This current economy is flushing out bad attitudes, lackluster performance, and half-brilliant contributions. I know what you are thinking: How do I find my life’s work? It starts with an honest assessment of the meaning of your life. 

Rihanna and TI encourage you in their platinum hit to “Live Your Life,” but what does that really mean? I know that I just lost half of my boomers with that last statement. Okay, download it from iTunes or Google it to see the words to the song. I interpret it to mean, “I can make my life what I want it to be instead of having others tell me what it should be.” 

Here are some action steps to punch into your system of thinking: 

1. Identify one person you work with who is passionate about their life’s work. Take them to lunch and buy them a meal. Ask them when they knew that they truly were making a life instead of a living. Ask them what steps they took in order to shift gears and pursue being brilliant. 

2. In every organization, 80 percent of the results are generated by 20 percent of the team members. Who are the 20 percent in your organization, industry, or marketplace? If that is not you, then who? How do they think? What do they read? Who are their mentors? What do they listen to? 

3. Invest in a copy of Thank God It’s Monday: How to Create a Workplace You and Your Customers Love by Roxanne Emmerich. This books is a transformational manifesto that will shift your place of business.

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life

What Losing My First-Class Seat Taught Me about Customer Service by Simon T. Bailey

As a person who prides himself on giving great customer service, I learned three ways to create superb customer service after a recent experience I had with Delta Airlines. I made three observations: 

• It doesn’t matter what happens. It’s all about the recovery. 

• If you hear it, you own it. 

• Customer service is not a department; it’s a mindset. 

Let me explain. 

Recently, I was in Palm Springs and Los Angeles, California, with my two young adults for a week-long vacation. It was probably our last trip for a while as my children are transitioning into graduating from high school, driving, starting a job, going to college, and shifting into less dependence on me and their mother. Making sure the experience was perfect for them was very important to me. 

Our last meal was at Jean-Georges, an exquisite restaurant located in the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills. We were floating on a cloud of magical memories as our trip was coming to an end. 

How could this amazing time with my two favorite people in the entire world get any better? 

Well, imagine my surprise when we checked in to Delta Airlines Sky Priority Lane at Los Angeles International (LAX) for our return flight back to Orlando, and both my daughter and I were upgraded on flight #1649 to first class for our five-hour cross-country trip back to Orlando, Florida. 

Then, as the last group of passengers were boarding, the Delta gate agent came to me and told me that my daughter and I had to give up our seats in first class and move back to seats 26 A and C. This was the last touchpoint of the trip, and this moment created disappointment for both of us and a feeling that something gained was now lost. 

This may seem like a small issue, but the devil is in the details, and moments like this can often make or break a customer’s experience. Going the extra inch beyond the extra mile is what creates customer love and platinum service. 

Justin Simmons, the lead Delta Airlines agent, understood this idea. He came back to apologize for what had happened and said that when he closed out the upgrades, he neglected to see that two first-class seats were purchased at the last minute. 

I understood what happened. However, many customers take opportunities like these to turn to social media or Yelp in order to feel heard. It was significant that Justin took the time to acknowledge our disappointment and mitigate any hard feelings. 

Beyond this, when I called the Delta SkyMiles Diamond Desk and explained what had happened, the agent immediately sympathized with my situation and deposited 10,000 miles into my account and 10,000 into my daughter’s account. 

Here’s what losing my first-class seat taught me about customer service: 

It’s all about the recovery. Although Delta Airlines was unable to undo the mistake, they recovered by gifting us some airline miles. We felt like we had gained something despite our initial loss, and Delta was now assured that we would fly with them again using the miles, giving us another chance to interact with their service. 

If you hear it, you own it. Once Justin heard about the hiccup, he took ownership of the experience. He could have passed the buck or let us continue on without acknowledging what had happened. After all, we did not purchase the first-class seats; they were given to us, and it would have been easy to discount our experience. 

Customer service is not a department; it’s a mindset. Justin did not work in the customer service department, but he made sure to discuss the event with us, making us feel acknowledged and like our experience mattered. The SkyMiles Diamond Desk did not transfer us to another customer service department. They righted the wrong right then and there. 

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life. 

Brand Reputation Is Your Brilliant Edge by Simon T. Bailey

In this era, a brand is more than the product or services that are provided to your customers. A brand is an emotional connection, perception, and memory of your company. Every interaction that a customer, prospective customer, or supplier has with an employee, product, or service reinforces trust in your reputation. As a business leader, everything that you and your staff do is a touchpoint that leaves an imprint on the heads, hearts, and hands of your customers. 

Are there opportunities to sharpen your approach and fiercely protect your brand reputation? According to The Conference Board, after surveying over 1,000 CEOs, one of the top five challenges they face is brand reputation. They’re scrambling to establish trust, differentiate their brand, position their brand in the marketplace, and engage multiple audiences. 

Your company, product, or service is up against these same challenges. 

Here are a few tips to consider on this road to creating an edge through your brand reputation: 

1. Be a strategic storyteller. 
   Recently, Microsoft transferred Steve Clayton from the office in Liverpool to Redmond, WA, and gave him the title “Chief Storyteller.” His sole responsibility is to capture internal stories about how Microsoft is changing the world. These stories are published via an interactive online experience. One of the feature stories that went viral is about the 88 acres Microsoft used to create the city of the future. They are not leaving their brand to chance or to what outsiders have to say; they are recapturing the narrative and shaping internal thinking, which will have a direct impact on how an external audience perceives Microsoft. 

2. Create your own CNN (Constant Nice News). 
   Livestream your content from any of your annual meetings or conferences. You can create ongoing webinars and capture content that can be chunked down to three- to five-minute snippets of your company’s or brand’s thought leaders (and if you’re an entrepreneur, this could just be you!), groundbreaking research, and/or political updates that impact your members. It’s accessible every day, every way—mobile, tablet, laptop, etc.—and everywhere people want to view. You can then explore content monetization with the repository of invaluable information that shapes the reputation of your brand. 

3. Establish a social media Navy SEAL team. 
   This is a carefully selected group of savvy members in your company who know how to effectively use key social media channels. Any time a crisis or news-jacking opportunity arises, they are ready to work behind the scenes with the main purpose of generating positive content that shapes the narrative of how the organization wants its brand reputation to be perceived by the general public and, most importantly, its members. They can be your Always On-Brand Editorial Team. 

I believe that these efforts will enable your company, product, or service to protect its brand reputation and give it the edge needed to stay relevant. 

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life 

Side Hustle Is the New Normal by Simon T. Bailey

All employees need to reconfigure their mindset to see themselves as self-employed employees. Corporations love talent, but they are no longer committed to keeping employees on the payroll for the sake of the good of the company. They’re now looking at how they can shave costs or increase their margins to grow a healthy bottom line. If that something means hiring the best talent that is available at the best time, for whatever length of time, they will do it. 

Companies are looking at everything they spend to drive revenue, and labor is one of the No. 1 expenses. With that in mind, employees have to begin to say: “If I’m going to thrive long term, I need to have a side hustle.” 

So the question becomes, how does one identify a side hustle? 

1. Ensure it does not conflict with the product or services being offered by your company. You should not be working for a company that directly takes away business from your existing 9-to-5 job. Number one, it’s not good business and is ethically questionable, and number two, if your company finds out about it, your full-time gig will be in danger. \

2. Think of ways to leverage your talent outside of your full-time job so that you can invest time after work and enjoy it. If you work 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. but you have an interest in starting a restaurant or playing in a band or doing medical billing, can you carve out additional hours to pour yourself into the thing you love most? 

3. Is there a temporary agency you can join that is looking for contract labor or freelancers? Some examples of what that looks like include Lyft, Uber, Airbnb, and Etsy. 

4. There are websites specifically dedicated to helping you find a side hustle. If you’re not sure where to start, you can check out Side Hustle Nation or Fiverr to get some ideas about what you can do with your existing skills. 

Side hustles are a great way to put a toe in the water if you’re thinking about leaving your full-time gig to do something else. You can test the waters before you make the full leap and determine how much you need to invest and what the long-term ramifications are without having to quit your job completely. Let a side hustle be your laboratory where you beta test future opportunities. 

Note that pursuing a side hustle doesn’t always mean you have one foot out the door. Your side hustle can help you build skills and knowledge that inform your existing position. 

For example, a friend of mine works a 9-to-5 job, but she is not able to exercise her writing skill set in that position. For her side gig, she writes articles for an outside company. The research that she does in order to write the articles is relevant to her 9-to-5 job and increases her knowledge for her full-time role. 

As the world of work continues to evolve and change, side hustles will become more the norm. 

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life 

Chief Happiness Officer Strategy #3: Encourage Wellness by Simon T. Bailey

Paul Zane Pilzer wrote a book titled The Wellness Revolution: How to Make a Fortune in the Next Trillion Dollar Industry. Pilzer is a Harvard-trained economist and thought leader around this whole wellness movement. One of the things he talks about is how businesses don’t want to be in the healthcare business because healthcare costs too much on the back end. 

The job of the Chief Happiness Officer is to encourage wellness and well-being on the front end. Invite people to think about things like: Are they eating properly? Are they taking mental breaks? Are they getting enough rest? (Arianna Huffington has written a plethora of articles and devoted a whole book to the idea of a “sleep revolution” that shatters the exaltation of the sleep-deprived executive. Huffington argues that sleep is the new competitive edge, and she encourages everyone to get more sleep in order to succeed in work and life.) 

For the good of both the holistic person and the organization, the Chief Happiness Officer must be the proponent within the organization of prioritizing things like meditation and sleep rooms. People are spending 8 to 10 to 12 hours a day in the business. They’re at work more than they’re at home, so businesses have to be places that really care about their employees in order to earn the right to their best work. 

Another example of something the Chief Happiness Officer should consider is, how do we think about nutrition that’s offered in the employee cafeteria or in break areas? One of my favorite examples is my experience at the Lynda.com offices. They have probably one of the healthiest employee cafeterias I’ve ever been in. There’s no fried food, everything is green, there’s a lot of kale, and what that said to me is they care about what employees put into their bodies. 

Provide an abundance of physical fitness resources that will cater to multiple interests. For example, go beyond just having a fitness center relationship with one gym. Consider: How do you begin to collaborate with other gyms that have a different format, like CrossFit or Pure Barre? 

The Chief Happiness Officer literally can increase employee happiness and boost the bottom line by offering preventative measures. They can help people think about what they need mentally and how much sleep they’ve had, and they can help ensure that people exercise and eat well. Show people the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle, because if they live a healthy lifestyle they’ll have longevity—not just for the business, but for their loved ones and for themselves. 

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life 

Character vs. Strategy by Simon T. Bailey

In life there are moments that create a cause for a pause. Here’s one that I just had to share with you. 

A while back, I was sitting in a board meeting for one of the non-profit organizations I serve, and the president and founder posed this question: “In business, which one is more important—character or strategy?” 

Everyone around the table chimed in and gave an opinion. It was evenly split down the middle. 

However, the president said that character is more important than strategy. A profound silence swept through the room as we waited to hear his rationale. 

He then said, “Anyone can come up with a strategy, but if they lack character, it is nothing more than a man in an empty suit with a hallowed soul.” I sat there in astonishment doing my best to process the deeper meaning. And then I had an epiphany: 

Character is forged when no one is looking. 

Character is doing the work of work for no prize at all. 

“A person of character is willing to do the right thing and walk alone than to do the wrong thing in order to follow the crowd.” 

I’ve discovered people over the years who talk a good game. They can blow smoke in your ears and do everything they can to see and be seen. They want everyone to know that they are important, smart, and special. 

I was that foolish person once upon a time. 

Then one day, I met a man of impeccable character. He was the type of person who gets personally invited to the White House. As I watched him from afar, he walked into the room and didn’t make a big fuss or a scene. 

His presence spoke volumes, and I learned that when you are “the man,” you don’t have to tell people that you’re the man. Your very essence will speak louder than words. 

Be mindful of a person whose mouth runs faster than their mind. True character speaks less and listens more. 

That man invited me to join this non-profit board, and my life has never been the same. 

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life. 

Let Go of What Works by Simon T. Bailey

It is obvious that you should let go of what doesn’t work. It’s not serving you. But what about letting go of what works?

If you don’t let go of what has always worked and start to move toward what will work in the future, what works for you now will be what isn’t working for you later.

I had a conference call a while ago with the CEO of a company with whom I was going to speak in a few weeks. In preparing for this engagement with a multi-billion-dollar global conglomerate, I asked the CEO what he wanted me to share with the team.

The first thing he said is: he needs his team to be unreasonable.

And I asked, “What does that mean?”

He said, “We can no longer settle for the status quo. We can no longer operate with a business-as-usual mindset. We are getting market share eaten out of our business every single day. Just because you think things have always worked, clients have said ‘yes,’ and we’ve increased prices doesn’t mean those clients are going to say ‘yes’ forever.”

This CEO was saying, “Let go of what works now in favor of what will work later.”

You’ve got to be unreasonable in your efforts, see yourself as an entrepreneur and really own your business, your life, and your relationships.

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life.

How You Can Let Go to Move Forward by Simon T. Bailey

The beginning of the year is a prime time to take inventory of what is working and what is not working in your life. Letting go of what is not working (and some of what IS working!) positions you to start 2018 in a place of growth and forward momentum.

But letting go is hard. Where should you start?

1. Recognize the signs. I encourage you to read a book by Dr. Henry Cloud titled Necessary Endings. If you don’t have time to read it, grab the audiobook and listen to it in the car. Dr. Cloud introduces the idea of pruning back to grow forward. There are countless examples and anecdotal stories illustrating what it looks like and feels like to let go in your life and in your career.

2. Make a plan. Take a good hard look in the mirror. Odds are, you already know deep down inside what you need to let go of. Toxic relationships, a stale role you’ve been in at work, habits, employees…there are any number of things we hang onto out of fear, comfort, or uncertainty. Identify what’s contributing to you getting in your own way.

3. Set up support. Letting go can be tough. It may mean separating ourselves from people, things, or situations that are no longer serving us but that we are emotionally attached to. Decide how you will move yourself through this process. Will you journal, lean into a good friendship, plan more time for self-care, or see a therapist?

You may not be ready to let go right here, right now. Even if it takes you a year to move through these steps, do not let what you need to let go of prevent you from growing forward into what you could be.

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life.