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Define What Success Looks Like - Then Measure It!
by Peter McGarahan, President, McGarahan & Associates
It started with a movie on the plane to New York.
It was just another week away from my young family to spend with clients and co-workers.
Just another step on the road to success - making money, but sacrificing, always sacrificing.
Just another cross-country, redeye flight - business as usual.
But this time was different. Rather than work my way across country, I decided I'd actually watch the movie this flight.
The feature was "Life As A House". The story revolves around an architect named George (Kevin Kline) who has just been fired from his job of 30 years. Living alone in a dilapidated house in a posh Californian neighborhood, George is forced to reassess his life when he is informed that cancer will soon end it. Ready to tear down his house to replace it with a new one, George goes to his ex-wife with an unusual request - that his estranged son Sam join him for the summer to help with the construction. The problem is that the rebellious, drug-addicted son wants nothing to do with his father, and so begins the movie that grabs you from the beginning and doesn't let you go...even after the credits roll.
It's easy to hide a moist eye; but it's difficult to hide a pair of red, tear-stained eyes from your fellow passengers.
The defining moment in the movie for me was when George shares the most joyous moment in life with his ex-wife. He describes his memory of hugging his young son in the cold, rushing waves of the Pacific Ocean, feeling his young son's heartbeat against his chest and listening to the boy's infectious laughter. At the end of the movie, his ex-wife brings this video to his deathbed for him to enjoy his most cherished memory for the last time.
For George, he finally learned (better later than never) what success was, what made him happy and to appreciate what he had - none of which revolved around work, money, status, or fame.
Being a father of two young ones and traveling the way I did, this scene had a huge impact on me. It was like a shot of adrenaline. I felt awakened to what was truly important in life. I couldn't wait until I could call my family and talk to them. Worse, I couldn't wait until the end of the week to return home - to love them, to enjoy them, to relish every minute with them.
Suddenly, I defined success differently than I had. Now I wanted to enjoy more moments of happiness with my family, so I had to determine how to measure it in a new way. It was clear that real happiness for me was enjoying every moment with my family. Enjoying every hug, every bath, every book reading, every vacation, every snuggle, every hug, and every kiss. To consciously be here now, always present in the moment and enjoying the supposed little things that life has to offer, which really aren't so little after all. Not when you've been awakened.
People often told me, "enjoy your children while they're young, they grow up so fast." I knew that intellectually, but I never got it emotionally until I saw this movie. Now I know, and I'm fortunate to be able to do something about it. I can appreciate what I have. I thank God for giving me a loving wife and two healthy, wonderful children. I am a lucky and blessed man to have had so many experiences and opportunities, and so many good people I've met. I take none of it for granted because Friendship is a powerful and wonderful gift.
I leave you with some things to think about:
- Success is how YOU define it - not everyone or anyone else¡¦s definition.
- Success is what YOU want to get out of life...what is important to YOU...what makes YOU happy - not everybody or anyone else.
- Success should be measured in your own terms - not someone else¡¦s.
What does such a personal insight have to do with our business?
I look at it this way: True fulfillment in life comes from finding and serving something beyond ourselves. Faith and family come first, always. But service and support people also find a personal kind of satisfaction in the professional act of helping customers and colleagues. They find personal happiness in professionally serving others. This is what makes our industry and community unique and rewarding. Sharing a real connection with family, friends and customers - what can be more successful than that?
Please click here to Download the PDF version of Define What Success Looks Like — Then Measure It!
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Pete McGarahan of McGarahan & Associates has more than 20 years of experience in business support, planning, design, and development. His passions for customer service led the Taco Bell support organization to achieve the Help Desk Institute Team Excellence Award. IT Support News also named him one of the “Top 25 Professionals in the Service and Support Industry” in 1999. Support professionals voted McGarahan “The Legend of the Year” in 2002 and again in 2004 at the Help Desk Professionals conference for his endless energy, mentoring, and coaching, and his valuable contribution to the support industry and community. To contact Pete, you can send an email to pete@mcgarahan.com or visit www.mcgarahan.com.
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Composed: 05/18/2005 | Modified: 07/08/2010
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Change or Irrelevance: Career Changing Technologies
07/14/2011
Rapid, breathtaking technology advances are forcing radical changes not only in how IT organizations function, but also in terms of their culture, leadership, and even careers. Combined with business, social and global trends, as well as technology investing (spending), IT organizations must accelerate their organizational change plans in order to survive and thrive. They must assess and plan for complete transformation - strategy, structure, people, processes, and tools.
Are we preparing our IT professionals to plan for and make these changes? Are we helping them position themselves and their organizations for success in this dynamically evolving world?
This Cutter Consortium article assess and addresses the impacting wave of the rapidly changing IT and business trends on traditional IT careers, positions, and skill sets.
This wake-up call is best described by a quote from four-star US General (Ret.) Eric Shineski: "If you don't like change, you'll like irrelevance even less."
The “Business” Service Leadership Agenda
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BSMReview.com
Next Practices in Business Service Management
The “Business” Service Leadership Agenda by Peter J. McGarahan
The Defining Moment of Truth
Why do some companies consistently exceed their business customers’ expectations and others fail to meet their customer’s basic demands and needs? Why do smaller, flexible companies seem to care more about the business impact of customer service than larger credit card, banking and cable organizations? Does the exuberant profits and size of these larger companies (“Too Big To Fail”) create a situation where customer service is no longer a competitive differentiator nor a strategic imperative? MSN Money’s fifth annual Customer Service Survey was recently published revealing the top ten companies earning a place in their Customer Service Hall of Shame and Hall of Fame. The “business” service differentiation comes down to knowledgeable and friendly staff, available and responsive staff, trust, transparency, genuine care and understanding of their customer. Simple you say, obviously not!
The Service Leadership Agenda
11/21/2011
The Service Leadership Agenda
The Defining Moment of Truth
Why do some companies consistently exceed their customers’ expectations and others fail to meet their customer’s basic demands and needs? Why do smaller, flexible companies seem to care more about customer service than larger credit card, banking and cable organizations? Does the exuberant profits and size of these larger companies (“Too Big To Fail”) create a situation where customer service is no longer a competitive differentiator nor a strategic imperative?
Learn How to Create a Highly Efficient and Effective Support Organization
04/21/2011
SupportIndustry.com Webinar:
Best Practice Strategies for Creating a Highly Efficient
and Effective Support Organization
In case you missed it, SupportIndustry.com recently conducted a webinar on Best Practice Strategies for Creating a Highly Efficient and Effective Support Organization, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive by attendees. In response to this, we are offering the on-demand version to you to watch at your convenience. More information about the event is below!
Professionalism in the Contact Center
04/21/2011
What is professionalism anyway & why does it matter?
Dana Pigford, founder of Professionalism Matters, Inc, defines professionalism as "being responsible and accountable and treating people the way you would like to be treated."1 Service and support consultants, Pete McGarahan and Ric Mims, in an excellent article, "The Essence of Professionalism,"2 suggest that professionalism is composed of such values as courtesy, respect in dealing with clients and, "Do they take pride in their appearance, their work ethic, and the quality of the work they do?"3 In addition, they observe that "In simpler days, professionalism had everything to do with customer service, relationship building, and creating the foundation for effective, persuasive communication across all levels of the organization."4 They also suggest that a good definition of professionalism "...isn’t your appearance and your aptitude, its attitude: knowing what to do, and doing it with passion and purpose."5
A CRM Approach to Business Service Management?
04/21/2011
A CRM Approach to Business Service Management?
by Peter J. McGarahan
I have been designing, delivering and supporting IT services for most of my 27 years as an IT professional. Time and time again I’ve encountered IT organizations that didn’t keep the customer or their business top of mind when designing and delivering services. Instead, they delivered “cool” technologies or strategies that met IT’s expectation and requirements, but didn’t directly benefit the business customers.
Are You Missing The Point About Customer Care?
12/04/2010
Are You Missing The Point About Customer Care?
By Peter J. McGarahan
Inbound Magazine - Issue 01:2010
Design customer centric services that improve service deliver.
Reducing Support Costs!
06/01/2010
Reducing Support Costs with a "Shift-Left" Strategy: An Interview with Pete McGarahan
By Cinda Daly
"Arise, ye service leader! The time is now!" proclaims Pete McGarahan, an industry thought leader and respected consultant for twenty-five years. It's not a new concept that service leaders need to run their support organization like a business. Achieving that point, however, is challenging. With continuing pressures to drive down support costs, service leaders need to optimize the business model: determine what's really important, then dive deep into the detail of structure, process, people, and tools. [More]
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