Comments

Forgive me, for you have far more speaking experience than I do.

But:
My next door neighbor, also the Cantor in my synagogue, would drink hot tea and honey to sooth his throat. Um....it's like treating a sore throat.

Your hosts were, I would agree, being gracious more than simply self-interested. Plain hot water and honey - and ginger may help also - is great.

Peter

Posted by Peter Lucash at March 16, 2009 8:53 AM

This has given me the biggest smile on this Monday morning. Thank you!

Posted by Judith Ellis at March 16, 2009 8:54 AM

Great story, Tom!

One of my former colleagues had a similar experience. He was flying from New Delhi to Chicago. Despite corporate travel policy (that required traveling on United/ Lufthansa!) he managed to snag a flight on Gulf Airways. A cabin crew member noticed his cough & hoarseness & brought him tea w/ honey several times through the flight!

Value of this spontaneous gesture? Assume he takes 1 additional flight on Gulf/ year (he does this sector ~4 times/ year, so that's not a stretch) for the next year. $5000 (bus class fare) X 1 X 5 = $25,000!!

And I'm not even counting the value of this story being retold dozens of times.

Posted by Avneet Jolly at March 16, 2009 3:58 PM

Great. Tea with honey.
Here is a tidbit that is much more profound, not simple to be successful at and is an excellent
example of successfull government/business partnership.
Up until the recent airliner crash in Buffalo,
there were 1 billion passengers safely flown in the United States on the big commercial airlines.

Posted by dan at March 16, 2009 5:15 PM

two most under rated words...

Posted by patrick at March 17, 2009 2:57 AM

Too right Patrick - I recall reading in one of Tom's early books his message about the massive importance of a simple handwritten ‘thank you’ note – we should cherish such things.

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 17, 2009 6:09 AM

Just another example of how a bit of personal care can make such an enormous impact. We should all keep this type of moment in our mindsets as we deal with people in our respective businesses everyday!

Posted by Greg Cooper at March 17, 2009 9:48 AM

Ah, very nice, Greg. Thank you for that reminder.

Posted by Judith Ellis at March 17, 2009 9:55 AM

I recently taught a seminar in Dubai and my wife and I found great friendliness, kindness, and great customer service. Our standards of customer service are now much higher than before our time in Dubai. Sadly, we now see that we in America need a great deal of work to measure up. What is normal and expected in Dubai is rare here.

Posted by Phil Clark at March 17, 2009 10:54 AM

Tom - take care of health as the number 1 priority - & be thankful you are not in the UK NHS system of socialist health "care".

A click on C Love below has a March 17, 2009 London Times article:

"'Shocking' treatment at Stafford Hospital may have killed 400, watchdog says". And "Prince Charles: Britain faces dementia catastrophe".

"Patients admitted for emergency treatment at an NHS Trust were subjected to “shocking and appalling” care that included untrained receptionists carrying out medical checks and heart monitors being switched off, a report concluded today.

The Healthcare Commission, the NHS standards watchdog, said that evidence suggested that as many as 400 deaths at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust could have been prevented and may have been the result of poor care."

Outrageous abuse of our UK allies - AND they pay top dollar for health "care" in that overtaxed favorite colony of the USA.

Posted by C Love at March 17, 2009 7:31 PM

So, Basics 57: Give Good Tea - just add honey and ginger to make it Thoughtful and Thrilling. The list is shorter already...

Posted by RobCH at March 18, 2009 1:20 AM

C Love – sadly there are always parts of a whole system (NHS) that do not work as effectively as they should. Poor leadership is usually the problem. To put a more positive slant on our NHS system this may interest you. It was written last week by a woman from the US who is used to your non universal healthcare system. Apologies for the length of this but please stick with it. You may be surprised.

This week's tip http://www.lifecoach.com/free/tip_week.htm

Talane's Blog for the Week, March 9, 2009

A Different Perspective on Healthcare...

A few hours after I came home from the hospital with my newborn baby girl, Kaela, there was a knock on my front door. My mom answered and saw a man standing there. She asked, "Who are you?" "I'm Dr. May", he answered. "Why are you here?" "I've come to check on the new baby." My mother's mouth gaped in amazement. She couldn't believe the doctor had made a house call just to see a perfectly healthy baby that had already been checked out thoroughly at the hospital before we left. Dr. May likes babies and makes this extra effort simply because he wants to.

He isn't obligated to or required to, he just does it because he cares and is our family doctor. He did the same when I came home with my second daughter, Sophia. No charge. In addition, for the first few months after giving birth, a health care visitor came to my house once a week to check up on the baby, administer any injections and make sure that the feeding was going well and the baby was gaining weight at the correct rate as well as make sure that my womb was contracting properly and I was healing well. These nurses assure you that they expect to see you in bathrobes with hair a mess and don't want you to get dressed up for them. And they understand how tired you are and what a hassle getting to the doctor's office is when you have a newborn. How fabulous a service is that! And guess what, I didn't spend a penny for it.

My mother just arrived to spend two months with us. She neglected to renew her high blood pressure medication and arrived with just ten days supply of medication. Her plan was to cut the pills in half and hope to survive. I was horrified when I heard her plan because she has been on this medication for years, has not changed her weight or diet and is at high risk for a heart attack. You don't have to be a life coach to see that her plan was abysmal at best. After a sleepless night spent worrying that my mother would die, I realized that I needed to do something. I booked an appointment with our family doctor. I was given an appointment for 5:00 p.m. that very day. We arrived just before 5:00 p.m. and at 5:02 p.m. the doctor was ready to see her. He asked what he could do for her and she asked if he could renew her prescription for two months. Without further ado he wrote out the slip and off we went to the pharmacist next door who filled it in five minutes. By 5:20 p.m. we were on our way home with medication in hand. There was no charge for any of this. In fact, there are no cash registers or credit card machines in the doctor's reception so you couldn't pay even if you tried as they have no way of taking money. And, since my mom is a senior citizen, there was no charge for medication at the pharmacy either. They just handed her the bag with her pills and off she went.

The other day I had to go take my daughter to the emergency room. Instead of asking for my insurance or credit card, the receptionist asked what the problem was. I was seen in order of priority which was about a half-hour because it wasn't a life threatening issue.

Now you might be thinking, Talane must be rolling in dough to afford that level of health care or that I have some super duper insurance policy that you've never heard of. Nope. I'm living in England and this level of care is standard. These weren't just flukes. I've been here five years and I've never once had to wait for a doctor's appointment for more than 20 minutes and when that happened the doctor apologized profusely for making me wait. You can opt to use private medicine here if you wish, but the standard care is so good I haven't seen the need to. As some of my readers may know, I'm an American who married an Englishman and moved from New York to England and

I have been running my NYC based life coaching company from abroad for five years now. In this time, I've also had two babies, Kaela and Sophia who are now 4 and 2 years old. I've been reading in the UK press a lot about American's using the word "socialism" as if it were a dirty word. Before I moved to the UK, I assumed that the US health care was the best in the world and the reason that it was the best was because it was a private system, not a socialized system. That competition ensured the best care and the best doctors. I assumed that anything that was socialized and run by the government couldn't possibly be as good or as efficient as private medicine or private anything else for that matter. How wrong could I be! My years in England have completely changed my perspective. Socialized medicine is wonderful-at least in England. I never in my life would have imagined I'd say that, but I will shout it from the rooftops. I love it! It is such a good feeling to know that if, heaven forbid, something catastrophic should happen, it won't ruin us financially. In fact, the one thing putting me off about returning to America is that I'd have huge health insurance costs with two small munchkins. You don't need health insurance here in the UK. I don't have it. They just cut out the middle men and pay the doctor's directly.

What a concept. And what is most surprising to me is that is feels so much more democratic...so much more equal. Everyone gets great treatment. The poor people don't have to wait for hours in some second-rate clinic. Children and elderly don't pay for medication. No one takes a job here in order to get medical benefits. And yet, I personally know people in the US who have taken certain jobs just so they can get medical benefits and coverage. My own aunt could not get health insurance or benefits at her company because she is obese. Isn't this discrimination? My eldest sister is completely uncovered because she can't afford to pay for health insurance.

How is that better? Now that I've seen and experienced how wonderful, how civilized, how democratic, how reassuring and how fair socialized medicine can be, I'd never use the word socialism with disdain.

Don't believe me...come over here and break a leg.

Warmest,

Talane

Copyright © 2009 by Talane LLC. All rights reserved.

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 20, 2009 8:43 AM

" ...sadly there are always parts of a whole system (NHS) that do not work as effectively as they should."

Trevor - what happened in NHS is not a matter of "effectively" - it is an outrageous horrific pattern in this case - plus the empowered front line is to blame - they perversely did NOT do their job & people died needlessly & you are part of the problem I'm quite convinced unless you recognize that. If loved ones of mine died like that we'd sue until people were imprisoned - plus we'd demand maximum cash settlements.

Posted by C Love at March 20, 2009 6:44 PM

C Love – I agree with you it is scandalous what happened in the hospital concerned. One death that could have been prevented is one too many. I have never said we should tolerate anything less than totally patient focused care. The top management of the organisation has been removed and could conceivably end up in prison. I NEVER excuse such appalling healthcare wherever it is provided or whoever provides it.

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 20, 2009 7:00 PM

Trevor - thanks for the update - am with you totally.

Posted by C Love at March 21, 2009 6:08 AM viagra for sale online

PS - the front line that failed have been fired also - as they should.

Posted by C Love at March 21, 2009 6:12 AM

C Love - Thanks.

In my humble opinion this Gandhi wisdom should be displayed in every hospital department everywhere in the world to remind us why we work in healthcare:

"A patient is the most important person in our hospital. He is not an interruption to our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our hospital; he is a part of it. We are not doing a favour by serving him; he is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so."- Mahatma Gandhi

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 21, 2009 6:08 PM

Trevor, may I beg to differ? I suggest that behaviour like that of the staff at Stafford would not be changed one jot by some statement from Gandhi pinned to the wall. The thought may be fine, but muuch more is needed. Doing the right thing in the right way is either ingrained in the whole culture of the organisation or it's not, and if it's not no amount of go-good mantras will make it happen. It's the job of the leader to define and embed that organisational culture, and it's the job of everyone in the organisation to uphold it and make it real. I do not believe it can just be left up to front-liners, however sensible and well-intentioned they are, let alone when they're not; leaders exist to steer, to shape, and constantly take their organisation towards a higher purpose and a better state of things. In Stafford this appears to have been completely missing, and as a result there seems to have been an abrogation of responsibility at all levels. "How we do things around here" is a state that has to be managed consciously, actively, continuously and personally. If it's left to itself, it may just turn out all right, but as Stafford has shown it may just as easily create a disaster.

Posted by RobCH at March 22, 2009 2:12 AM

Rob - I agree and my earlier comment said this; 'Poor leadership is usually the problem.'

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 22, 2009 5:00 AM

RobCH - What a beautiful whole comment that is. Thank you so much for that.

Posted by Judith Ellis at March 22, 2009 5:45 AM

Rob - I will qualify what I said before - it is ALWAYS leadership failure.

You said 'I do not believe it can just be left up to front-liners'

I agree with you Rob - Front liners just need to know where the stakes in the ground are and then they can just get on to do brilliant work. Where there is a partnership between leaders and followers great things happen. Where there is a disconnect things go wrong. I really think it is as simple as that in any business/organisational failure. Have a fabulous Mothers Day - my Mum is 80 years old and the wisest person I know. Mum's are special.

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 22, 2009 7:40 AM

Trevor, sorry to have missed the earlier comment, lazy of me. We are indeed in agreement that it is always leadership failure. But the job of delivering a strong organisational culture is actively in the hands of everyone throughout the organisation, and will be manifest in many different, often unplanned ways. The value of values, if I can put it like that, is that they enable people to make decisions for themselves about the right thing to do rather than having to reference upwards all the time, or look around for a book of rules. This is very much on my mind at present as we have just finished a great whole-team session on turning values (great phrases a la Gandhi) into simple everyday actions, which everyone can implement. Great stuff, and the good thing is, I didn't have to push to make it happen.

PS 100% agree on Mums

Posted by RobCH at March 22, 2009 9:18 AM

Thanks Rob – I agree with you that EVERYONE plays a part – in healthcare that means from Chief Executive up the ladder to the floor cleaner in healthcare. I’ve worked with over 2000 front line workers in healthcare the last year or so in our various workshops and team building sessions and my experience is like yours. I never have to push people to sign up to the Gandhi mission statement. I show that quote as a PowerPoint slide in most of my workshops and I have yet to meet one single person who challenges the words. They key is to make sure people live by the statement and that is about leadership setting the tone. In healthcare it takes strong leadership to tell the government to go and take a run and jump. This is probably what Stafford Hospital leaders should have done if they were chasing number targets at the expense of quality. The pursuit of government targets is not what high quality healthcare is about. As my best mate (a GP) says ‘We are in danger of hitting but missing the point”

The value of values – I like that Rob – I will pinch it and use it!

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 22, 2009 9:50 AM

Trevor, after a lifetime of seeing and participating in "the-Monday-after-the-workshop-before" backsliding, I have to ask: do you also go back six months later and check just what practical steps people have taken to make the Gandhi mission statement a reality? My point is not to take issue with the meaning of the words, but to highlight that crucial gap between intention and action. As you say, this is the key, and it's more than a matter of tone; it must have a firm bias towards action and achievement. To me, this is where leaders and managers too often drop the ball, and the result is "motherhood and apple pie" words and no change whatever in reality.

All the above pinchable and usable at my usual rate...

Posted by RobCH at March 22, 2009 10:12 AM

Apologies Rob - that should have read

‘We are in danger of hitting the target but missing the point”

Forgive me - after all it is Sunday :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 22, 2009 10:13 AM

Sunday's the first day of the working week where I am!

Posted by RobCH at March 22, 2009 10:16 AM

I'm with you Rob about implementation. I've witnessed the same sickness you mention throughout my career. ("the-Monday-after-the-workshop-before" backsliding)

In our workshops we must rely on managers in the organisation to ‘realise’ the enthusiasm they have within and among their people and make things happen inside the organisation. As a trainer/coach I am an 'outsider' hoping to make an impression and provide some impetus. I've always believed the solutions to every problem lie within the organisation. Hey what a great way to spend Sunday afternoon – and can I say your fees are very reasonable Rob :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 22, 2009 10:25 AM

My week has no beginning and no end :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 22, 2009 10:26 AM

Sad lot, aren't we? :-)

Posted by RobCH at March 22, 2009 10:29 AM

Indeed but Villa stuffing Liverpool at 4pm awaits on Sky Sports .... he says hopefully!

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 22, 2009 10:39 AM

I'm not saying anything... I'll wait for Richard to comment.

Posted by RobCH at March 23, 2009 12:43 AM

Hi Rob - your mention of the word ‘values’ really got me thinking and I came across this today via the Reverend Nicky Gumbel – one of my mentors and a truly brilliant speaker.

‘The Good Childhood Inquiry’ was published last month by an independent panel commissioned by the Children's Society. The extract below says it all about values and maybe tells us a lot about why we have ended up with the greed that has contributed to the world financial crisis we now face.

“The aggressive pursuit of personal success by adults is now the greatest threat to British children. According to the panel, "excessive individualism" is to blame for many of the problems children face and needs to be replaced by a value system where people seek satisfaction more from helping others rather than pursuing private advantage.”

I agree 100% with that conclusion. The question has to be; what values are we – as role models - teaching our kids?

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 23, 2009 6:14 PM

Trevor, yes, I had seen that study, and it has a lot of good stuff in it. The "excessive individualism" referred to is of course largely on the part of parents, who often appear to put themselves above the interests of their children. Who then in turn apply the same values in their own world.

For me, in a non-profit world where people's motivations, and the bottom line, are defined first and foremost in non-financial terms (that's not to say we don't think about money; we do - a lot) embedded shared values are absolutely key to organisational health and sustainability. If anyone is saying "it's just a job" then we've lost the plot. As TP says: Soft is Hard.

Posted by RobCH at March 24, 2009 1:28 AM