Don't let setbacks get in your way...

At the Mirage, we pioneered the concept of hire for attitude. Back then, my simplistic idea was to screen for people who didn’t mind being interrupted, something that happens often to service employees. Meaning they should be flexible, open, and resilient. We factored that into our hiring decisions and everyone we hired generally had the technical skills for the job AND had the right attitudes for success. Back then, that was an innovative idea. Years later when I partnered with a clinical psychologist in a consulting practice, he showed me how the attitudes I was seeking back then equated to people with optimism and grit ... people who don’t believe that failure is permanent and see it for what it is, a temporary challenge and learning opportunity. They roll with the punches and see the glass as half full. Companies should decide the basic attitude and qualities they want in employees and screen applicants for them, and then only refer candidates with those qualities to the hiring managers. Those managers can then assess them for whatever technical skills needed for the job; that way, everyone hired has both the skills wanted and the attitudes needed … that’s a recipe for good hiring. Because when things don’t go as planned, you want employees who see that as an opportunity to make it right today.  

 

Angela Lee Duckworth (born 1970): American psychologist, popular science author, and academic who studies grit and self-control.

Look at things differently...

I love to read, especially mysteries and historical novels. While opening the Mirage, I read The Pillars of the Earth, a historical novel by Ken Follett that tells the story of the building of a cathedral in 12th century England. It was the first time I’d considered the magnitude of such a project and couldn’t help thinking about how that applied to what we were attempting on the Las Vegas strip, and how these sorts of huge projects happen one building block at a time. Like the volcano and siting 3500 palm trees. Like the struggle I was having handling and processing 55,000 applicants and all the attached paperwork. I often tell the story of how we either couldn’t read the handwriting on the applications or misspelled it making labels for the file folders – both contributed to the loss or misfiling of nearly 20% of them. A real nightmare. And therein was the genesis of my early creative dreams of alternate systems that eventually lead to our innovative paperless systems nearly 14 years later. An iterative process that was seemingly one building block at a time. I’m no smarter or stronger than the next guy, but I learned that persistence pays off. So:

·      If you’ve got an idea, hold tight, keep trying and learning, and remember to take it one step at a time. Big or small, that’s how innovations happen.

·      If you’re managing people and they have ideas, create a trusting environment where they’ll tell you and you’ll support them. That too is how innovations happen.

That’s when and how a pile of rocks ceases to be a rock pile because someone sees it as something very different Looktoday.

 

Antoine Saint-Exupéry (1900 – 1944), French writer, poet, journalist, and aviator.

Buckle your seatbelt...

I clearly remember where I was when John Kennedy proclaimed that the US would put a man on the moon and when Neil Armstrong first stepped on the moon. Those two seemingly impossible goals created a sense of wonder, adventure, and challenge beyond our wildest imaginations. And then I read about the innovations that would flow from that effort, the most impactful being the age of computerization, which paved the way for the internet, mobile technology, GPS, apps, and so much more that we didn’t yet fully comprehend. Interestingly, when we started working at the Golden Nugget, the company was opposed to investing in computers, the theory being that we were in the people serving people business. But we quickly learned the benefits that computers brought to our people business. We learned where and how to use them to compliment the business, not come between our employees and our guests (or our employees and their managers). We embedded our computer monitors in the front desk agent’s workstation rather than let it sit between them and the guest checking in and out, wrapped up the cords rather than have them tangle up work areas, and made sure that the number of keystrokes were at a minimum when completing any transactions. Things like that allowed us to use technology while also having smiles, eye contact and human interactions. If innovation is the call of the future, we need to design them in ways that truly benefit our efforts – thinking that through completely is critical to realizing the benefits of any innovative effort. And that’s done best by involving everyone in the ideation and planning phases to capture their perspectives and experiences and reduce their resistance to the changes that then occur. Involve all stakeholders in your innovative journey into the future today.

 

Kofi Atta Annan (1938 – 2018): Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was chairman of The Elders, an international organization founded by Nelson Mandela.

Focus on the possibilities...

When the Mirage opened, it was amazing. But there were some things that weren’t – one was the Payroll/HR system that we designed and built. It failed almost immediately, and we had to shut it off and do manual payroll for 5500 employees for nearly a year; we quickly contracted with Deloitte to install an HR system then known as Infinium. Old legacy design that ran on an even older AS 400 platform – needless to say, I was bummed – I was still dreaming of the possibilities. I complained to anyone who’d listen and that eventually got to the President of Infinium who called to ask what I had in mind. Treasure Island had just opened, and we still couldn’t do the kinds of analyses and modeling that the system’s financial modules enjoyed so I started by describing what HR could do if it had those same capabilities. Turns out nobody had ever suggested creating a data warehouse of HR information and running the same business intelligence (BI) tools that Finance used against that. I didn’t know anything about the technical components behind my request, but I was able to clearly define the possibilities that it could create. Infinium’s developers were surprised and then excited to work on the challenges I laid out. It worked incredibly well and gave us the courage to define the possibilities around my paperless and self-service-ideas. I wasn’t the smartest person in any of those discussions, but the clarity and passion of my vision inspired people to consider it. I suspect there are lots of regular people working on all kinds of things that they think could be improved through creative innovations – all it takes is someone to listen to their ideas with an open mind. The moral of this story: focus on the possibilities and see what new products can be created today. 

 

Anthony Jay “Tony” Robbins (born 1960): American author, coach and speaker.

Understand your own hierarchy of needs...

When I was in high school, I was in the Key Club, a school organization that promoted community involvement and volunteerism. I got involved in Head Start, a program that provided (and still does) comprehensive early childhood education, health, and nutrition services to low-income children and families. That introduced me to what I could be … someone dedicated to helping others. My mother was pointing me towards being a lawyer but that didn’t seem hands-on enough. So, when I started studying HR in college, I knew that was what I must be. Because to be effective at something, it must resonate with you; same with wanting to innovate in a job – you must be passionate about it. And I loved HR – finding the right jobs for people, coaching them, navigating problems, teaching, planning things that exceeded expectations, and developing better ways to meet their needs. You won’t try to over-achieve if you’re not totally into what you’re doing. I’ve said it before (and I ‘ll say it again): the best job for anyone is most often the one they have – the challenge is to make it the one you love. If you love what you do, get fully involved in it and make it all it can be. Starting today.

 

Abraham Maslow (1908 – 1970): American psychologist who created Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization.

 

More about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:    

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

Share your experience through storytelling...

Great companies reinforce their culture using mentors to pass legacy knowledge on to new employees. I’ve been fortunate to have had mentors in all the businesses I’ve worked in – learning from their stories and answers to my questions. It’s a powerful way to build employee knowledge, competencies, and commitment at all levels. History and storytelling are some of the best teachers and should be integrated into recruitment, onboarding, and training programs. Consider interviewing your high performers, current and past, and building a library of videos to use in these programs – that’s also a nice way to recognize those high performers. Let them talk about what they did and why, what they learned along the way, and what they’d like to pass on to others – there will be so many ways you can use that material to promote operational and service excellence. You’ll be sending the message that you value your employees, building pride, supporting a culture of excellence, and spreading your employee brand. Very impactful and cost-effective. Let your best people be your best teachers today.

 

Charles Henry Fowler (1837 – 1908): Canadian American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church who served as the 4th President of Northwestern University from 1872 to 1876.

Never forget how precious life is...

·      I found today’s quote and was preparing to write about how the greatest and best leaders are almost always humble. 

·      But then today’s news got in the way. 

·      So:

 

The Pacific Coast Highway from Oregon to San Diego has always been one of my favorite drives. It and the towns and cities along that route regularly survive earthquakes, mudslides, and forest fires and manage to retain or regain their iconic beauty. The news the past two days suggests that this unique and beautiful area may be facing its greatest challenge. Like many, I know people who’ve lost their homes in this nightmare and my heart goes out to them. When my wife and I lived in Laguna Beach, the specter of those wildfires was never far from our consciousness, but fortunately we were spared. Still, I can’t imagine how horrible an actual event like that can be. But I suspect the victims of this latest conflagration will rise to the challenge, not only rebuilding their homes and lives, but come away with a greater appreciation of the fullness of their lives. Whatever else we have, or lose, pales in comparison to life and the love of those we share it with. Homes can be rebuilt, new memories will be made, and flowers will grow again. Let the greatness of life be a humbling reminder of what’s truly important today.

 

Marguerite Steen (1894 – 1975): British writer, most popular in the 1930s and 1940s. In 1951, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.