8-25-10 Trust in the Service Industry

Every time we get our hair cut, we place our trust in the person with the shears. I never realized just how much trust is involved until recently.

Unfortunately, my good friend and hair stylist passed away earlier this summer. He and I had been together for well over 25 years. I realize now that he had me more than a little spoiled.

Finding a new person is no easy task. Then you have to decide what information to share -- toeing the line between dictatorial and allowing some creative license. And then of course, you have to decide when it isn’t going to work out. Only to have to start the danged process all over again.

On my first attempt to find a new person, I stayed too long and perhaps allowed too much creative license. And now have the irritating hairstyle to prove it.

The same is true of the new executive. You will be working with all sorts of service personnel in the early days of your promotion (and throughout your career). Today it will likely be your assistant. The next day it might be a graphic artist. Another day it might be a technical writer. Service personnel will be all around you. You probably won’t even have to seek them out -- they will find you.

You do have to speak up with your wants and needs. But you also have to allow the service person you are working with do their job. You can’t hamstring them with unreasonable or seemingly random dictates. Remember the delicate balance between your absolute needs and their creative abilities.

And you may find that there isn’t a good fit between you and the service person. It will be up to you to do two things. First of all, you will have to initiate the conversation about the disconnect. And second, you will have to work with the service person to come up with a way forward that works for both of you. And of course, in the extreme, you might have to replace him/her.

So give some thought to the service industries that are all around you. How are your interactions? And how can you make things better?

Cheers!