Best Business Apology I've Ever Received

I had a few problems recently with my mortgage refinance. See, I began the process after the sub prime mortgage meltdown. By the time my application was begun, banks had started to look at all applicants pretty much like criminals. They required a bazillion more times the evidence of income, net worth, liabilities, and blood type than before. Jumping through hoops is not one of my favorite things anyway, particularly when someone tells me "that's the last one," and there is then presented one more, and another, and one more. You get the picture.

Then there were a few errors made my my broker, who happens to be a client and a friend. He'd missed some important information and that, too, contributed to the delays and collective frustration.

Eventually, I shared the business and personal impacts of my experience with my client and friend. He was really surprised about it all, which got me to thinking, How often are we really unaware of what is going on with the people right in our midsts, even as we are supposedly serving them really well? Employees, coworkers, bosses, friends, family, clients, prospects? It seems to me we very often really don't know what's going on with them. That we should and how to do more to know is a bigger subject than I want to tackle here. This post is more to be a big ol' BRAVO to my friend and client.

His apology letter was more than "good;" it really moved me. And, I believed that he had understood me, had really felt and gotten what I had told him about my experience. I found this letter to demonstrate empathy, contrition without feigning to self-flagellate, warmth without being syrupy, and determination to learn from his mistakes without over-promising. And so, here is his apology letter:

Dear David,

I wanted to send this letter in regards to our last meeting. I am so sorry for how everything turned out and how oblivious I was to what you went (are going) through. I realize there were some things I should have done differently and some things that were out of my control. But, the underlying fact is that I could have better prepared you and been more involved in what you were going through.

I also apologize for my cavalier attitude in the weeks after, but I really didn't know the extent of what you experienced. In all honesty, I'm glad this happened to you (if it was going to happen to anyone) as it may have never been brought to my attention had it been another client.

I hope you take this as a sincere apology as this isn't a letter to my coach or mentor, it's a letter to my friend. I felt sick to my stomach after our talk last week to think that I gave a friend that level of service and never thought to do my due diligence. I realize I have a lot to change in my process and approach and hope you will help me open my eyes to what needs to be done and accounted for.

Like I said, I was moved. Now we go forward with a stronger relationship, which is the whole point, isn't it?

Change Requires Conversation

A few weeks ago syndicated radio host Don Imus was fired for making degrading remarks about the Rutgers University women's basketball team. By almost any standard other than his own maybe, his remarks were regarded as racist. So, after a short brouhaha played out in the media, Imus was fired. MSNBC dropped his program from television and CBS fired him from their network. Not long after I asked readers in this blog why they thought he was fired.

At the time this was national news. Why? I thought at the time that something shifted in the nation's consciousness--that flagrantly racist ideas spouted by media figures are not acceptable. I wonder if anything has changed though.

Critics of both CBS and MSNBC said others with a public pulpit had long been denigrating blacks, with more or less finesse than Imus used. Why, they asked, was it okay for comedians and rappers to make overtly racist remarks and not for Imus?

The president of CBS said that "there has been much discussion about the effects language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society. It is important we stand with the women of Rutgers who [were] deeply hurt by the highly insensitive comments of Don Imus." On television he said he did not think racist commentary was the kind of conversation his organization should be having with radio listeners.

That idea struck me. In that sentence is the sentiment (and professional judgment) that there is a conversation we ought to be having.For a short while after Imus was fired we were talking about race and degradation and what we should reasonably expect from a radio shock-jock.

And then a horrifying event happened at Virginia Tech and Imus was off the national conversation stage.If it weren't Virginia Tech, almost surely it would have been another more immediate story. And that is a shame, because change requires conversation. The bigger the issue the more conversation it takes. But, when we move on to the next story or issue or pressing "to-do" item on our list, horrible or happy as it is, we shortcut the process of engaging in deep-enough conversation - the kind that can help change us for the better, permanently. We run the risk of staying at the level of the headline and not diving into the deeper questions that confront us.

Keep that in mind. If you find that you fly from one hot, pressing, this-instant issue to another, you are very likely not diving deep enough into the core issues that are really important. I wonder if, as a nation of news consumers - and neighbors to one another - we have done just that.

David Facer helps executives achieve a positive change in behavior for themselves, their people and their organizations. He works with both first-time managers and seasoned executives.

Leaders Should Watch Planet Earth

For weeks I have anticipated the premier of a new program on Discover Channel: Planet Earth. Filmed in high definition (HD), the program explores all the usual facets of the natural world: deserts, mountains, the African plains animals, plants, rainforests, and life and death.

But, that is half the story and a smaller part of why this show pertains to business.

A BIG part of a leader's responsibility is to help people see important issues in new ways and craft solutions that are novel and, therefore, valuable. Every truly innovative product is birthed out of a new way of looking at a problem, desire or need.

The iPod is a classic example. On the surface it is merely a disc- or memory-chip based Sony Walkman and so is only an advance over playback of tape recordings. But, the bigger innovation was in the way Apple made music available - the legal digital download. That innovation in tandem with the physical device has created irreversible shifts in more than just the personal entertainment device business; it has changed the entertainment retail and content business models.

Back to Planet Earth...

By way of a revolutionary camera that stabilizes images shot from a helicopter, HD technology and Discovery Channel's legendary skill in filming wildlife, Planet Earth shows us scenes and perspectives never before seen. It allows us to get new perspectives on age-old processes. THAT is what is so valuable about the show for leaders.

I hope when you watch you won't let yourself be totally distracted by the quality of the picture, though HD is amazing. Watch the angles of the shots. Notice how for the very first time we are shown the way a pack of hyenas orchestrate their hunting strategy. Take a look at what elephants DO in a water hole. They play! Watch the strategy a seal uses to avoid capture by a great white shark. It uses its skill for sharp, darting turns to its advantage, rather like a Mini Cooper would attempt to escape a tractor-trailer.

I swear, this program will have you gasping in amazement at how the natural world works. Personally, it had me simultaneously thinking about strategy, teamwork, individual expertise, tenderness, succession planning, persistence, handling adversity, and the inevitability of failure - and the purposes it serves.

OOOHs and AAAHs
Leaders are responsible for more than hitting revenue and profit targets. They are responsible for helping the people in their organizations think and act in fresh, new and value-creating ways. When they do that, revenue and profit are reasonably-expected outcomes. I hope Planet Earth makes you think about that all the while you OOOH and AAAH.