Sometimes a paradigm or a philosophy you live your life by isn’t at the forefront of your conscious mind. When I was naming our new monthly E-zine; The Extra MILE became the perfect choice because I realised that it epitomised the effort I try to put into life, most of the time.
When I was younger I raised around £1000 on a charity event I organised. I was fairly pleased with this. A friend of mine asked if they could replicate the event and use my resources. Of course I agreed. When she raised almost £17,000, while delighted for her of course, I asked myself why I hadn’t done as well. The reason? The level of effort, and aspiration my friend had applied, was somewhat missing in my own application. I know I had done ok, but it was a great eye-opener for me. One I was very grateful to my friend for. So today’s article is of course about going the Extra Mile!
I couldn’t resist taking my most topical theme of the whole month and writing about it today! Yes, I am really proud and excited to announce that our monthly E-zine Launches today, and to celebrate I wanted to share with you, the reasons I think it’s imperative to go the extra mile.
Going the extra mile, is a brilliant ambition, not only at work, but in life too. When I was thinking about the title of the E-zine, some brilliant friends in my LinkedIn Group suggested MILE, and various other great titles. Very soon MILE turned into “The Extra MILE”, and it was perfect, because the title resonates so much with what I believe makes life worth living for all of us.
To be honest, for many years I aimed to go the extra mile in terms of customer service, and was extremely successful. Setting a vision and outcomes in a working environment, it was pretty easy to set stretching and challenging objectives, not only to meet customer expectations, but to exceed them.
As I matured as a leader I began to realise that the jewels in my crown were my team and without them I simply wasn’t able to achieve what I wanted. I also realised that I needed to go the extra mile for them also, and sometimes unfortunately the ways I wanted to reward and motivate them weren’t always in my power. But what I could do was encourage, engage and give them as much as I could to help them do their job really well.
I would like to put my hands up and say I have always gone the extra mile for my family, both my children and my siblings. It hasn’t always been the case though. Don’t get me wrong, we are a tight knit family and care about each other a lot. I tend to go the extra mile on birthdays, Christmases and holidays. Family occasions feature highly. But do I go the extra mile all of the time? Probably not, but I am working on it. (Don’t we so often take our nearest and most loved people for granted?)
In my business I am determined to go the extra mile for my connections, customers and clients, and sometimes it can be a challenge to find out what will make people feel that they have received a brilliant service. Years ago, one of my stock answers would be to of course “Ask them”. That’s a good tactic, although we can get stuck in asking the wrong questions.
So for example asking what people want as an outcome is good: Better than trying to tell them what they need for sure. The really effective question though is along the lines of “What would make you believe that you had received the best and most excellent service from my company?”
Short of asking people, the next strategy is to observe. Try different things and see what delights people. Gauge reaction and be innovative. Just seeing how people respond is valuable information!
I believe adopting the philosophy of going the extra mile is a great way of living, and there are for me five main reasons why everyone should consider living their lives by going the extra mile.
Going the Extra Mile:
- Makes you think hard about your contribution and the difference you are making. Our world is a matrix of giving and receiving. By going the extra mile you are bringing a sense of purposefulness into sharp focus.
- Surprises and delights people, and it’s always good to be a positive influence.
- Increases your own energy. Energy breeds energy and the additional effort it takes to go the extra mile, helps you to increase your energy, output and commitment.
- Attracts great energy back to you. What you give out, you get back. It was Newton who said “for every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction”.
- Sets a great benchmark for yourself and others to aspire to.
So go on. I am inviting you to email me and let me know. As a reader of my tweets, articles, blog and E-zine, what can I do for you that would make you believe that you had received the best and most excellent service from me? Please do email me atChristina@peoplediscovery.co.uk. And let me know!
Today we are launching our Brand New Monthly E-zine: The Extra MILE! The first edition is available now! To read, simply visit The Extra MILE
Why not sign up to get your free copy direct to your mail box and when we send you your first issue, we will also send you a copy of our free E-book “Don’t Just Smile – LAUGH” – The 5 Steps to Guarantee You a Happier Life!
Christina has managed people for twenty seven years and led hugely successful teams. She has worked with people at all levels in various organisations to help them achieve their potential, and she has been actively involved in the learning and development field in a number of different roles.
People Discovery is a Leadership Development coaching consultancy, based in North East England, working globally.
By Christina Lattimer
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