Page 69 - Becoming a Successful Manager

60 ESTABLISHING A SOLID DEPARTMENTAL FOUNDATION

What she had chosen for the assignment was to teach her fel-
low students how to prepare an effective résumé. I asked, “Do you
consider the skills you want to impart to the students important
and valuable?”
“Yes, of course,” she said.
“Then, this is what I want you to tell yourself a couple of
days before your presentation: ‘I am about to give this class a

gift—one from which they will benefit. They will be better off for
receiving this gift, and they will thank me for giving it to them. I
am glad that I have the opportunity to share my knowledge with
them.’”
An hour before her presentation, Marla came into my offi ce to
tell me how excited she was about the impending training session.
“I really believe I’m about to give the class a gift they will cherish,
and I’m looking forward to it. I wanted to come by to thank you,”
she said.
Marla’s presentation was well received. She was poised, con-
fi dent, and organized. She focused on the information she was
giving her students rather than on how they might receive her.
Her actual performance, thus, was a clear example of a positive
self-fulfi lling prophecy.
The power of what people tell themselves is evident in another
case, this one involving the customer service department of a for-
mer client, a medium-size manufacturing fi rm in the Midwest.
According to this client’s vice president of operations, the
company’s customer service department was the object of fre-
quent complaints. Specifi cally, people said they were treated
rudely by customer service representatives, were left on hold for
what seemed to be forever, were disconnected while waiting to be
helped, and were not given the help they hoped to receive. These
complaints, which were not offset by compliments, went on for
about a year and were accompanied by a steady decline in sales.