Coaching to Change

The Worst Case Scenario

By: Jen Kuhn

I recently had the opportunity to baby-sit my 2 and a half year old niece named Sophia.  She would be staying at my house for four days.  Four days.  Now, she is incredibly cute, brilliant and easy going.  (Hey, kinda like me.  Or not!).  So, the four days were not as daunting as one might imagine.

While deciding upon activities to entertain a 2 year old, it can be challenging when you haven’t been one for a while.  Fortunately, we just happen to enjoy similar forms of entertainment.  Although I do find some of her favorite TV shows lack depth and character development.

The first evening she could not sleep.  Anyone that has ever been around a sleepless toddler knows that one quickly becomes a sleepless adult.  The first official morning I pleaded with her to consider sleeping just “a few more minutes”.  Somehow, with the sun glaring through the blinds, she got it into her cute little head that we couldn’t sleep longer because it was “awake time”.  Imagine that…”awake time”.  You might think that sounds especially sweet coming from this little person, but let me clear that up for you…it nearly reduced me to tears.  So begins day two.

In the afternoon, we were playing with sidewalk chalk, and various other backyard activities.  As it approached evening I noticed a rash on Sophia’s neck.  At first I thought she must just be warm.  Later, it was obviously more than being over-heated.  I decided to take her to the doctor, as she was also not really eating much.  This ended up turning into a pediatric emergency room visit!  When we first arrived, the nurse handed me a stack of forms as if I were getting a home equity loan.  She pointed out that I had to sign on the bottom of each page where it said, “Legal Guardian”.  Oh.  Define “legal”.  I told her I was simply the cool aunt.  She didn’t even smile.  She said that I would have to have my sister call and verify that I could make medical decisions for Sophia.  I’m thinking I had a hard enough time deciding what to wear this morning, let’s not add “make medical decisions for another human being” onto my to do list.  But all in all, I figured how hard can this be?  I called my sister and listened to her voicemail message.  OK.  Don’t panic.  Leave a calm message; wait for her to call back.  While waiting, Sophia asked when we would get to see the doctor.  I wanted to yell, “Don’t pressure me!”  But instead I stated that we would have to wait our turn.  Little did I know that my sister was in a place with no cell phone reception.  Evidently, her happy place.  I left a few more messages.  Then did the natural thing: I called our mom to tell on her.  Seriously.  I’m that mature.

While talking to my mom, she figured Emily (my sister, and Sophia’s mom) must be playing tennis or working out. After an hour of waiting and watching other little kids get to see the doctor, Sophia looks at me and shouts, “I thought we were taking turns!”  All heads swivel our way.  Hee hee.  Cute kid.  She may as well have asked me why the sky was blue.  Do I say, “Well you see sweetie, technically that’s how it should work.  We were here before all of these other kids, and your rash is spreading and looking worse.  But RED tape prevents the logical sequence of events to occur.  You know the color red?  Your talking moose TV show calls it, “Rojo”.  Can you say “Rojo”?  Good.”

After continuing to call my mom and remind her of all the short comings of one of my sisters, not to mention how this should officially make me “the favorite”, we came up with the idea that she should call the emergency room and pretend to be my sister.  Genius I tell ya’.  I must be more criminally inclined than my mom because it seemed relatively simple to me.  I was also on hour two in the waiting room, so there was really no decision to make here.  But my mom hesitated.  This made me hesitate.  Until I look up and see Sophia (remember her? Cute, brilliant and easy going?) snatch a toy from some sickly baby.  I now understand how those supermarket parents suddenly snap.  I joined their ranks.  I say to Sophia through gritted teeth, as her rash has now spread to her chin up to her forehead, “Hey, remember to share.  Show me how you can share.”  She must have been thinking, “Oh silly, silly Aunt Jenny.  You’re lucky I don’t whack this baby over the head with Elmo right now.  Please don’t expect me to share.”  At this point, I say to my mom, “Just do it!  It’s no big deal.  But make sure you sound younger…say “like, you know” a lot.  Oh, and sound frantic, but not crazy.  If they ask a question you don’t know the answer to, fake a seizure.”

After a total of 3 hours in the waiting room, and one possible felony phone call, I hear a nurse call out from a distance, “Sophia.”  You’ve never seen me move so fast.  Once the examination starts, I calm down and go through the regular routine of being at a doctor’s office.  More waiting.  The doctor gives her diagnosis, treats her and tells me the medicine I have to buy.  During this time, my sister has called them, and I’m certain they are starting to catch onto our little scam.  But they seem fine with it.  Phew.  They are waiting for the results of one more test before they can let us leave.  The doctor returns and begins talking to me while writing out the instructions.  Pretty routine stuff.  Until she gets to the end and casually adds, “You’ll also want to keep an eye out for swelling of the lips or eye lids, or if she stops breathing.”  Sure.  OK.  Clearly you don’t understand; I am just the aunt.  The cool aunt.  The baby-sitter for the love of God!  I am not equipped for handling a “stops breathing” scenario!  She calms me down by saying that it’s important she share with me any “worst case scenarios” so I can be better prepared to handle it.  Once again, can you say, “Baby-sitter”?

In the end, I realized she was right.  By sharing the worst case scenario I understood the seriousness of the situation and also would have a strategy in place to address anything that might occur.  It’s like anything else, the more you know, the better you can prepare.

Sophia ended up being fine, and even slept through the night!  The next morning she awoke in a fantastic mood, and I was ready for “awake time”.  And being the cool aunt (actually I’m competing with my other sister Amy for this role); we went to the toy store and picked out a tricycle and an easel and some books and some markers, etc.  Hey Amy, I’m winning!

I relate this experience to how some people react to the introduction of change at their company.  First, one thinks that it’s just too much to ask.  (Remember, four days?).  Then, once put into perspective and given a few tools, they start to actually experience some success.  (Ahh, the joys of sidewalk chalk).  But suddenly, accountability rears its ugly head like a spreading rash!  Stick with me here.  Employees and coaches alike begin to panic.  They may even become surprised that your company is serious about creating extraordinary service experiences for customers.  They are doing the same thing they did for years, but now it’s unacceptable, or someone expects more from them.  It’s like a red tape nightmare!  I have to do my job AND have a positive attitude?!  Are you kidding me?  Why?  What difference does it make?  I’m too valuable.  You can’t tell me what to do.  I’m telling mom!  Oh, that’s me.

Anyhow, you get the point.  In the end, the worst case scenario of introducing an extraordinary service culture to your company is that some employees may choose to leave the company.  Either willingly or with a police escort and a big cardboard box.  If you walk into the culture knowing this information, it will be easier for you to prepare for it, and develop a strategy for dealing with employees who choose not to meet the standards, expectations and goals of the company.  It’s not good, it’s not bad; it’s just reality and choices.  With this information, you are better able to confidently hold people accountable and follow through with the behaviors that will make the company and your employees reach their fullest potential.  For most employees, the worst case scenario never occurs.  They rise to the occasion; they improve and enhance their professional skills and ultimately they provide a consistently extraordinary service to customers and co-workers.  Wow.

If I had looked at Sophia’s rash and done nothing, I could pretty much guarantee the outcome.  By stepping up to the plate, despite my panic and self-doubt, I fulfilled the role that would be in her best interests.  It caused a great deal of discomfort, and all I could do was move forward one step at a time.  I called upon my resources (mom!).  I even experienced extreme discomfort and outright panic for a moment, but again, listened to the reasoning of truly understanding what to expect.

So, if you are reading this and you are a coach, I want to remind you of the incredible responsibility you have been given in helping to enhance the service culture of your company. I encourage you to avoid excusing poor performance in one area for great performance in another.  This not only is a disservice to your company and customers, it’s an insult to the employee.  It conveys the message that you do not think they have the ability to meet all the standards and expectations; therefore you will not hold them accountable for all of them.  Holding people accountable, including oneself can cause a great deal of discomfort.  There is no way of avoiding it.  Yet, it is worth it when you see an employee improve!  And if the employee chooses to leave, well, that’s the worst case scenario.  At least no one stopped breathing!

As you go about your day, take some time to consider the effective coaching behaviors that will improve employee performance.  Then, despite the discomfort, put your coaching efforts into following through with those effective coaching behaviors.  If nothing else, remind yourself that your company has made a significant investment in time and money to ensure a successful extraordinary service culture.  It’s part of your role as a coach to do all you can to ensure this success.  And if you don’t, remember, I’ll tell mom on you.

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