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| Humor at Work |
ISSUE 422 - FEB 1, 2012 |
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Inspiring Leaders Can Learn to Laugh at Themselves
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I sat down last week with Paul
Spiegelman, the founder and CEO of Beryl and the author of "Why is
Everyone Smiling?"at Beryl's headquarters in Bedford, Texas. Paul
Spiegelman is a truly inspiring leader, someone who has nurtured one of
the top workplaces in the world. Beryl is known for its family-friendly,
employee-centric workplace culture. Their focus on culture, on taking
care of
employees in need, and on creating a fun workplace has reduced their
employee
turnover rate to around 15% (compared to the average annual employee
turnover rate
in the call center industry of 80%). And they're phenomenally successful
to
boot, which Spiegelman credits largely to the Beryl culture. In fact,
Spiegelman goes so far as to suggest that employee engagement is the
leading indicator of future business success.
Beryl's CEO is unapologetic and
passionate about asking employees to have a positive attitude. And he knows
that to maintain a great culture, adding fun can't be viewed as "the
flavor of the month." Although no one is ever forced to
participate in fun events at Beryl, a key principle is that everyone must be given the opportunity to participate.
For the sake of injecting fun into
the workplace, Spiegelman has dressed up as a matador, roller-bladed in an
outlandish disco costume, been dunked in dunk tanks and has starred in some
very wacky videos. But here's a crucial point in this success story: Paul
Speigelman is not naturally funny or even very outgoing. He's very humble
and he's an introvert. So his inspiring leadership isn't personality dependent. The
culture isn't driven by the force of his charisma. Yet, he has learned over the
years to laugh at himself and to take himself out of his comfort zone to help
engage employees. And most importantly perhaps, despite the fact that he himself
is not a naturally gregarious or funny person, he recognizes the need to
build a fun culture, and has championed others in the organization to
help fuel their amazing culture. |
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Mike's Fun at Work Tip |
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Real leaders don't cover up their bloopers, in fact, in the case of Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall, they
post their bloopers on You Tube for the whole world to see (Brad Wall election campaign bloopers).
Any chance you have to celebrate
your bloopers at work, take advantage of it. Now, they won't always be caught
on tape (thankfully) but sharing your bloopers at work is a powerful way to
encourage people to remain humble and human, to laugh at themselves, and to
learn from each others' missteps. So start a blooper board in your office, have
a blooper-break in your staff meetings, celebrate your bloopers at the end of
each month, and if you are creating any workplace videos, for goodness sakes
keep the blooper outtakes! |
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Quote of the Week |
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"Once you get people laughing,
they're listening and you can tell them almost anything!" Herbert
Gardner |
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It's a Wacky World |
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It's the start of a leap February,
which naturally makes me want to leap! February also happens to be: Adopt
a Rescued Rabbit Month, Avocado Month, Banana Month, International Expect
Success Month, Laugh-Friendly Month, Plant the Seeds of Greatness Month, Pull
Your Sofa Off the Wall Month, Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month,
and my personal favorite, Spunky Old
Broads Month!
Today, is in fact, Spunky Old Broads
DAY and, forget about casual Fridays folks, today is Work Naked Day! (I'm
so glad I'm alone in the office all day today). Tomorrow is Marmot Day,
Hedgehog Day, and of course, Groundhog Day, where workers everywhere will pop
out of their cubicles in search of their boss's shadow. | |
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Laughing Your Way to the Top
Humor at Work TV
Check out my interview with humorist Tim Gard, who shares a few suggestions on finding the funny in life: Humor at Work TV
Fun at Work Ideas?
Do you have an idea you'd be willing to share about how you
add more fun to your workplace? We'd love to hear from you. Drop us a
line at mike@mikekerr.com
Inspiring Savings!
Bring Mike in to speak and save! We have cost-saving opportunities this spring in the following locations:
- Montreal, Quebec (May - June)
- Penticton, B.C. (April - June)
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Copyright © 2012 Humor at Work. All Rights Reserved.
mike@mikekerr.com
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