Sunday Mālama: Newly Thinking About Loyalty

On his site The StartupGarden, my friend Tom Ehrenfeld points us to this quote by singer/songwriter (and entrepreneur) Sufjan Stevens:

I consider myself part of the New Populist Approach, in which artists no longer rely on the “star-stoking machinery” of the music industry, and instead focus on more sustainable means motivated by modesty, autonomy, community, loyalty (and other benign abstractions).
~ Sufjan Stevens, writing a track review for Free Man in Paris by Joni Mitchell

Tom had written, “[Stevens] makes a nice distinction between building a fan base (and a business) through modest, ground-up methods, rather than the top-down, high-risk, Big Business approach.” Tom refers to Stevens’ business Asthmatic Kitty as “an inkling of how many new ventures in the post-web-2.0 world can emerge” and opens my thinking to another discussion on entrepreneurship that may happen on another day (or you can join Tom for it now), but for other reasons, what struck a chord with me was the notion of loyalty as a “benign abstraction.”

Benign:

1. Of a kind and gentle disposition.
2. Showing gentleness and mildness. See synonyms for kind.
3. Tending to exert a beneficial influence. See synonyms for favorable.

Abstraction:

abstract thinking  n.

Thinking characterized by the ability to use concepts and to make and understand generalizations, such as of the properties or pattern shared by a variety of specific items or events.

Hmm. In recent months, loyalty has come to mind most often for me quite differently.

• First, (and most often within our SLC coaching business landscape) in regard to generational workplace demographics, with many of the boomer and older generations feeling that company and employer loyalty is a value near extinction in generations x and y.
• Second, in regard to how our loyalty can be a more honorable front for what we really should reckon with as laziness or frustrated resignation.

I tend to make quick work of the first generational discussion for two reasons:

a) I immediately break it down into a discussion about the company at hand - the entire generation x or y stereotype is too big a generalization to deal with, and I prefer to go hunting for more positive, specific actions.

b) I think it is a futile effort to whine, bemoan, or lament values you might feel other people do not have. It is far better to concentrate on working in alignment with those they do have, for those are the ones that actually drive their behavior (with and without you.)

As for the second one, I have realized I am guilty as charged recently, and I am trying my best to rise out of my loyalty as a “more honorable front for what I really should reckon with,” discovering that my own so-called loyalty isn’t doing me much good.

I have been purging my automatic pilot with some long-time suppliers who I feel have taken my business loyalty for granted: They are losing my accounts if they don’t work to keep me. Recently I have decided that my own laziness or frustrated resignation in dealing with them is no longer going to fund their mediocrity with customer service in my benign way!

Believe it or not, this is what a business account executive wrote to me in an email this past week. It is verbatim except for the [brackets] I inserted. I am X-ing out his company name because I believe there are far too many companies whose employees are not business partners, and thus are not great ambassadors for them, not just this one. If you are afraid this might be you, go find out and do something about it!

I had asked this account executive (I cringe using that title for him) what his goals were with my account, and he responded,

Basically, I am your liaison with [Company X] for most things.  Most customers don't like calling in to Honolulu and waiting for a representative, etc.  I have collected billing issues from a few other businesses over the last 7 months.  I just like to make it clear that I am submitting the issue(s) to a department that is actually taking care of the matter.  Setting expectations, in the beginning, helps everyone understand what our role is.  Essentially, as Business Account Executives, we are in the field to drive new business - that is our primary function.  As with anything, you can't expect to be 100% sales driven, there is relationship building that goes hand in hand with the sales process.  We help out in other ways that we can, even if it's outside the scope of our primary function, but we have to set the expectation level ... That's a service related item [the subject of our email conversation], and I am on the sales side so, again, I'm addressing what I have control or influence over.

Well, he clearly set the expectation level with me that I should not expect much from him unless I were to give him new, additional sales-quota counting business, didn’t he. So much for my loyalty with that company ... almost thirty-five years worth ... I wonder how much I have funded for them in those thirty-five years of monthly payments...

The decision I subsequently made?

1. This gentleman needs some coaching. I tried to give him some, and I then I contacted his supervisor with a free SLC Managing with Aloha coaching session worth of suggestions.
2. If my service issue is not resolved as I expect it to be, this company is history with me.

This is a very real, close-to-home example why I say we must treat, train, and coach everyone in our companies as business partners: Every employee a Business Partner? Yep.

Loyalty:

1. The state or quality of being loyal. (Definition: faithfulness, dependability.) See synonyms for fidelity.
2. A feeling or attitude of devoted attachment.
3. The condition of being closely tied to another by affection or faith.

Perhaps loyalty is nearing extinction as a popular value of our era because those who give it get little reward or return from it. Even values seek a pay off of some kind, and devotion, faith and affection is a lot to give.

I know that I will continue to be loyal. However I will no longer be lazily compliant, accept mediocrity, and look the other way in frustrated resignation.

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Postscript: If this is your first visit to Managing with Aloha Coaching, you can read of our intention with Sunday Mālama here: Sunday Mālama: A Beginning. A trackback there will easily help you return here.