What if your team had a culture of where they can bring energy, passion, and a positive attitude to the job every day? Imagine an environment in which people are truly engaged to their work, to their colleagues, and to their customers.
Recently, I was chatting with someone who came back from such experience. He visited the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle. They are known for their crew of fishmongers throwing fish and having fun with customers. In addition, their team is having fun too by creating an enthusiastic, energetic environment with everyone flourishing with joy!
After all, isn’t what you want as a leader for your team and your customers? Turns out the fish flingers at Pike Market Place are real leaders! How? They have stumbled upon some “secrets recipes” that big companies spend millions on.
In fact, there are now several seminars, training videos, and even a best-selling book endorsed by some of the world’s top business and leadership speakers and authors — all aimed at spreading this “fish philosophy” to other companies.
So can leaders learn from the Pike Place Fish Market? You can learn a lot from a bunch of fishy guys in Seattle! People aren’t just having fun, they are buying fish.
Their culture philosophy is shared in the best-seller called, Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results. I wanted to share those with you as we all want to improve both employees and customer engagement as a fun experience right?
Choose Your Attitude: As a leader, your bring your attitude to work every day. Your attitude can be very infectious. Good or bad right? We always have a choice about the way we do our work. Make it a good one because the attitude you choose even in the most challenging moments can set the tone for your team and customer’s success.
Play: We put our energy into what we enjoy, and finding ways to “play” can lead to greater productivity and results. Play is NOT about acting irresponsibly. In the fun workplace, it is about finding ways to have more fun accomplishing serious goals and customer loyalty.
Create great memories. The playful way we do our work allows us to find creative ways to engage our customers. Find ways to respectfully include them in the fun.
Be Present: How many times have you been kept waiting at a store for someone to attend to you, while the employee finished his phone call or conversation with another person? Being present for your customers says it all. Be alert. Pay attention to their needs.
Focus on the customer and be tuned in to opportunities to help people. This helps in your personal life too!
Make their day: As leaders, we create memories for people. Memorable moments are achieved as a result of going out of your way to do something special for your team and customers every day. When you ‘make someone’s day’ (or even moment) through acts kindness or delights engagement, you can turn even routine situations into magical moments.
Few things are as rewarding and infectious as lifting another person’s energy, and the act of serving others quickly returns a feeling of fulfillment.
Lead to Serve 