From Good to Great: Why Valued Teams Deliver Exceptional Client Experiences.

When my partner and I were first married, we had an incredible experience at a restaurant one evening.

I must digress here and explain that I'm Generation X. We married in the early 1990s when the mortgage interest rate was around 20%. It was a time of capped home loans, and wages did not keep pace with the cost of living. During the first week of our honeymoon (which my mother-in-law had paid for because we had run out of money), we had 95 Australian dollars in the bank until we were both paid the following day. Good times 😉

We stayed in a charming bed and breakfast and asked our host where we could go for dinner; although we were cash-strapped, we could max out the credit card on a special night out.

This delightful human drove to a glorious restaurant, where the staff took exceptional care of us. We had the most beautiful meal, outstanding wine, and a very, very special treat.

Let's head forward 24 years, to our wedding anniversary, when we decided to return to that same city and book into that same restaurant—just for fun and to see what the experience would be like when we were not financially challenged!

When we booked, we told the restaurant team our plan—that we would return on the same date we had been there 24 years earlier as newlyweds.

When we arrived, we checked in, gave the maître d’ our coats, and went to our table.

We didn't know that the team had worded up the other guests. So when we walked in, we got a standing ovation and a round of applause. People came and said, Happy Anniversary to us.

I don't remember the food. I don't remember the wine we ordered. What I do recall, as clearly as if it were yesterday, was that we were treated to that wonderful experience.

This restaurant was no Eleven Madison Park, and it wasn't Will Guidara who greeted us—but it might as well have been—and it had the same impact. The team created an amazing memory for us, and we felt so valued, seen, and heard.

I am sharing this with you in this Letter to Leaders because it strikes me that exceptional organisational leadership is much like extraordinary hospitality experiences.

When your team feels seen, heard, valued, and included, they create the same for your customers, clients and stakeholders.

When they don't, you, as the leader, feel the impact of the pain that it creates.

I'm currently working with two teams in different organisations to help their leaders define the impact they want to have in their communities and how it will look and feel if they create exceptional experiences for their clients.

These two teams already do great work and want to take it to the next level. Levelling up their leadership so their influence can be more expansive.

This fortnight, I'd love you to consider what this might be like in your team – and to recall significant experiences you have had where you will never forget how truly special you were made to feel.

Get in touch with that – and see if you can spread the love.

As always, if you'd like to discuss how I can help, you are welcome to contact me.