My adventure here in the Colorado Rocky Mountains reached a new high (haha – pun not intended), this past weekend. I got to witness my sleepy village, we can’t actually call it a town, open for the summer season. It was so exciting to see people walking around, restaurants open, activities to do outside my door, that I was literally nerding out with glee.
I have been here almost two months, during which I had to go to the town 15 minutes away to grab a bite to eat and to get coffee in the morning. This city girl was probably the happiest person for a 10 mile radius.
But my excitement and energy wasn’t matched by the people getting back to work. You’d think that after having a two-month break that they’d be thrilled to earn money, be in a beautiful place to work, and enjoy the excitement and energy around them. That’s what I thought – and I was so very wrong.
People were annoyed to be working again. Eyes were rolling at alarming rates. Inefficiency was at an all-time high; service was marginal at best; and there were only a few hellos throughout the day.
And all I could keep thinking is, “If I were your boss, we’d be having some words.” Not because I’d want to fire them or because they were bad workers. But they weren’t starting off with a bang. Their energy was low. They weren’t giving the appearance of going above and beyond. They weren’t making their new customers feel welcome, converting repeat customers. As a team, they weren’t gelling yet.
Starting – BIG
When you start a new job, things aren’t going to be perfect – far from it, if we’re being honest. You are probably going to want to roll your eyes at the way your boss talks to you, or the way certain things are done, or perhaps the people you have to interact with. But the first impression you give, will make a big difference.
This weekend, I probably interacted with more human beings than the previous three months combined. I wanted to do everything. I *may* have been up a mountain, jumped on a bungee-cord trampoline, went to a river, shopped for some goodies, ate a few restaurants. In other words, the village had a lot of opportunities to “impress” me.
And they failed. My guests were nonplussed most of the time with the service, and even crossed an old favorite restaurant off their list with a “we’ll never be back.” The food was the fine, but the service was atrocious.
Opening energy doesn’t just come with the start of new role. It comes with the start of a new month, a new week, and a new day. Before you walk into work in the morning, check your energy – are you present, are you giving your best-self forward, are you “impressing” your clients, so they want to come back?
