What’s Your Value…Followup

On December 21 I wrote a post called…What’s Your Value?  It recounted the exceptional experience I had at the Capital Grille in King of Prussia Pennsylvania.  I think that you should always let people know when they provide exceptional service both as a way to reward them and also to let them know that you do notice and appreciate such service.

So I went to their website and wrote a simple note in the contact us form: “thought you might enjoy reading what I wrote about your restaurant in my blog… www.benariltd.com.” 

Imagine my surprise when the very next morning I received a personal reply from the President of Capital Grille.  It was a nice note thanking me for the email and my blog comments.  He let me know that he was forwarding it to the King of Prussia manager so Regina could be recognized for her exceptional service.

Think about what this says about the culture of Capital Grille.  My note went to a blind contact us box.  Someone read it, looked at the blog, and directed it immediately to the president…who took the time to read it and immediately respond.  These people are serious about providing the highest quality service in all they do…and it starts with Mr Martin, the president.

Am I a customer forever?  You bet.  Am I going to share this story about how wonderful they are whenever I can? Well, you are reading this.

Speaking of how the leader sets the company tone causes me to mention the recent Wall Street Journal article “The Captain and the King” by Peggy Noonan.  In this article she writes about what it means to be a leader and the way in which so many have lost this knowledge.  I was particularly struck by these lines…which so well capture my thinking:

“He was acting as if it was important to him to be seen as one of the guys, with regular standards, like everyone else.

But it’s a great mistake when you are in a leadership position to want to be like everyone else.  Because that, actually, is not your job.  Your job is to be better, and to set standards that those below you have to reach to meet.  And you have to do this even when it’s hard, even when you know you yourself don’t quite meet the standards you represent.

A Captain has to be a Captain.”

The “he” she starts off talking about is former aircraft carrier captain Owen Honors, he of raunchy video fame.

Think about these two stories. Think about how you lead, the culture you create.  Think about what you want people to say about you…and your organization.