Know Thyself

The first cardinal rule of becoming a therapist is Know Thyself.

Therapists-in-training will spend countless hours in the classroom learning fundamental theories of the mind and will spend years under supervised practice learning how to master the art of therapy.

Yet entering in one’s own personal therapy is not even highly encouraged in most graduate school programs.

When sitting with a client for the first time, novice therapists quickly learn the experiential realities of being ”stuck,” and how easy it is for one’s personal issues to muddy the therapeutic waters.

When therapists ask their clients to do the difficult task of going inward and facing the shadows that lurk in their psyches, the question first asked is whether they are willing to embark on this journey themselves?

The question can be applied to many different scenarios:

• Would you become a violin teacher if you first didn’t master the art of violin playing?
• Can you tell others what it’s like to climb Mount Everest when you’ve never done so yourself?
• Can you teach others to practice compassion if you have difficulty practicing it yourself?

You simply can’t. You need to go through the hard work of mastering (or working towards mastery of) a craft before you teach it to the world. You need to wholeheartedly believe in your approach before you attempt to sell it to the masses.

In business, companies pride themselves on selling products that embody higher values like freedom and happiness, yet they turn a blind eye to the values they’re promoting, or rather not promoting, within their own organizations.

Sell In, Not Out

Through selling in, businesses embrace a global vision the entire company can be passionate about. Values pervade every aspect of the business, not only those that reach the consumer, but those that are felt at the deepest levels of the organization.

If brands cannot rally their own troops, how could they be able to rally their customers in support of their products?

When companies pride themselves on taking care of their customers at all costs, but treat their employees worse than their estranged brother-in-law, the misalignment quickly erodes confidence within the organization.

What differentiates Cult Brands and allows them to stand apart from the masses is their holistic approach to business.

Heather McIlhany, online marketing manager for DVD-by-mail shop Netflix, explained, “There’s an inverse relationship between how often a company talks about its values and how much those values are actually reflected in the workplace.”

Netflix understands that a great company earns the respect of its customers and its employees by promising certain values—like commitment, loyalty, and freedom—that they work hard to uphold. An operation without this synergistic balance loses its footing and ultimately, its sense of trust.

Like Netflix, Wal-Mart is another business that wholeheartedly practices what it preaches. The late CEO Sam Walton, built his empire on the “Always Low Prices” philosophy, a vision not only intended for the consumer.

Even when Wal-Mart made Walton a very wealthy man, he insisted on driving his beat-up old pickup truck instead of upgrading to a luxury vehicle, and sharing budget hotel rooms while on business instead of checking into a private suite at the Four Seasons.

His no-frills, frugal lifestyle continues to influence Wal-Mart’s culture. Years after Walton’s death, you’ll still spot top executives flying coach and checking into economy hotels together.

Herbert Kelleher, beloved founder and former chairman of Southwest Airlines, is perhaps the ultimate champion of selling in.

Unlike the bureaucratic mindsets of some CEOs, Kelleher purposely chose to inhabit a windowless interior office at Southwest’s corporate headquarters. He explains, “I’m trying to set a good example that it doesn’t matter where your office is, it’s where your mind is that should be important.”

In Kelleher’s view, physical space is meaningless. “It’s the space between your ears that should be the important thing.”

It’s the Southwest attitude that trickles down from the company’s leaders, in a cascading effect that inspires the employees, and ultimately the customers.

Kelleher remarked, “You have to treat your employees like customers. When you treat them right, then they will treat your outside customers right. That has been a powerful competitive weapon for us.”

In fact, the perfect pitch for ‘Selling In’ can be found in Southwest’s Mission Statement for their employees: “Above all, employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest customer.”

How consistent are the values in your organization? Do you talk a good talk about promoting higher values with your consumers, but won’t walk the walk with your employees? Take an honest look within and ask yourself: Am I selling in, or out?

Ah, laughter, the timeless elixir for the soul.

Passengers, taking a Southwest Airlines flight for the first time, are graciously taken aback by the flight crew’s lighthearted sense of humor. Compared to other commercial airlines whose stewards and stewardesses are dressed to the nines, with perfectly coiffed hair and plastic attitudes to match, Southwest stripped their crew of these pretensions and brought them back down to earth.

The flight crew traded in their business skirts, high heels, and pantyhose for khaki pants, polo shirts, and sneakers. At Southwest, comfort prevails over fashion. Along with this radical wardrobe change came a laid-back attitude, a great sense of humor, and a genuine smile that radiates, “Hey, I really love my job!” The fun-loving spirit that wafts through Southwests’ cabins is truly infectious. Bleary-eyed passengers who have come to equate air travel with their worst living nightmare have to fight hard not to smile when disembarking from a Southwest flight.

Immediately after take off, the pilot’s voice is heard through the overhead speaker: “Bear with me folks, this is my first time.” Chuckles are heard throughout the cabin. In reviewing the safety procedures, a flight attendant instructs, “In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child traveling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are traveling with two small children, decide now which one you love more.”

The laughter continues. When the plane has landed, a flight attendant warns, “Please use caution when opening the overhead compartments, as shift happens.”

A Healthy, Happy Workplace

It’s well known that a healthy workplace boosts morale, lowers turnover, decreases abseentism, and increases productivity. When workplaces are plagued by negative energy, backstabbing antics, and gossipmongers, people turn into the lost school children of Lord of the Flies, forced to fend for themselves in a cruel, competitive, and unforgiving world.

Southwest knows that humor is not incompatible with competition, however. After all, the airline has remained consistently profitable even in a post 9/11 era. Yet they intuitively understand the power of humor and its ability to ease stressful situations, build rapport and cohesiveness, and soften the most hardened lines of communication.

Who did they inherit the funny genes from? Who else, but the zany, jolly good fellow by the name of Herb Kelleher? As founder and former chairman of Southwest, Kelleher’s off-the-wall antics successfully established the mood for the company’s quirky culture. In one famously outrageous incident, in 1992, Kelleher and Kurt Herwald, chairman of Stevens Aviation went head-to head in an arm-wrestling competition over the rights to a slogan. Stevens Aviation was using their “Plane Smart” catchphrase for a year before Southwest inadvertently infringed on their rights with its “Just Plane Smart” campaign. The dual, scheduled for high noon, would proclaim one winner. Kelleher lost the match, but in a spirit of good will, Herwald granted Southwest permission for continued use of the tagline.

Kelleher gets the true power of humor. He knows it can disarm his competitors, dissolve hurt feelings, and mollify potentially litigious situation. He also knows that humor can ease customer frustrations and create positive associations that last.

To turn the farcical factor up a notch, for Halloween, you’ll even see Kelleher dressed as Dr. McDreamy of Gray’s Anatomy fame, and chief executive Gary Kelly dressed up as Edna Turnblad, the hefty housewife from the musical “Hairspray.”

Robert Half International, an executive recruitment firm, surveyed 492 professionals and found that 97% felt it is important for managers to have a sense of humor. Max Messmer, chief executive of Robert Half explained, “Managers who can laugh at themselves or difficult situations are often seen as more approachable and in touch with the challenges their teams face.”

It’s no doubt that Kelleher and Kelly are in touch with their people, and it’s this particular attitude that Southwest looks for in potential hires.

Ginger Hardage, Southwest’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications, explained, “What we try to show in our public relations and our advertising is the Southwest attitude. When we hire people, we look for that particular attitude.” A candidate on a job interview might be asked a question about the last time he or she used humor to pacify a tense situation. Hardage also recalls a time when a group of pilots showed up wearing traditional suits, but were told that only candidates wearing gym shorts would be interviewed that day. Sounds like a joke? To Southwest, humor is serious business. The pilots who changed into gym shorts got hired; the others went home. Hardage stated, “If people tend to be serious, stuffy and can’t laugh at themselves, then they probably won’t work out at Southwest.”

Punch Line the Bottom Line

Chris Robert, assistant professor of management at the University of Missouri-Columbia’s Robert J. Trulaske Sr. College of Business, studied the effects of humor in the workplace. With humor and positive emotions going hand-in-hand, there was also a strong correlation between positive emotions and workplace performance. Robert explains, “That’s where employee retention comes into it. If you have positive emotions about your job, you’re less likely to quit. And maybe part of that is because of the fun you’re having in the break room. You might get a better job offer, but it will take more to draw you away when you like where you work and you like the people you work with.”

Yet humor does more than create a happy workplace that increases productivity. Robert found that the use of humor is associated with two highly prized values: intelligence and creativity. He explains that humor traces its impact to incongruity. A joke is funny because two seemingly disparate things are connected in a way that makes them compatible. It parallels the process of creativity where ideas converge in a unique manner. With creativity flowing through the pipelines, innovation flourishes and businesses take on new heights.

When humor infuses the workplace, it becomes a breeding ground for happiness, productivity, creativity, and innovation. When employees are feeling positive, the customers catch onto the spirit and get the best ride of their lives.

In the words of Kelleher, the chief jester himself, “Humor rubs off on people. We don’t hire people to be funny, but we want them to keep their individuality, which makes them feel better about work and, in turn, makes them happier and more productive.”

So loosen up and let the laughter begin.