As I write this blog, I am wrapping up my 1,176th day as an employee of Butler Street Consulting. During my time here, I have worked with dozens of customers, and hundreds of training participants and run well over 1000 hours of both in-person and virtual training. But last week was special.
Last week I wrapped a training engagement with a customer who started learning the Butler Street concepts back in February of this year. It was a long journey with a ton of training sessions but one that I was sad to see end. It was hands down the best group of people I have had the honor to train.
Now, don’t get me wrong our customers are a delight and consistently exceed my expectations but this group was just a notch above the rest.
Attendance was near perfect.
Prework was completed in a manner exemplary of a super-star organization.
Training sessions were chock full of great discussions, thought-provoking questions, and a commitment to engagement. Everyone was on camera for our Zoom sessions as well (a facilitator’s dream).
As I wrapped our final call and explained to the participants that they were simply the best group of people I had ever trained, goose bumps covered my arms as my emotions got the better of me. I was moved.
That was last week and since then I have thought quite a bit about that experience and asked myself “Why were they different?” Here are my thoughts:
1. Leadership
Every session and I mean every session was attended by a member of the leadership team. Leaders are busy, no doubt, but this organization committed to making sure one member of their leadership team attended each training session because they wanted their team to see their commitment to the learning process and to show that it was a very important investment they were making.
2. Optional Culture? Not with this group.
An Optional Culture is one in which employees are given the choice of whether they want to be exceptional or not. This organization does not run an optional culture. Here is a list of items that were not optional:
Prework – MUST be done. No excuses.
Attendance – Mandatory unless excused.
Cameras on – 100%. Every session.
Participation – You’re darn tootin’! (the best engagement levels I have experienced).
3. Role Practice (aka role play)
Remember, at Butler Street, we call it role practice because we ain’t playing. This group committed to weekly role practice meetups between Butler Street training sessions. They would practice how to ask great questions, how to overcome objections, and how to effectively navigate conversations with poise. And it showed. This group was solid, and I know it was due to their regular role practice sessions.
So, is this blog for leaders? Is it for salespeople? Is it for recruiters? The answer is YES. There are companies and people out there who do exceptional work. They put in tremendous effort and settle for nothing less than the best. Can you say the same about yourself or your organization?
At Butler Street, excellence is non-negotiable. It takes hard work to be exceptional. Now, are we perfect? Nope. But we work every day to get a little bit better.
Being exceptional takes dedication, commitment, and discipline. If you’re ready to be an exceptional leader, salesperson, recruiter, account manager, or organization we’re ready to help get you there. Contact us to learn more.
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