Feedback should be a gift – but too often, it feels like a gut punch. That’s because most of us were never taught how to receive feedback well. And most organisations weren’t built to offer it with grace.
Culture doesn’t shift because of a new strategy. It shifts because people choose to believe in a new way of thinking and working together. That choice, at its core, is built on trust.
Based on the work of Joseph Grenny and colleagues in Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change, the Six Sources of Influence offer a powerful framework for shaping behaviour in individuals and groups. When applied to service excellence, these principles become transformative – because great service isn’t just about knowing what to do. It’s about shifting the beliefs, motivations, and structures that shape how people choose to behave.
Every now and then, a simple story cuts through the noise and leaves a lasting impression. One such story comes from the world of fine dining – but it has nothing to do with wagyu beef or aged champagne.
Even the most talented teams can struggle to work well together. Why? Because teamwork is not a default setting – it’s a discipline. Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team outlines a powerful model for understanding and overcoming the internal barriers that undermine trust, alignment, and accountability.
“The single greatest advantage any company can achieve is organisational health.” (Except from The Advantage)
It’s not strategy. It’s not technology. It’s not marketing. Health – clarity, alignment, and trust – is what unlocks every other strength.
When a customer engages with a business, they are not simply buying a product or service – they are placing their trust, reputation, and future experience in the hands of another. Horst Schulze, co-founder of the Ritz-Carlton and a global pioneer in service excellence (his book Excellence Wins), distilled customer expectations into three simple but profound needs. These are not just guidelines for frontline teams – they are foundational pillars for any service-driven organisation.
In a world that celebrates experience, Liz Wiseman’s Rookie Smarts offers a surprising challenge: what if inexperience is actually an asset? When it comes to creating a culture of service excellence, this message couldn’t be more timely.
Every organisation begins with a spark – a mission to change something, serve someone, or solve a problem. Over time, as systems grow and structures solidify, that spark often dims. The energy that once animated bold decisions and relentless customer focus can become buried beneath red tape, meetings, and risk aversion.
When service excellence feels stuck, the problem is rarely a lack of effort. More often, it’s a lack of thinking – about what matters most, what creates value, and what needs to change.
Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life is a call to personal responsibility, disciplined living, and meaningful engagement with the world. Though not written for a business context, many of the principles apply powerfully to service culture. At the heart of service excellence is the same philosophy: that order, care, and integrity shape not only results – but people.
In Unreasonable Hospitality, Will Guidara shares the story of transforming Eleven Madison Park from a great restaurant into the best in the world – not by only obsessing over perfection, but by choosing to prioritise people and their experience above all. His philosophy is simple but profound: service is not about what you do, it’s about how you make people feel.
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