July 24, 2025 • 43 mins
Our guest this week is Louie Gravance, author of the book Service is a Superpower: Lessons Learned in a Magic Kingdom. We talk about how to apply the lessons of Disney's customer service to every aspect of your life.
Follow up with Louie at his website.
As always, if you like our podcast, Rate, Comment and Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And tell your friends! If you don’t like our podcast, then keep it quiet, I guess.
Our Hosts:
John Tesh: Instagram: @johntesh_ifyl facebook.com/JohnTesh
Gib Gerard: Twitter: @GibGerard Instagram: @GibGerard facebook.com/GibGerard
For more information, and to sign up for our private coaching, visit tesh.com
Our Hosts:
John Tesh: Instagram: @johntesh_ifyl facebook.com/JohnTesh
Gib Gerard: Instagram: @GibGerard facebook.com/GibGerard X: @GibGerard
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:07):
Louis, hello and welcome to another episode of
intelligence for your life. Thepodcast. Our guest this week is
Louis gravance. He is the authorof service is a superpower.
Lessons learned in a MagicKingdom. We are going to talk
all about all the lessons thathe learned from Disney about
customer service, but how toapply them, not just to customer
service in your life, but to allareas of your life. And just how
(00:30):
to take that next level, thatnext you know how Disney, when
you're walking around Disneythat has that, just that next
little touch, how to apply thatto everything in your life. So
that's coming up in a second. Wealso can have two quick pieces
of intelligence. Here we go withtwo quick pieces of intelligence
you can share with your friends.
Forget having cereal forbreakfast. It actually makes the
perfect bedtime snack. I likecereal any time of day. The
carbs in the cereal increaselevels of the brain chemical
(00:52):
serotonin, which makes us feelhappy and relaxed. And as far as
the milk in your cereal, well,it has the amino acid
tryptophan, which your body usesto produce the sleep regulating
hormone melatonin. But in orderfor tryptophan to make you
sleepy, it first has to comeacross as to make it across the
blood brain barrier, which itcan't do on its own very well.
It needs the help of thecarbohydrates which the cereal
(01:14):
has, plus there's calcium andmagnesium and milk too, both of
which are calming. Put ittogether, and cereal with milk
makes a great bedtime snack. Youknow what? Folks,
I will have cereal literally anytime of day. It is my favorite
snack. Middle of the day, I hadzero for lunch today. So you
(01:35):
know, justwant, you know, I'm an early
adopter of this. Here's one morewith all the time we're spending
on our devices these days,almost everyone experiences
occasional eye strain. I had tochange my contact brains because
of this. We can get rid of itwith a pinch, though, literally,
just use your fingers to pinchthe flesh at the top of your
nose, between your eyebrows.
There is a natural acupressureacupressure spot there called
(01:57):
the third eye point, andpractitioners say that if you
firmly pinch the spot for 45seconds. You'll increase blood
flow to the eyes long enough tohelp them feel less irritated.
Try it pinch your third eyepoint to combat eye strain.
Okay, folks, here is myinterview with Louis gravance.
Louis gravance, author of thebook, service is a superpower.
Lessons learned in a magickingdom. Thank you so much for
(02:20):
giving us your time today. Wereally appreciate it. It's
really my pleasure. So okay, youhave this book, and your mandate
we were talking before is aboutgiving people the opportunity to
learn the lessons of of your youknow, the giant organization
that you worked for. I don'teven know if we're allowed to
talk about it, but the wordMagic Kingdom is in your is in
your title. So you know, youdesigned the training for for
(02:45):
Disney's World Resort.
And I have to say, like I love,I love theme parks. Love
amusement parks. Amusementparks. There is something and
I'm not alone in this. There issomething magical that Disney is
able to provide that I can't putmy finger on in terms of what
makes it different from going toother places, but it is patently
(03:05):
different. It's both in thedesign of the layout of things,
like the way that the way thatyour eye moves from, you know,
style to style as you turncorners, and all of those like
little nuance things, but alsoin the service and you really,
your mandate is to provide thelessons from that, and so that
anybody can provide that levelof magical service. I mean, I
(03:29):
guess the the only question Ihave is, how do you do it? Like,
honestly, how do you how do youget what is the secret sauce?
The first of all is to realizesomething we're really clumsy
about. I think, as Americans, Ibelieve, I've come to know is
we're not good with the theconcept of empowerment through
service. We don't this issomething that we're not good
(03:50):
at. And just because Disney camewith it,
a language of magic, a languageof believing, a language of
wishing upon a star. And then,interestingly, Gib the initial
people that created this kind oftraining came from the military.
So you had people that knew howto create culture, and they knew
(04:13):
how to create it fast. And thenwith it came this language of
making dreams come true andcreating magical memories. And
you put those two together, andthat was really came, that
really became the skeletalfoundation of what was
originally known as theUniversity of Disneyland and and
I spent 25 years at Disney, andI am on the east coast with the
(04:37):
Walt Disney World Resort. Andnobody starts being a trainer
there, you know, I was a childactor until I became too hairy
to be one, and then just losteverything, which is sort of why
the book is prescient. Becausewhat I talk about is how, you
know, I, I was on TV for 12years, lost everything, couldn't
play kids anymore, and I becamea waiter. You.
(05:00):
And a lot of people right nowmight be finding themselves in
situations where they have jobsor tasks that they did not
anticipate, right? But this iswhere I learned that service was
a superpower, and I had nowaiting skills, and I knew, and
I was kind of clumsy, and I knewI was going to be found out. I
thought, I better, I better actlike I know what I'm doing. And
I thought, You know what? I'mgoing to act like I work at
(05:20):
Disneyland, I'm going to be sogracious. I will be so overly
nice. I will gesture with anopen palm. I will be that nobody
will notice what a lousy waiterI still am, because I don't
really know what I'm doing. Andit worked. And after about three
years of acting like I worked atDisneyland and understanding the
power of service, I get thiscall out of nowhere asking if I
(05:42):
want to go work at Disneyland asa as a singing mortician outside
of the Haunted Mansion toentertain guests in line. And
then one gig led to another,because you could really, you
know, you dreams really do cometrue at the Walt Disney
organization, and I ended upbeing a performer in Florida
before I became a trainer, youknow, everybody starts their
(06:03):
first day at the Disneyuniversity, at this class called
traditions. And for many 1000sof people, I was the human
bazooka of pixie dust. That was,you know, just, you know,
unleashed, like the Kraken onthese, on these people. And what
we did was also to your to yourquestion, is we invited people
(06:24):
to believe, we invited people tobe part of a narrative. And when
you walked in that trainingbuilding, we made sure that
there were artifacts from TVshows and rides and movies from
every generation, from every sothat there was something that
immediately would emotionallyconnect you, either with Walt or
(06:44):
the brand, or the first time yousaw one of the movies. And
that's where we started. Andthen, you know, it's about also
bringing the power of good tobusiness. And Disney's lucky,
because they have that magicallexicon that they don't write.
You know, I thought I want totake all the stuff I learned at
Disney when we start consultingother people, when I went to
(07:06):
work at the Disney Institute anddid the training for businesses.
And I wanted to take that andthe spiritual teaching that I
had done in my private life andpersonal life. And I wanted to
put those two together, youknow, in my in my endeavor to
explore empowerment throughservice, and the power that
there isin moving your life forward
(07:28):
through serving something otherthan yourself and serving
customers exceedingexpectations, yeah, and there's
something kind of brilliant inwhat you're talking about, and
what Disney as an organizationdoes, you know, you talk about,
you talk about how you just,how the how they give you a
relationship to the brand assoon as you walk in on day one.
(07:49):
And I'm pretty sure this istrue, or it may be apocryphal,
but I'm pretty sure this is truethat every CEO has to spend a
day in the Mickey costume,not in the Mickey costume, but
they do have to go to that firstclass, and they've got to sit
next to who's ever going to playAlice in Wonderland, who's ever
going to be a custodial person?
(08:12):
And they've got to sit throughthe class, and they got to leave
the phones out and and that'swhere we learn how we because we
we flatten the hierarchy onthat, right? Everybody starts at
the same place. Everybody learnsthat the four most important
words are safety, courtesy,show, efficiency, yeah, in in
that order, so that there's acommon language, and most of
(08:33):
them loved it, right? Well,because it connects you to, you
know, where the quote, unquoterubber meets the road. So no
matter where you are in theorganization, you understand the
value of what and you you say,like, obviously Disney has this
advantage and that it has amagical lexicon, but you're
connected to that magic fromfrom minute one. And while I
(08:56):
love that about Disney, and Ithink it is, it is unique, I do
want to get into the idea of,okay, I sell Plumbing Parts. How
do I connect to the magic atevery level of my organization
inorder to make that work? Or, I
mean, I love your story aboutbeing about, you know, faking
being a waiter with superiorservice. The irony being, by
(09:16):
providing the superior, friendlyservice, you actually make
yourself a great waiter,not to jump the lead there, but
the but how do we? How do we asas we've lost our jobs, as we
are reframing the jobs that wedo have and trying to get more
(09:38):
economic activity out of fewerclients? How do we begin to
apply that magic to every areaof our lives, or to realize,
yeah, that's fantastic question.
We have to realize that it's notwhat we're doing, it's what
we're being and what weeverything that we selling or
providing has an emotionalbacking that we're probably
ignorant of or not ignorant ofit, but we've let go.
(10:00):
So, you know, one of the thingsI also helped do was I opened up
one of the Harry Potter worldsin Orlando,
the shop where the magic wandexperience happens for the wand
select the child. I don't knowif you know much about Harry
Potter. I mean, I know a lotabout Harry Potter, but I've
actually, believe it or not,never been to the world yet, and
it's something I want to do.
Well, what we did was wereplicated they, I should say
(10:20):
they replicated the sceneprecisely that goes on in the
book, in the movie where the onepicks the child, and we
replicate this. And you walk inand it looks exactly like it
does in the movie. You'rehearing the same music that
you're hearing in the movie. Thescene is played out. Ollivander
(10:40):
comes out and does the sceneprecisely, picks a child out of
a very small group. They do thescene precisely as it goes with
Harry. You know, there's twomisfires, and then when the
child touches the one that hasselected them, the entire room
lights up, and this heavenlychorus comes out of nowhere and
and their hair starts to fly upfrom from air ducts under the
(11:01):
ground, and and the one keepergoes, Oh, this wand is chosen
you. And then that, you know.
And then they play the scene outexactly. And then, and then the
attendant walks the family outand says, Congratulations on
being selected. Will you bepurchasing your wand today? Now
we have to realize this is astick of $55
(11:27):
you know, I know. I know. Sowhat we think we're selling and
what we're really think of allthe people that will never be
thanked, that touch, that stick,that are part of the process
from turning it from a stick toa wand at Disney, we used to
say, Okay, what kind of do wecan have? Is it going to be
magical memories, or is it goingto be robots and rubber heads?
(11:49):
Because it's both.
So the first thing we have to dois realize that there's always
an emotional backing of what itis that that we're providing and
selling, and everybody shouldthink of themselves. I've been
saying this for years in mytalks and seminars. We've all
been self employed for a longtime. That's imposed, it or not
(12:10):
important. My buddies who werein sales, and when they first
started in sales like, I mean, Icouldn't do what you do. I
couldn't be a salesman. Andtheir first line to me was,
everybody is a salesman, and thesooner you realize that, the
more successful you'll be. Andall super important, show
business, right? There's nobusiness but show business and
and that's why it's part ofthere's a workbook in the book
(12:32):
that I wrote, you know, the 10skills of the service superhero
when you're in a ditch andyou've got to climb out and say,
you know, first of all, a lot ofpeople right now that are trying
to reinvent themselves have 15important things to do, and when
you have 15 important things todo, it's hard to get to the
first one. So at Disney, wewould isolate and identify,
(12:52):
identify what we call win,what's important now. And
usually that is the thing. Andthis is what I would tell
people, when you're, you're, youknow, maybe you're, you're back
playing Nintendo like I havebeen for a little while, where I
hadn't for years, and you've gotto get you got to get back into
that sink, back into the sink,literally do the first thing
that is physically in front ofyou, even if it's just cleaning
(13:14):
the keyboard, to the computer,anything that moves forward. And
the other thing that you're notgoing to want to do, you know,
this whole we're working fromhome. I love how everybody talks
about working from home, likeit's easy, like, Okay, well now
we're just gonna start workingfrom home. There is a discipline
to working from home. And ittook me three tries, I would get
(13:35):
reabsorbed into Disney, or I'dget reabsorbed into a company
like universal. It took me threetries, and I outlined this in
the book. And one of the thingsthat you do, just like Disney
would say about costuming, ifyou're gonna work professionally
from home, right, right, right,right, right, you have to
costume yourself professionally.
There's, actually, there's aterm for that. It's called
enclothed cognition. Really, Ishould know that, yes, clothes
(13:56):
cut. Oh my. So that's where youyou embody the values associated
what you're wearing. Be readyfor something great to happen,
so you could walk out that doorat any moment. But you know what
else, though? Gib it sends amessage to the other people in
the house, and this is anotherthing I want to hit on, which is
that it's real easy for thefamily right now, especially if
(14:17):
you're keeping in your pajamasor your casual wear to think
that we're in perpetual weekend,so that when you do have to
work, it's the family membersthat you're suddenly you know
you you're either barging intheir day or your or they yours.
You being dressed for work sendsa message about
compartmentalizing the day, andwill also change the way that
(14:39):
they treat you working at home?
Yeah, I mean, I think that, andI think that's accurate. So
like, if you're if you're tryingto find a new job, or you're
trying to build a consultingclientele
Rolodex, or you're trying toturn your current job into more
responsibility.
(15:00):
Whateverwhile you're going on the job
boards, put on the suit youwould wear for the job
interview, get dressed likeyou're going to work, do all of
those things so that you thatyou approach it as though this
is your work, and it will changethe perspective you have on on
what you're doing. And I tellpeople roll their eyes when I
say that, and I can only speakfrom my own experience about the
(15:23):
difference that it made. It waspart of creating structure. And
people right now are trying tocreate a work structure from
home like they never havebefore. Yeah. And so again, you
know, I for years, you know,companies would come to Disney
and would lay out, well, now youneed to do this. And this how
you need to set up your, yourservice culture and this. And I
thought, you know, people shouldhave this, you know, see people
(15:45):
who are self employed, and sincewe're all self employed,
everybody needs a service theme,right? That moves Yeah, and
that, that moves them forward.
And can, can use theseprinciples, but we have to
harness this thing that all thatis given is, I'm sorry, I'm
going to get kind ofmetaphysical and pixie dust on
you. All that is given isultimately given to ourselves.
(16:08):
There is, it is virtuallyimpossible to exceed a
customer's expectation and notexceed your own on some level,
whether you can see it in thisthis measurement of time or not.
You know, thecause and effect of service is,
again, something that we're youknow, there's so much data on
what service will do for yourcompany, like, there's just so
(16:31):
many metrics about, you know, ifyou can get your customers to
rate you at 90% what, what itwill mean to your to your bottom
line? I mean, the the metricsare very, very precise, but yet
we have no metrics about, whatdoes it do for the person
providing the service? Is there,you know? Is there a benefit?
(16:51):
Does it swing back? What does itdo for the way the person
carries himself? What did youknow? Is there a causal effect
reality to service. And I thinkthere is, I seen it in myself. I
seen it through the people thathave worked through the Disney
organization. And hopefully, youknow, both these things, the
Disney name, will give mecredibility to share this, this,
(17:12):
this concept I've had for yearsthat I learned from myself.
Yeah, I mean, and again, youknow this,
this idea that we are all selfemployed in and how and how
valuable the notion is to whatyou're talking about. Of
(17:33):
you feel better when you providegreat customer service. You feel
better when the person thatyou're dealing with walks away
happy and doesn't feel fleeced.
Now, there are sociopaths inbusiness, right, who just love
feeling like they're winning atevery deal and making the other
person feel like they're losing,like those people exist. But for
most of us, you know the key togood salesmanship is to see the
(17:54):
need and good invention and goodcorporate sponsor and good
corporate relationships, is tosee a need that you are filling
for your customers, and that andthe joy you get from that, you
just wait exactly what you said.
Nobody is looking nobody'ssitting around going, you know
what? I'd really like to hiremore people I really need right?
(18:14):
But they are saying, I haveproblems that need to be solved.
And then that's another greatway to think about yourself as
you're going into the market,because you don't want to look
desperate and you want Don't youwant don't want to feel
desperate. So realize that youhave the ability to solve
somebody's problem, and the wayto get your hand together on
that is, think of a client,wherever you've worked before, a
client, or a boss whom you'veexceeded their expectations in
(18:39):
the past, somebody that has seenyou as successful. Connect with
these people, if for no otherreason besides the obvious that
the potentials of networking,you need to see yourself through
those eyes. You need to seeyourself through the eyes of
people that know you assuccessful, people who have had
good dealings with you. And thisis the same that's true right
(19:01):
now for for businesses thatcan't connect with their
clients, or don't feel like theycan, this is where the social
media thing might actually be asword that could cut to our
benefit, in that this gives us agreat opportunity to find,
Locate and communicate our superfans, are super fans and and
(19:24):
again, communicate. You want tocommunicate with people that see
what your best. But also, veryfew small businesses don't have
a way to personally knock out a45 second video to their their
super fans. They're, they're,they're most loyal contacts. And
you, what you want to say is,you might, you know, you have to
(19:46):
realize that you're stillrelevant, even though you might
not be practical. So, andthere's a difference, because
people right now are all afraidthat, oh, my business is going
to be relevant anymore. You'restill relevant, you just might
not be practical. And so youwant to.
Communicate that to your superfans, that when you're ready,
when they're ready to come home,you're ready, which is why
Disney opened when it did in theway that it did, and why, you
(20:10):
know, they had 10% capacity andwere losing money being open.
They needed to show the worldin various ways that when you
feel comfortable coming home,they're going to be ready.
And we need to be doing that assmall business owners. But
(20:31):
again, if, if I'm thinking ofmyself as self employed for the
first time, start an outreachwith people, even if it's a
teacher, if you're a youngperson, teachers that saw the
best in you, counselors that sawthe best in you, coaches that
saw the best in you, connectwith people that have seen the
best in you. Wow. I mean, andthat's it's super important
right now, right? Like, for evenif you don't run a business, you
(20:52):
know, you said you have superfans. Find those people that and
you are, you are you are needed.
What is it? Was the word needed?
Not just not relevant right now.
What is this? You might not bepractical. Practical. You're
relevant. You may not bepractical. Yes, so I love that.
I love that distinction. And Ithink there's a lot of people
right now whose jobs they havelost, you know, who have lost
jobs, who are trying to again,reinvent themselves, who feel
(21:15):
like I know, even if youunderstand that you lost your
job because of a pandemic. Evenif you understand that you lost
your job because of an erosionof revenue,
you still feel you can know itin your head, but in your heart
that really hurts and and Ithink, like, first of all, it's
(21:35):
a great reminder. And then whatI love about what you're saying
is this active, emotionalreminder of your intrinsic
value. So that, I think isfantastic. Like calling up that
coach, finding that person whoyou were successful for the
most. Maybe it's, maybe it's theboss of your summer job in
college or whatever, andconnecting with them about the
work that you've done that hasbeen relevant and needed and
(21:58):
necessary in the past. And lookat, look at the eyes, you know,
like they say this, you know,look at the eyes, through the
eyes of somebody that loves you.
You know, it's, it's sort of anextension, it's an extension of
that idea. But it's going to bevitally important, I think,
because there's going to bepeople that found themselves in
the situation I did, which youmight find yourself in a job you
didn't necessarily want right atthis moment, yeah, the most
(22:20):
important thing is to not blowit off, no matter what gig. For
lack of a better term, you getbe great at it, yeah, be beat. I
mean, just be you know, we'veall had the Uber driver that's
just magnificent, right, right?
(22:40):
And the thing is, is excellenceseeks and finds other
excellence. Gib when you neverknow who you're serving when
you're serving them, butexcellence always seeks and
finds like minded people. Andthat's the other thing to
remember, is that you don't haveto invent an answer. You have to
discover the one that's alreadythere. That's a great it's, you
(23:05):
know, that's a truth in all ofour our myths and our and our
and our Disney fairy tales andfairy tales in general. It's
like, in the Wizard of Oz at theend, you know, it's like, What
do you mean? She could have goneback to Kansas anytime she
wanted. Right? What do you mean?
What do you mean? Are youallowed to make reference to MGM
movies? As a former Disneyemployee, Is that even legal?
Well, when I worked, there wasDisney MGM Studios on cover.
(23:26):
Man, wow.
But the idea is, the concept is,you know, truth is not a matter
about or success isn'tnecessary, or happiness isn't
about finding something that youdon't have. It's a matter of
accepting something that'salready truth. And this is a
line that runs through our greatfaiths, our great religions and
(23:49):
our great fairy tales, it'sabout accepting something that's
already there somewhere, and atthat point, it might be great to
embrace our ignorance at thismoment, because you can't put a
ship in a bottle until it'sempty. So it might be good to
just take a moment and realize Idon't know what I'm gonna do for
just this minute. Can I just sithere and not know and just sort
(24:12):
of embrace the fact that, youknow, I'm falling in and yeah,
I'm gonna put out the parachute,but it for a minute, it's okay
to realize that you just don'tknow everything at this moment.
I mean, gosh, yeah, it was sofunny is, you know, this was
supposed to be a conversationabout about how to use corporate
(24:33):
practices to improve your ownpersonal
role in the marketplace and inthe job marketplace, but really
at its core, and then whatyou're telling me is that it's
about being personally empoweredand being and finding that
excellence and that care ineverything you do, and that
leads to the Excellence in themarketplace, that leads to the
(24:57):
connection that you're talkingabout with each individual
COVID.
Customer. So whether thatcustomer is a potential HR
representative that's going tohire you or or whatever that may
be,we should see these things as
being connected. Yeah, we shouldsee these things as being
connected. We create, you know,customer service code language,
because we're not reallycomfortable with talking about
the emotion. The firstconsulting I got a gig I got
(25:19):
after Disney was to rewrite thetraining for Bank of America,
and I'm allowed to say that Imentioned them in the book,
and that was the whole idea, howare we going to bring emotion to
the banking industry? And whatwas amazing to me was that they
had not done what Disney haddone in that they had not mined
(25:40):
their story. They had not minedtheir truth. When you come into
Disney, man, you know, we tellyou everything about Walt that
we can and we I would evenreignite his
reenact is what he said the lastnight he was alive. Well, I was
amazed that people that workedfor Bank of America had no idea
how it got started. Who startedit, that it was some guy that
(26:00):
went door to door in SanFrancisco checking the calluses
on people's hands to see if theyreally went to work. They had
this amazingnarrative to invite people to
board that had never been mined,and they they didn't know how to
talk about it. They didn't, theydidn't know they they didn't
know how to talk emotion inbanking. And so we created a
program called the Bank ofAmerica spirit, another word
(26:24):
they had never really used, butthey found great power in it.
They had tremendous results, youknow, on a practical and fiscal
level as well. You know, what'sfunny is, I'm thinking, as you
say that, and I'm thinking aboutother brands in banking that
have managed to do what you'retalking about. And like, you
know, Wells Fargo did such agood job of it in just the one
(26:45):
image of the stagecoach, thestagecoach vault taking currency
from one frontier outpost toanother. And like, you get a
sense of the history of thebrand from that. And obviously,
like the the Madison Avenue,people stuck with that for a
very long time. So there has tobe value in that, in that they
were able to figure out thatthat's that that's resonating
(27:06):
with people, and that is kindof, that's kind of the genius of
what you try to do at Bank ofAmerica. Yeah. But see, this is
the thing is these great brandsrealized for years that this
kind of psychotechnic workedwith their audience and worked
with their customers, which iswhy it amazed me, and continues
to amaze me, how sloppy theywere at messaging internally.
(27:28):
Yeah, that they this. This is,you know, this is, you know, one
of my missionsright in life, and but, yeah, I
do, I do want, and I don't, youknow, I don't like to get and I
do not traverse into religion,but I want people to bring their
spirit to work and invest intheir spirit and realize that an
(27:49):
investment of yourself is aninvestment in yourself. And so,
yeah, that's why I was saying. Iwas able to sort of use the
Disney Magic speak to get peoplein a context where they could
ingest the rest of the message.
It's sort of a covertmetaphysical message, right? But
Louie, to your point like so weneed to be doing that. I mean,
(28:11):
maybe I'm speaking ahead of youhere, but don't we need to be
doing that for ourselves, right?
Tell our own origin story.
Rekindle our our own, you know,all like, that's the point of
talking to that old coach orthat boss that you had, you
know, your summer camp job wouldhave, what have you, and and,
and finding that intrinsicvalue, again, in the sourcing of
(28:35):
your own story. That's why Icreated a workbook with 10 Steps
about how to start and how tocreate your own personal mission
statement using the correct thatwords of value, all the things
that we would tell industries,you know, we can do as
individuals. And you know, thereare 1010, skills of the service
(28:56):
superhero, and the first one isserving with intention and
creating your intention. Andthat's all the training is at
Disney. The first day is settingintention. And so that's the
first step, and the last one isremembering, remembering with
who you are and what you'rewilling to be,
(29:18):
and and the ingredient that runsthrough all of them is humility.
Yeah, it's that's the the thepixie
dust, if you will, that makesall the other skills work. How
do you So, how do you balancehumility and aspiration? Because
you know, you talk about thisidea that that you need to like
(29:39):
you. You have an excellentstory. You were a performer, you
ended up waiting tables. Not anuncommon path in the performing
arts to wait tables betweengigs. Obviously, it's a trope,
and then you turn that into anunderstanding of service, then
you get but you happen to go tothis organization that is
multifaceted, and happens to i.
(30:00):
Have its touch points be theperforming arts, so then you're
able to bring that performanceback, so that part of you didn't
have to die. And there's a lotof people who are in jobs right
now who are taking the takingjobs or doing work because out
of necessity, with a dream thatthey're completely disparate
from the dream inside of them.
And so I guess two questions,how do you balance humility with
(30:21):
wanting something different foryourself? And then how do you
believe that you can find thatspark, that kindling of
inspiration in any job, like ifI'm cleaning toilets, can I? Can
I feel like a performer whileI'm cleaning toilets?
Well, we were, we were able todo that pretty well at Disney
(30:43):
with the custodial people, youknow, and part of that is
feeling that you are moving anynarrative forward. Some people,
sorry, yeah, that'stotally cool, but
that's an, I just wanna saythat's a very interesting
balance that you just mentionedthat that that that balance of,
(31:08):
what I call it is of doing andnot doing at the same time.
It's, you know, it's sort of themartial arts concept of when to
have great power by by doingnothing,
and the balance of using forceat the correct time and creating
and creating that balance, andbeing part of, you know, and
(31:29):
being part of a rhythm that'salways going on, you know, you
sort of, you'll have to think,somewhere somebody has figured
this out, what I'm Trying to be,what I'm trying to do. There's
somebody here on this planet,even close to me,
that has the consciousness I'mtrying to get so. So the idea is
(31:52):
somebody is, somebody's figuredout how to think about this.
And for some of us, for some ofus, it's easier to
act our way into a new way ofthinking. And for some of us,
it's easier to think our wayinto a new way of acting. And I
think the first thing is realizewhich one of those people you
(32:12):
are, interesting. Interesting,you know, yeah, so. So for some
of us, we have to mentallyprepare ourselves and imagine
ourselves in that position, andthen our behavior will follow.
And then you're implying thatfor other people, it's the
opposite, that you have to startbehaving a certain way, and then
your mind realizes that's whatyou're doing. See, that's,
that's the way I My mind has towork. That's the balance that I
(32:33):
have between mind and body, thati Yes, I have to, I have to
physically. I have to, I have tomake some movement. I have to.
It's easier for me to to think,to act my way into a new way of
thinking, than to and I, youknow what I love? I love people
that have the inner serenity andthat power, that can think
(32:54):
themselves into a new way ofacting. That's that's tough for
me. I mean, I try to go overthose skills in the book as
well. That doesn't come as easyto me. You know, like there's
people that when they want tofind, here I go, in a
metaphysics skin, but when theywant to reach their true core,
there are people that are reallygood at meditating and finding
(33:16):
that center. Andthen there's people like myself
that have to make some sort ofsound, right? You know, either
through, you know, chanting orsome sort of rhythm.
So it's a real left brain, rightbrain situation, left soul,
right soulequation, yeah, yeah. I mean, I
wonder, I wonder if that, ifthere is a way to if people do,
(33:40):
actually do have a way forpeople to figure out which
version of themselves they are,as I know so many people, there
are like, there's lots ofthere's lots of like gurus who
will tell you, take that firststep, and that is definitely
your MO right, is take thatfirst step in embody in cloth.
Cognitionis part of this right where you
(34:02):
you dress and you prepare yourday when working from home in
the same way that you would ifyou were working in an office,
you act as if you work at Disneywhile you're while you're
waiting tables, and then youare, next thing you know, you
end up working at Disney.
But then there's the like yousaid, there's the other people
(34:23):
who meditate on the concept andinternalize it into their
subconscious mind, and fromthere, their behavior is
adjusted accordingly. So I guessis, do we know? Do can you know
without just dipping your toesin the water which version you
are, and is there a risk in justassuming you're one or the other
and seeing how it goes?
You know, I, I have notconsidered that. I've not
(34:43):
considered what would be, andI'm sure somebody has, it's got
to be some sort of personalitytest that would that would
indicate I'm notschooled in any method. That
would tell me that, right? I.
Say when in doubt move forward.
(35:04):
When in doubt move forward. Now,remember, I also said something
about embracing ignorance,because that's part of the
balance is, is,again, it's that, it's, it's
moving and letting go at thesame time and finding, finding
that that point in the metronomewhere you're right in the
center, yeah, yeah. I mean, Iguess, like, again, I think, I
(35:25):
think this is part of, I thinkyou just do stuff, man. I think,
I think you just got to do,like, you've got to, you've got
to start applying theseprinciples that you lay out in
your book and and act. I thinkthe acting thing, acting as
though is, is really, reallyfun, fundamental, and if you
don't know what you are, I thinkthat's the shortcut, you know, I
(35:48):
think, I think for people thatare mental, that they, yes, they
can figure that out, and theycan do that in their mind. But
for for, I think for most of us,even for the people that end up
being those mental people, it'simportant for us to just
start somewhere and like yourthing, clean your keyboard if
(36:08):
you have to just to start yourday, you just use the right word
a moment ago, being and I'll hitthat again. It's not what we're
willing to do. It's what we'rewilling to be. And isolating and
identifying the differencebetween that. There's a
difference between what we'redoing and what we're being
and to your to your explanation,there's, there are people that
(36:30):
clean up after the parades. Infact, if you're gonna, okay,
here's a perfect example ofthat. When you're going to be a
trainer, like I was at Disneyfor several weeks, they have you
do tasks. They Have you cleanedup after the parade. They have
you clean hotel rooms. They haveyou work in the laundry for all
the hotels. Which is amazing.
And one day, is that amazing?
(36:51):
Does it sound amazing? It wasamazing. That's a day I'll never
forget. So one day, I'm supposedto go behind Tomorrowland and
make pizza with this lady theTomorrowland terrace, who I find
out for 19 years, all this womanhas ever done is work backstage
at Tomorrowland terrace makingpizza. Now I was pretty cocky,
(37:13):
because I just finished thelaundry and the cleaning the
toilet. So I thought, Okay, thisis sweet, and I'm humming to
myself. And it was sort of likethat, that Lucy show, you know,
with the candy where things rollout. You had the paint brush,
and you had, you had the doughwould come out on the sort of
conveyor belt thing, and youpaint it, and then you throw
cheese on it, you'd send it tothe left, you'd send it to the
right. And I'm just treating itlike a video game, and I'm
(37:34):
having a great time. And thislady who's done it for 19 years
is watching me just sort of beflip about it. And she comes up
and she goes, honey, honeyon baby. She goes, You got to
get that cheese all the wayaround that pizza real even,
because if you don't, it ain'tgonna be good show for my
guests. This woman neverinterfaced with a guest in 19
(37:57):
years, and yet she knew thedifference. She she wasn't just
making pieces. She was part ofcreating this this experience.
She was part of putting on thisshow, and she knew it. She knew
what she was being and it wassomething I never and I've got I
(38:19):
write that story in the book. Asa matter of fact, it's like, you
know, just like, what are webeing same as, is it a stick or
a wand? Yeah, a lot of this is astate of mind. So if it's
Plumbing Supplies, it's not,it's not, it's not Plumbing
Supplies. It's not an O ring.
It's, you know, it's, it's, it'sa conduit sealer. You've got to
(38:40):
look at yourself as, as doing,as acting, as though what you're
doing adding that extra bit ofimportance to what you're doing
for the end customer experience.
So whether that's HR, whetherthat's your direct supervisor,
whatever that is, I think that'shealth and safety to the people
that you're serving. Yeah, withthat, with that, with that
plumbing you're enriching. Thisis what I always, you know and
(39:02):
like what I tell people that youknow work in banks. It goes
right now, somebody's got abusiness, somebody's bringing a
baby home from the hospital,somebody is getting treatment
they need. Somebody's seeingsomething they always wanted to
see because of you. And when wasthe last time you even thought
about your job in that way.
Right? When was the last timeyou ever stopped for a minute
(39:23):
and thought about the lives thatyou're changing every day, every
day, every day, every day, andnot aware of it? You know why?
Because there's a differencebetween a task and a job. This
pizza lady knew the differencebetween her task and her job.
There's a great wisdom in that.
And this is what I try, also tryand do in the book, is, how do
(39:43):
you isolate, isolate andidentify the difference between
your task and your job. Imean, I don't know how you how
do you do it?
Well, exactly what, exactly whatwe're talking about, find the
emotional backing of whatever itis that that that it is that
you're.
Selling or providing, you know,if it's food and nourishment, if
(40:04):
it's medicine, whatever it is,right, safe, transportation,
fulfilling, you know, likeDisney is not shy about saying
that their product is happiness.
That's that's their coreproduct. We sell happiness.
You know, that instead, Rosa isgoing to give them a run for
their money.
(40:24):
Anything? Yeah, I think Netflixis Disney's competition. It's a
It's Pfizer,yeah, yeah, yeah, but you know,
but also, Netflix is sellinggood living, yes, and right now,
in interesting way, they'reselling safety and security and
right people stay home and watchit, right? Yes, yeah. Well, I
mean, I look, I love, I lovethis concept, and I think, I
(40:47):
think it gives us such a greattool for us to reframe the
environment that we're in in away that allows us to, I mean,
if nothing else, it allows us tomentally retake control over our
circumstances right now. And Ithink that, in and of itself, is
incredibly valuable. The book isservice is a superpower, a link
to where to buy in the shownotes.
(41:12):
Louie, I know you're I'm gonnalet you go here, but I got to
ask you to two more questions,aside from the book, where can
people follow up with you?
They can find me at greatkeynote speaker.com
because that's the domain I own.
A great keynote speaker.com and,and, and you'll the opportunity
(41:38):
will arise, but also Amazonmascot. I think you need to get
it like pretty much anywhereonline, but but the easiest
place. And I think to be honestwith you, Amazon has it on sale
right now, solink, link to the book in the
show notes, and also link togreat keynote speaker.com in the
show notes. One last thing, andI ask it to everybody, what is
one thing we can all start doingtoday that will make our lives a
(42:01):
whole lot better.
Turn off the television.
I love the TV. Why? Why? Why arewe turning off the television?
Oh, becauseit's just yelling at us right
now. And you know what else it'sdoing. It's playing on and it's
playing on our fears as opposedto our values, and that's what
(42:22):
that's what it's doing rightnow. And because we're all
we're, we have a shared contextright now that we have not had
since 911 where everyone in oneway or another, whatever they're
doing, breathing, being, isbeing colored by one single
thing. So we have a sharedcontext, right? Fair enough.
Very true. All right. Well.
(42:47):
Louis gravance, thank you somuch for your time today. I
really appreciate it. Thank youfor being so gracious. That's it
for our show today. Thank youguys so much listening. If you
like the show, please ratecomment, subscribe on Apple
podcast, Spotify, Stitcher,wherever you get your podcast,
it helps us out a lot. Folks, ifyou want to find us, you can
find us at facebook.com/john,Tesh. We go live there all the
time. We're always updating,putting videos and stuff. It's a
(43:09):
it's a good time, so go aheadand check that out. John is also
on Instagram, at John Tesh,underscore, I have Well, I am
Gib Gerard. You find me atfacebook.com/gib,
Gerard, or at Gib Gerard onInstagram and Twitter, I try to
respond to every message, everyDM, every mention of the show,
especially because I do the showfor you guys. So thank you so
much for listening. You.
Louis, hello and welcome to another episode of
intelligence for your life. Thepodcast. Our guest this week is
Louis gravance. He is the authorof service is a superpower.
Lessons learned in a MagicKingdom. We are going to talk
all about all the lessons thathe learned from Disney about
customer service, but how toapply them, not just to customer
service in your life, but to allareas of your life. And just how
(00:30):
to take that next level, thatnext you know how Disney, when
you're walking around Disneythat has that, just that next
little touch, how to apply thatto everything in your life. So
that's coming up in a second. Wealso can have two quick pieces
of intelligence. Here we go withtwo quick pieces of intelligence
you can share with your friends.
Forget having cereal forbreakfast. It actually makes the
perfect bedtime snack. I likecereal any time of day. The
carbs in the cereal increaselevels of the brain chemical
(00:52):
serotonin, which makes us feelhappy and relaxed. And as far as
the milk in your cereal, well,it has the amino acid
tryptophan, which your body usesto produce the sleep regulating
hormone melatonin. But in orderfor tryptophan to make you
sleepy, it first has to comeacross as to make it across the
blood brain barrier, which itcan't do on its own very well.
It needs the help of thecarbohydrates which the cereal
(01:14):
has, plus there's calcium andmagnesium and milk too, both of
which are calming. Put ittogether, and cereal with milk
makes a great bedtime snack. Youknow what? Folks,
I will have cereal literally anytime of day. It is my favorite
snack. Middle of the day, I hadzero for lunch today. So you
(01:35):
know, justwant, you know, I'm an early
adopter of this. Here's one morewith all the time we're spending
on our devices these days,almost everyone experiences
occasional eye strain. I had tochange my contact brains because
of this. We can get rid of itwith a pinch, though, literally,
just use your fingers to pinchthe flesh at the top of your
nose, between your eyebrows.
There is a natural acupressureacupressure spot there called
(01:57):
the third eye point, andpractitioners say that if you
firmly pinch the spot for 45seconds. You'll increase blood
flow to the eyes long enough tohelp them feel less irritated.
Try it pinch your third eyepoint to combat eye strain.
Okay, folks, here is myinterview with Louis gravance.
Louis gravance, author of thebook, service is a superpower.
Lessons learned in a magickingdom. Thank you so much for
(02:20):
giving us your time today. Wereally appreciate it. It's
really my pleasure. So okay, youhave this book, and your mandate
we were talking before is aboutgiving people the opportunity to
learn the lessons of of your youknow, the giant organization
that you worked for. I don'teven know if we're allowed to
talk about it, but the wordMagic Kingdom is in your is in
your title. So you know, youdesigned the training for for
(02:45):
Disney's World Resort.
And I have to say, like I love,I love theme parks. Love
amusement parks. Amusementparks. There is something and
I'm not alone in this. There issomething magical that Disney is
able to provide that I can't putmy finger on in terms of what
makes it different from going toother places, but it is patently
(03:05):
different. It's both in thedesign of the layout of things,
like the way that the way thatyour eye moves from, you know,
style to style as you turncorners, and all of those like
little nuance things, but alsoin the service and you really,
your mandate is to provide thelessons from that, and so that
anybody can provide that levelof magical service. I mean, I
(03:29):
guess the the only question Ihave is, how do you do it? Like,
honestly, how do you how do youget what is the secret sauce?
The first of all is to realizesomething we're really clumsy
about. I think, as Americans, Ibelieve, I've come to know is
we're not good with the theconcept of empowerment through
service. We don't this issomething that we're not good
(03:50):
at. And just because Disney camewith it,
a language of magic, a languageof believing, a language of
wishing upon a star. And then,interestingly, Gib the initial
people that created this kind oftraining came from the military.
So you had people that knew howto create culture, and they knew
(04:13):
how to create it fast. And thenwith it came this language of
making dreams come true andcreating magical memories. And
you put those two together, andthat was really came, that
really became the skeletalfoundation of what was
originally known as theUniversity of Disneyland and and
I spent 25 years at Disney, andI am on the east coast with the
(04:37):
Walt Disney World Resort. Andnobody starts being a trainer
there, you know, I was a childactor until I became too hairy
to be one, and then just losteverything, which is sort of why
the book is prescient. Becausewhat I talk about is how, you
know, I, I was on TV for 12years, lost everything, couldn't
play kids anymore, and I becamea waiter. You.
(05:00):
And a lot of people right nowmight be finding themselves in
situations where they have jobsor tasks that they did not
anticipate, right? But this iswhere I learned that service was
a superpower, and I had nowaiting skills, and I knew, and
I was kind of clumsy, and I knewI was going to be found out. I
thought, I better, I better actlike I know what I'm doing. And
I thought, You know what? I'mgoing to act like I work at
(05:20):
Disneyland, I'm going to be sogracious. I will be so overly
nice. I will gesture with anopen palm. I will be that nobody
will notice what a lousy waiterI still am, because I don't
really know what I'm doing. Andit worked. And after about three
years of acting like I worked atDisneyland and understanding the
power of service, I get thiscall out of nowhere asking if I
(05:42):
want to go work at Disneyland asa as a singing mortician outside
of the Haunted Mansion toentertain guests in line. And
then one gig led to another,because you could really, you
know, you dreams really do cometrue at the Walt Disney
organization, and I ended upbeing a performer in Florida
before I became a trainer, youknow, everybody starts their
(06:03):
first day at the Disneyuniversity, at this class called
traditions. And for many 1000sof people, I was the human
bazooka of pixie dust. That was,you know, just, you know,
unleashed, like the Kraken onthese, on these people. And what
we did was also to your to yourquestion, is we invited people
(06:24):
to believe, we invited people tobe part of a narrative. And when
you walked in that trainingbuilding, we made sure that
there were artifacts from TVshows and rides and movies from
every generation, from every sothat there was something that
immediately would emotionallyconnect you, either with Walt or
(06:44):
the brand, or the first time yousaw one of the movies. And
that's where we started. Andthen, you know, it's about also
bringing the power of good tobusiness. And Disney's lucky,
because they have that magicallexicon that they don't write.
You know, I thought I want totake all the stuff I learned at
Disney when we start consultingother people, when I went to
(07:06):
work at the Disney Institute anddid the training for businesses.
And I wanted to take that andthe spiritual teaching that I
had done in my private life andpersonal life. And I wanted to
put those two together, youknow, in my in my endeavor to
explore empowerment throughservice, and the power that
there isin moving your life forward
(07:28):
through serving something otherthan yourself and serving
customers exceedingexpectations, yeah, and there's
something kind of brilliant inwhat you're talking about, and
what Disney as an organizationdoes, you know, you talk about,
you talk about how you just,how the how they give you a
relationship to the brand assoon as you walk in on day one.
(07:49):
And I'm pretty sure this istrue, or it may be apocryphal,
but I'm pretty sure this is truethat every CEO has to spend a
day in the Mickey costume,not in the Mickey costume, but
they do have to go to that firstclass, and they've got to sit
next to who's ever going to playAlice in Wonderland, who's ever
going to be a custodial person?
(08:12):
And they've got to sit throughthe class, and they got to leave
the phones out and and that'swhere we learn how we because we
we flatten the hierarchy onthat, right? Everybody starts at
the same place. Everybody learnsthat the four most important
words are safety, courtesy,show, efficiency, yeah, in in
that order, so that there's acommon language, and most of
(08:33):
them loved it, right? Well,because it connects you to, you
know, where the quote, unquoterubber meets the road. So no
matter where you are in theorganization, you understand the
value of what and you you say,like, obviously Disney has this
advantage and that it has amagical lexicon, but you're
connected to that magic fromfrom minute one. And while I
(08:56):
love that about Disney, and Ithink it is, it is unique, I do
want to get into the idea of,okay, I sell Plumbing Parts. How
do I connect to the magic atevery level of my organization
inorder to make that work? Or, I
mean, I love your story aboutbeing about, you know, faking
being a waiter with superiorservice. The irony being, by
(09:16):
providing the superior, friendlyservice, you actually make
yourself a great waiter,not to jump the lead there, but
the but how do we? How do we asas we've lost our jobs, as we
are reframing the jobs that wedo have and trying to get more
(09:38):
economic activity out of fewerclients? How do we begin to
apply that magic to every areaof our lives, or to realize,
yeah, that's fantastic question.
We have to realize that it's notwhat we're doing, it's what
we're being and what weeverything that we selling or
providing has an emotionalbacking that we're probably
ignorant of or not ignorant ofit, but we've let go.
(10:00):
So, you know, one of the thingsI also helped do was I opened up
one of the Harry Potter worldsin Orlando,
the shop where the magic wandexperience happens for the wand
select the child. I don't knowif you know much about Harry
Potter. I mean, I know a lotabout Harry Potter, but I've
actually, believe it or not,never been to the world yet, and
it's something I want to do.
Well, what we did was wereplicated they, I should say
(10:20):
they replicated the sceneprecisely that goes on in the
book, in the movie where the onepicks the child, and we
replicate this. And you walk inand it looks exactly like it
does in the movie. You'rehearing the same music that
you're hearing in the movie. Thescene is played out. Ollivander
(10:40):
comes out and does the sceneprecisely, picks a child out of
a very small group. They do thescene precisely as it goes with
Harry. You know, there's twomisfires, and then when the
child touches the one that hasselected them, the entire room
lights up, and this heavenlychorus comes out of nowhere and
and their hair starts to fly upfrom from air ducts under the
(11:01):
ground, and and the one keepergoes, Oh, this wand is chosen
you. And then that, you know.
And then they play the scene outexactly. And then, and then the
attendant walks the family outand says, Congratulations on
being selected. Will you bepurchasing your wand today? Now
we have to realize this is astick of $55
(11:27):
you know, I know. I know. Sowhat we think we're selling and
what we're really think of allthe people that will never be
thanked, that touch, that stick,that are part of the process
from turning it from a stick toa wand at Disney, we used to
say, Okay, what kind of do wecan have? Is it going to be
magical memories, or is it goingto be robots and rubber heads?
(11:49):
Because it's both.
So the first thing we have to dois realize that there's always
an emotional backing of what itis that that we're providing and
selling, and everybody shouldthink of themselves. I've been
saying this for years in mytalks and seminars. We've all
been self employed for a longtime. That's imposed, it or not
(12:10):
important. My buddies who werein sales, and when they first
started in sales like, I mean, Icouldn't do what you do. I
couldn't be a salesman. Andtheir first line to me was,
everybody is a salesman, and thesooner you realize that, the
more successful you'll be. Andall super important, show
business, right? There's nobusiness but show business and
and that's why it's part ofthere's a workbook in the book
(12:32):
that I wrote, you know, the 10skills of the service superhero
when you're in a ditch andyou've got to climb out and say,
you know, first of all, a lot ofpeople right now that are trying
to reinvent themselves have 15important things to do, and when
you have 15 important things todo, it's hard to get to the
first one. So at Disney, wewould isolate and identify,
(12:52):
identify what we call win,what's important now. And
usually that is the thing. Andthis is what I would tell
people, when you're, you're, youknow, maybe you're, you're back
playing Nintendo like I havebeen for a little while, where I
hadn't for years, and you've gotto get you got to get back into
that sink, back into the sink,literally do the first thing
that is physically in front ofyou, even if it's just cleaning
(13:14):
the keyboard, to the computer,anything that moves forward. And
the other thing that you're notgoing to want to do, you know,
this whole we're working fromhome. I love how everybody talks
about working from home, likeit's easy, like, Okay, well now
we're just gonna start workingfrom home. There is a discipline
to working from home. And ittook me three tries, I would get
(13:35):
reabsorbed into Disney, or I'dget reabsorbed into a company
like universal. It took me threetries, and I outlined this in
the book. And one of the thingsthat you do, just like Disney
would say about costuming, ifyou're gonna work professionally
from home, right, right, right,right, right, you have to
costume yourself professionally.
There's, actually, there's aterm for that. It's called
enclothed cognition. Really, Ishould know that, yes, clothes
(13:56):
cut. Oh my. So that's where youyou embody the values associated
what you're wearing. Be readyfor something great to happen,
so you could walk out that doorat any moment. But you know what
else, though? Gib it sends amessage to the other people in
the house, and this is anotherthing I want to hit on, which is
that it's real easy for thefamily right now, especially if
(14:17):
you're keeping in your pajamasor your casual wear to think
that we're in perpetual weekend,so that when you do have to
work, it's the family membersthat you're suddenly you know
you you're either barging intheir day or your or they yours.
You being dressed for work sendsa message about
compartmentalizing the day, andwill also change the way that
(14:39):
they treat you working at home?
Yeah, I mean, I think that, andI think that's accurate. So
like, if you're if you're tryingto find a new job, or you're
trying to build a consultingclientele
Rolodex, or you're trying toturn your current job into more
responsibility.
(15:00):
Whateverwhile you're going on the job
boards, put on the suit youwould wear for the job
interview, get dressed likeyou're going to work, do all of
those things so that you thatyou approach it as though this
is your work, and it will changethe perspective you have on on
what you're doing. And I tellpeople roll their eyes when I
say that, and I can only speakfrom my own experience about the
(15:23):
difference that it made. It waspart of creating structure. And
people right now are trying tocreate a work structure from
home like they never havebefore. Yeah. And so again, you
know, I for years, you know,companies would come to Disney
and would lay out, well, now youneed to do this. And this how
you need to set up your, yourservice culture and this. And I
thought, you know, people shouldhave this, you know, see people
(15:45):
who are self employed, and sincewe're all self employed,
everybody needs a service theme,right? That moves Yeah, and
that, that moves them forward.
And can, can use theseprinciples, but we have to
harness this thing that all thatis given is, I'm sorry, I'm
going to get kind ofmetaphysical and pixie dust on
you. All that is given isultimately given to ourselves.
(16:08):
There is, it is virtuallyimpossible to exceed a
customer's expectation and notexceed your own on some level,
whether you can see it in thisthis measurement of time or not.
You know, thecause and effect of service is,
again, something that we're youknow, there's so much data on
what service will do for yourcompany, like, there's just so
(16:31):
many metrics about, you know, ifyou can get your customers to
rate you at 90% what, what itwill mean to your to your bottom
line? I mean, the the metricsare very, very precise, but yet
we have no metrics about, whatdoes it do for the person
providing the service? Is there,you know? Is there a benefit?
(16:51):
Does it swing back? What does itdo for the way the person
carries himself? What did youknow? Is there a causal effect
reality to service. And I thinkthere is, I seen it in myself. I
seen it through the people thathave worked through the Disney
organization. And hopefully, youknow, both these things, the
Disney name, will give mecredibility to share this, this,
(17:12):
this concept I've had for yearsthat I learned from myself.
Yeah, I mean, and again, youknow this,
this idea that we are all selfemployed in and how and how
valuable the notion is to whatyou're talking about. Of
(17:33):
you feel better when you providegreat customer service. You feel
better when the person thatyou're dealing with walks away
happy and doesn't feel fleeced.
Now, there are sociopaths inbusiness, right, who just love
feeling like they're winning atevery deal and making the other
person feel like they're losing,like those people exist. But for
most of us, you know the key togood salesmanship is to see the
(17:54):
need and good invention and goodcorporate sponsor and good
corporate relationships, is tosee a need that you are filling
for your customers, and that andthe joy you get from that, you
just wait exactly what you said.
Nobody is looking nobody'ssitting around going, you know
what? I'd really like to hiremore people I really need right?
(18:14):
But they are saying, I haveproblems that need to be solved.
And then that's another greatway to think about yourself as
you're going into the market,because you don't want to look
desperate and you want Don't youwant don't want to feel
desperate. So realize that youhave the ability to solve
somebody's problem, and the wayto get your hand together on
that is, think of a client,wherever you've worked before, a
client, or a boss whom you'veexceeded their expectations in
(18:39):
the past, somebody that has seenyou as successful. Connect with
these people, if for no otherreason besides the obvious that
the potentials of networking,you need to see yourself through
those eyes. You need to seeyourself through the eyes of
people that know you assuccessful, people who have had
good dealings with you. And thisis the same that's true right
(19:01):
now for for businesses thatcan't connect with their
clients, or don't feel like theycan, this is where the social
media thing might actually be asword that could cut to our
benefit, in that this gives us agreat opportunity to find,
Locate and communicate our superfans, are super fans and and
(19:24):
again, communicate. You want tocommunicate with people that see
what your best. But also, veryfew small businesses don't have
a way to personally knock out a45 second video to their their
super fans. They're, they're,they're most loyal contacts. And
you, what you want to say is,you might, you know, you have to
(19:46):
realize that you're stillrelevant, even though you might
not be practical. So, andthere's a difference, because
people right now are all afraidthat, oh, my business is going
to be relevant anymore. You'restill relevant, you just might
not be practical. And so youwant to.
Communicate that to your superfans, that when you're ready,
when they're ready to come home,you're ready, which is why
Disney opened when it did in theway that it did, and why, you
(20:10):
know, they had 10% capacity andwere losing money being open.
They needed to show the worldin various ways that when you
feel comfortable coming home,they're going to be ready.
And we need to be doing that assmall business owners. But
(20:31):
again, if, if I'm thinking ofmyself as self employed for the
first time, start an outreachwith people, even if it's a
teacher, if you're a youngperson, teachers that saw the
best in you, counselors that sawthe best in you, coaches that
saw the best in you, connectwith people that have seen the
best in you. Wow. I mean, andthat's it's super important
right now, right? Like, for evenif you don't run a business, you
(20:52):
know, you said you have superfans. Find those people that and
you are, you are you are needed.
What is it? Was the word needed?
Not just not relevant right now.
What is this? You might not bepractical. Practical. You're
relevant. You may not bepractical. Yes, so I love that.
I love that distinction. And Ithink there's a lot of people
right now whose jobs they havelost, you know, who have lost
jobs, who are trying to again,reinvent themselves, who feel
(21:15):
like I know, even if youunderstand that you lost your
job because of a pandemic. Evenif you understand that you lost
your job because of an erosionof revenue,
you still feel you can know itin your head, but in your heart
that really hurts and and Ithink, like, first of all, it's
(21:35):
a great reminder. And then whatI love about what you're saying
is this active, emotionalreminder of your intrinsic
value. So that, I think isfantastic. Like calling up that
coach, finding that person whoyou were successful for the
most. Maybe it's, maybe it's theboss of your summer job in
college or whatever, andconnecting with them about the
work that you've done that hasbeen relevant and needed and
(21:58):
necessary in the past. And lookat, look at the eyes, you know,
like they say this, you know,look at the eyes, through the
eyes of somebody that loves you.
You know, it's, it's sort of anextension, it's an extension of
that idea. But it's going to bevitally important, I think,
because there's going to bepeople that found themselves in
the situation I did, which youmight find yourself in a job you
didn't necessarily want right atthis moment, yeah, the most
(22:20):
important thing is to not blowit off, no matter what gig. For
lack of a better term, you getbe great at it, yeah, be beat. I
mean, just be you know, we'veall had the Uber driver that's
just magnificent, right, right?
(22:40):
And the thing is, is excellenceseeks and finds other
excellence. Gib when you neverknow who you're serving when
you're serving them, butexcellence always seeks and
finds like minded people. Andthat's the other thing to
remember, is that you don't haveto invent an answer. You have to
discover the one that's alreadythere. That's a great it's, you
(23:05):
know, that's a truth in all ofour our myths and our and our
and our Disney fairy tales andfairy tales in general. It's
like, in the Wizard of Oz at theend, you know, it's like, What
do you mean? She could have goneback to Kansas anytime she
wanted. Right? What do you mean?
What do you mean? Are youallowed to make reference to MGM
movies? As a former Disneyemployee, Is that even legal?
Well, when I worked, there wasDisney MGM Studios on cover.
(23:26):
Man, wow.
But the idea is, the concept is,you know, truth is not a matter
about or success isn'tnecessary, or happiness isn't
about finding something that youdon't have. It's a matter of
accepting something that'salready truth. And this is a
line that runs through our greatfaiths, our great religions and
(23:49):
our great fairy tales, it'sabout accepting something that's
already there somewhere, and atthat point, it might be great to
embrace our ignorance at thismoment, because you can't put a
ship in a bottle until it'sempty. So it might be good to
just take a moment and realize Idon't know what I'm gonna do for
just this minute. Can I just sithere and not know and just sort
(24:12):
of embrace the fact that, youknow, I'm falling in and yeah,
I'm gonna put out the parachute,but it for a minute, it's okay
to realize that you just don'tknow everything at this moment.
I mean, gosh, yeah, it was sofunny is, you know, this was
supposed to be a conversationabout about how to use corporate
(24:33):
practices to improve your ownpersonal
role in the marketplace and inthe job marketplace, but really
at its core, and then whatyou're telling me is that it's
about being personally empoweredand being and finding that
excellence and that care ineverything you do, and that
leads to the Excellence in themarketplace, that leads to the
(24:57):
connection that you're talkingabout with each individual
COVID.
Customer. So whether thatcustomer is a potential HR
representative that's going tohire you or or whatever that may
be,we should see these things as
being connected. Yeah, we shouldsee these things as being
connected. We create, you know,customer service code language,
because we're not reallycomfortable with talking about
the emotion. The firstconsulting I got a gig I got
(25:19):
after Disney was to rewrite thetraining for Bank of America,
and I'm allowed to say that Imentioned them in the book,
and that was the whole idea, howare we going to bring emotion to
the banking industry? And whatwas amazing to me was that they
had not done what Disney haddone in that they had not mined
(25:40):
their story. They had not minedtheir truth. When you come into
Disney, man, you know, we tellyou everything about Walt that
we can and we I would evenreignite his
reenact is what he said the lastnight he was alive. Well, I was
amazed that people that workedfor Bank of America had no idea
how it got started. Who startedit, that it was some guy that
(26:00):
went door to door in SanFrancisco checking the calluses
on people's hands to see if theyreally went to work. They had
this amazingnarrative to invite people to
board that had never been mined,and they they didn't know how to
talk about it. They didn't, theydidn't know they they didn't
know how to talk emotion inbanking. And so we created a
program called the Bank ofAmerica spirit, another word
(26:24):
they had never really used, butthey found great power in it.
They had tremendous results, youknow, on a practical and fiscal
level as well. You know, what'sfunny is, I'm thinking, as you
say that, and I'm thinking aboutother brands in banking that
have managed to do what you'retalking about. And like, you
know, Wells Fargo did such agood job of it in just the one
(26:45):
image of the stagecoach, thestagecoach vault taking currency
from one frontier outpost toanother. And like, you get a
sense of the history of thebrand from that. And obviously,
like the the Madison Avenue,people stuck with that for a
very long time. So there has tobe value in that, in that they
were able to figure out thatthat's that that's resonating
(27:06):
with people, and that is kindof, that's kind of the genius of
what you try to do at Bank ofAmerica. Yeah. But see, this is
the thing is these great brandsrealized for years that this
kind of psychotechnic workedwith their audience and worked
with their customers, which iswhy it amazed me, and continues
to amaze me, how sloppy theywere at messaging internally.
(27:28):
Yeah, that they this. This is,you know, this is, you know, one
of my missionsright in life, and but, yeah, I
do, I do want, and I don't, youknow, I don't like to get and I
do not traverse into religion,but I want people to bring their
spirit to work and invest intheir spirit and realize that an
(27:49):
investment of yourself is aninvestment in yourself. And so,
yeah, that's why I was saying. Iwas able to sort of use the
Disney Magic speak to get peoplein a context where they could
ingest the rest of the message.
It's sort of a covertmetaphysical message, right? But
Louie, to your point like so weneed to be doing that. I mean,
(28:11):
maybe I'm speaking ahead of youhere, but don't we need to be
doing that for ourselves, right?
Tell our own origin story.
Rekindle our our own, you know,all like, that's the point of
talking to that old coach orthat boss that you had, you
know, your summer camp job wouldhave, what have you, and and,
and finding that intrinsicvalue, again, in the sourcing of
(28:35):
your own story. That's why Icreated a workbook with 10 Steps
about how to start and how tocreate your own personal mission
statement using the correct thatwords of value, all the things
that we would tell industries,you know, we can do as
individuals. And you know, thereare 1010, skills of the service
(28:56):
superhero, and the first one isserving with intention and
creating your intention. Andthat's all the training is at
Disney. The first day is settingintention. And so that's the
first step, and the last one isremembering, remembering with
who you are and what you'rewilling to be,
(29:18):
and and the ingredient that runsthrough all of them is humility.
Yeah, it's that's the the thepixie
dust, if you will, that makesall the other skills work. How
do you So, how do you balancehumility and aspiration? Because
you know, you talk about thisidea that that you need to like
(29:39):
you. You have an excellentstory. You were a performer, you
ended up waiting tables. Not anuncommon path in the performing
arts to wait tables betweengigs. Obviously, it's a trope,
and then you turn that into anunderstanding of service, then
you get but you happen to go tothis organization that is
multifaceted, and happens to i.
(30:00):
Have its touch points be theperforming arts, so then you're
able to bring that performanceback, so that part of you didn't
have to die. And there's a lotof people who are in jobs right
now who are taking the takingjobs or doing work because out
of necessity, with a dream thatthey're completely disparate
from the dream inside of them.
And so I guess two questions,how do you balance humility with
(30:21):
wanting something different foryourself? And then how do you
believe that you can find thatspark, that kindling of
inspiration in any job, like ifI'm cleaning toilets, can I? Can
I feel like a performer whileI'm cleaning toilets?
Well, we were, we were able todo that pretty well at Disney
(30:43):
with the custodial people, youknow, and part of that is
feeling that you are moving anynarrative forward. Some people,
sorry, yeah, that'stotally cool, but
that's an, I just wanna saythat's a very interesting
balance that you just mentionedthat that that that balance of,
(31:08):
what I call it is of doing andnot doing at the same time.
It's, you know, it's sort of themartial arts concept of when to
have great power by by doingnothing,
and the balance of using forceat the correct time and creating
and creating that balance, andbeing part of, you know, and
(31:29):
being part of a rhythm that'salways going on, you know, you
sort of, you'll have to think,somewhere somebody has figured
this out, what I'm Trying to be,what I'm trying to do. There's
somebody here on this planet,even close to me,
that has the consciousness I'mtrying to get so. So the idea is
(31:52):
somebody is, somebody's figuredout how to think about this.
And for some of us, for some ofus, it's easier to
act our way into a new way ofthinking. And for some of us,
it's easier to think our wayinto a new way of acting. And I
think the first thing is realizewhich one of those people you
(32:12):
are, interesting. Interesting,you know, yeah, so. So for some
of us, we have to mentallyprepare ourselves and imagine
ourselves in that position, andthen our behavior will follow.
And then you're implying thatfor other people, it's the
opposite, that you have to startbehaving a certain way, and then
your mind realizes that's whatyou're doing. See, that's,
that's the way I My mind has towork. That's the balance that I
(32:33):
have between mind and body, thati Yes, I have to, I have to
physically. I have to, I have tomake some movement. I have to.
It's easier for me to to think,to act my way into a new way of
thinking, than to and I, youknow what I love? I love people
that have the inner serenity andthat power, that can think
(32:54):
themselves into a new way ofacting. That's that's tough for
me. I mean, I try to go overthose skills in the book as
well. That doesn't come as easyto me. You know, like there's
people that when they want tofind, here I go, in a
metaphysics skin, but when theywant to reach their true core,
there are people that are reallygood at meditating and finding
(33:16):
that center. Andthen there's people like myself
that have to make some sort ofsound, right? You know, either
through, you know, chanting orsome sort of rhythm.
So it's a real left brain, rightbrain situation, left soul,
right soulequation, yeah, yeah. I mean, I
wonder, I wonder if that, ifthere is a way to if people do,
(33:40):
actually do have a way forpeople to figure out which
version of themselves they are,as I know so many people, there
are like, there's lots ofthere's lots of like gurus who
will tell you, take that firststep, and that is definitely
your MO right, is take thatfirst step in embody in cloth.
Cognitionis part of this right where you
(34:02):
you dress and you prepare yourday when working from home in
the same way that you would ifyou were working in an office,
you act as if you work at Disneywhile you're while you're
waiting tables, and then youare, next thing you know, you
end up working at Disney.
But then there's the like yousaid, there's the other people
(34:23):
who meditate on the concept andinternalize it into their
subconscious mind, and fromthere, their behavior is
adjusted accordingly. So I guessis, do we know? Do can you know
without just dipping your toesin the water which version you
are, and is there a risk in justassuming you're one or the other
and seeing how it goes?
You know, I, I have notconsidered that. I've not
(34:43):
considered what would be, andI'm sure somebody has, it's got
to be some sort of personalitytest that would that would
indicate I'm notschooled in any method. That
would tell me that, right? I.
Say when in doubt move forward.
(35:04):
When in doubt move forward. Now,remember, I also said something
about embracing ignorance,because that's part of the
balance is, is,again, it's that, it's, it's
moving and letting go at thesame time and finding, finding
that that point in the metronomewhere you're right in the
center, yeah, yeah. I mean, Iguess, like, again, I think, I
(35:25):
think this is part of, I thinkyou just do stuff, man. I think,
I think you just got to do,like, you've got to, you've got
to start applying theseprinciples that you lay out in
your book and and act. I thinkthe acting thing, acting as
though is, is really, reallyfun, fundamental, and if you
don't know what you are, I thinkthat's the shortcut, you know, I
(35:48):
think, I think for people thatare mental, that they, yes, they
can figure that out, and theycan do that in their mind. But
for for, I think for most of us,even for the people that end up
being those mental people, it'simportant for us to just
start somewhere and like yourthing, clean your keyboard if
(36:08):
you have to just to start yourday, you just use the right word
a moment ago, being and I'll hitthat again. It's not what we're
willing to do. It's what we'rewilling to be. And isolating and
identifying the differencebetween that. There's a
difference between what we'redoing and what we're being
and to your to your explanation,there's, there are people that
(36:30):
clean up after the parades. Infact, if you're gonna, okay,
here's a perfect example ofthat. When you're going to be a
trainer, like I was at Disneyfor several weeks, they have you
do tasks. They Have you cleanedup after the parade. They have
you clean hotel rooms. They haveyou work in the laundry for all
the hotels. Which is amazing.
And one day, is that amazing?
(36:51):
Does it sound amazing? It wasamazing. That's a day I'll never
forget. So one day, I'm supposedto go behind Tomorrowland and
make pizza with this lady theTomorrowland terrace, who I find
out for 19 years, all this womanhas ever done is work backstage
at Tomorrowland terrace makingpizza. Now I was pretty cocky,
(37:13):
because I just finished thelaundry and the cleaning the
toilet. So I thought, Okay, thisis sweet, and I'm humming to
myself. And it was sort of likethat, that Lucy show, you know,
with the candy where things rollout. You had the paint brush,
and you had, you had the doughwould come out on the sort of
conveyor belt thing, and youpaint it, and then you throw
cheese on it, you'd send it tothe left, you'd send it to the
right. And I'm just treating itlike a video game, and I'm
(37:34):
having a great time. And thislady who's done it for 19 years
is watching me just sort of beflip about it. And she comes up
and she goes, honey, honeyon baby. She goes, You got to
get that cheese all the wayaround that pizza real even,
because if you don't, it ain'tgonna be good show for my
guests. This woman neverinterfaced with a guest in 19
(37:57):
years, and yet she knew thedifference. She she wasn't just
making pieces. She was part ofcreating this this experience.
She was part of putting on thisshow, and she knew it. She knew
what she was being and it wassomething I never and I've got I
(38:19):
write that story in the book. Asa matter of fact, it's like, you
know, just like, what are webeing same as, is it a stick or
a wand? Yeah, a lot of this is astate of mind. So if it's
Plumbing Supplies, it's not,it's not, it's not Plumbing
Supplies. It's not an O ring.
It's, you know, it's, it's, it'sa conduit sealer. You've got to
(38:40):
look at yourself as, as doing,as acting, as though what you're
doing adding that extra bit ofimportance to what you're doing
for the end customer experience.
So whether that's HR, whetherthat's your direct supervisor,
whatever that is, I think that'shealth and safety to the people
that you're serving. Yeah, withthat, with that, with that
plumbing you're enriching. Thisis what I always, you know and
(39:02):
like what I tell people that youknow work in banks. It goes
right now, somebody's got abusiness, somebody's bringing a
baby home from the hospital,somebody is getting treatment
they need. Somebody's seeingsomething they always wanted to
see because of you. And when wasthe last time you even thought
about your job in that way.
Right? When was the last timeyou ever stopped for a minute
(39:23):
and thought about the lives thatyou're changing every day, every
day, every day, every day, andnot aware of it? You know why?
Because there's a differencebetween a task and a job. This
pizza lady knew the differencebetween her task and her job.
There's a great wisdom in that.
And this is what I try, also tryand do in the book, is, how do
(39:43):
you isolate, isolate andidentify the difference between
your task and your job. Imean, I don't know how you how
do you do it?
Well, exactly what, exactly whatwe're talking about, find the
emotional backing of whatever itis that that that it is that
you're.
Selling or providing, you know,if it's food and nourishment, if
(40:04):
it's medicine, whatever it is,right, safe, transportation,
fulfilling, you know, likeDisney is not shy about saying
that their product is happiness.
That's that's their coreproduct. We sell happiness.
You know, that instead, Rosa isgoing to give them a run for
their money.
(40:24):
Anything? Yeah, I think Netflixis Disney's competition. It's a
It's Pfizer,yeah, yeah, yeah, but you know,
but also, Netflix is sellinggood living, yes, and right now,
in interesting way, they'reselling safety and security and
right people stay home and watchit, right? Yes, yeah. Well, I
mean, I look, I love, I lovethis concept, and I think, I
(40:47):
think it gives us such a greattool for us to reframe the
environment that we're in in away that allows us to, I mean,
if nothing else, it allows us tomentally retake control over our
circumstances right now. And Ithink that, in and of itself, is
incredibly valuable. The book isservice is a superpower, a link
to where to buy in the shownotes.
(41:12):
Louie, I know you're I'm gonnalet you go here, but I got to
ask you to two more questions,aside from the book, where can
people follow up with you?
They can find me at greatkeynote speaker.com
because that's the domain I own.
A great keynote speaker.com and,and, and you'll the opportunity
(41:38):
will arise, but also Amazonmascot. I think you need to get
it like pretty much anywhereonline, but but the easiest
place. And I think to be honestwith you, Amazon has it on sale
right now, solink, link to the book in the
show notes, and also link togreat keynote speaker.com in the
show notes. One last thing, andI ask it to everybody, what is
one thing we can all start doingtoday that will make our lives a
(42:01):
whole lot better.
Turn off the television.
I love the TV. Why? Why? Why arewe turning off the television?
Oh, becauseit's just yelling at us right
now. And you know what else it'sdoing. It's playing on and it's
playing on our fears as opposedto our values, and that's what
(42:22):
that's what it's doing rightnow. And because we're all
we're, we have a shared contextright now that we have not had
since 911 where everyone in oneway or another, whatever they're
doing, breathing, being, isbeing colored by one single
thing. So we have a sharedcontext, right? Fair enough.
Very true. All right. Well.
(42:47):
Louis gravance, thank you somuch for your time today. I
really appreciate it. Thank youfor being so gracious. That's it
for our show today. Thank youguys so much listening. If you
like the show, please ratecomment, subscribe on Apple
podcast, Spotify, Stitcher,wherever you get your podcast,
it helps us out a lot. Folks, ifyou want to find us, you can
find us at facebook.com/john,Tesh. We go live there all the
time. We're always updating,putting videos and stuff. It's a
(43:09):
it's a good time, so go aheadand check that out. John is also
on Instagram, at John Tesh,underscore, I have Well, I am
Gib Gerard. You find me atfacebook.com/gib,
Gerard, or at Gib Gerard onInstagram and Twitter, I try to
respond to every message, everyDM, every mention of the show,
especially because I do the showfor you guys. So thank you so
much for listening. You.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.