Authentic Leadership In Action

 I came face to face with authentic leadership in action.  This is what I saw.

While leading training for University Clinical Health (UCH) at UTHSC in Memphis, Timothy Florence and his team were responsible for handling IT Support. 

Because UCH had a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) that all of their employees complete the training during the calendar year, we needed Timothy and his team to help make it happen.   And they did!  Over and over again they exceeded my expectations.  

Now, I have worked with IT Teams in a variety of settings and organizations, but none as outstanding as this team.  Not only were they knowledgeable, they were proactive, customer-focused and solution-oriented.  Any time an issue arose, they were responsive, and they did it with a smile.

Timothy Florence & Team

Pictured from left to right: 

Xavier Agee, Roger Pugh, Timothy Florence, Dan Young, Neal Smith, Lee Weaver, Marisa Alston

As I worked with the team members over the course of more than a year, I was impressed by their excellent execution.  As I reflected on my interaction with the team, they exemplified the very course content I was teaching:  Working Well Together and Customer Service Excellence.

Authentic Leadership In Action

One day, I had the opportunity to extend my gratitude and compliments to Timothy.  He gave all the credit to his team.  To which I responded, "What's in the leader shows up in the people!"

It was then that I knew I had to sit down with Timothy to get insights on how he and and his team deliver excellent customer service over and over again.

One of the first things he said was, "I don't manage them; they manage themselves.  They love people and do the best they can to please people."

When asked about the support he and his team delivers, Timothy said, "We're just trying to do our job.  And I have found that two things contribute to good support:

1. Knowing your craft
2. Knowing how to deal with people

We continue to love on people and that means doing our best to take care of people.

For more of Timothy's insights on leadership and what it means to work well together, please click HERE

Summary

It gave me great peace of mind knowing that Timothy and his team were handling IT Support for my training sessions.  I was confident they would be there and available to address any issues that might arise.  They even followed-up afterwards to make sure everything worked smoothly.  

Indeed, Tim and his team worked well together to deliver excellent customer service.  Because they provided outstanding IT Support, UCH achieved its training goal!

Now that's an example of authentic leadership in action!

Hats off to you all for a job very well done!  

• Timothy Florence On Leadership
• Authentic Leaders
• Authentic Leadership
• Home