Sardek Love is the CEO of Infinity Consulting and Training Solutions. He’s worked in 25 countries, inspiring, developing and educating managers and leaders in Fortune 100 companies, high-tech organizations, government agencies and global brands. His real world experiences serve as the foundation of his powerful and captivating stories from which he brings his sessions to life. Sardek is currently a certified coach, speaker and trainer with the prestigious John Maxwell team.
Years ago, Sardek discovered that he is here to help other people grow, which is what he says motivates him to do what he does.
“Every morning I wake up and think of whose life I can impact in a positive way”
He believes there is a correlation between leadership and customer service, and that the best leaders are those than can connect with others.
“Connecting is just one of those skills that is required for exceptional customer service”
Sardek also feels that having exceptional communication to determine the needs of others is another characteristic that leaders should have.
“It’s really about uncovering people’s problems, providing potential solutions and listening. I think listening is probably one of the most important skills for exceptional customer service.”
He shares that customer service is really a lost art, and that leaders should model the culture themselves to demonstrate to their teams.
Sardek notes that a leader is the person that “charts the course”, and the manager executes that plan.
To him, a leader needs to reward people for the right behaviours and hold them accountable to eliminate any negative ones.
“The brands that have great customer service, it is a tradition, an expectation. The culture reinforces that.”
Millennials are becoming a larger part of the global workforce, but aren’t getting the coaching that their predecessors did. Organizations that take the time to develop their people will accelerate their profitability.
Sardek says that coaching is not about telling people the answer; it’s about guiding them to self-discovery.
To stay motivated, he reads constantly to gain new knowledge.
“I love to learn. Every day is a new opportunity for me to learn and get better.”
When people ask him exactly what he does, he tells them “I make hard easy.”
He used to be afraid of failure, but now just moves ahead taking imperfect action.
The two online tools that Sardek couldn’t live without are Canva, which can be used to created beautiful designs and documents easily, and Kajabi, an all-in-one system to sell, market and deliver content online (see “INTERVIEW LINKS”).
For books, Sardek recommends “The 360 Degree Leader”, “Failing Forward” and “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect” by John Maxwell. He also says that “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie and “The Success Principles” by Jack Canfield have impacted him personally, as well as “The Speed of Trust” by Stephen M.R. Covey.
To motivate staff, Sardek recommends that a leader and company have a singular focus of looking at problems and transforming them into solutions.
“If I keep hearing the same complaints over and over and over, that tells me there is an unmet need. That’s what we should be focusing on.”
He feels that if you want to know what products to create, you need to ask the market what problems they have that are urgent, pervasive and expensive if left unresolved.
He is most excited about scaling his business and creating “The Profitable Training Business Academy”, as he says there is currently nothing on the market the provides this content to entrepreneurs, or people looking to start their own training business.
The quote Sardek lives by is “You are who you are and it’s never too late to become who you might have been” and he believes strongly in continuously stretching himself to grow and become better.
INTERVIEW LINKS: