After two days and 400 people discovering the management secrets behind the magic that is Disney, I am joyfully wasted. My team of two, and eight student volunteers, hosted the Disney Institute workshop on Quality Customer Service. Their presentation team is world-class at workshop delivery and great people to get to know. Initial comments suggested many of the 40 plus businesses and 160 educators got a great deal out of the presentation.
One line in the presentation resonated in me down to my soul. When talking about exceeding expectations the facilitator suggested a quote from the one of their movie executives, “If you want someone’s attention, whisper.” When I heard the line, I wanted to drop to my knees and look up and shout, “God you are so good.” Luckily for everyone I didn’t. The workshop was too good to interrupt.
Whisper is a term I associate with my brother, Gene Hendrix. Gene owns a tree service company, a business he was born to do. Eight years ago, Gene fell 40 feet out of tree and woke up paralyzed. Gene never complained and, in fact, as the doctors described what he had lost, he interrupted them and said, “Doc don’t tell me what I don’t have, tell me what I got.”
Gene still runs his tree company, driving around in a hand controlled truck and employing a boom to move his wheelchair as he enters and exits. He tells folks that he lost his legs and gained something far more valuable. He hears God’s “whispers” to him.
When Gene hears a whisper, he pulls his truck over and starts writing what God puts on his heart. He fills up a spiral notebook a week with some of the most beautiful spirit-filled poems and thoughts I have ever read. We joke that Gene needs a bumper sticker, CAUTION – I STOP FOR GOD’S WHISPERS.
Gene turned me on to not only listening for God’s whispers, but also staying obedient to what they tell your heart. I have slowly learned that when I hear such a whisper in my heart to act on it and not debate it. And the blessings have flowed.
So back to the events. In the craziness of this event we are all running around trying to make sure the sound works, the scripts are synched as to who does what and when, and all the while trying to greet your business friends as they enter. Nervous energy and stress abound in the final ten minutes following the two-hour set up. Thoughts race and bounce around inside your smiling head.
In the middle of this, I get a whisper. Not the whisper I expected. In fact, whispers were the farthest thing from my mind. I smiled when I understood the whisper and decided to act. I walked up to my three Disney facilitators, whom I had met for the first time yesterday for 15 minutes, and said, “Would you mind if we gathered together, arm and arm,and I prayed over you.” And they said, “Thank you. That would be wonderful.” So with people shuffling by to get to their seats, I prayed for a successful event. They told me at lunch that was the first time anyone had done that and all three sincerely appreciated it. In fact, at their second event this morning, a facilitator asked me to do it again. I was back in my scurry mode and hadn’t received a whisper. So we asked for God’s favor again. In both cases, God provided. The workshops were awesome.
When I heard that whisper line, I realized God had gotten my attention through His whisper. And that was the highlight of my workshop. Quality service for me comes down to listening for whisper and letting HIM lead. Thank you Gene and thank you Lord. Proverbs 3:5-6.