Going in the wrong direction?

Exchanging New Year greetings with my belt maker, I asked her to punch an extra hole as my belt felt too tight.

“No problem,” she said. As she marked the spot, she paused and said, raw and real (English isn’t her first language):  “This is the last hole I can punch. Our belts last a lifetime. But your waist? It’s going in the wrong direction. Time for a new one if it keeps up.”

???? Blunt? Yes. But that’s service, not just selling a product.

Product selling is base-level: punch the hole, take the cash.  Service extends a customer’s life, calling out the real issue (lifestyle choices showing in the waistline) with care, before discomfort becomes crisis. She didn’t upsell; she added genuine value.

Leaders, take note: Don’t treat people as means of production. Build them. Invest in their growth. External feedback like hers reveals blind spots, visible eventually, but felt first. What’s your “last hole” moment?

#Leadership #CustomerService #PersonalGrowth #BrandStrategy  #EmpowaGrowth