Service is a key component of leadership.

Good service is hard to come by these days. A good leader should be providing service excellence and therefore, training team members to follow their example. Unfortunately, there’s a temptation to be too busy (or too proud), to provide high-calibre service.

I may have had to travel a long way to find it, but I remember one manager that was a definite example of customer service excellence. I was on a two-week family vacation in Kona, Hawaii, staying in a weekly rental that had a private swimming pool.

As I took my first dive into our refreshing pool, I lost the contact lens for my left eye.

I didn’t stress it too much.

Fortunately, I had thrown a couple of boxes of contacts in my suitcase before we left for the airport. With the numerous outdoor activities on the island, I kind of thought this might happen. After a brief pirate joke about losing my left eye; I went back to my room and grabbed the box of lenses marked -4.25 (my left eye).

To my dismay, the box felt quite light. As I opened it, I found out why. The -4.25 box of lenses was empty! Of course, the -3.75 box (my right eye) had plenty of lenses. It had to be the left lens! My pirate joke was becoming a reality.

The next morning, this pirate set sail, looking for buried vision centre treasure. My first stop on Monday morning was the Wal-Mart Vision Center. I met the store manager, David and told him my sad lost-lens tale.

At first, I was a little dismayed.

Hawaii State law prevents the sale of contact lenses without a prescription. As my shoulders sunk, David said “All is not lost ye scallywag! Hoist the mainsail and we’ll head for comer waters and richer ports!” Okay, he didn’t say it that way, but I was getting into the pirate thing.

He actually said, “All is not lost, young man! You just need to get a copy of your script, from the past 12 months and we’ll set you up.” At the time, I didn’t have a US data plan to look up my eye doctor’s number, so, I would have to return the following day.

This is where David had an opportunity.

He could send me on my way with a mediocre customer service experience, or he could move into the realm of service excellence. His level of leadership was about to be tested.

• Will Captain Jeremy be forced to deal with his one-eyed Hawaiian holiday?
• Or will he be restored to a 20/20 visual paradise?

Check back tomorrow to find out whether or not David stepped up to the service challenge.