The 3 R’s of Service-based Leadership

You can start right where you stand and apply the habit of going the extra mile by rendering more service and better service that you are now being paid for. – Napoleon Hill In his book, Waking the American Dream, Don McCullough relates a story about Winston Churchill during World War II. England decided to…

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It’s What They Don’t Do that Makes Them Bad

This post was triggered by a great post in the HBR Blog Network by Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman. This essence of their article is that most of the behaviors of so called “bad bosses” are, in their words, sins of omission, not commission. In other words, it’s more what the boss fails to do…

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A Prescription for Effective Teamwork

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime. – Babe Ruth A recent Gallup report revealed what many have believed about teamwork for quite some time. The…

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Lead to Please?

I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody – Bill Cosby Ask any Green Bay Packers fan and they will tell you without any hesitation that the infamous call at the end of the game against Seattle was blown and it cost them the game. Before…

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Employee Engagement & Brand Advocacy

First there was Maslow who created an avenue to employee benefits, then Employee Rewards, and more recently Employee Engagement. Today, Culture seems to be the buzz word. We are consistently evolving employee rights into human improvement strategy. The fluff is gone and even kindness has an ROI metric: ~ Does a rewards strategy cheapen the…

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Are You Engaging Your Company’s Haters?

Markets are conversations, and these days, they are often led by the crowd. Be it your customers or your employees, they are uniquely empowered to spread the good or bad word about you.  Question is, how closely are you listening? More than ever, internet users have two things going for them: Transparency and Tools.  They…

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Shaping the Future of Leadership

Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change – Thomas Hardy In a recent USA Today feature (http://usat.ly/ROMSvv) leaders from various walks of life shared their insights as to what they believe world will look like in 30 years. It was a fascinating read. Here are a few highlights. Bill…

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Roadmap for Designing High-Performing Organizations

Companies are frequently facing the need to restructure their organizations.  Changes in leadership, a shift in strategy, or changing factors within an organization often create the need for reorganizing. Organization design is one of the most powerful tools available to senior managers for shaping the direction of their organizations. “Organization design” is often used incorrectly…

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Dodging Bricks

A successful man is the one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him?  – David Brinkley The nation watched in horror when the video tape emerged showing the bullying of 68-year old school bus monitor Karen Klein. According to ABC News more than 32,000 people went online and…

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Your Dance Between Manager and Coach

The trend these days is clearly for managers to take on more of a coaching role. But they still need to be the manager! These are two different roles. As a manager, you have stewardship for results in your area of operation. You ensure that your people are performing at an acceptable level and are…

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How Business Is Won & Brands Are Built

Whether you are a sales pro, marketing whiz or entrepreneur, business is a fierce compeition.  You’ll never win unless you understand the milestones that stand between the prospect stage and the finish line. Even the most impulsive purchases follow the mental path I’ll reveal in this post.  In fact, done right, businesses can elicit more…

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Is Your Customer Service Performance Sustainable?

If the world is cold make it your business to build fires – Horace Traubel In a recent Gallup Business Journal feature, Scott Simmons and Christie Fraser reported on the state of customer service in the hospital industry. Notable in their findings: hospitals try to deliver the best healthcare outcomes and good customer service, but…

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Productivity tips from a night owl

The early bird catches the worm. I hate that phrase. I find it irritating because of the origin behind it, the idea that in order to succeed, you must wake up and get to work early. I’m going to have to disagree with this concept. I’m a night owl. I have little desire to be…

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