Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected. – Steve Jobs While you may be familiar with the many inventions of Thomas Edison which include the incandescent light bulb and the microphone, but there is a back story to one invention that is of great significance. It…
DetailsLike as the waves make towards the pebbl’d shore, so do our minutes, hasten to the end. – William Shakespeare Architect Frank Lloyd Wright once told of an incident that may have seemed insignificant at the time, but had a profound influence on the rest of his life. The winter he was 9, he went…
DetailsThe typical teleworker in the US is a 49 years old, university educated, salaried individual in a management or professional role, says the Telework Research Network. Some of these just love the opportunity to indulge themselves through the satisfaction of doing knowledge or creative work that both engages them and challenges them. But many of…
DetailsI’ve always loved Steven Colbert’s concept of Truthiness. Believing in something “because it feels right” to believe in it. It’s neatly installed into the gut of your sales target, making it easy to win your point. Seen a lot of it lately from politics to business. Doesn’t always mean it’s right and when it’s wrong,…
DetailsThe only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision – Helen Keller Max Lucado shares a story about Bob Edens. For 51 years he was blind and could not see a thing. His world was a black hall of sounds and smells. He felt his way through five decades of darkness.…
DetailsThis is a sign that Jeffrey put up in his cubicle at ADP a few years ago to remind himself what his business goals should be – and what he can accomplish through promoting the growth of others. From sales to leadership to operations, the rock stars of business multiply the value of everyone they…
DetailsResearch by TowersWatson has revealed that to generate a climate where your employees contribute a consistently high percentage of their capacity you need more that just “engagement.” You must add into the mix enablement (a better term for what used to be called empowerment), and employee well-being. Here, very briefly, is what constitutes each element…
DetailsAre you tired of the political discussion? Now that the election is over, there’s nothing left but celebrations and grousing. Most of us had our fill of it a month ago, but it drags on. We react by covering our ears, unfriending people and pushing back. Then we go to work, and a different kind…
DetailsLife is a long process of getting used to things you started out to change. – Frank A. Clark As the story goes, it was on June 4, 1783 at the market square of a French village of Annonay, not far from Paris, that a smoky bonfire on a raised platform was fed by wet…
DetailsPeople in the business community love their clichés. “There’s no ‘I’ in team,” “work smarter, not harder,” and my personal favorite, “think outside the box”. Ugh. When it comes to describing a workplace culture, clichés are abundant here as well. With our open-door policies and expectations of giving 150% (how is this even possible?). These general statements…
DetailsThis October, I’m reminded of a company effort to battle breast cancer, started by a handful of passionate people in Canada. We focus so much on the power of one person, super-woman, but forget that more often than not it takes a core group to really move the needle. This is why Margaret Mead once…
DetailsI would like to be remembered as a player who was there for others –Mariano Rivera In announcing his forthcoming retirement from Major League Baseball at the conclusion of the 2013 season, Mariano Rivera will certainly be bound for Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame. By the numbers Rivera has no equal. His stats…
DetailsNothing last forever – not even our troubles. – Arnold H. Glasow In Bits & Pieces, a story is shared about Somerset Maugham, the English writer who once wrote a story about a janitor at St. Peter’s Church in London. One day a young vicar discovered that the janitor was illiterate and fired him. Jobless,…
DetailsI’ve been thinking lately about how one really moves up inside an organization. Many might think it’s about performance or schmoozing. The former is hard, because not everyone gets an opportunity to produce measureable results. The latter isn’t really true, except for those rare situations where the leadership cares more about being popular than organizational…
DetailsRespect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners – Laurence Sterne In surveys conducted by Weber Shandwick (http://bit.ly/ieo5oz) in 2011 it revealed what many already know or experience – incivility in the workplace is on the rise and the many place the blame at the feet of workplace leadership. The online…
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