Just how much does satisfying today’s customer reduce the cost of acquiring tomorrow’s? That’s the question headlining a recent article in Harvard Business Review. We know that satisfied customers lead to higher revenues. But how to quantify that to show senior executives the value of building a customer-centered culture? We assume that happy customers reduce […]
Read post »Work is a four-letter cuss word for too many people. Monday morning is often the toughest time of their week. Too many people are mumbling, “I owe, I owe, it’s off to work I go” as they trudge off to check into their “day prison.” In other workplaces people are leaping out of bed in […]
Read post »Here is a recap of our most popular resources over the past year. I hope you’ll have a little extra time over the holidays to catch up on any that you missed, or review any you found especially helpful: Blogs: “The Quality of our Communication Determines the Quality of our Lives and Workplaces“ “8 Factors […]
Read post »I am publishing just one blog post this week as I enjoy holiday relaxation with family and friends. So I’ve packed this blog post with enough resources to last the week! Here is a recap of our most popular resources over the past year. I hope you’ll have a little extra time over the holidays […]
Read post »Last week I was working with a diverse group of senior operating executives at their professional association’s leadership forum. The new research we reviewed and discussions we had on building leadership strengths resonated strongly with the group — especially our Best Leader/Worst Leader exercise (see “Exceptional Leaders Aren’t Well Rounded“). What especially rang true for […]
Read post »As baseball great Yogi Berra (known for his “Yogiisms”) or Canada’s bombastic hockey commenter, Don Cherry, might have said “it ain’t rocket surgery.” Dissatisfied frontline servers don’t produce satisfied customers. Disengaged employees don’t provide the discretionary effort leading to peak performance. Discontented team members don’t create inspired and energized teams. In a thriving and highly […]
Read post »After hearing me deliver a keynote presentation at a conference this summer, “Amir,” a regional director for a large technical services firm, called for help. The company’s core service is delivered by highly paid technicians with deep expertise and qualifications. Replacing a technician is very difficult and costly. Amir called me because they had a […]
Read post »“I don’t care about being liked, I just want to be respected,” is a statement repeated by many less than extraordinary leaders. Trapped in either/or thinking, these narrowly-focused leaders often push hard for results while leaving a trail of damaged relationships and enervated people scattered behind them. Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, is perpetuating a related […]
Read post »click to enlarge In his introduction to The Extraordinary Coach: How the Best Leaders Help Others Grow, bestselling leadership author and executive coach, Marshall Goldsmith, points out, “a leader who is an adept coach can greatly enhance the organization’s success; one who dabbles and doesn’t take the process seriously can cause harm.” Marshall’s insight […]
Read post »I recently ran a Moose-on-the-Table workshop for a major division of a large company going through the wrenching change of a wholesale restructuring and totally refocusing their business. Our session centered on fostering Courageous Conversations because their history of not addressing tough issues with each other was a major reason this division ran itself into […]
Read post »So many leadership topics to write about and so little time! I continue to stockpile research on personal, team, and organization leadership. Today’s blog draws from two research pieces I’ve been hanging on to for a while, waiting for a chance to share them with you. The first is about how “CEOs Misunderstand Employee Engagement.” […]
Read post »Many of this month’s blog posts have been around improving the rampant levels of declining customer service levels in most organizations. Managers often point to frontline servers attitudes as the source of the problem and look for quick motivational or training fixes. But who hired the servers? Who trains them? Who provides the systems and […]
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