Revisit why you lead. Get clear on your purpose, not just your strategies and tactics. Refocus on the most important things you should be doing. It won’t be a long list. Tend to important relationships. Repair for some and renewal for others might be in order. Set a few big goals. Aim for the big…
Joseph Michelli is a long time friend and speaker/author I greatly admire. He has studied, written about and spoken for some of the world’s best brands. His new book, Driven to Delight, is a primer on how Mercedes Benz cares for customers. I asked him to contribute the following guest blog. By show of hands,…
1. It is a muscle, not a muse. Creativity is developed from effort. The more you exercise your creativity, the stronger it becomes. 2. Persistance trumps passion. Rarely is great creativity accomplished quickly by passionate insight. More often it comes after much deliberation, labor and false starts. Passion is good, but persistence is more dependable.…
The questions to ask for developing a character My friend Tom Marcoux is an author who writes in a variety of genres. Recently he shared this advice with me about writing fiction: “If you do try you hand at fiction, here’s a method I devised and have taught to college students/graduate students for 14 years. To…
“I don’t know.” Few if any leaders want to admit this. Many should. Not knowing is not the worst leadership sin. In actuality, it can be a helpful admission. Leaders are charged with finding the right answers with those they lead, not being the repository of all the right answers. To attempt that is a kind…
1. Stop worrying. If you can’t do something about what worries you, worrying won’t help. And if you can do something to address your worries, then do it. Action is the antidote to worry. 2. Learn something new. Add to your reservoir of knowledge and keep your learning skills in shape by periodically tackling new…
How do you “delete” a customer or client? Here’s an example: I found a great masseuse near my office. Getting older and living in airplane seats makes therapeutic massage a necessity for me rather than a luxury. I liked the online scheduling option so used it to make appointments. Last time I tried to schedule… Continue Reading [icon name=”icon-angle-double-right”]
How do leaders accomplish more than others? And how do they achieve great things with others? I believe a leader’s success is due to his or her IQ: implementation quotient. That is the difference between common knowledge and consistent application. Implementation isn’t just about having good ideas; it is about acting on them. In a… Continue Reading [icon name=”icon-angle-double-right”]
In the most recent Five Friends post, “You’re Fired,” there is a common thread. The situations and the kind of people or organizations who got fired vary greatly, from a landscaping company to a restaurant chain to a medical doctor. The reasons for the firings vary, too. Some were triggered by something relatively small like a… Continue Reading [icon name=”icon-angle-double-right”]
“It never hurts to ask.” We often hear that said. But is it true? Recently someone asked me for a favor. The request came in an impersonal form email. I had some business dealings with this person many years ago. Since then, I had heard from them only once when they asked another favor. I was…