Most employees dread a performance appraisal. Why? Quite frankly managers are poor at it. So, most end up doing more damage than good. Nearly all bigger companies have gone to online systems to manage the process. This adds some accountability and quality control. Yet, managers still lack the skills to be effective. In addition, online […]

A genuine leader​ is rare, precious to work with, and desperately in demand.  She stormed into the office and interrupted the team meeting. Instantly, she declared that things will change. Similarly, she talked loudly while rapping her bracelets on the table for emphasis. For thirty minutes everyone was frozen in time as the abuse continued. […]

“The most important skills I had to learn to be successful were people skills.”  Declared flamboyant businessman Richard Branson. Dr. Daniel Goleman calls these skills our Emotional Intelligence. This involves personal and social competence. Unfortunately, it seems people skills are guilty of desertion when you consider the high levels of management failure, employee discontent and poor […]

Sadly, the great customer experience scam is on. First of all, nearly everybody says they are in favor of good customer service. It’s as desirable as apple pie, family, and free expression, all rolled into one. After all, it’s the right thing to do, isn’t it? Could you imagine a company saying, “We don’t believe […]

E pluribus unum is a Latin phrase meaning “out of many, one.”  Most noteworthy, it implies people of honor working together for the common good.  It is what the founding fathers hoped for.  Congress adopted it as the motto of the United States with an act in 1782. However, the leadership of the US government is increasingly polarized. Gridlock […]

Management guru Peter Drucker wrote over twenty years ago, “We have a dearth of leadership”. He prophesied the lost art of servant leadership that we face today. Have you ever lost something very valuable? You looked everywhere but just could not find it. Do you remember how frustrating, annoying and disappointing it was? Employees of companies and […]

Recently these three situations came up in a couple of organizations. Each can define leadership intent-honest or dishonest. It reminded me that little things can make a big difference. At first I thought no big deal. However, after reviewing what happened and getting feedback from a few others a leadership lesson began to formulate in […]

Customer Service Superstars are friendly and helpful when delivering the customer experience. Listening is their highest form of courtesy. The bottom-line to excellent customer service is the quality of the customer interactions in person, on the phone or online. This requires you treat customers with respect, dignity and grace. A negative attitude, poor systems or […]