I’ve written previously about the value of understanding personalities and attitudes at work. The two most important attitudes we need to be developing in our employees are satisfaction and commitment, and the personality trait I find the most useful to look for is locus of control. Secure attachment is another personality trait I think may [...]
I wrote an article recently that included a link to an interview with Wendy Koop, CEO of Teach for America. When Wendy was asked what leadership or management books she found most helpful, she said she was “obsessed” with Jim Collins and his books Good to Great and Built to Last. A LOT of us [...]
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal Online published an article entitled Companies Strive Harder to Please Customers. I think this is a great example of companies trying to incorporate the service-profit chain philosophy. One of the companies discussed in the article is Sprint Nextel Corporation. I am a long time Sprint user, and I can confirm [...]
This weekend, I attended my 30 year high school reunion in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There were about 590 folks in my graduating class, and less than 150 attended the reunion. I suppose the proper (and safe) thing to say would be “it was great to see everyone!” but that’s just not entirely true for me, and [...]
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I am speaking this morning to a group of leaders at Truckee Meadows Community College. It’s not often that I get a chance to speak to colleagues in education about leadership so I am looking forward to it. These folks have been participating in leadership development and my talk will be the final session. I [...]
Crappy Systems – The Reason Why Good Service Is So Elusive
Why is it so hard to get good service in a coffee shop in Reno at 7:30 am on a Friday morning? Last week I had an unacceptable service encounter at Starbucks. This morning I once again was near that same Starbucks, and instead of going for the convenient experience, I drove out of my [...]
