Mon, 07/15/2024 - 12:03
It’s all well and good to pontificate about “the customer comes first” or “deliver outstanding service,” but often it’s hard for your team members to wrap their heads around what that really means. You can say these things until your jaw muscles are…Tue, 07/09/2024 - 12:03
Congratulations! You’ve arrived. You’ve earned that nice cushy office where you can shut the door and no one can hear you listening to the greatest American Idol video ever on YouTube (or looking for a video card to send to your mom on Mother’s Day…Tue, 07/02/2024 - 12:02
Are you giving your lowest-level employees the power to make crucial customer-relations decisions without supervision? If not, you’re making a huge mistake.
Within a four-hour period on Friday I witnessed both excellent leadership and an abject…Tue, 06/18/2024 - 12:03
You can learn a lot about leadership from Master Oogway in Kung Fu Panda. He emphasizes leading today rather than worrying about yesterday or tomorrow.
My expectations for the movie were quite low. I mean, a panda that does kung fu? A jackrabbit I…Wed, 06/05/2024 - 12:02
One of the most exciting things you can do as a young tank platoon leader is participate in a tank gunnery exercise. Essentially it’s going to a shooting range with some really big cannons mounted on a 68-ton chassis. One particularly hot summer in…Mon, 06/03/2024 - 12:03
I just rewatched The Green Hornet, and it was awesome. As I finished the movie, I wondered what made him a great leader (or not) and how those lessons might apply to the business world. I know. I’m weird like that.
The good news is I’ve unlocked…Tue, 05/28/2024 - 12:03
My platoon was out in the field on training exercises. We had been out there for about two weeks, so we all smelled kind of “ripe” at that point. One of the more senior officers in my battalion came to my unit’s area to see how things were going.…Wed, 05/22/2024 - 12:03
As leaders, we like being decisive and making quick decisions. We know our businesses well and are willing to act. Doing so without true contrarian input can be dangerous, though.
You can make better decisions simply by identifying and relying on…Wed, 05/01/2024 - 12:03
I’m fortunate enough to travel to some great places to serve my clients. During those travels, I can’t help but have many customer service interactions from which to draw lessons.
Here, I’ll share how barbecue, airplanes, and coffee can teach you a…Tue, 04/23/2024 - 12:03
This article is an excerpt from the cutting room floor. It was in an early draft of my book One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership (Jossey-Bass, 2011; order your copy here). It covers how to lead through guidelines…