As I continue to develop myself in my personal and professional life, and as I spend more time developing my leadership and talent evaluation competencies, I am always catching myself noticing and earmarking the differences in the level of service I receive from the people and places where I spend my money.
I am often delighted with the level of service I receive from the frequent flyer desk at American Air Lines, from the sales woman in Nordstroms women’s department, or from Laverne at the dentists office. Then there are times that I can not imagine in my wildest dreams who would have employed such unfriendly folks at other service providers. American Air certainly does not hold the award for having mastered the art of a service hire; but honestly my experience with them is 3:1 in their favor.
Continue reading "Being Service Centric In Hiring" »
Domincan Republic. I knew it was 3rd world yet in reality I did not know what 3rd world really meant until I spent a week in the Dominican. Every day there was a new conversation or interaction or glance of an eye that brought the reality of poverty to my conscience. I remember taking time out of everyday to thank god that I was born in America, to my parents, and that I was given the unique and blessed opportunities that I have been given. 
One morning I was shaken out of bed by the waves crashing on the shore and the 1st thing I thought of was a Tsunami so I rushed out of bed to the balcony and what I saw was nothing more than 6 foot waves, typical drama from this Chicago native with not much wave or ocean training.
Looking at the beautiful water, and the sun rising in the sky I decided it much too beautiful to go back to sleep and too early to wake up my sons; I thought a nice run would do me good. It might burn off that tension that even had me thinking about a tsunami in the first place. As I headed out of the resort I waved good by to the armed guards and headed down the street and caught my run pace. My heart rate a steady 145 (yep I am slow), breathing to the beat of Dave Mathews Band, looking out at the ocean to my right and the mountains to my left, life and running could not have been better in that moment. As I was gleefully thanking the universe again for my good fortune of health, family and career I suddenly smelled the foulest smell I have even smelled.
Continue reading "Running With The Bulls " »
(a series of thoughts on how to organize my business for success. This is a useful application of organizational principles I use to understand where I can improve.)
Achieving my goals also has a lot to do with working smarter. Working smarter has everything to do with creating the plan of action early on, reviewing progress and then recalibrating as necessary. It is in the reviewing of the progress that the breakthroughs occur.
The Review: What’s working? What’s not working? What do I need to do more of to move toward the progress of this goal? What do I need to do less of? What is holding me back?
Am I using my strengths to my advantage, or wasting my time on things I cannot control. Where can I delegate?
Continue reading "Working Smarter For Me" »
