A couple of weeks ago, I had myself video taped doing a presentation of my new program, “Cultivating Employee Accountability.” I needed a clip to put on my website so potential clients can get a taste of what they would get if they book me to speak or provide training for them. Since I live […]
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Conflict Management – Check The Facts Before Blaming Others
This past Saturday I learned a thing or two about conflict management. My wife, CJ and I pulled into the parking lot of a local camera store where I was picking up some prints. CJ is wheelchair bound, so we drive a wheelchair ramp van with handicap plates. Unfortunately, the only handicap spot was occupied […]
How Much Time Should a Manager Spend With Her or His Direct Reports?
In my management workshops, I have always encouraged managers to not rely on the annual performance review to give employees feedback on their performance. Let’s face it, having to wait for six, eight or ten months to hear how you screwed up or did well defeats the purpose of the feedback doing anything to change […]
A Culture of Trust Is Good Business
If you’ve ever returned something to Costco, Home Depot, Target, or Nordstrom Department Stores you know that the norm in retailing these days is a “no or few questions asked return policy.” The idea is to make the customer WANT to do business with you by making it as easy as possible to return purchased […]
NINE STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING GENERATION GAPLESS
By Meagan Johnson and her dad Larry Johnson Adapted from their book, Generations, Inc.-From Boomers To Linksters: Managing the Friction Between Generations At Work According to one study, today’s college kids communicate with their parents an average of 13 times a week, which includes phone calls, emails, text messages, and Skype. We call this crop of […]
LESSONS FROM BRIAN WILLIAMS ON BUILDING A TEAM CULTURE OF HONESTY AND INTEGRITY
Last week, we learned that the NBC anchor person Brian Williams lied in 2003 about his involvement in a Gulf War helicopter raid, saying that he’d been riding in a Chinook Helicopter that was hit by an RPG fired by Iraqi ground troops. It turns out that he was in a helicopter that night, but […]
What Generation “Y” Hates About Working For YOU
by Meagan Johnson. CSP Generation Y, also known as the Millennial Generation, are those twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings that often baffle us, their Gen Xer and Baby Boomer managers. Their biggest complaint about us? “YOU DON’T TRUST US.” Generation Y has not only grown up with technology, they are the in-house experts. We ask them their […]
The Keys to Succession
Teresa Novellino posted this article in Upstart Business Journal where she interviewed Meagan and me about succession issues in organizations and how generational differences affect the culture of transition: David Sokol, considered to be Warren Buffett’s successor at Berkshire Hathaway, surprised his 80-year-old boss and the financial community when he announced he was resigning from […]
Employees Who Support Your Success Are Made, Not Born: Building a Culture of Employee Loyalty
You might have noticed in the news this past summer the brouhaha at Market Basket, a chain of grocery stores located in New England.Founded in 1917 by Greek immigrant brothers Athanasios (“Arthur”) and Efrosini Demoulas as a small Greek grocery, specializing in lamb, it is now a 72 store chain that stretches from Cape Cod […]
Avoiding the Naked Emperor Syndrome: Lessons on Corporate Culture from the Secret Service
On September 19, 2014 Omar Gonzalez, a 42-year-old knife-wielding Iraq war veteran, jumped the White House fence, ran across the lawn and entered the mansion through the front door. The door was supposed to be locked but unfortunately it wasn’t. After entering, Mr. Gonzalez overpowered a secret service agent and made his way to the […]