Why You Need to Counteract the Pitfalls of Screened Service
Too much standardization and systematization can eliminate the crucial human element. That was my recent experience at JFK Airport. I had arrived too early for my flight, and decided that instead of grabbing a sandwich,... Continue reading
How to Respond When Your Culture Is Compelled to Change
Last week’s post talked about how to maintain an organizational culture that you prize. But what if some of your cultural norms aren’t good, healthy, or productive? What if your organization has a history of... Continue reading
How to Keep Culture Strong Even in the Face of Change
How can you maintain your organization’s cultural norms in the face of new demands, like the pressure of market forces or your own internally generated growth? What if you need to be more nimble, flexible,... Continue reading
7 Powerful Ways for Leaders to Engage Their Teams
It can be extraordinarily frustrating when a leader introduces or supports an initiative and sponsors crucial discussions only to see the necessary change fade away. But whenever you have more than a handful of people... Continue reading
If You Want to Solve a Problem, Think of It as an Iceberg
In business, lingering problems rarely have a single or simple solution. That’s why they linger. Many work problems are relatively unambiguous and easily are understood by the people who deal with them every day. We... Continue reading
3 Reasons and 3 Ways to Help Someone Out … of Your Organization
How can you tell when an employment relationship has run its course? And what if you’ve figured it out, but the employee hasn’t? Often, the problem is a function of fit: The organization has evolved... Continue reading
Why You Need to Tell Your Employees the Real Story
“They never tell us anything. We’re always the last to know.” So many employees feel this way so much of the time. They see something that they don’t understand, something that doesn’t fit with what... Continue reading
How Help Can Be More Valuable than Service
Maybe we should stop talking about serving customers and, instead, talk about helping customers: creating a sense of relationship, eliminating problems, and taking care of what customers need. Here’s how I got started on the... Continue reading