Recently my wife commented on how much time I was spending watching the NFL Draft coverage on ESPN. “You’re a Bronco fan. They don’t pick again for an hour, at least. Are you really that fascinated by who Buffalo selects in the 5th round?” she asked. But there I sat along with 45.7 million other…
The Sawmill Jake and Justin, 23-year-old twin brothers, worked for a large sawmill not far from where they grew up. As a friend of the sawmill’s owner, their father was aware that even though both sons had essentially the same job title and duties, Justin was paid significantly more than Jake. Curious as to why, the father…
“If I had me for a boss, would I like coming to work?” Face it, the people who work for you have other options. (If they don’t, you not only have the wrong people on your bus, you’ve got a lousy bus.) Offering a competitive wage and benefit package may be enough to attract talent…
I returned home from a conference and got off the tram at Denver International Airport and took the escalator up to the top level, where the first person I saw was an elderly gentleman in a cowboy hat who greets arriving passengers with a hearty “Welcome to Denver!” This is followed by an earnest, “How…
“Do as I say, not as I do.” There was a time when a parent who smoked, drank excessively, cursed, etc. could demand – and often expect – a different standard of behavior from their children simply by telling them ” I want you to have a better life than the one I’m living, so…
One of the questions that I am asked most frequently by business leaders after a presentation is this one: “With all I am pushed to do already, how am I ever supposed to find time to implement your ideas and tactics?” Time is, of course, the great equalizer. It’s the one resource that business owners,…
If you’ve ever brought on a talented and highly-skilled employee who did not measure up to your expectations due to a lack of work ethic, drive, or character values, you’ve experienced a zebra problem. This metaphor will make perfect sense to you when you consider the unique talents and abilities of a zebra. Like human…
Dickens may have penned A Christmas Carol back in 1843, but the ghost of bad management is still haunting workplaces in 2013. Nowhere is this more prevalent and on display than in industries that boom in Q4 (i.e. retailing, food service, hospitality, transportation, entertainment, etc.) The make-or-break pressures of managing a business during the holidays can…
Imagine walking into a room where you are invited to play a game where you could win $1000 or more. In front of you is a large bulletin board that has pinned to it the logos of twenty large well-known companies; brands most everyone is familiar with. Next to this is another large board pinned…