I’ve often wondered the connection between our people loving their jobs and the level of service they provide to the candidates they come in touch with throughout their days, and the clients we serve on executive search assignments at McDermott & Bull and MB Interim Leaders. I know there have been many articles written about job satisfaction, relationships with fellow employees, and service levels delivered by happy employees having fun at their jobs. I’ve often wondered how variations in leadership style affects this type of customer experience.
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Customer Service, Loving Your Job, and Leadership
Monday, September 30th, 2013Are You “The Dream Manager”? PART II
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013
After I read the book “The Dream Manager”, besides considering how I might incorporate some of the concepts in my business with my employees, I also realized that I was at risk of not living or reaching some of my own dreams. My wife, Laura, also read the book and we both started dream journals and scribbled down about 60 dreams that we had, in many different categories including spiritual, adventure, financial, legacy, physical, hobby, etc. One of mine that I had talked about with a good buddy, who is also a pilot, for about 20 years, was flying our planes across the country. I’ve put it off for years because it was about a 2 week trip and would be too big a burden on my family to be gone that long. Well, one of my wife’s was to spend 2 weeks with her elderly grandmother, who at the time was 94 years old and living in Buffalo. My wife grew up in California and only ever spent about a week a summer in Buffalo with her grandmother growing up and really enjoyed her time but it would be over too soon.
Are You “The Dream Manager”?
Thursday, May 16th, 2013
Way back in 2008, a recent grad from Vanguard University, Kelsey Richards, joined McDermott & Bull Executive Search as a Program Coordinator for the McDermott & Bull Executive Network. At the time she joined us, we had a discussion about her upbringing and she shared with me that her parents owned a chain of McDonald’s restaurants. They employed quite a few people in some very busy stores. Further, she shared that she grew up learning about business at home, at the dinner table, on weekends, and in car rides as her parents were entrepreneurs and were very focused on their business.
I asked her if she read any good business books lately and she mentioned “The Dream Manager” as one that her parents suggested she read and it was quite impactful. Always looking for a good book myself, and an easy read (it’s about a 2 hour read), I picked up a copy over Labor Day weekend that year and couldn’t put it down. In fact, I left our hotel in Lake Arrowhead before dawn and went to Starbucks to read, and didn’t come back until I finished. What a great book!
What’s Your Ammunition?
Monday, April 8th, 2013
How do you attract stars to your organization? What tools do you give your A-players to help them succeed? A good business will provide their stars with the ammunition they need to win. Often times, we are focused on the dollar signs as a way to attract the best in the business. But the players we really want are not only attracted to the potential income – they also want to win, and win often! The ability to feel like a winner is what will keep those A-players working for you. So, what ammunition are you providing to help your key people win as often as possible, and to attract other winners?
Ammunition can come in many forms – brand strength, quality of products/service, quality of systems and back office, and quality of management, just to name a few. Having a competitive advantage is what A-players seek in an employer. If you can’t answer the question – “What makes you better than your competition?” – you haven’t created enough ammunition for those A-players to join you. Being better, doesn’t only mean in the market with your customers. It can also refer to how well you develop your people, how well you partner with your suppliers to innovate better than the others, and even what the culture of the company is like.
Scary Thoughts, but Ingeuity Prevails!
Monday, March 18th, 2013
I’m in Buenos Aires on vacation, the second time in 8 years, and the country is quite different this time around. The economy, while not fantastic in 2005, is even worse today. The Argentine peso has been devalued again, and the President has decreed, among other things, that foreign companies cannot repatriate their Argentine earnings to their own country. All money made here must stay here. Apparently, the thinking is that will force companies to invest here. In reality, companies are reducing their current investments here and are not making many new ones. While Brazil is the darling of Latin America, and Mexico is gaining some splendor, Argentina is going the way of Venezuela and they are comparing President Fernandez de Kirchner to Hugo Chavez.
Things really have changed!