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.
Posts Tagged ‘work ethic’
Customer Service, Loving Your Job, and Leadership
Monday, September 30th, 2013Scary Thoughts, but Ingeuity Prevails!
Monday, March 18th, 2013I’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!
Are You a Linchpin?
Friday, September 17th, 2010I recently finished the book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin. Great book. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it.
While most business books I’ve read don’t really introduce new concepts (I know my blog doesn’t really either), the really good ones get me to focus on the important things I’ve been missing, or some areas for improvement, generally in leadership. This book falls into that same category and reinforces some important concepts we’ve all learned in the past, but does put a different perspective, in my opinion, on the mindset the Linchpin has while doing her work. She’s an artist, and is “giving” away her art, or, in my opinion, her gifts and strengths to an organization and those it serves. It’s just who she is – she is going to do a great job and not keep score, and make sure she leaves those she serves better off for having interacted with her. Keeping score – “They don’t pay me enough”, “I’m not appreciated”, or “They overwork me” – can be very tiring and generally leaves the score keeper not feeling better for the experience.
OK, a Little Redundant, But…
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010I know I’ve blogged about this already, but it seems worth bringing up again, for a number of reasons. First, I’d like readers to share their own experiences on two topics, and second, I want to give readers a unique perspective and see what they think about it.
OK, onto the topics:
I. Head Trash
We’ve had this conversation once before, but it seems to prevail in the marketplace. I refer to head trash as those thoughts, ideas, and beliefs that serve no purpose other than to create a roadblock in your head. I have a theory on it as well: sometimes head trash serves to be the “reason” we’re NOT making progress in our job search. For instance, if I want to be a leader/manager in a company in the healthcare industry, I can tell myself, after being told the same thing many times, that it’s almost impossible because I don’t have healthcare experience. What does this do for me? It validates why I haven’t made progress and therefore, it can’t be my fault, right?
Head Trash That Can Hurt Your Job Search
Monday, April 5th, 2010I don’t think I’ll surprise anyone by saying that it can be very difficult to find a job today. In fact, if you’re from an industry that’s been devastated or tarnished like the mortgage sector, then it might be close to impossible to re-brand yourself. People from the real estate sector aren’t finding work in their field, and are finding it very hard to change industries after many years of success. The tech sector is doing okay, and alternative energy/green jobs seem to still be doing okay, however they want people from those fields and would rather not settle for an industry changer. Even the med device space, which is doing well today, still wants folks from their industry rather than an industry changer, especially if you’re out of work. In fact, companies are looking askance at out of work job seekers, so the microscope is on you even more.
Work Ethic and Balance…What’s the Right Mix?
Thursday, March 11th, 2010In my prior posts, I wrote about some things that might be controversial. Well, this one has a lot of opinions and I honestly don’t know the “right” answer, but I’ll give my opinion and hope to hear from readers on theirs. Most senior executives out there don’t need to learn these things, as they likely became senior executives because they knew them. I still hope it’s worthwhile as a refresher, as things were pretty easy for our workforce, at all levels, over the past 15 years, with a few bumps along the way.
I recently took a trip to Israel and spent 4 days touring around Jerusalem with our guide, Joseph (Yosi) and my family. He spent some very long days with us, and didn’t cut any corners, even when there were days when we would have been ok with that. Over the course of four days, we were able to have many conversations about lifestyle in Israel, the economy, their industry, and their work ethic.