Category Archives: Blog

Team Leadership

Team Building Leadership

A common question is, “How can I motivate these people?” The manager or business owner asking the question expects an answer which reflects on some secret wisdom hidden away from the general population by the wizards on business theory. They want the “silver bullet” to change people from low productivity to outstanding performance. The true answer involves the skills anteam buildingd attributes of the employees and the leadership abilities of the manager. Here are some leadership principles worth understanding.right people:

  • Authority versus Power
  • Putting the right People in the right Jobs
  • Create the Environment
… Read the rest

Knowing Yourself a Little Better

Many times, if you are in a new town and have found the name of a restaurant you want to try, you DISCmay call on the phone and ask for direction. The first questions you are asked is, well, where are you now? This also is a starting point in any development process in which the question is how do I get to the next level of success? The question here is what is your current situation?   One of the elements of that situation is you and we are making the opportunity available to you to better know yourself. Go to the Special Offers Page of our website which will provide a link to an exercise. Complete the exercise and we will contact you with the report and findings. … Read the rest

Everyone’s Role in Overall Team Performance

Everyone in an Organization Plays an Important Role in its Overall Performance

It’s no longer enough to be good, you must be exceptional. It is no longer enough to have satisfied customers, you must seek to develop a loyal and delighted customer base. It’s no longer enough toperformance maintain. You must be aggressive, responsive, and quick. Your challenge is getting everyone on your team or in your department committed and focused on achieving organizational success. As an effective team leader, your role is to build the best, strongest, most productive team possible. Your team or department’s results, or lack thereof, will be in direct proportion to the cohesiveness of your team.… Read the rest

Developing Loyal Customers

Some Points on Developing Customer Loyalty

The August issue of the Quill has several articles on the need and reason for developing customer loyalty. Now let’s begin to look at some of the concepts involved in the customer loyalty development process.

A point of connection is every time a customer or potential comes in contact with you, your employees or your firm. It may be personal, as is the case with employees; or it may be physical, like the appearance of your building. To develop loyal customers, every point of connection must provide a positive emotional experience.  Let’s look at two examples of these emotional experiences… Read the rest

Bosses We have Loved

Lessons in Leadership 

The difference between bosses we love and bosses we hate is leadership. Think back over your leadershipcareer and remember those managers who you most admired. What can be learned from them and how can it make us better leaders? What were the traits or attributes we can identify? Let’s consider the five attributes listed below as a starting point. Are there others?

 The Starting Five Attributes of  Good Leadership 

1. Leadship By Permission, Not Authority

2. Trustworthy

3. Empathetic

4. Openly Human

5. Encourage Risk Taking… Read the rest

Strategic Plans That Never Happen

The Strategic Plan That Never Happened

failureMaybe you are a business or a non-profit that completed writing a strategic plan within the last one to two years. You spent many hours with your board of directors or management team carefully crafting the wording within each step of the process. Maybe you used a consultant or let a team member lead the discussion. Everyone felt good about the completion of the document, but a year later the status quo continues. What happened?

… Read the rest

Strategic Plans

Making the Strategic Plan Work

The Non-Profit Board

boardroomHaving worked with and been a part of several non-profit boards of directors, we have observed both well-functioning and dysfunctional groups. Please understand that in every case they were made up of intelligent and well-meaning people. Many of them have worked long and hard in writing a strategic plan. But once completed, it often becomes only an agenda item at the next annual retreat.… Read the rest

Building Loyal Customers

Customer Loyalty

A Key to Business Success

success Business owners and managers must be focused on building a successful organization. Let’s define success as a business which is profitable and sustainable. All businesses must be profitable in order to cover their costs and provide the owner with an appropriate income. Sustainability refers to the ability for a business to survive tomorrow, next week, next month and far into the future. Having loyal customers is key to both profitability and sustainability. The questions are, therefore, why are loyal customers important to success and how do you create loyal customers?

Why are loyal customers important to business success?

Loyal customers are those who appreciate doing business with you and return over and over again.

… Read the rest