Last night I was at a party of speaker industry people. A speaker who is a paraplegic wheeled up to the four seat table where a friend and I were seated and asked if there was a spot for him. Of course there was. During our lively conversation, the subject of disability came up and…
Read MoreI was sitting next to a woman on a four and a half hour flight the other day. Turns out she was 80 years old. Not a withering little old lady 80, but rather a smart, well-dressed, very healthy 80. She got on the plane with a very unhappy little 10lb dog in a carryon.…
Read MoreThere are two factors in most decision making. Fact and Gut, when used together, lead to the best decisions. Sometimes they are in conflict, or one seems to be louder than the other. While many people seem to say, “just go with your gut”, others want all decisions to ‘make sense’. Which is better, smarter…
Read MoreThis week CVS Pharmacy made a decision to stop selling all tobacco products in their stores by October 2014. I posted to Facebook that I thought it was a courageous decision for leaders to make. My point was NOT about tobacco. I don’t really care if CVS was doing it for publicity. It was courageous…
Read MoreThe National Speakers Association decided to change their name and brand to PLATFORM recently. The decision stirred up so much anger that the President of the Association decided to put the change (two years in the making) on hold. Why so much anger, you ask? Three reasons: a perception by the membership that is was…
Read MoreMost coaches (executive, athletic, etc.) will tell you that playing up is necessary for real performance improvement. Playing up is how willing you are to spend time around those that are smarter, more talented or further along their development path than you are. Doing that stimulates you to play up to the higher level of…
Read MoreAll of us have times when we are faced with difficult decisions. The reasons for the difficulty are as varied as the decisions each of us faces. Perhaps the difficulty is because it might have financial consequences or maybe someone’s feelings are going to get hurt. Maybe the difficulty is because, regardless of the choice…
Read MoreSeems like an obvious enough question, doesn’t it? My buddy called a Harley Davidson store to find out if they have a leather jacket exactly like the one he has (his has worn out.) The salesperson at the Harley store says, “We don’t have it in stock, but I would be happy to call around…
Read MorePlease read the headline carefully. Then read it again. When all extraneous issues are stripped away, the customer experience is the single most critical factor in determining your success. In a very real sense, nothing else matters. How that experience is defined is your key to continuing to prosper. I sometimes hesitate to speak of…
Read MoreI know, I know, you are probably thinking you find both fault and favor. Admittedly, some people are balanced in their view of people and events but for the most part everyone has a bias.Everyone tends to lean one way or the other. Everyone, that is, that has any real interaction with people or life…
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