It’s intriguing to think about the vast amount of time, energy, money and focus we, as a culture, are willing to invest in our career and personal goals. We sacrifice our sacred family time, our mental, physical, and emotional health, our personal lives and how many other unknown assets to seek out future success which…
As most everyone knows, the period from Halloween to New Year’s Eve is unusually stressful for the average person. The many reasons are obvious when you review the many events which take place within that time period. Add to those events the typically poor weather conditions, the state of the economy, several potential war fronts,…
There has been so much said and written about the importance of leadership in this day and age. We, ourselves, do a great deal of it weekly on both our web site and blog. Leadership is critical—that can’t be argued. However, not everyone can be or should be a leader. Thankfully, there is a very…
This “Gem” has to be one of the most antiquated tales I can remember. In addition, I have a strange feeling it was passed on over the ages from mother to daughter rather than through the usual business network. However, it certainly proves a most valid point about our need to challenge belief systems and…
The old “Theory X and Theory Y” concept has been with us since 1960 when Douglas McGregor wrote his best seller The Human Side of Enterprise in which he proposed two theories by which to view employee motivation. In the spirit of our “Generational Gems,” we offer the following anecdote for your consideration. You may…
Here’s a classic that seems to appear more and more realistic with every newspaper I read or television newscast I see. I first saw this definitive narrative on a poster hanging on the wall in the office of a CEO we were working with. You may want to read this one twice, share it with…
As you know, we’ve been providing “classic” lessons, anecdotes, allegories, parables, and narratives from past generations in the hope of providing inspiration and encouragement to those “future leaders” in today’s business world. The more I review these “generational gems,” the more I believe we should be sharing them with our children and grandchildren as well….
As I mentioned when we started this series of generational gems, these stories have been around forever. However, considering the level of service we find in today’s marketplace—regardless of the industry—this is an analogy that should be retold again and again within many organizations. As a result, EXPECTATIONS can be given, ACCOUNTABILITY established, and CONSEQUENCES…
In today’s very competitive business environment, we hear so much about the need to adapt to change that it often falls on deaf ears. We’ve heard it all before and too many times to take seriously. However, this has been the case for centuries, and yet we never seem to learn. For example, let me…