Get good grades they say. Get a college degree they say. Your life will be much easier they say. I’m not sure who this “they” is but if someone can find them, I have a few friends and millions of young Americans who I’m sure would like to have a conversation with them. The “they”…
Employee engagement is a hot topic these days. According to a Gallup poll estimate, disengaged employees cost the US between $450 – $550 billion each year in terms of lost productivity. Could you be contributing to that figured by not finding out what’s truly meaningful to your employees? According to The Ken Blanchard Companies own…
The past couple years for me have been nothing short of a bold adventure dotted with opportunities, seen and unseen, to face my fears. Head on. And I don’t regret a second of it. I previously earned the nickname “safety cat” (a light-hearted play on “scared-y-cat”), but I have learned to embrace a maxim put…
Have you ever become so engrossed in a fun task that you lost track of time? Then you’ve experienced the concept of flow. Developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, it describes the state of mind when you reach the perfect combination of task challenge and personal skill: Click the image below for a simple demonstration of flow…
With America’s recent bid for the World Cup title, coupled with the 4th of July weekend, I’ve been feeling pretty patriotic lately. I’ve decided that my first born’s sons name will be Tim Howard…Jaramillo. After the amazing 16 saves in the recent loss to Belgium in the World Cup by Tim Howard, I can admit…
Are expectations from the younger generations driving changes to customer service and product support? Earlier this week, I came across an article on Forbes.com titled What Kind Of Customer Experience Are Millennials (Gen-Y) Looking For?. In the article, Micah Solomon, the article’s author, attempts to summarize the expectations of the Millennial generation when it comes to…
“Why don’t you and I go get some lunch to connect?” Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard that from your manager. Ok, put your hand down before they see what you are reading. Plus, that guy in IT might think you’re waving him down to get in for the weekly donut rotation. I have…
Being promoted into your first management role can be both an exciting and scary experience. It shows that your employer trusts you to make decisions and lead others. However, it can also be a major shift in responsibility. People are going to look to you for direction, and it’s up to you to have the…
Several years ago, someone posed the following challenge on a popular internet image board: The goal was “get the delicious cake” and you had to draw your solution. No other rules were given. One response showed the figure crawling through the spikes, while others used elements from pop culture to get the cake. For instance,…
If you are like me, you probably know someone who is a Sommelier, or an expert on all things wine. They know the flavors, the smells, and what will best complement each food item on the menu. They can tell you about the regions the wine came from, how long you should wait before you…