People Skills

Startups Need to Capitalize on Every Conversation

Whether you are trying to motivate your team, close a deal with a customer, or get funding from an investor, a casual conversation is usually a waste of your valuable time. These result is a founder who is always “too busy,” but never seems to get the business done and the team moving. All real business is conversations focused on creating results.

How to Get Your Team to Buy into Organizational Change

In my experience as a leadership expert and consultant, change is never easy. It is not easy for leaders, managers, or employees. Change poses a threat for most people, especially when it comes to their career or position within their organization.

Great Leaders Take Responsibility

I have seen time and again how the committed take responsibility for their actions. In our high-litigation culture, there’s always someone else to blame. It can be easy to point the finger at suppliers, underlings, partners, and managers that just can’t seem to get things right.

How to Build Trust Across Cultures and Diversities

In the 21st century, there’s no doubt that each of us will spend considerable time interacting with those of a different culture (or other diversities). Trust-building isn’t easy, and it can be especially daunting the more differences that are present. Here are some top tips and discussion questions from chapter 14 of The Trust Edge that can help. Consider printing this post to work on with your team this week.

Is There a Recipe for Creating Trust?

We talk about the idea of creating trust every week with our clients. At my agency, MMG, we call this equation basic marketing math: Know + Like + Trust = Sales.

Internal Customer Service

Most people—even I am guilty sometimes—worry only about how customers of the business (external customers) are treated and put little emphasis on how the staff serves one another or their vendors (internal customers).

First See It the Way It Is. Only Then…

There are certain natural laws of life. They are not necessarily good or bad. They just are. They are immutable; unchangeable.

5 Manageri-isms All Good Bosses Should Avoid

Business management is plagued with stereotypes. Managers are portrayed or seen as incompetent, aloof, or out of touch with the office. Just look at Lumbergh from Office Space, or the Pointy-Haired Boss in Dilbert.

Building Consensus as a Manager

Having an empowered staff is so important for every organization. An empowered staff feels some responsibility for all the business decisions, and managers should be encouraging this in as many ways as possible—especially with Millennials.

The Secret to Productivity, In One Sentence

The great Bud Grant, my football coach with the Minnesota Vikings, never made motivational talks before the game. He always said to me, “Well, if I have to go and motivate you before the game, and you need me to make a pep talk, then you’re in the wrong profession.” And that made sense to me.

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