Jeff Vogelsang, Managing Partner of Promontory Point Partners, is a turnaround specialist. We heard him speak to a group of CEOs wherein he described the typical interaction between himself and the CEO of a company that requires his turnaround help. Vogelsang said that the CEO will “whine” (his word, not ours) to him that the
To blog or not to blog. Blog suspended . . . for now.
We published our first blog on August 4, 2010 and have continuously posted two new blogs per month since then (we did miss one publication date during recovery from knee replacement surgery, but apart from that, our string has been uninterrupted). It appears Covid-19 is about to end that streak. As we look at online
“The whole concept of negotiating is intimidating to many people.”
Chris Voss is an author, speaker, and businessman. But prior to that, he was an FBI agent for 24 years, most of that time working as a hostage negotiator. While doing that work, he noticed that the skills needed to negotiate with kidnappers and terrorists weren’t all that different from the skills business people need
If I were a prospective new customer for your business, would your website pull me in or turn me off?
We claim no expertise in website design. But we did come across a video of a workshop presentation featuring a guy who does claim some website design expertise, and we thought it would be worth passing along to you. Don Miller is an American author, public speaker, and business owner. His company, StoryBrand, is a
“I haven’t failed. I’ve discovered 10,000 things that don’t work.”
There are scholars who study group dynamics . . . that is, they study the way people behave and interact with one another in a group setting. These scholars sometimes talk about a thing called “the Messiah Complex.” This is a phenomenon that takes place when a group must confront a problem that is so
A Few Guidelines for Negotiating Successfully
Jack Kaine is an expert negotiator. He has written about negotiation, given speeches about it, and he has taught it at Stanford. He reminds us that the people sitting at a union bargaining table are not the only people who negotiate. We all negotiate. Every day. We negotiate with employees over pay, benefits, working conditions,
“It’s important to have a sound idea, but the really important thing is the implementation.”
Picture this. You’re in a meeting to discuss a particular operating problem you need to solve. The group discusses several possible solutions, and finally settles on the one that seems most likely to succeed. Then the leader of the group says, “Good work gang! I think we’re on the right track here,” and adjourns the
“The majority of meetings should be discussions that lead to decisions.”
“People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything.” ~ Thomas Sowell “Has anyone ever said, ‘I wish I could go to more meetings today?’” ~ Matt Mullenweg “Meetings are indispensable when you don’t want to do anything.” ~ John Kenneth Galbraith I was going to say that meetings get a bad rap,
“We really view each (telephone call) as an opportunity to build the Zappos brand.”
Whatever happened to customer service? Everybody pays lip service to it, but very few actually deliver it. More and more often, when you go to a company’s website looking for a phone number, you will be disappointed to find there isn’t one. Apparently, they don’t want to talk to their customers. Instead, they provide a
“Don’t do interviews. Interviews are boring. Make it a conversation.”
Brendan Reid, a business writer, author, and coach, points out that strong interviewing skills are critical to the success of any hiring manager. Obviously, bringing people on board who have the right skills, knowledge, experience, and temperament will have enormous benefit to the hiring manager and to the company. Yet few companies, except the very
