Most customers don’t care about you – they don’t care how good you proclaim to be. They feel nothing about the average experience and knowledge of your employees and they are really not that impressed with some of your veiled promises. Almost all customers want to experience great customer service and not just hear about…
Citizens in so many countries are frustrated and even angry. Sometimes, and in reasonably good faith, these people have gone to election polls to vote on progressive policy which hopefully address issues of inequality and greed in the past. They put their faith in the said good intentions of party leaders, only to be disillusioned…
I happened to be looking at the flight radar application on my mobile a couple of days ago, the same radar which indicates the positions of all airplanes with connected transponders all over the world. I noticed, with some degree of approval, the relative absence of flights over Africa, no flights landing or taking off…
An iceberg is mostly submerged – water is less dense in its solid form than as a liquid. In fact, about six-sevenths of an iceberg is under the water level, with only one-seventh above the surface. It is similarly true of many presenting statements – what you initially hear as a manager may or may…
There may be great excitement for most people when moving to a new place of residence – usually an upgrade on what one had previously – but this excitement is typically counter-balanced by the arduous task of packing and unpacking, sorting and throwing out and coping with a messy environment. Of particular irritation is the…
I was once asked: “Why do you always insist on taking the hard road?” I replied: “Why do you assume I see two roads?” (Unknown) The temptation for managers to look for short-cuts in their respective leadership endeavours is pressing – increasing customer demands, sometimes unrealistic labour union expectations, pressure from the competition, shareholder needs,…
Typically, managers get to their respective leadership positions due to one or more of the following reasons: Subject matter experts – they know and can apply what they have studied and learned Experience – they have been working in and on the relevant processes and systems for some time and have gained considerable knowledge related…
“Patience is the ability to keep a good attitude while working hard for what you believe in” (Marc Chernoff) We all get irritated or frustrated at times – long queues, traffic that doesn’t seem to move, a lady in the front of the row handing in what seems to be fifty coupons to the check-out…
“In a child’s lunchbox are a mother’s thoughts” (Japanese Proverb) On occasion, I also took my turn as a parent preparing lunches for my children when they were in junior school. I was not that creative I guess in what I prepared, but was very creative in the way that I cut the sandwiches –…
Some time ago, Microsoft announced that it would acquire the professional networking site, LinkedIn, for US$ 196 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at US$ 26.2 billion. In an e-mail to LinkedIn employees, LinkedIn CEO, Jeff Weiner, explained why he decided to sell the company to Microsoft. Weiner mentions Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s leadership…
From time to time, on account of market or other global business requirements and in order to achieve internal production and financial efficiencies, businesses implement strategic large-scale change initiatives for growth and sustainability. I currently have the privilege of consulting for a large multi-national company who is undergoing such a change. The company, in a…
We hear the stories often – a manager complaining about employee attitudes that are not aligned to company values; a hurt parent remonstrating about a daughter or son who seems to have gone off the rails; an exhausted mother of three small children relating her tiredness of having to cope whilst her husband is off…
