Posts tagged as:

economy attitude

Too much time…

5 comments June 14, 2010

Did you see the New York Times article where — believe it or not — there was a memo circulating around GM HQ instructing their employees to “communicate our brand as Chevrolet”? In other words…NOT as “Chevy.” Good grief. How would your organization like to have a nickname…a BRAND, for goodness sakes…as universally known as [...]

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The Wizard…

10 comments June 4, 2010

The meeting was about to begin in Anaheim, and I was extraordinarily nervous. Sure, I’m usually dealing with “performance anxiety” before every speech, but this situation was even more dramatic. For some unbelievable reason, the organization I was addressing decided they wanted two keynote speakers during the same session. They had selected me…and legendary UCLA [...]

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Good news in retail…

May 14, 2010

There’s good news on the economic front, as both upscale Nordstrom and more mass-appeal Kohl’s delivered strong sales and earnings — which experts are suggesting to mean that “consumers up and down the economic spectrum are feeling safer about shopping.” Nordstrom attributed their results to “ongoing progress in serving its customers with a compelling blend [...]

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A walk in the woods…

11 comments May 4, 2010

Since my wife signed me up to walk a half-marathon with her in seventeen days (but, who’s counting?) — along with my desire to get in better shape — I’m walking every morning. Usually about five miles…sometimes more, sometimes less. I’m very fortunate to have a beautiful path to walk…friendly neighborhood, through a protected wetlands, [...]

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Why does it take the extreme?

6 comments April 21, 2010

So…I’m watching “24″ on Monday night, and during a commercial break, a spot for Toyota comes on. During the commercial, in which Toyota basically does a mea culpa, they state, “The safety of our cars has recently come under question.” Uh, no…that’s not the way we’ve been hearing it. The general public believes the safety [...]

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Stumbling towards irrelevancy…

7 comments March 27, 2010

If I were to start a “National Talk-Show Hosts Association,” how high would the standards have to be to attract individuals already successful in the business to join? How compelling would the information and experience need to be so everyone from Rush Limbaugh to Jim Rome would feel they were missing out if they weren’t [...]

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A real guru…

March 10, 2010

With all of the discussion here lately about “gurus,” it was a true pleasure to meet a REAL one today. He stood in front of hundreds of people and announced that “consistency” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. “I wouldn’t tolerate mere consistency,” he proclaimed. “Some will consistently underperform. Some will consistently create problems [...]

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One more on gurus…

7 comments March 9, 2010

After my post on “Intellectual Dishonesty” attacking the mentality of gurus was posted — and has received an amazing number of hits and comments — there is one more related point I have to vent. …and please excuse the very personal aspect of this story. My late wife, Sheri, was a true leader in the [...]

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Intellectual dishonesty…

22 comments March 6, 2010

I’m tired of it…bored…and mad as hell. Strange as it sounds, I’m jaded by all of the talk about disruption. I am angry…because I have come to the conclusion those who focus upon it have become intellectually dishonest, and – frankly – simply lazy and passé. Just a few days ago, a major blogger wrote [...]

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Who is YOUR competitor?

1 comment February 26, 2010

When I ask organizations to name their competition, they ALWAYS point out other companies in their respective industry. Yet, from the customer or client’s perspective…that’s not the case. Customers do not discriminate in their evaluation of the level of service you provide based upon your specific industry. Here’s an example of how that works from [...]

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