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Case Study – Deplaning Delta Air Lines in Detroit

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What do you get when you combine a New Year's holiday flight, Delta Air Lines, and a tight Detroit connection?  Gate agents yelling at pilots publicly, questionable security and safety standards, needless threats... and what I hope will be one excellent management case study on what happens when our employees get stressed, lose perspective, and literally no one is in control. A hazard of my profession is that I see exceptional service often - exceptionally good and exceptionally bad.  And when that happens, I … [Read more...]

Break All the Rules: Business Lessons from MasterChef

MasterChef

I have to admit I have this love/hate, moth-to-the flame relationship with reality TV: I resent that it's the nearly the only thing made any more, and yet I keep getting drawn back in. But what really fascinates me is when, like last night, an episode of MasterChef can serve as an advertisement for the importance of market research. If you didn't see it, the final challenge of the night pitted Red Team vs. Blue Team in true Gordon Ramsay style to cook the best hamburger for hungry truckers.  The truckers … [Read more...]

How to Grow Your Business

Achieve high performance through better strategic planning and execution.

We're drawing closer to fall which for my business tends to be a busy time - a time of renewal as business owners and managers get back from summer vacations... and begin looking forward to Christmas vacation. I really got stuck on the idea of touching the pulse of as many savvy people as I could to really find out what the top issues are right now. So last week, I did something that seemed logical at the time - I asked the folks on my list a very simple question: What's the biggest challenge you're facing … [Read more...]

How to Find and Win Clients

Win through better strategic planning and marketing.

photo by MattoxIn a post started here, I asked you to respond to my reader's comments on their biggest challenge in growing their business. What I'd like from you: 1. Read through the responses. 2. Find one that you know how to solve, or for which you have a helpful suggestion. 3. Leave a comment with your answer. (Remember, you can post under an anonymous "name.") 4. If your response is on this list, check back here for what people suggested. Diversify or Die As an ad agency, we've had some … [Read more...]

How to Survive on Fewer Resources

Use financial controls and Balanced Scorecard to do more with less.

In a post started here, I asked you to respond to my reader's comments on their biggest challenge in growing their business. What I'd like from you: 1. Read through the responses. 2. Find one that you know how to solve, or for which you have a helpful suggestion. 3. Leave a comment with your answer. (Remember, you can post under an anonymous "name.") 4. If your response is on this list, check back here for what people suggested. Do More With Less Our clients have no budget for anything but the … [Read more...]

How to Do Marketing

Clarify you brand message to engage your employees and customers.

In a post started here, I asked you to respond to my reader's comments on their biggest challenge in growing their business. What I'd like from you: 1. Read through the responses. 2. Find one that you know how to solve, or for which you have a helpful suggestion. 3. Leave a comment with your answer. (Remember, you can post under an anonymous "name.") 4. If your response is on this list, check back here for what people suggested. Nobody Understands What We Do We've created innovations in eCommerce and … [Read more...]

How to Do Leadership

Practive Leadership and The Act of Leading

In a post started here, I asked you to respond to my reader's comments on their biggest challenge in growing their business. What I'd like from you: 1. Read through the responses. 2. Find one that you know how to solve, or for which you have a helpful suggestion. 3. Leave a comment with your answer. (Remember, you can post under an anonymous "name.") 4. If your response is on this list, check back here for what people suggested. Getting Unstuck Knowing where and how to grow, and how to start.  Knowing … [Read more...]

Eat Your Own Dog Food!

Process improvement mean high performance and higher profit.

The challenge with working in performance improvement is you see room for improvement everywhere... My wife and I just got back from a pretty good dinner at a Zagat-rated restaurant in Woodinville, WA. "Pretty good" might seem good, but at $83 it should have been "great." Frankly, I'm not concerned about the money. I'm concerned that I happen to know that the owners of this particular restaurant are dismayed about the current downturn and are seeking a way to turn things around. If only they had a way to … [Read more...]

Five Keys to Overcoming Management Overwork

optimize your management processes for high performance.

There’s an especially strong theme coming from owners and their executives: the desire to invest smartly in improving business results. Actually, it’s stronger than that. It’s an awakening to the absolute fact that “business as normal” is simply not okay. It’s not okay to struggle and kick and scream and work hard and still produce… fill in the blank for yourself: the same old sales results, a lack of profit, not enough clients, insufficient productivity, a lack of satisfaction, or all of the … [Read more...]

Making Business Resolutions Happen

Use Performance Factors to make resolutions stick and High Performance happen.

We are at an interesting time.  A struggling economy is forcing many businesses into creative action to improve their position right at the turn of the year, a time when many naturally resolve to improve and do better any way. While this double whammy of introspection still hasn’t inspired everyone to new levels of action and success, in my own practice, I have definitely noticed an uptick in leaders pulling out all stops and resolving to make 2009 a growth year despite conventional wisdom. So what are … [Read more...]