The Simple Depth of Mr. Rogers

Posted by:

award-winning performanceI was flipping through the TV channels last night, trying desperately to avoid any Kardashian-related programming, when I came upon a breath of fresh air. It was a PBS biography of everybody’s favorite neighbor, Fred Rogers, who left us in 2003. I only managed to catch a few minutes of this show, but in it I heard a quotation from Mr. Rogers that I hadn’t heard before:

It is my ...

Continue Reading →
2

The Key to Producing Great Teams

Posted by:

award winning teamsSince my job is to help leaders produce seriously award-winning teams, I’m exceedingly (some would say irritatingly) interested in what makes great teams tick. Turns out I’m in good company! The folks at MIT’s Human Dynamics Laboratory have been working on this question for some time now, and they’ve come up with an answer. A single answer.

The MIT ...

Continue Reading →
0

The Tao of Reading

Posted by:

I was struck this morning by a LinkedIn posting by my friend and colleague Eileen McDargh. Here’s what she wrote:

Get in control by reading only what matters. And what matters concerns your business, your future, your soul.

Another friend and colleague of mine, the late Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, was famous for saying:

You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and ...

Continue Reading →
0

It’s Okay to Say “No” to the Wrong Customer

Posted by:

I was at an event recently where one business speaker asserted that there were four words you should never tell a customer: “I can’t do that.” And he had some very good reasons for this assertion:

Your competitors love it when you tell a customer, “I can’t do that.”

It’s music to their ears.

When you tell a customer, “I can’t do that,” you’re giving them an excuse to look elsewhere, and you’re opening a window of ...

Continue Reading →
0

An Award-Winning Performance…Every Time

Posted by:

award winning performanceSome of you know that I used to produce a sketch comedy TV show in Seattle called Almost Live! It was on the air for fifteen years, and number one in its time slot for ten straight years. During those fifteen years, my team and I won more than 100 Emmy Awards. At the risk of sounding immodest, we were really, really good at what we did. Our ...

Continue Reading →
1

The Joy of Checklists

Posted by:

It was 4:00am yesterday morning, and I was driving to the airport for a speaking engagement in Pittsburgh. This is a pretty common occurrence for me (not necessarily the Pittsburgh part, but the rest of it). All of a sudden I had one of those, “Oh no, did I leave the iron on?” moments. I forget what it was that I was actually worried about—it wasn’t the iron. Probably, “Did I lock the door?” or “Did I water the plants?” ...

Continue Reading →
0
Page 67 of 93 «...4050606566676869...»