Back in the Saddle Again

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I haven’t blogged in over a week. Nor have I Tweeted, Facebooked, or LinkedIn. I’ve fallen off my self-imposed schedule. Part of this is for good reason: I’ve been meeting with colleagues face-to-face, in Phoenix, Denver, and Breckenridge. Social media is great, but nothing will ever beat getting together with colleagues over a glass of wine or a couple of beers and talking shop. So that’s the good reason. The bad reason is that I got lazy. I got used ...

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Communication, Producing Results, The Beatles, Work Ethic

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Why This Business Made the Sale

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I guess I’m getting a new roof. I don’t want to get a new roof, but I guess I’m getting one. I mean, I know I’ve needed a new roof. My neighborhood, and therefore my house, is 20 years old, and most of my neighbors have already replaced their roofs. I’ve been holding out because I’d rather spend my money on candy and ice cream. Still, in the past two or three years I’ve received dozens, possibly hundreds, of flyers ...

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Communication, Customer Service, Sales, The Beatles

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How to Create Fiercely Loyal Customers

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A colleague and I were comparing cell phones yesterday. Mine is an iPhone and hers is, well, not an iPhone. I asked her how she liked her phone, and she said, “It’s fine, I guess. No complaints. It gets the job done.” Then she asked me how I liked my iPhone, and I practically yelled out, “I love my iPhone!” If you’re an iPhone user, you know what I mean. iPhone users love their phones, and they’re fiercely loyal. It’s ...

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Creativity, Customer Service, The Beatles, Work Ethic

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Who Are Your 5 People?

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This weekend I’ll be heading to Phoenix (current temperature: 1,000,000 degrees) for the annual convention of my colleagues in the National Speakers Association, followed by a week with my mastermind group in Denver. (For the record, there are a couple of speaking engagements sprinkled in there as well.) I’m greatly looking forward to both of these events (except for the aforementioned blistering heat) because it gives me a chance to spend time with some of the most successful people in ...

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Change, Communication, Producing Results

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The UPS Guy Lied to Me

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The UPS guy came to my house today. (This is what we in the business call a “grabber.” Notice how you’re already captivated. “Wow! The UPS guy! Right there at your own house! What happened next?!”) Well, today’s a nice summer day, I had the windows open, and I happened to be playing the piano when the UPS guy arrived. Nothing difficult, of course, because I’m not that good. It was just a nice little version of the Beatles’ Blackbird ...

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Change, Creativity, Producing Results, The Beatles

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Leaders, Stop Droning…PLEASE!

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A good leader is, among other things, a good communicator. As a professional speaker, I attend a lot of corporate and association conferences. I’ve seen hundreds of CEOs, presidents, and other leaders address their people. And I’ve found that, all other things being equal, the most effective communicators are those who can say what they need to say in the least amount of time (while keeping it engaging). The ineffective ones are those who drone on and on, generally eating ...

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Communication, Leadership, Producing Results

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Are You Rewarding Your Work, or Avoiding Your Work?

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Yesterday I wrote that a truly successful person wouldn’t take the afternoon off to go see a movie. A colleague of mine countered that that person might, if they were celebrating a personal or business success. She makes a good point. (And she’s a Ph.D., which, although no guarantee, lends a certain magnitude to her thoughts.) I’ve been thinking about the distinction today, and it comes down to this: there’s a difference between rewarding your work and avoiding your work. ...

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Producing Results, Work Ethic

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Ask the Magic Question

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I have a confession to make: this has been a lazy week for me. Because of a combination of the holiday, travel, and some other nice diversions, I haven’t been as focused on business as I should have been. My guess is that you’ve been there too. Maybe not this week, but at some point you’ve been there. You’ve mentally “checked out,” and just like that, the momentum was lost. It’s like when you stop going to the gym for ...

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Creativity, Producing Results, The Beatles, Work Ethic

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Why Team Infighting is a Good Thing

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The audience never saw the fights, but I remember them vividly. As the producer of Seattle’s long-running (15 years!), legendary comedy TV show, Almost Live!, I saw the fights almost every week. They would happen in the editing room, at the writer’s table, in the rehearsal studio. Sometimes they’d be happening downstairs in the Almost Live! offices while the studio audience was being seated in the studio upstairs. They varied from mild to intense—and I loved them! As a leader, ...

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Producing Results, Teams, The Beatles, Work Ethic

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In Defense of Creativity

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I’m currently developing a keynote presentation and supplementary workshop/breakout session on creativity and innovative thinking, and a friend of mine advised me not to include the word creativity in the title because “creativity isn’t a very in concept.” To which I respond: really? REALLY?

He said I might get somewhere with “innovative thinking,” but nobody’s going to buy a program on “creativity.” Now, bear in mind that my friend isn’t an idiot. (Many of my friends are, but not this particular ...

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Change, Creativity, Producing Results, The Beatles

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