Why You Need To Bring Your Customers Their Coffee Mugs…NOW!

November 26, 2013

BAKE IN THE WOW

Last week I went to my local coffee shop and ordered my typical morning starter…a medium decaf coffee.  I know what you are thinking…”what kind of man are you if you are drinking decaf?”.  Well, I do miss the caffeine, but it was affecting me in some pretty negative ways, so I had to switch.  🙁

Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that since I switched to decaf, it’s often a pain for the barista.  Depending on where I go, they either have to do something they call a pour over (which is literally them pouring hot water over a filter filled with grounds) or they have to make a whole pot of decaf just for little old me.

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In Culture, Motivation, People, Uncategorized
November 26, 2013
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How We Should Celebrate Our Victories At Work

November 21, 2013
It’s crazy to me how hard we all work; sometimes 40, 50, 60 hours a week and rarely do we get a chance to really get excited and celebrate our victories.  Yes, some of us may go have a beer occasionally or even buy lunch once in while for an accomplishment, but very rarely do we allow ourselves to show the excitement you’ll see in this one minute clip.  Check out this video and think about how you can bring this kind of joy into your workplace the next time you or someone on your team wins:
In Culture, Motivation
November 21, 2013
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How To Instill Self-Confidence In The People You Interact With

November 19, 2013

HOW TO GIVE SELF CONFIDENCE

Lately, I’ve noticed a trend.  I often interact with very smart people that have completely underestimated their capabilities.  I typically resort to the tactic of telling them how great they are and how much more they could do if they didn’t have this self-limiting belief.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t typically do more than give them a short-term ego boost.

What Can I Do Differently?

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In Engage Your Team, Motivation , , ,
November 19, 2013
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What The Heck Is “Arbejdsglaede”? – Video

November 14, 2013

Here’s a really cool concept that I came across recently.  If you’ve ever learned anything about different languages, you know that there are sometimes words and concepts, in those languages, that don’t exist in English.  These ideas can sometimes be hard to wrap your head around, but are often very insightful.

In this case Sweden, Denmark, and Norway may be able to teach us a thing or two about “happiness” at “work”.

Watch this video to find out about arbejdsglaede…yep, that really is a word:

In Engage Your Team, Motivation, Videos ,
November 14, 2013
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Why Books Don’t Change Your Life

November 12, 2013
BOOKS DONT CHANGE YOUR LIFE

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. Walter Disney

Lot’s of influential people will tell you that reading books will change your life.  I’m here to tell you that this just isn’t true!

If you are anything like me, you probably read quite a bit.  But that also means that you’ve probably ran into more than one book that made little to no impact on who you are.

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In Motivation , ,
November 12, 2013
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Lead Like A Submarine Captain – Video

November 7, 2013

Many Hollywood movies have inspired us with their version of “leadership” over the years.  Maybe none more than those focusing on ship captains or submarine captains at the helm.  That’s why when I saw this video posted over at http://greenmango.cc/blog/ I was truly intrigued.

This video is based on a real story of a submarine captain that was faced with the challenge of flipping decades of leadership dogma on it’s head so that he could literally turn the worst performing ship in the navy around to be the best.

In currently reading his book (“Turn This Ship Around”) and hope to share more with you soon.  In the meantime, please enjoy:

In Culture, Engage Your Boss, Engage Your Team, Leading , , ,
November 7, 2013
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Getting Your Hand Slapped At Work – Not Always A Bad Thing?

November 5, 2013
GETTING YOUR HAND SLAPPED

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” TS Eliot

If you’ve worked for someone else for more than five minutes, you’ve probably gotten your proverbial hand slapped for one reason or another.  Obviously you lived to talk about it and likely learned a lesson or two about your boundaries in the process.  But getting your hand slapped doesn’t always mean that you did something wrong.  Sometimes, it’s exactly the opposite!

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In Engage Your Boss, Leading , , ,
November 5, 2013
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How Does Your Company’s Story Affect Your Culture?

October 22, 2013

COMPANY STORY AFFECTS CULTUREI read articles quite often that talk about the importance of telling a story in order to brand an organization.  More often than not, those articles tend to link branding and customer loyalty.  Lately though, I’ve been looking into another important aspect of a company’s story…employee engagement.

From my research, it seems there IS a direct correlation to engaged teams and a powerful story.  Here’s what I found out:

Your Mission Is Just One Piece of The Puzzle

I first learned about this from Dave Ramsey in Entreleadership.  The Lampo Group is a company that wears its mission on its sleeve:

The Lampo Group provides biblically based, common-sense education and empowerment that gives HOPE to everyone in every walk of life.”

Of course, this is a rare case where you can bring faith into work.  Most people would say that this just isn’t normal.  Hmm.  Not normal?  I think that is what we are going for here, right?  The title of this site is not Corporate Culture Normalcy.

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In Culture, Engage Your Team
October 22, 2013
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To Busy To Live

September 26, 2013

KNOWING WHAT TO DO

I know it’s the cultural norm to work long hours and to give so much to your job that you collapse at the end of the day.  I’m doing that right now in my day job.  But something doesn’t feel right about it to me.

The funny thing is that I don’t mind doing the work.  I don’t even mind the extra hours.  My problem is that the rest of my life is suffering.  You know, the parts that I live for.

Enjoying the smile on my daughters’ faces.  Holding my wife’s hand on a long walk.  Writing.  Bringing hope to people at work through this business.  Normal stuff, right?

Maybe I’m spoiled from years of light duty?  Probably not.

Maybe it’s because I’ve worked really hard to keep balance in my life?  Yep, that’s it!  I think…

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In Motivation
September 26, 2013
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How To Be A Reverse Gossip

September 18, 2013

COURAGE NEEDS HOPE

It’s been a while since my last post…that’s kind of a good news / bad news thing.  Good news is that I’m very busy and am working on some exciting projects.  Bad news is that my time for writing and reflection has dwindled.  I need to change that!  I also hope to share my new projects with you soon!

A Story of Hope…

Gossip really is a cancer in life, business, and just about anywhere.  I don’t know many people that would argue that point.  However, I recently witnessed a positive version of gossip I’m calling “reverse gossip“.  It was refreshing, energizing, and did more for moral than anything I’ve seen in years!

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In Culture
September 18, 2013
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