My podcast partner Mike Marshall shared this with me. Absolutely fascinated for those of us uninitiated: The same YouTube account has an earlier video of an office worker at an independent repair shop. I’d love to hear what caught your eye as you compare it to the American work environment. Any ideas to try out in your workplace? What I …
Podcast 79: Do you have citizens … or subjects?
A French aristocrat’s 1830s book was supposed to explain what made the United States so unique. It also happens to give modern organizations: a diagnostic checklist for employee engagement (do you have citizens or subjects?) the three things you must do to increase employee engagement. For more on the topic, see Mark’s blog post. We would love your questions and …
The new research behind an ancient culture-building method
I invite clients to “wrestle and grow.” That growth happens in three areas: growing more organized, growing more confident and growing more influential. Classical culture-building Those three words sum up my method to help clients build their cultures. But really, they are principles of classical education–the system that built the most successful and longest-lasting culture of all time: the West. …
Horn Sections Make Rock Better: Qualified
From Barry Manilow to Randy Newman to Dr. John. There is a thread–see the last two weeks’ entries. Here he is live, backed by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, also featured here before. (The original featured New Orleans funk legends the Meters, plus producer Allen Toussaint. Toussaint’s first production credit: “Ooh Poo Pah Doo” by Jesse Hill–this song’s cowriter with …
The dealer’s temptation as the EV market grows
Automotive friends: McKinsey & Company have just published an assessment of the US auto market’s readiness to sell and service electric vehicles. (They are probably right that the transition is inevitable and will happen faster than most of us realize. But: It didn’t take much for 2020’s EV sales to surge over the previous year. There were more offerings, and …
Podcast 78: You can‘t order excellence: Lessons from the new book “Coaching Amplified!”
We’ve discussed Mike’s Respect-based Performance Coaching method in previous episodes. Here’s another insight from Mike’s new book–one that can change your life: You can’t order excellence. More insights from the book can be found in these previous episodes: How do you coach? Three things you need for your coaching to succeed: Trustworthiness Care Commitment We would love your questions and …
A French aristocrat’s timeless lesson for the USA—and for employee engagement
Organizations like Gallup have been studying how to unlock employee engagement for decades now. It turns out a French aristocrat figured it out about two centuries ago. The answer lies in determining if you have citizens … or subjects. Democracy in America Alexis de Tocqueville toured the United States in the 1830s. He then published “Democracy in America.” Its outside-the-fishbowl …
Horn Sections Make Rock Better: Have You Seen My Baby?
Last week, the pop of the one they jokingly call Barely Man-enough. This week, early Randy Newman from the beginning of the disco decade. I wonder what Newman thought of Manilow. The style seems to pay homage to lots of American roots music. I hear New Orleans, maybe even his contemporary, Dr. John (Newman lived there as a kid and …
The podcast: Now on Amazon
For those so inclined, our podcast, “It doesn’t take a genius,” is now on Amazon.
A checklist for how to find and recruit new hires
My current clients are in the automotive, retail and hospitality sectors. One thing they all have in common: needing to hire qualified people. (If this surprises you, I encourage you to read the news.) So here’s a creative idea from the automotive sector on recruiting an especially peculiar kind of qualified employee: technicians. (The statistic often shared is that five …