My outstanding design and marketing firm shared this article about employee-generated content. It is a pretty clear litmus test of how engaged and retained your employees are, isn’t it? They don’t have to create material they can use to promote your business. Researchers call it “discretionary effort.” We see it often with customers: They have to give you money for …
The humility it takes to be a leader
The New York Times has a daily email briefing called The Morning that is pretty darn good. I don’t always agree with the editorializing, but it explains the reasoning behind why certain stories are in the news or on the Times’s radar. Here is one story I suspect we will all agree on: “The power of humility.” Using the N.F.L. …
Podcast 106: So you have to go to a mandatory workshop … (Mike and Mark: live!)
Have you ever been strongly suggested to attend a presentation or workshop? Perhaps even “voluntold?” This episode is to help you make the most of it. And for the first time ever, Mike and Mark facilitated some workshops together. So for the first time ever, they recorded an episode sitting in the same room. Let the dumpster fire ensue. We …
Podcast 105: Coach Wooden, Gandhi and Michael Jackson got it right.
Still on a high (Mike prefers the term “learning hangover”) from our conversation with the CEO of the John R. Wooden Course, Mike and Mark discuss one of the core tenants of the Wooden approach. Lead by example. Simple to say, hard to execute, profound in its impact. We would love your questions and comments for future episodes: …
Podcast 104 (our two-year special!): The magic of Coach Wooden–an interview with his disciple
We’ve produced two years of weekly podcasts! To celebrate, here’s a fascinating conversation with a mentor of our mentor–who was mentored by the Wizard of Westwood himself. Lynn Guerin is CEO of the John R. Wooden Course. He partnered with Coach Wooden to create the course, sharing Wooden’s legacy of “timeless wisdom for personal and team success.” In our interview, …
“Heroic in how we do business”
I’m still reading Alexis de Tocqueville. And I’m still blown away by how accurately his “Democracy in America” calls out what makes America great–and what someday might be our Achilles heel. Today’s post is just to remind Americans that we have some distinct qualities, things that rightly make us proud. Such as: cutting costs. Stay with me! There is no …
Do customers see you as Ringling Bros. or Cirque du Soleil?
I don’t care which you prefer: One of them went out of business. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closed up shop in 2017. I’ve had a note to myself since then to write an article about it. Since I procrastinated, here’s a well-written one from the Detroit Free Press. “As consumer preferences shifted, the circus stood still.” This …
Content creation: employee engagement needed
Automotive News posted this 5-minute video about Audi Milwaukee’s successful efforts on TikTok. Millions of views, two actual sales and a longterm customer base. While I refuse to join TikTok because I don’t want President Xi to know where I am at all times, I’m posting the video here for two reasons: It’s a great example of the content creation …
Work is not your god, but God wants you to work.
“Your Work Is Not Your God: Welcome to the Age of the Burnout Epidemic.” That’s the title of an essay by scholar and ex-professor Jonathan Malesic. He wrote a book about the subject. The essay is definitely worth a read if you can pardon the F Word toward the end. The title of Malesic’s essay implies that we have made …
Podcast 99: Do you have a culture … or a cult-?
There is tension in your organization’s culture. And it is most definitely a tension to manage, not a problem to solve. We would love your questions and comments for future episodes: Email Mike and Mark. Listen here … subscribe on Spotify, Amazon or Apple … or view below.