Category Archives: Human Resources

Where There’s a Will, There’s No Way

Posted on by
10

Will

My brother-in-law and I had an interesting incident over Memorial Day weekend. We were having a party for my son’s first birthday. So, we went to Albertson’s to pick up my son’s birthday cake and some propane for my grill.

After we paid for everything, the clerk tells the grocery bagger to help us exchange my empty propane tank for a full one.

Bagger: (Blank look) I don’t know how to do that.

Clerk: Ask Suzie.

Bagger: (Blank look)

Clerk: Suzie? Can you help him exchange propane for these customers?

Suzie: Sure. (pulls out and holds up keys) Here are the keys, you know where the tanks are.

Bagger: (Blank look) I don’t know how to do that.

Suzie: (Scary look) You’ve got to be kidding me. They just gave me these keys this morning and I’ve been doing it all day.

Bagger: (Blank look)

Then Suzie helped us.

Wanna hear the REALLY ironic part?

The baggers name was “Will”.

I think his middle name is “Not”.

Update: Looks like Mike Wagner at Own Your Brand ran into his own “Will” recently. He’s asking for suggestions to overcome the “$30,000 Toothbrush Scandle”.

Maybe we can volley suggestions back-and-forth on how brand managers can overcome issues like Albertson’s Will and the Mike’s Toothbrush Nazi.

Shiny, Happy Employees

Posted on by
1

Smiley Face

Over at Businesspundit, Rob points to a research project that claims employee satisfaction efforts do not bear the fruit we anticipate. Read Rob’s take and let me know what you think.

It boils down to whether we hire happy people, or we try to make our employees happy. Is job satisfaction and performance tied into your employee’s personalities or the environment you create?

Bonus Question

Does the environment you create attract employees of the proper personality?

Challenging vs. Criticizing

Posted on by
4

One of my favorite posts (that I’ve written anyways) was Ideas vs. Opinions. I don’t know that it was 100% accurate, but I think the message was right on.

I’d like to expound on this idea some more. So here’s a new comparison chart. I hope you find this helpful.

Challenging vs. Criticizing

I think the biggest “challenge” to challenging is knowing how to do so without patronizing.

A Free Exchange of Ideas

Posted on by
4

I know two people who can’t share ideas with each other. They don’t trust one another, so every comment is met with skepticism, which breeds indignation and ultimately… anger.

I know others who have been trained, like one of Pavlov’s dogs, to not speak up when they disagree with an idea. It’s too risky because they’ve been burned too many times.

There are still others who won’t even share their own ideas… no matter how great. They’ve been told they’re not creative (or simply never told they ARE creative), so they discount any contribution they could bring to the table.

I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no such thing on earth as “a free exchange of ideas.” Every transaction involving an idea is weighted with some amount of risk. Risk of pain, embarrassment or validation of a perceived reality.

There’s risk attached to sharing ideas. I think we all realize that. What do we do to address it though?

We open up people for criticism all the time and paint it as an opportunity to “voice your opinion” or “be heard.” We may even try to reassure by saying, “There’s no such thing as a bad idea.” Sure there is. We need to quit lying about it.

Quit lying to our employees.
Quit lying to our audiences.
Quit lying to ourselves.

What do we do to communicate how much we value ideas? Do we reward risk-taking or simply reward results? Do we reward ideas we agree with, or ones that challenge us?

I don’t have the answers. But I am searching for ideas here.

Tulsa Marketing Events of Interest

Posted on by
1

Management Impact
Wednesday, Feb 28th 2007
BMA Tulsa Luncheon (11:30 -1:00)
Jack Hayhow
Jack Hayhow of Opus Communications

Focusing on the four key activities of all great managers, Jack will show how great managers provide employees what they need to increase productivity and profit.

Jack and his book, Wisdom of the Flying Pig, were featured on Brand Autopsy exactly one year ago today. (what are the odds?)

If you’re in the Tulsa area, RSVP for this event.

The Overlooked Marketing Edge
Thursday, March 1st 2007
2007 Entrepreneur Day Tradeshow (2:30 PM)
Dustin
Dustin Staiger, Beyond Marketing & Advertising

I’ll be speaking during Entrepreneur Day at the Claremore Expo Center next Thursday. I’ll cover how businesses (especially small businesses and startups) overlook an important channel when addressing their marketing. Everyone knows about it, but few know they can affect it.

If you’re interested in attending Entrepreneur Day, contact Rick Reimer at (918) 671-3011.

If you’re in the areas of Tulsa / Oklahoma City / Kansas City / Bentonville, AR / Springfield, MO… you’ll want to attend this annual seminar:

BMA Tulsa’s Annual Seminar

Business Coaches Clinic: Winning as Individuals and Organizations
 Friday March 30th
9:00 AM – 4:15 PM
OSU-Tulsa

Mark your calendars for March 30th!

We’re very excited about the 2007 BMA Tulsa Seminar, featuring Dr. Jay Kent Ferraro and Michael Wagner. The catered keynote luncheon presentation will be given by Rick Couri of KRMG.

The Engaged Organization

Mike Wagner , White Rabbit Group

Mike Wagner is Founder & President of White Rabbit Group – an organization committed to help groups find innovation and new possibilities from an unlikely source… themselves! Mike will give some great coaching tips for your business team to break out of the rut, get unstuck, and see how far they can follow the “white rabbit.”

Mike also authors a marketing blog – Own Your Brand, and regularly contributes to MarketingProfs, an online “webzine” of marketing expertise.

The Emotionally Intelligent Leader


Dr. Jay Kent Ferraro, Empowerment Technologies

Dr. Jay is the Founder of Empowerment Technologies – a national executive coaching, training and consulting firm in Tulsa, OK. Dr. Jay’s expertise in Emotional Intelligence is being used in Fortune 500 companies across the country. He will share how emotionally competent people create success for their organizations. It’s no longer about how smart you are (IQ), but how you are smart (EQ).

Registration information will be available soon. Contact me for more information.

In Sheep’s Clothing

Posted on by
2

We’re on the lookout for wolves.

You know… back-stabbers, saboteurs, spies and just plain evil-doers.

We suspect they’re among us. The wolf in sheep’s clothing.

But there’s something much more dangerous in our midst, also masquerading as sheep.

This “silent killer” of companies is much harder to find than the wolf. He wears the disguise well, even fooling himself. Her mission is so well embedded, if she doesn’t kill the company she most surely kills herself – her future.

This assassin might be you.

It is not the wolf you should fear, instead you should be looking for the PEOPLE in sheep’s clothing.

These are the people who are sheepwalking (thanks Seth) – mindlessly staying in line and feeling as though they’re “doing their job.” This is the cashier at Walgreen’s telling me I can’t purchase a giftcard with my credit card, but not knowing why. Worse yet, it’s the manager telling me the same thing – “It’s just our policy. That’s what they [corporate] told me.”

It’s the pilot not fighting orders to keep passengers on the tarmac. Even after he realizes he is close to having a mutiny of passengers on his hands. He knows they’re much less likely to fly his airline next time, but he’s just “doing his job.”

What a far cry from Southwest’s interpretation of the golden rule:

Treat others the way you want to be treated

Answer every letter
Call back
Bend the rules
Do the right thing
Find ways to say yes
Treat with respect

This is an excerpt from a wonderful luncheon presentation I recently attended. Kris Holt and Scott Moore of Southwest Airlines came and spoke to our marketing association in Tulsa, OK.

Look at that list again.

Bend the rules? Find ways to say “Yes”?

Are you doing that?

Better yet, are you building a culture that encourages it?

Stop pulling the wool over your employees’ eyes. Stop pulling it over your own.

Business as Usual

Posted on by
1

I missed blogging last week. There’s a story behind that.

I play basketball at 5:45 AM every Tuesday and Thursday. It may sound crazy to play basketball that early, but it allows me to do something I enjoy without interferring with my family time in the evenings.

Last Thursday I didn’t feel very well after basketball. Maybe fatigued because I stayed up to late Wednesday night, or maybe I was dehydrated. Either way, I didn’t do anything about it. Business as usual.

By Noon, I had developed a bad headache so I took a 20 minute nap. It didn’t work. By 3:00 PM, I had a migraine. Then I felt nauseated and began to have cold sweats. I pulled off my sweater since I was wearing my button-down shirt underneath. My hands started trembling and I felt very light headed.

I went to my partner’s office and told her what was up. She looked worried. “You have no color in your face. Are you OK? Do you need to see a doctor?”

My doctor was out of town and the other physician in his practice was booked tight. They recommended minor emergency care.

At this point, the whole office is involved. Prodding me to drink fluids and rest. They all seemed very concerned and I was actually a little embarrassed about the office coming to a halt because of me. Still, it was nice to know they cared.

I opted to take another nap in my office instead of going to minor emergency care. I woke up an hour later, a little groggy but without any migraine symptoms.

There’s more to this story than just the reason I didn’t blog last week. There’s more than just bragging on our staff and their compassion.

I think we all have moments like this. We have a nagging sense that something’s wrong (physically, emotionally, spiritually), but we go on with business as usual. The nagging sense develops into a headache – an argument with our spouse – mounting financial issues – and we try to handle it quietly, acting like everything is “fine.” If we’re unfortunate (or maybe we’re truly fortunate in the long run), our problem manifests into something debilitating. Knocking us out of our rhythm. We can no longer ignore it. We want go on with business as usual. We ask for help. Hopefully we receive it.

Where are you right now? Do you have that nagging sense? A headache? Maybe you’re on the verge of a minor emergency. Business as usual won’t cut it. Don’t be afraid to be honest, be real, ask for and receive help.