I start tomorrow and what happens when I work for you?   Something happens right?  In fact, what did you say to me before I even started?  Did you set the stage?  Was I sure what happens in the first 30, 60 and 90-days?  These are all questions you must answer for two explicit reasons.  One, […]

I have been away for a while on holiday with the family, so I am late in getting this out there.  We are coming to a close with the first round of sessions with my client.  So we are looking at new aspect, a new post. When does learning occur?  When does it matter?  These […]

OK, so you are on the phone with Company X and have to ask about some type of thing regarding one of their widgets.  What happens when you need to know something AND you are feeling rather surly and inconvenienced and they have a script?  Now when you read this, it may immediately sound like […]

This past Saturday, I dropped Grace, my daughter, at a birthday party.  When we got there, Grace saw a school buddy and they embraced with wanton abandon.  Seriously, they ran into each other’s arms and hugged and screamed.  I even had to look up the word “wanton”.  I have used it before and wanted to […]

If you take the morning post about role-playing and then think about which role-plays are the most engaging, incredibly helpful and very relevant, I would suggest making them hard.  Think about all the issues your team faces regarding the sales process, the customer and the overall experience.  Make ‘em hard.  All too often, I find […]

Be afraid.  Be very afraid.  Yes, it is role-play time.  I so enjoy watching my learners squirm, roll their eyes, sweat, cuss under their breath and generally feel as though the world will end today at this very moment.  My favorite response when indicting that a role play will immediately commence is when everyone’s head […]

The key objectives of the management sessions I have been running are Accountability, Standards and Consistency.  I find the one that time affects or is perceived to affect the most is consistency. Think about all that happens in your day.  As store manager, there are so many things to do, to schedule, to prioritize.  We […]

“Who has time? But if we do not ever take time, how can we ever have time?” The Merovingian, Matrix Trilogy When I deliver a workshop, one of the first things I share is that I do not follow my own agenda.  Here is why; I do not want to put the learning opportunities into […]

Why don’t they get it?  Why do I have to repeat myself?  Why can’t they just do it without having to check in with me?  Sound familiar?  My first response, have you ever been asked to do something and not give the “what, why, how or to what extent?”  One’s initiative or driving force/decision making […]

How do you keep someone engaged, or interested in what you have to say?  These past four weeks I have been providing workshops for managers.  While I have done this for many, many years, the skill of voice, tone, storytelling, humor, and rhythm are only as effective as the ability to make what I have […]