A cursory look at the behavior of many leaders in politics, business, athletics, and entertainment could conclude that the best way to succeed is to be a bully! Media coverage of these leaders often includes a reflection of styles that can be considered, at best, bombastic, rude, unkind, and discourteous. A conclusion, therefore, might be…
One of my favorite expressions is “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” With so many consumer choices today, it has NEVER been more important to make that first impression a good one! I want to begin by saying that in my dealings as the President of The Kindness Revolution™, I have…
Considering today’s competitive environment, it has never been more important for small businesses to have something that separates them from their competition. Perhaps it is time to consider Cause Marketing. As a broad definition, Cause Marketing is when a nonprofit and a for-profit corporation partner together with the purpose of advancing the mission-related work of the nonprofit and…
In my corporate talks, I like to reference a theory which scientists have been unable to disprove. It is called the Butterfly Effect and theorizes that, given the proper conditions, a butterfly flapping its wings in Memphis can create atmospheric changes that can result in a hurricane in Japan. You might be wondering what this…
For a long time, I have advised clients and seminar attendees to “hire slowly and fire quickly”, with the meaning being when you make a hiring mistake, even after due diligence, correct the mistake and move on. While I quickly relinquish any claims to originating this idea, I have found it to be good advice.…
I speak professionally to business people on the power of kindness. In business today, with all of the fear, negativity, and indifference in the marketplace, businesses are finding that values-based leadership makes an extremely positive difference in the workplace. Do our children feel this way? Can it be cool to be kind? I have four…
I am going to talk today about the specific difference between chasing new customers and attracting them. It is my hope that by the time you reach the end of this column, you will agree that the latter is better! For most companies, the “chase” begins with advertising. A typical “Chaser” will run an ad…
The Kindness Revolution is beginning a national campaign to encourage recognizing and buying from local, small businesses. In my opinion, there are good reasons that we consumers should shop local as often as we can. Before I go any further, let me emphasize that our campaign is by NO MEANS an attempt to boycott or…
One of the favorite stories from my book, “The Kindness Revolution”, deals with the Nordstrom philosophy of hiring their employees. They call it “hire the smile and teach the skill”. Restated, this simply means that they have found it makes more sense to hire good people and teach them the retail business than to hire…
