My wife, Kathy, recently visited a car wash. When Kathy approached the attendant’s booth, the attendant began sharing about the benefits of their monthly club. Kathy stated she just wanted their cheapest car wash. This lady forced her canned sales pitch on Kathy anyway. Kathy said, “I’ve been coming here for two years. I just want the cheapest car wash.” ...
In business, one tough decision I’ve struggled with is whether to quit doing business with an existing supplier due to price. Sometimes, I’ve received quality service, but over time, vendors increase prices until they’re no longer competitive with other similar vendors. This leaves me with a dilemma. Do I stay with the vendor due to our relationship, or do I ...
Desiring to serve God in his work, Darren often held back to be sure he wasn’t jumping ahead of God by taking actions God didn’t want taken. When Darren proudly described his restraint to his spiritual mentor, the mentor reminded Darren of the many times God used people to accomplish tasks, from Moses seeking his father-in-law’s assistance in the Book ...
A Harvard Business Review article on the Power of Mattering at Work told a story about Jane, a custodian. Jane longed to be more than just a janitor, until her supervisor shared a different perspective. This supervisor showed Jane the definition of custodian that said, “A person responsible for looking after something.” This wise leader told Jane that she ...
Over the years, the car rental industry has consolidated significantly. Recently, I fell prey to the perils of consolidation. When I went to pick up a reserved rental car, I discovered Avis, Budget, and Payless, who are all owned by the same company, were combined in one building. Although the brands were still distinct, there was only one clerk for ...
In this series, we’re discussing five guiding principles on negotiating agreements. The fourth principle is to always work towards a win/win agreement. Stan was a bank customer who believed he always needed to win all points of every negotiation so that the bank was the loser, and his business was the winner. Although Stan won occasional battles, it didn’t bode ...
In the 1970s, there was a popular book called The Peter Principle by Laurence Peter. The premise of the book was that successful people often receive promotions until they’re finally promoted to a level of incompetence. The most common application of this principle is in sales. After many great salespeople have success, they often assume their next step is to ...
Likely one of the first American business coaches was a Paxtuxet Indian named Squanto. You may remember the first Thanksgiving story from your childhood. In 1621, the Pilgrims were dying from hunger and disease. Squanto, an escaped slave that understood English, coached these struggling settlers on how to build a farming and fishing enterprise in this new country. Even though ...
The football game was tied with less than two minutes to go in this year’s Super Bowl when Patrick Mahomes threw a pass to Jerick McKinnon. McKinnon could have scored with the game winning touchdown, but he didn’t. Instead, McKinnon made a split-second decision to stop short of a touchdown. If he had scored the Eagles could have come ...
The football game was tied with less than two minutes to go in this year’s Super Bowl when Patrick Mahomes threw a pass to Jerick McKinnon. McKinnon could have scored with the game winning touchdown, but he didn’t. Instead, McKinnon made a split-second decision to stop short of a touchdown. If he had scored the Eagles could have come ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
