In the 1870s, John Wanamaker built a world-famous department store designed to embrace his Christian values. Although there are dozens of creative ideas that Wanamaker initiated, one radical idea at that time was truth in advertising. Retail, prior to the 1870s, was primarily built on location and word of mouth. Wanamaker, however, was a marketing genius, willing to take ...
Kathy and I hired a contractor whom we respected to do some work for us. Unfortunately, when problems occurred with his team’s performance, we began having trouble with the contractor responding to our concerns. We needed to have some tough conversations, but we were delayed week after week. It seemed our contractor had “stuck his head in the sand,” hoping ...
In this series, we’re discussing five guiding principles on how best to negotiate agreements. The second principle I recommend is to avoid negotiating with those you can’t trust. A previous bank customer of mine was represented by their manipulative CFO. This CFO would leverage his other bank relationships to pressure us to give him a better deal. We agreed ...
When I was young, the nightly news with CBS anchor Walter Cronkite could be trusted. He held to high journalistic standards of objectivity, which seems to have been discarded by most news networks today. Every evening Mr. Cronkite would finish the CBS Evening News with the phrase, “And that’s the way it is.” However, if he was ending the ...
Recently, an insurance adjuster assessed our roof for hail damage. From the moment the adjuster climbed out of his truck, he moved diligently and at a fast pace. He knew what he came to accomplish, and he was determined to do it as efficiently as possible. Instead of pulling out a ladder, he pulled out a drone. In minutes, ...
In 2022, Texas Children’s Hospital publicly announced that they were discontinuing gender affirming therapies due to legal risks. But subsequently, surgeon Dr. Eithan Haim observed that the therapies and surgeries secretively continued. Due to Dr. Haim’s strong religious convictions, he felt compelled to disclose the alleged deceptions of Texas Children’s Hospital to the press. Since Dr. Haim’s discovery became ...
According to an Anxiety Disorders Association of America survey, while only 9% of individuals are living with a diagnosed anxiety disorder, 40% experience ongoing stress or anxiety in their daily lives. The workplace is overflowing with people stressed and anxious. Anxiety takes a toll on productivity, the level of healthy team interactions, and the rate of absenteeism. For employers, this study highlights ...
Almost anyone in business will attest that time management is a critical factor between success and failure. It’s so easy in our information overloaded world to become distracted. Putting out fires and addressing problems that are insignificant, can wipe out our day, while the real work goes undone. Proverbs 12:11 teaches, “He who tills his land will have plenty of ...
According to an annual Gallup poll, 68% of people surveyed trust small businesses in contrast to only 14% trusting large businesses. In 2010, American Express decided to leverage that respect by encouraging shoppers to buy from local businesses on Small Business Saturday. Although Black Friday gets more press, $19.8 billion was spent with small businesses on Small Business Saturday in ...
A Harvard Business Review article written by Christine Alemany focused on the changing landscape of customer trust. According to the article, building trust for your brand has become even more difficult due to the differences in information gathering by diverse age groups. Alemany discovered that older adults are more brand conscious and obtain their information from traditional news outlets. Younger ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
