I Want That Feeling Again

  A couple weeks ago I was talking with a friend who was leaving her job.  It was a good job with a good employer but it was time to move on.  I spoke with her as she was navigating the decision making process and then again on her last day.   Leaving a job – a real career-type job – is not as easy as it sounds.  I know from experience.  But I was happy (and a little relieved) at her response...

Customer Service, At Best An Inexact Science

In concept it seems so simple, so obvious, and so… easy to do.  However, in practice, it can be a near impossible task.  Delivering practical and appreciated customer service may sound easy, but it is often impossible for a company to consistently execute against the objective. Admittedly, some companies don’t even put up a fight.  For years BellSouth cultivated a reputation of inferior service. ...

Re-Create Your Day Job

Work is an interesting and conflicted pursuit for many of us.  It is not uncommon to hear folks boast their detest for their job and the mindless minions who serve as their bosses.  Though at once, the fear of layoffs or workforce attrition causes these same souls to quake in their boots. “My job drains the ever loving life out of me, but I’d die without it”, seems to be the un-uttered mantra...

The Virtue of Toil

  “Business or toil is merely utilitarian. It is necessary, but does not enrich or ennoble a human life.” -Aristotle A friend recently sent me this quote and it sparked an interesting email exchange as we each set ideological camps on varying sides of the discussion. My good friend Greg espouses the quote as motivation to seek balance and purpose outside of work.  In that way, he treats...

You Don’t Need More Overhead

I recently heard a small business owner weighing options for a business related decision.  Both options were viable and both offered a clear cost benefit analysis depending on how she planned to expand her business.  A fixed cost arrangement made sense if she planned to grow and expand her business while a per unit cost structure worked best if she planned to remain small and wanted to continue...

Mistaken Identity Leads to Good Advice (or so I’d like to think)

I had a fun exchange with an e-mailer late last week.  I say e-mailer rather than reader for reasons that will become clear but perhaps I’ve gained/earned a new reader through the process. It seems that a young couple was presented with a potentially fantastic business opportunity.  One that required instant cash, which in turn was something this couple did not have on hand.  Of course this...

I make $10.50 an hour

Your income, what do you make?  Wait; before you answer you may want to consider how you answer.  This is one of those questions in which the framing of your answer reveals as much about you as the content of your answer. I had a friend in college who used to say “it’s a stereotype for a reason”, and he was largely right.  Assumptions about people are never always true but the...