Last week I was presenting the first of our newly launched Manifast Now webinar series and the topic was “7 Reasons 90% of Strategic Plans Never Get Implemented (And What To Do About It)”.
A really good question was asked about getting people engaged in the business culture when they are not employees.
Essentially, the question came from a person running a real estate brokerage where the agents are considered “independent”. She wants to build an […]
Most people identify strongly with one camp or the other.
I always trust my instincts or intuition first and foremost.
Or I measure and test everything and always go on logic.
The artist has an idea and implements it and uses emotion and subjective feedback to validate that they are right based on their belief system.
The scientist has a hunch and then will devise experiments to prove their theory through measurable evidence.
The scientist appears to be less […]
My guest post for The Go-Giver Way as introduced by Bob Burg:
"Today’s guest post is once again from Certified Go-Giver Coach, successful entrepreneur, and creator of the Manifast Business Success System™, Doug Wagner. Here, he shows us exactly how a business can tap into authenticity; the type that helps everyone to shine, individually and as a team.
Enjoy Doug’s wisdom!" – Bob Burg
I hope you enjoy "Scaling the Walls of Authenticity"!
Did you know that something like 90% of drivers think they are above average drivers? Almost half of them are wrong.
50% of doctors graduated in the bottom half of their class? Does that scare you?
Many, maybe even most, business owners think they have above average employees… that their employees are their competitive advantage.
Average: Add up the individual measures of each sample and divide by the total sample size.
Mean: The value for which half the sample is […]
In business and in life you have a choice in how you frame failure.
"How much did that mistake cost you?" or "How much did that lesson cost you?"
Back in university one of our electrical engineering professors told us a story about a mistake when he was a young engineer working for a big company that built transformers.
The professor and another young engineer were tasked with stress testing one of those really big transformers.
Apparently, one of the calculations they performed was a wee bit off […]
We've all heard it.
"Everyone in your company or organization who interacts with a customer or provides a product or service to a customer is in customer service."
The same is true for marketing. Or branding.
If you extend this to include everyone inside your organization who could impact the reputation of your organization; you pretty much include everyone.
Zappos starts everyone out in their call center. I read that WestJet expects employees and spouses flying for free or on discounts to help clean the plane.
[…]
Your strongest memories are tied to your strongest emotional experiences. How you will initially respond to events in the present is tied to those memories.
This is not just about your childhood. These memories are being formed today.
At work. In your business. By everyone on your team.
Back when I was going to school in rural Manitoba they still used "the strap". I got the strap 3 times from grade 1 until grade 4.
By today's standards, what I did to get the strap would seem trivial. Kids do those things all the time now. Back then, kids that finished their […]
I recently came across two distinct examples of corporate wastage that could have been prevented fairly easily.
Two companies leaving money on the table and not even adding any extra value by doing so.
Actually they are eroding perceived value AND wasting money. Two cardinal sins of business.
The thing is, the solutions are obvious.
I opened up a big bubble wrap envelope today. Inside were four more bubble wrap envelopes.
Inside each bubble wrap envelope was a cardboard […]
There is a common piece of wisdom that is basically, “If you really want to grow your business you need to hire people who are smarter than you”.
While well intentioned this advice is potentially the worst
advice you could apply to your business.
It limits the discussion to intelligence and narrows your
thinking.
What if you are really, really smart? Who would you hire
then?
And if you are not all that smart you can safely hire anyone.
Do really smart people outperform less smart […]
I’ve noticed a trend lately in
many articles and posts online to cast management as a bit of a negative beast
from the past and leadership as the enlightened path to the future.
“Don’t be a manager… be a
leader.”
Compliance versus commitment.
There was a similar trend for
people in sales a while back as the profession was cast with a negative spin; “call
yourself anything but a salesperson”.
But is this really justified or
even necessary? Is it actually harmful?
I believe we […]