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MBWA – Manage by Wandering Around

How I busted two busboys camped out in a walk-in cooler. Topic: Learn valuable things by being unpredictable. College days. I'd been working the night shift while training at a popular 24-hour restaurant. I'd noticed that no matter how many dishwashers we scheduled, they never kept up with demand. Nightly we ran out of plates and silverware. I also observed that the manager who was training me always took a post at the front of the restaurant to greet and seat the guests as they arrived. No one ever had to guess where Mr. Manager was. Therein lie the solution to the dish problem. On my first solo shift I informed the hostess that I wouldn't solely be seating guests during the rush. I told her I'd be wandering around. I knew I was on to something when I entered the "back of the house" and was greeted by wide-eyed surprise. I quickened my pace. And then I found them. They sat together in the walk-in cooler. Two busboys atop a milk crate, sitting back-to-back reading newspapers. The sports section I recall. The look of genuine shock on their faces - both hilarious and priceless. Mystery solved. And two busboys fired. Managers - In a playful, innocently inquisitive and non-undermining way... Ask random (non-accusatory) questions. Show up at unexpected times. Talk to everyone, especially those you don't regularly converse with. Wander around and go to places you haven't visited recently. Especially when the business isn't performing to expectations. You may be surprised at what you learn.

By | 2017-09-21T23:16:05+00:00 March 30th, 2015|Blog, Business|0 Comments

Improve the Success of Your Goals and Resolutions by 50%

Invest 30 minutes of your time, and you'll learn the keys to creating more effective goals and resolutions. Take control of your life, achieve the things you want, live the life you want. Bonus content - 1) why it's impossible to multi-task, 2) why so many miscommunications occur and how to improve. Six Keys to Career and Personal Reinvention

By | 2017-09-21T23:16:05+00:00 November 23rd, 2013|Blog, Business, Mindsets, Starters® Stories|0 Comments

The Important Counter-Balance to Goal Setting

The pursuit of goalS, without the proper understandings and counter-balances, is purely reckless. This article does a great job explaining why! "In some ways both Santa Clause and The Secret have done us a disservice. Both focused on wishing something would happen and either through the process of writing it down and/or visualization, it is supposed to magically appear. Many management and self-help gurus cite research, reportedly done at Harvard or Yale universities, which describes why only 3% of Harvard MBAs make 10 times as much money as the other 97%--because they write down their goals. The problem with this claim is that no such research study exists." WELL DONE RAY B. WILLIAMS!   http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201104/why-goal-setting-doesnt-work    

By | 2017-09-21T23:16:05+00:00 November 16th, 2013|Blog, Business, Mindsets|0 Comments

(Almost) Everything in Life is Negotiable

On a particular Friday I awakened feeling stressed. And a little bit grumpy.  I had two looming deadlines ahead, and it meant I would spend the weekend in front of my computer working. Not relaxing, not playing. Working. NOT OK. It's not like me to miss a deadline (let alone two), but having spent the month of October traveling to India, Canada and Ohio I simply had no time to work on these projects until the final days before they were due. Rather than grumpily trudging through the weekend, I made two phone calls. I explained my situation and asked for help and understanding. Both calls resulted in me being  given 30 day's extensions. There wasn't even a problem, the extra time was given gladly. Had I not tried, I would have lost the weekend. More importantly I would have resented having lost this time. Life is short. Time is not meant to be resented - but celebrated. I was reminded that most things in life aren't pre-destined. They're negotiable. Rather than seeing the eventualities I learned (again) to look for the possibilities.    

By | 2013-11-11T22:01:44+00:00 November 11th, 2013|Blog, Business, Mindsets|0 Comments