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It’s Just Around The Corner

It’s already that time of year again.  You can hear the music playing when you’re out shopping.  Neighbors are starting to decorate their homes before it gets too cold to get up on their ladder. It seems like it gets earlier and earlier every year.  The last thing anybody wants to be accused of is being called a Scrooge. Keeping that in mind, the top question we get asked every year at this time is, “What should I give my employees for a Christmas bonus?”

It is very hard for me to answer this question because the truth is…I love Christmas!  Or at least I love the idea of Christmas and the feeling you get when giving to someone else.  So it’s even harder for me to say that the days of giving Christmas bonuses are over.  You shouldn’t be giving your employees a Christmas bonus.

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“Tired” Of Being The Boss

I know I may be dating myself but I remember an old Randy Newman song called “My Life” in which Randy in the song, speaking in the voice of Bruce Springsteen utters these words that still ring in my ears. He sang, “Randy, I’m tired of being the boss. Can you be the boss for awhile?”

Being the boss is difficult and especially so regarding managing sales people or front-line employees who have been given the chore of listening to customer problems that clients have and then selling the solutions.  Of course in the service world, problems are just opportunities to serve.

Over the years I have observed a few characteristics of the mediocre sales manager.  These people are definitely “tired” of being the boss and it shows through their ineffective styles of management which leads to poor results by their people.  Here we begin to explore why these managers are so tired.

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Addition by Subtraction

I recently spent a rainy Saturday afternoon watching a show called “Hoarding: Buried Alive.”  I really didn’t have time to sit and watch TV but I couldn’t stop watching.  Once I was able to get a peak into what looked like your everyday average person’s home I found I needed to see more, like watching a train wreck. 

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Is Your Service System Too Hard?

Last month we had a momentous occasion in our household.  Wyatt, who just turned one in February, graduated from his first ever survival training class with the Baby Seals Swim Academy. 

We watched our little one transform from being unsure and uncertain of the water and of his trainer, to being confident and courageous in and under the water. He is now willing and able to jump in the water and kick himself right back up to the top where he starts to float on his back, even while being fully clothed. 

What started out for us as a safety precaution due to the new pool in our backyard turned into one of the best decisions we made so far for our little guy.  We want to continue to build his confidence and his skills. 

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