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May 2026
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CLICHÉS THAT AREN'T TRUE10/22/2018 You need an energizer or icebreaker in meetings.
It cuts the precious time for substantive issues that are needed to be discussed in the meeting. Who has a lot of time to sit down in meetings that take quite a long time to get to the real issues? Mothers know best. Not really. At a certain point, mothers gradually relinquish that role of a know-it-all and respect the independence of their children. Volunteer first before you can get a job in the organization. Not true. If you want to volunteer, fine, but keep your expectations real. Sometimes, it is not going to happen in a million years. Opportunity comes knocking once. Not true. Opportunity is ever present in many things. Our challenge is to enhance our ability to see opportunities disguised as something else. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Not true. People spent thousands of dollars on book covers alone. We judge things by the cover/appearance. Early bird gets the worm. It doesn’t follow. Some early birds get eaten because they are too early for the event. Seniority rules. Not anymore. The society and its expectations about reward and recognition fall on those able to become a real asset to the organization, not just those who have been loyal but utterly useless. There are many clichés about many things. Take time to analyze that they are not truths but sometimes meant to be excuses not to improve the situation.
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THE VALUE OF TRUE CONNECTION10/18/2018 I was working one day when the phone rang. It was an unexpected phone call from someone I met in the course of my networking in the community.
Truly, of all people, those that you have connected will be the ones who will take the time to connect back with you. It is the stuff of humans. It is great to receive those calls, saying hi, asking for an expert opinion, getting to know you as a person, not just a brain to pick, and being honest about their limits and constraints. Being transparent, honest, and responsive are very important traits in any sector, industry, professional, and life, in general. You cannot bring out something to the world and prosper from it unless there are real people that are supporting and believing in your project/work. It takes symbiosis to become a real asset to your network- the giving and receiving should be balanced. If you are always on the receiving end of mercy, charity, and forgiveness, then, don’t ask why friends do not call or suddenly disappear, customers don’t return for purchases or donors stopped giving or volunteering their time. Even non-profits should invest in maintaining their relationships with donors! Not to do that is suicidal. The real connection comes from mutual respect, recognition, and responsiveness. A lot of people go through the motions being unresponsive (and inconsiderate!) to the situations, conditions, and predicaments of people, organizations, and groups. Clerks that forget to change right; Customer service personnel that forgets to call back; Government employees that forget to put the document inside the envelope for mailing! (This is a true story!) ; Doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and others in the medical profession that forget to ask the right questions to patients; And many more examples. Take time to nurture those personal connections. If they are genuine, it will stand the test of time. If it doesn’t, consider that some connections are brief, interest-based, and not meant to be that long. Learn from connections that get you into trouble, and you will know how to value the authentic ones
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THE CUSTOMER ISN'T ALWAYS RIGHT10/15/2018 There are many ways that the customer is not always right.
They do not know what they want regarding a new product, if that product has not been out in the market yet, don’t know its functionality or how their lives can be made easier. Your FGD can’t salvage that. They can be unruly, excessively demanding, and unfair towards service crews such as bellboys, servers, hotel clerks and cleaners, and telephone operators or customer service reps and other lower-level personnel who always, almost get the bad end of things. They can be verbally and physically aggressive and hostile for no apparent reason and had to be dismissed either by security guards or marshals. That is game-over! They can tell you they don’t like your products, services, offerings for whatever reason because they don’t need your product that much to look closer and spend some time investing in its usefulness. You don’t need this type of customers. Other customers want your product, services, and offerings because they deeply know that it can solve their problems. Learn how to smell which customers are serious versus who are just looking around. They can give you insights as to what innovation you can do based on their experience of your products, but at the end of the day, it is your responsibility as the owner of the business to smell if it is the right opportunity for you. Lastly, you can fire problematic clients and customers. You don’t want their business more than you don’t want troublesome vendors, suppliers, and other personalities that you don’t have to deal with because there are those that will gladly do business with you and take the effort to nurture the relationship. Just because they can pay doesn’t mean that they are right for your venture as much as just because they are your neighbors doesn't mean you want to invite them for dinner and hang out with your family. What do you think are the ways that customers aren't always right? Tell me your thoughts. |
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