Category: Leadership

Passing the Buck

I am talking to a consultant who was hired to help an organization convert their Customer Relation Management system (CRM). Everything went well. About 90 days after the conversion they called him
back and asked him to work with one of their employees who was just having a hard time with the system.

They said, “Steve is a valuable employee. He has been with us for more than twenty years. We really want him to get on board”.

The consultant sat with Steve for two weeks. When …
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Leadership is often Counterintuitive


I was recently reading in Health Leaders Magazine about Kadlec Medical Center, a community hospital in the Northwest. What struck me about the story was the counterintuitive approach the CEO took in
turning the hospital around. As the story went, in the 1990’s the hospital experienced significant financial challenges. Initially, they struggled and reacted in the usual ways by cutting expenses
and staff.

Eventually, they found they could no longer staff the number of beds that they were licensed to fill. …

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Headcount or Employee Loyalty what has more value

I was having a conversation with a colleague the other day. He was telling me about how they had switched suppliers of outsourced customer service. And then he
shared the frustration.

With his old supplier, when he received a customer complaint they would play a recording of the call. In some cases the call would be fine. In others my friend would suggest that the rep get some
re-training. When completed they supplier would call to say the rep is coming back …

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Esprit de Corps and Culture

I am reading the book, War Fighting, published by the United States Marine Corp, in 1989. I was struck by the following phrase, “Leaders should develop unit
cohesion and esprit and the self-confidence of individuals within the unit. In this environment, a Marine’s unwillingness to violate the respect and trust of peers can overcome personal
fear.”

This speaks to the value of Culture in an organization. When there is a strong culture, …

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Are you listening to your client? If not who is?

I was speaking with an ex Client the other day (She was a client from my time at another firm). She was telling me about the new supplier the hospital system had just brought in. It was a large
national company. As they came in to implement they told her about all of the processes she had that they would not be continuing because none of their other clients had these processes.

They had not taken the time to know Jennifer. So, she shared how she was adamant about her processes, because they were …

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What Does Customer Service Mean; Really?

I have seen a couple of very interesting posts this week that struck me in the way that the companies went out of their way to make things right for their clients. These kinds of heroic tales always
inspire me. And yet there is the other side that says that customers don’t need heroics they really are quite satisfied with capable and competent service. So which is it? Let me quote my friend
Linda Farrar, “it depends.”

The first article I read was in Bloomberg Business Week, …

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