Leadership

Many of my readers are in the retail business.  Retail businesses sell things, whether it’s shoes, clothes, food, gifts, etc.  The idea is to buy items at cost and sell at a mark-up thus generating a profit.

If you’re in the retail business, then without question, you know what ‘shrink‘ is.  If you don’t have shrink, then don’t waste your time reading this article.  For the rest, by all means, take time to read and digest what is said here.

A few weeks ago, I was asked to define shrink.  What is shrink?  Without hesitation, I answered:  Read the rest of this entry →

Today’s business environment requires that a manager multitask continuously. Often, we have a zillion tasks that must be done today.
There are tasks that we like to do and there are tasks that we hate to do. Of course, the tasks that we like to do are the tasks that we want to do.

However, through my years in leading and managing, I have learned to categorize tasks in a different way. I think it is a simple system.  To become an effective leader, you must do the tasks that need to be done – not the tasks you want to do. Read the rest of this entry →

On January 15, 2009, I published an article titled: ” There is no income gap in America, there is a skills gap”. (see JobWicket.com). The article was also published on a previous blog. Then on July 6, 2009, on this blog, I published a posts called Federal Workforce Skills Commission.

Read the articles to fully understand what I meant by a “skills gap”. Read the rest of this entry →

With the new year fast approaching, I’m reminded that it’s annual employee review time at many companies. If you are getting ready to do annual reviews, consider this:

When you do an employee review, you are actually doing your own review. Read the rest of this entry →

Deadbeat workers are a given. They’re out there. Are they working for you?

Do not tolerate deadbeat employees! Free up their future and let them work somewhere else where the standards are low or non-existent. Why? Deadbeats kill moral and kill productivity. Read the rest of this entry →

There is nothing like children to give you a different perspective on many subjects.  If you have children, I’m sure you have experienced this.  If you don’t have children, I’m sure there have been times when you’ve heard a child say something that gave you a totally different outlook.  A child’s perception is often entertaining.  There are other times when a child’s perception Read the rest of this entry →

In my years of operating businesses, I learned many keys to being successful. In any given business, operating procedures will vary – some more detailed than others. The equipment and tools will vary in different businesses. Read the rest of this entry →

Can Your Candidate Tell The Story?

Here are five questions that I ask of prospective employees and management candidates. These five questions will tell the story about that person. Read the rest of this entry →

If you’ve been in business for any length of time, I don’t have to tell you how tough it is to hire the right people.  Interviewing and hiring is one of the most critical task that we do as managers and it is not a tasks to be rushed through.  Typically, we needed someone yesterday, so we bypass or overlook certain things about an applicant just to get a person that will fill the present need.

How do you get so many good employees? Read the rest of this entry →

Occasionally, I see articles by other authors that I think needs to be seen again. Here is an article written by Brian Tracy.

One of the great rules for success is this: “It doesn’t matter where you’re coming from; all that really matters is where you’re going!”  Read the rest of this entry →