Father's Day will be here soon, and it started us thinking about lessons we learned from our fathers. We hope you enjoy them. From Mark Sanborn: My father spoke much good advice with me, but he demonstrated [...]
From Joe Calloway: Scout is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He teaches three great lessons: Be glad to see everybody. Scout breaks out into massive and enthusiastic tail wagging no matter who comes around. Certainly [...]
From Randy Pennington: We fired the service that had done all of our lawn care, landscaping, tree trimming, and holiday lights for 17 years. There wasn’t one single incident that caused us to leave. It [...]
Businesses want people to be creative and unique in order to help them be different and distinctive. But is that always the best approach? Viewers of Katy Perry’s halftime show at the 2015 Super Bowl [...]
This is the first reader question we have answered in the Five Friends blog. It seems many want to know how we all got started in this business and we are happy to share that [...]
From Mark Sanborn: The biggest challenge businesses will face in the next five years is meeting increasing customer expectations. There is a current dilemma that will only get worse: the more you do for customers, [...]
From Scott McKain: Employees should remember EVERYONE is replaceable – those who aren’t distinctive get replaced first. Steve Jobs died in 2011. Apple just reported their most profitable quarter ever. Tim Cook is good, too. [...]
From Mark Sanborn: First, it used to be enough to promise value to make the sale. If a client believed you could deliver, they gave you a chance. Today, you need to prove value [...]
My friend – and one of the Five Friends bloggers – Mark Sanborn wrote an excellent blog post last week titled “Why You Might Want to Stop Being a Thought Leader.” The premise is that [...]
You and your business are more likely to become irrelevant before you ever become obsolete. Blackberry is a great example. Its market share for smartphones was 40% in 2010. It is less than 2% [...]
From Randy Pennington: It depends on your definition of “teamwork.” It is absolutely critical if you define teamwork as everyone having a shared vision; clear roles and responsibilities; delivering their best to help the entire [...]
From Mark Sanborn: The worst enemy of business? Indifference. Indifference is a lack of concern, interest or sympathy and it hurts business in two areas: people & process. A lack of concern for your employees/colleagues [...]
From Scott McKain: Customer service is bad at most places, because evidently that is what CEO’s and managers want. What other reason could there be for them to accept such miserable performance? Most care more [...]
From Larry Winget: A leaders most important job: To lead. Duh. How do you lead? Not from behind, that’s for sure. Leaders have to get out in front with their ideas, vision, energy and presence. [...]