The Five Fatal Flaws That Will Impede Your Future Success

“Why was I passed over for the promotion?”

“Why do I find myself unemployed or fired again?”

“I’ve been so successful in the past. Now I feel that I’ve hit a roadblock, and I’m going nowhere.”

Those are the statements of a person who has experienced considerable success in life and in their career, but may find themselves stunted or prevented from moving on to the next step. Many of us who have experienced this career roadblock likely are completely unaware of the behaviors or attitudes that may be keeping us from succeeding in the next phase of life or our careers. The reason that we are unaware is that we often are unaware of the perceptions of others, and most people won’t tell you what they perceive unless asked (That’s the reason I am a huge advocate of 360 feedback, and I am happy to make one available to you or your team through Personal Strengths). Instead, most employers and bosses will just terminate someone they find to be difficult, or will hold back an employee that they do not feel is ready for the next professional step in their career. You may have no idea what may be holding you back, and that can be frustrating and crippling.

The 5 Best Customer Service Practices: Restaurants

Restaurants are one of our most frequent experiences as customers, and I would dare say that they often set the standard for what we feel is or isn’t good customer service. In the customer experience training I do for clients, I often ask employees, “Which places or companies provide you with great customer service experiences?” Eight times out of ten they will name a restaurant. What do the best restaurants do to provide customer service that causes customers to, not only return, but to become such enthusiastic fans? Here is a list based on my own preferences and observations:

My First Night Living in Manhattan

TED on Leadership: How Great Leaders Start Movements

TED on Leadership: Simon Sinek on How Leaders Inspire Action

“If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood and sweat and tears.”

Leaving Los Angeles After a Decade — Relocating to Manhattan

The year was 1990, and I visited Southern California for the first time. As I left LAX and drove up the Pacific Coast Highway towards Malibu, I knew that I had to live there one day. The way that the rugged mountains cascaded down to the Pacific Shore, the hazy tint of the sunlight I’d never seen in my native South, and the vastness of the Pacific Ocean stretched out in Santa Monica Bay all captured me in a way that no other landscape in America had to that point in my life. Though I’ve driven that same drive now for almost a decade back and forth to work, I’ve never grown tired of it. Los Angeles and Southern California are still magical to me.

When the opportunity came for me to move to the LA area in 2003, I welcomed it with excitement. I arrived in Camarillo on February 12, 2003 to find a beautiful town set against the green hills that reminded me, in the winter months, of Irish hills and set against a backdrop of snow cap mountains that could be seen from the top of the Conejo grade. Every time I drove somewhere, I had to pinch myself and say to myself, “I live in California. I can’t believe it.” I had waited almost half my life to be there, and I was finally there, and there to stay. 

In Customer Experience Consulting, Disney’s Small World Is Growing

The New York Times published this article today concerning Disney’s growing Disney Institute to teach companies the customer service practices of Disney. In an economy where customers are increasingly more demanding of great experiences, and in an Internet environment where consumers are more likely to post their bad experiences online, executives are running to Disney to seek ideas.

The Disney culture really comes down to three important customer practices:

Shame and Vulnerability: Renee Brown at the TED Conference

Gartner: Customer Service Outsourcing Costs More than In-House

CNET news reports today that:

“Outsourced customer service operations can cost almost a third more than those retained in-house, according to a new study by Gartner.

On Leaving Goldman Sachs: When Revenue Trumps the Customer

On Tuesday, Greg Smith, an executive director for Goldman Sachs, wrote an op-ed for the New York Times on the day that he resigned his prestigious post at Goldman due to what he claims is a corrupt and unethical culture at Goldman that places a priority on the profits of the company over the good of its customers. It has not always been so at Goldman, but Smith reports that a poisonous culture has taken root where personal and corporate profit-making trumps the interest of the client at every turn.