I fly a lot. So I encounter many of the good folks who keep our airplanes and airports remarkably efficient, given the number of flights, people, and bags that run through a major airport on any given day. Since I’ve moved to Sugar Land, Texas, I now wind up on more Southwest Airlines flights in […]
Tag Archives: life lessons
Making Business Meetings Unique and Fun
If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know I periodically talk about having fun at work. I truly believe when we make our workplace fun, our team members enjoy their work and their environment more. This translates into more productivity and also transfers to our clients. Trust me, even if it is just […]
Preparing for the Worst
I attended the American Bankers Association’s Annual Conference in October in New York City. One of the sessions on the opening night was a vendor showcase, where seven presenters were each given five minutes to present their solution. There was an open bar and the session was standing room only. Now, as a professional speaker, […]
Our Future is in Good Hands
As a frequent speaker to financial services audiences, I talk often about the future customers of financial institutions, including Gen Z, the youngest generation, who are mostly still in some form of school as I write this. So when I have a chance to interact with an actual Gen Z member, I generally ask a […]
Can We Really Trust Our Memory?
Current events have placed old memories into our watercooler conversations, and it just so happens that I have been binge listening to Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast series called Revisionist History. In season 3, he provides a series of episodes on memory. In these, he documents, in his unique professorial style, every detail fully researched yet with […]
Innovation… in the Restroom Stall?
Recently I was facilitating a small group of bankers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago- an iconic old building with magnificent architecture, soaring columns and lots of marble. But of course, the inside is modern; our meeting room had every electronic audio and visual convenience- the best of everything. During a break, I went […]
Reverse Brainstorm To Great Insight
In July, I teach two weeks at the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Colorado (GSBC). One of my students once showed me a great video called “7 Ways to Maximize Misery.” The idea is to get people to focus on happiness by showing how absurd it is to embrace being miserable. I […]
If You Are Going to Provide Digital Service, You Better Take it All the Way
As a speaker, consultant and strategic facilitator, I fly a lot. Advancements, such as mobile apps, allow quick and decisive decisions and have certainly improved this experience. There are even options where I can self-select to generate alerts to let me know about key events such as “my flight is boarding.” These alerts can be […]
Be Value Added: Going the Extra Mile to Serve a Client
As a professional speaker, I get to work with meeting planners. As someone who has created and executed many conferences myself, I have a great deal of respect for these unsung heroes from companies and associations. So, I try to go out of my way to assist them in any way possible. I am always […]
You Got to Know When to Fold Em …
It is always a crapshoot answering your mobile phone from a number that you don’t recognize. In one particular instance, what I thought was a phone call from a recently signed client, turned out to be a cold call from an organization that had reached out to me via LinkedIn previously. Their LinkedIn message had […]