Jeff McManus's Blog, page 17

Who do You Love?

“If you don’t love your customers, someone else surely will.”

~Jim Cecil

Have you ever experienced great customer service? Maybe the business treats you like royalty, they know your name and they are glad you’re there. My wife and I used to love to go eat at our local Hawaiian Poke’ restaurant before the owners decided to close their doors and move back home.

At this particular Hawaiian Poke’ the food was always fresh, delicious and the place was spotless. As good as all that was, what ...

Positive Growth: 21 ways to fertilize and grow the culture you want

“Culture trumps strategy every time.”

~Peter Drucker

Be honest. Never lie.Lead by example – leaders set the tone and temperature of the organization.Don’t take short cuts. Use every decision to build the long-term culture.Invest in key relationships on the team.  People want to know their leaders do care.Invest in growing your team’s knowledge, skills and positive attitude. Start your training program now.Focus on building a culture that attracts and retains top talent, not warm bodies.Dev...

Dedicated

The Washington D.C. mall added the WWII Memorial in 2004. This memorial is big, it honors the 16-million who served in the armed forces of the U.S., the more than 400,000 who died, and all who supported the war effort from home. Symbolic of the defining event of the 20th Century, the memorial is a monument to the spirit, sacrifice, and commitment of the American people.

Today, in our Landscape Leader-to-Leader session with the front-line employees, we discussed line number 4 in our Landscape ...

The Hall of Fame

When our family visited Baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. one summer, and while I am not the biggest baseball fan, it was a special treat. I highly recommend the stop. The place was filled with history, showing timelines, changes in the game and, of course, all the legends. It is every baseball fan's “Field of Dreams,” designed to make sure the stories, legends and magic are passed on from generation to generation.

Induction into the Hall of Fame is rare – a tremendous honor. Accor...

Vi·-sion | \ ˈVi-zhən

a: the act or power of imagination

b: (1): mode of seeing or conceiving

            (2): unusual discernment or foresight

There were three of us interviewing a candidate for the next Facilities Director. Along the way I asked the candidate about his vision and direction for the facilities department. Where did he desire to take his group of 300 facilities people if he got the job? He never missed a beat as he said, “Just to take a small bit out of the apple each day.” I asked him what h...

The Work Smarter Not Harder Museum

To say my wife, Suzanne, is a potato fan is a bit of an understatement. She tells me that when she was in grade school and into Junior High, she would come home after school and make her favorite snack, a bowl of instant potatoes. So, one summer when our family was driving near Blackfoot, Idaho and we passed a sign that read, Idaho Potato Museum Next Exit, we had to take this unscheduled stop to take a look.

As we toured the facility and read the displays, it was fascinating to see how techno...

Does the Golden Rule Still Apply?

The Golden Rule was spoken by Jesus long ago, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In recent years the Platinum Rule has been added: “Do unto others as they would have you do unto them.” A nice twist, but a twist that can make us pause. And it may even run the risk of losing the intended message. For communicating in teams, I like the simplicity of the Golden Rule because it has been around a long time, it is straight forward, and most people have heard of it. This simple princip...

First Impressions

Recently I was invited to be a keynote speaker at an event hosted in the War World II Museum – US Freedom Pavilion – Boeing Center in New Orleans. This venue is impressive. It has WWII planes hanging from the ceiling, a pageantry of flags on the stage and important historic memorabilia on display. I hope you will visit soon. The small, landscaped area outside was clean and sidewalks were well maintained. Inside, the floors were beautifully waxed, the windows spotless, my host was delightful and ...

Where There is Smoke…

Something happened to our electric skillet this past week. It did not stop working, but it did start smoking at the heat control knob. Years before, I had noticed unusual hot spots and uneven cooking surfaces on it. Then I kept seeing food sticking to the surface and causing additional clean-up work. The quality of the cooking surface seemed very tarnished, effecting the quality of the food. After each use I would spend additional time soaking the skillet in soapy warm water to allow the cooked-...

No Regrets

Every time I see “No Regrets” written I think of the guy who got “No Regerts” tattooed on his body. Of course, it is implied that when he learns of the misspelled tattoo, he will indeed regret it. In high school, my coaches would tell us players, don’t leave anything on the field, give it your all, have no regrets at the end of the game when you come back into the locker room. This usually did inspire me to give it my best and put my heart into it. I carried this mantra of have no regrets with m...