Who Cares? Relationships Do Matter in Business

Tonight, in MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's press conference regarding the end of the MLB lockout, he stated that relationships are important in business and that he would do better at that in…

New Year’s Resolutions: Beware!

This is a reprint of a classic blog by Aubrey Daniels, from 2012.The origin of New Year’s Resolutions can be linked to pre-Christian times in Rome, thousands of years ago.  So every year about…

The One Thing Managers MUST Know to be Effective

It is quite likely that even the best MBA programs in the world are missing out on preparing their candidates with the one thing that will ensure they enter the real world with proven, effective…

5 Leadership Tips for Managing Conflict

The ability to productively resolve conflict in the workplace is a necessary people management skill for leaders. Organizations require collaboration among employees to effectively meet their goals,…

The Secret to Managing Across Generations

Let’s face it, today’s workforce looks very different than those of the past—especially if you're a manager. It is now very common for employee groups to extend across many generations, making…

Eliminating Rare Errors: Sleeping Air Traffic Controllers Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Several years ago it was reported that an air traffic controller deliberately made his bed and slept in it while on duty at a Tennessee airport. I am sure many people think that was an isolated…

Economics is Not a Science

And neither is most so-called behavioral economics Despite being the first American to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Paul Samuelson famously stated, “Economics has never been a…

Resolution Solutions for the New Year

“My New Year’s resolution is to quit procrastinating . . . I’ll start tomorrow.” Unfortunately, that’s the dead-end road that a majority of our resolutions take. Most of us are familiar with Albert…

Does your job add meaning to your life?

While preparing for a talk to a safety audience, I ran across several videos by Paul O’Neil, former President of Alcoa, about why safety was his number one priority in managing the company.  He…

Does Recognition Make You “Over-Confident”?

We have just signed a new lease for our offices and as such, I am moving spaces.  As I started going through my “stuff” I ran across many articles that I previously put aside that I thought…

Creating an Achievement Culture

I have often said, “The best job you will ever have is one where you know at the end of every day how well you have done.”  The students at Morningside Academy can wholeheartedly agree that this…

Safety Rewards Can Be Dangerous

I just finished reading an ISHN article on safety incentives and the value of a gift card reward system to promote safety. To say that I didn't like it is an understatement. It reminds me of the many…

Measuring Performance: Necessary but Insufficient

“What gets measured,  gets done.” If this saying is true, then why are so many people overweight? I have been recording my weight daily for over 35 years and as I am writing this, I am 4.5…

Wanted: Elf on the Shelf at Work

Is it possible that the walls really do have eyes? Even Santa understands that rewards should not be given unless they are earned, so he has created the elf on the shelf—a person whose job it is to…

The End-of-Year Bonus: When Will Companies Wise Up!

According to Fortune, about 75% of employees will be receiving a holiday bonus this year.  Now, this is the point in which I am obliged to say, “Why do companies continue to throw good money…

Overcoming A Toxic Boss

Let me start with the bottom line.  Toxic bosses never bring out the best in people. They are bosses who exhibit the kind of behavior that proves detrimental to an employee personally, to their…

Six Ways to Succeed at Budgeting

We all look forward to paying our taxes, right? It’s always nice to know that our hard-earned dollars are going to be used responsibly. Or are they? A search for ‘government waste’ on Google returns…

Culture, Leadership, and Football

Recent events on the football field have reminded me of a story told to me by my former business partner,  Fran Tarkenton. Fran, then Quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings,  was heading out…