This past Saturday, I dropped Grace, my daughter, at a birthday party.  When we got there, Grace saw a school buddy and they embraced with wanton abandon.  Seriously, they ran into each other’s arms and hugged and screamed.  I even had to look up the word “wanton”.  I have used it before and wanted to […]

If you take the morning post about role-playing and then think about which role-plays are the most engaging, incredibly helpful and very relevant, I would suggest making them hard.  Think about all the issues your team faces regarding the sales process, the customer and the overall experience.  Make ‘em hard.  All too often, I find […]

Be afraid.  Be very afraid.  Yes, it is role-play time.  I so enjoy watching my learners squirm, roll their eyes, sweat, cuss under their breath and generally feel as though the world will end today at this very moment.  My favorite response when indicting that a role play will immediately commence is when everyone’s head […]

The key objectives of the management sessions I have been running are Accountability, Standards and Consistency.  I find the one that time affects or is perceived to affect the most is consistency. Think about all that happens in your day.  As store manager, there are so many things to do, to schedule, to prioritize.  We […]

“Who has time? But if we do not ever take time, how can we ever have time?” The Merovingian, Matrix Trilogy When I deliver a workshop, one of the first things I share is that I do not follow my own agenda.  Here is why; I do not want to put the learning opportunities into […]

Why don’t they get it?  Why do I have to repeat myself?  Why can’t they just do it without having to check in with me?  Sound familiar?  My first response, have you ever been asked to do something and not give the “what, why, how or to what extent?”  One’s initiative or driving force/decision making […]

How do you keep someone engaged, or interested in what you have to say?  These past four weeks I have been providing workshops for managers.  While I have done this for many, many years, the skill of voice, tone, storytelling, humor, and rhythm are only as effective as the ability to make what I have […]

When I share time with managers, no matter where I am, the conversation always gravitates either directly or indirectly to motivation.  The constant challenge is “how do I motivate my team or team member?” First things first, what is motivation?  Let’s put it into a context.  On example may be Skippy is asked to do […]

My reason for being, or raison d’etre is moot without an audience.  And my audience is typically a group of managers.  There may be a couple of others who may manage the managers or the organization, but by and large it is the quintessential retail store manager. Perhaps the best way to describe them is […]

I have been traveling again.  A lot as a matter of fact.  My client has had me engaging managers across Canada.  It has been amazing to share strategy, ideas and best practices.  We have had six sessions with six to go.  Therefore I will be posting for the remaining six sessions.  I have chosen this […]