Hutzler's, Hochschild Kohn, and Hecht's. The names of small football clubs in Germany? No, these were the iconic department stores in my hometown of Baltimore. And if you stepped on an elevator in any one of these stores back in the 40s, on board would be a finely uniformed employee in charge of operating the … Continue reading The case for the human touch …or… the lessons of the elevator operator.

In your travels, you have probably read or heard the words “service focus,” and you may have been left wondering what service focus means. These days, you will see the words customer focused or employee focused or product focused or maybe even profit focused bantered about. They all have to do with what is prioritized … Continue reading Service focus. Is it a hill to fight for?

Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, in his book, Good Business, says, “Business exists to enhance human well-being.” What do you think of that? Do you agree? Or is business just here to sell stuff? Well-being, according to the dictionary, means being in a state of comfort, health, and happiness. Is that what business is for? Does business have … Continue reading Does your business exist to do more than make money? It does, and knowing it makes a big difference.

It’s time for goal setting.  The new year always brings thoughts of what to accomplish for the future. Usually, this means big financial targets, but I’m going to challenge you to think differently. How about instead of the number of dollars and cents, thinking of the number of relationships you build? Relationships are what will … Continue reading Do you have the courage to think differently about your goals?