Delight and Surprise for Your Employees

I prided myself on taking extraordinary care of my employees. I knew that our relationship would be one of the most significant that they ever experienced and I also knew that my business goals would be achieved thru the efforts of my employees, not thru my direct efforts. I did many unexpected and fun things over the years to nurture and delight the people that worked for me and here is the question that I asked myself each and every month.

What can I do this month to delight and surprise my employees...to make them feel nurtured and cared for...to make them feel appreciated...to make them feel heard...to make them truly empowered to achieve their best while they work for me and have a blast along the way?

I love that question still and as I am growing my Internet based coaching and consulting company it will be my pleasure to ask it many more times.

Bye for now...Jack

You Can't Please Everyone

I just got back from a weekend in Kansas visiting with an 8th generation relative of Benjamin Franklin. Lee "Doc" Franklin is a great friend and he has made a study of relative Benjamin. I decided to do some reading while I was at Doc's ranch and choose a biography about BF that I had never seen before. It was a good choice.

I did not realize just how many people did not like Benjamin during his lifetime. Many of his highpowered peers disliked him for a variety of reasons, and yet the past 2 centuries of people generally look back at him with great respect and wonder. This is particularly interesting since BF went out of his way to be likeable. What is the lesson from this?

This was the lesson that I choose to remember. "Do your best. Follow your ethics. Work always for the greater good while working for your own good and never be surprised if people do not like you. The more successful you become, the more people will find a way or a reason to not like you." I don't like this lesson, but I am sure that it has value.

Till next time...Jack