ARTICLES | THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Bill is dedicated to helping organizations stimulate and embrace change — to influence and inspire higher performing, customer-focused cultures that create long-term, profitable relationships with your customers and excelerate performance and productivity with leaders and employees.

These articles will give you a greater understanding of Bill’s approach to organizational change, leadership, employee engagement and exceptional customer service.

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Change Instigator | Transformational Leadership Expert | Professional Speaker

Bill works with senior leaders to achieve next level performance — to stimulate change that excelerates passion, productivity and profits! For over 30 years, Bill has been the go to guy when the world’s most recognized brands are faced with challenges that require change — to improve bottom line results. Bill takes no prisoners and his clients love him for it.

Bill provides world class executive consulting, dynamic keynote presentations and transformative workshops for clients that include; Adecco, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Pita Pit, Thompson Ahern, Toronto International Film Festival and ServiceOntario.

For additional articles and information on how to transform your organization, visit www.billhogg.ca or contact bill@billhogg.ca

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Articles Published In

White Papers

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Essential Elements for Building A High Performance Work Environment

Building a high performance work environment requires delicate handling of a number of different leadership levers. Leaders who master the management of these levers are successful in creating a work environment characterized by increased productivity, loyal customers and improved business results. In this white paper we’ll examine some of the essential elements necessary to create, maintain and grow a high performing work environment that will drive business growth. Download White Paper

Building Leadership Capacity

It is often said, great leaders are born and not made — and natural born leaders do not come around every day. However, if natural born leaders are rare and do not come around every day, then who are the leaders running your organization? In this white paper, we’ll discuss techniques that you can implement to improve the leadership capacity within your organization — always with an eye firmly fixed on finding the leaders of tomorrow from within. Download White Paper

Delivering A Customer Experience That Rocks

Every employee needs to demonstrate 4 key elements before they can provide superior customer service to the people they come into contact with on a daily basis, whether it’s on the telephone or in person. In this white paper, we’ll discuss techniques that you can implement to improve the customer service performance of your employees — always with an eye firmly fixed on improved profitability. Download White Paper

Turning Managers into Leaders

Often people use the terms leaders and managers interchangeably. But nothing could be further from the truth! Anyone can become a manager, merely by awarding the title. A leader, on the other hand, must be earned and recognized by one’s peers. In this white paper, we’ll discuss the 5 characteristics that differentiate leaders from managers. Download White Paper

Featured Articles

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Why Passion And Emotion Are Key Drivers of Sustainable Change (555 words)

People are emotional beings. While many of us believe we make decisions based on logic, our emotions have a significant influence on our decision making process. Creating an emotional connection with your team is vital to getting them to buy into organizational change. Once leaders establish a clear purpose for change they can then focus on demonstrating a passion for change. Leaders need to back up the need for change by tapping into the passion and emotion of the people with whom they are working. Full Article

8 Change Leadership Strategies for Sustainable Results (703 words)

Most change initiatives fail. This is a fact that too few leaders truly understand. Change is never easy. People are resistant to it and people will not just change because you tell them to. Most people realize change is necessary for sustainable results, but first, everyone involved with making changes to your organization needs to understand WHY change needs to happen. Failure to communicate this will cause people to focus on the potential negative ramifications of change rather than the benefits. Full Article

3 Steps to Stimulate Change and Establish a Clear Purpose (888 words)

Organizations and people grow, evolve, and change. It’s what we do -- and failure to do so over time will find us being followers rather than leaders. Change starts with having a clear purpose. Leaders need to have a clear purpose for change if they want their team to buy in. This is the first step in the 3P Change Equation approach to change management. Full Article

Using the 3P Change Equation to Stimulate Sustainable Change (713 words)

Making sustainable changes to any organization is not easy - but what if you approach change differently. Leaders first need to understand that you can’t change people – only people can decide to change. Creating change requires a rational and, more importantly, an emotional connection. No matter how rational an argument you make for the need for change, people will not buy in until you engage them on an emotional level. The 3P change equation is a framework that is focused on both the emotional and rational elements of change. It includes 3 essential elements that are critical for CHANGE. Full Article

Why Creating Change Requires An Emotional Connection (843 words)

No matter how powerful the rational argument, whether you are a leader, marketer, or even a parent, it is a leader’s ability to connect and create emotion aligned with their organization that stimulates change. It is not until you’ve touched their hearts and create an emotional connection that you will be able to change a person’s behaviour. Full Article

5 Reasons Why Most Change Management Initiatives Fail (933 words)

While success is what we strive for, failure -- at least initially -- is what many of us experience. Many companies have a common goal in mind – they want to change the way they do business in order to grow, remain competitive and be profitable. Unfortunately, they also share another commonality – they fail to understand the process of change management and how to make change stick. Full Article

7 Tips to Continuously Improve Your Customer Experience (654 words)

Every company claims to provide good customer service. If you do the same, you are just one of many vying for your customers’ business. If you want to break through and truly show you are different, you need to create memorable experiences that will spark curiosity and engage customers when they choose to do business with you. Full Article

A No Excuse Approach To Make Change Stick And Drive Employee Engagement (630 words)

Change is not an event, rather it’s a process. It starts with leaders having a personal change realization, understanding that change is necessary, creating a leadership team to assist with developing the implementation plan and managing adoption. Change always comes with its detractors, and if you don’t take a firm, no excuses approach to change, you will have difficulty holding your employees accountable for making change stick. Full Article

4 Steps to GIVE Exceptional Service & Utilize Service Guidelines (551 words)

Providing exceptional service is the ultimate goal. However, many organizations limit their teams’ ability to provide the type of service they want to deliver because rules and policies get in the way. It’s important to provide guidelines, not strict policies and rules, if you want to create memorable customer service experiences. Full Article

How Leaders Create Buy-In, Accountability & A High Performing Work Environment (656 words)

Change is never easy, but it is necessary. As a leader, you are accountable for making change happen. If leaders want their employees to buy in and be accountable for their actions, they need to display effective leadership behaviours. Full Article

Designing a Customer Experience That Drives Results (662 words)

Good customer service is not good enough. Companies are able to differentiate from competitors when they shift their focus from customer service to providing memorable customer experiences. Everyone remembers when they receive great service that goes above and beyond; and it’s this experience that is often the deciding factor on coming back to do business with your company. Full Article

4-Step Approach to Determining Emotional Drivers of Satisfaction and Loyalty (715 words)

What makes a customer loyal? Is it the quality of your products? Competitive pricing? It is customer service? If you want to improve customer loyalty, you need to move beyond behavioural and transactional loyalty and create an emotional connection with your customers. Full Article

3 Steps How Leaders Embrace and Lead Organizational Change (733 words)

Leadership is not static. Being a leader is a dynamic role that is constantly evolving and requires flexibility and willingness to change. If you are not willing to change and adapt yourself, you are not ready to lead. Your first step toward embracing and leading change is being open to altering your approach. Full Article

Moving from Customer Service to Customer Engagement: 4 Essential Elements of Customer Engagement (797 words)

Every company provides customer service -- and good just doesn’t cut it anymore. Your customers expect a lot out of your company. They want an experience, not an uneventful interaction. Full Article

7 Ways to Build Collaboration and Trust into Your Culture (808 words)

Do you want to build trust and cooperation in your organization? Then walk the talk. It may sound simple, but it’s one of the most effective ways to build trust internally and get people to support your vision. There are certain things that all leaders must do and a number of critical moments where you can implement impactful change and build trust. Full Article

Satisfied Customers Are Killing Your Business: 3 Strategies to Strengthen Your Emotional Connection with Your Customers (832 words)

People talk about the importance of customer service all the time, yet few companies are recognized for doing it well and even fewer are willing to change their approach to get the desired result. Full Article

Focus on Character Not Competence: 3 Ways to Build a Strong Organizational Culture (813 words)

Your organization is only as good as the talent you recruit. It is the people who define and shape the organizational culture -- so identifying people with the right character, attitudes, and behaviour must be the highest priority when hiring or promoting within. Full Article

5 Things All Great Leaders Do to Create a Culture of Leadership (997 words)

What’s the secret to creating a culture of leadership that will take your organization forward for years to come? There is no secret -- it starts at the top with you. Transformational leaders understand that a culture of leadership doesn’t start with a written document, but by the behaviours they model every day. Full Article

The Importance of a Strong Leadership Team (587 words)

Great leaders are only as strong as the support system they put into place around them. They understand the importance of taking a team approach and the risks associated with unilateral leadership. The leaders at the top of your organization cannot exist in a vacuum -- isolation at the top can significantly hurt top level decision making and business strategy. Full Article

Continuing the Cycle: How to Develop the Skills of Future Leaders (658 words)

An organizational culture that reflects your vision and values as a leader is sustained over time only through the internal development of future leaders. Continuing the cycle of strong leaders is possible by being proactive and developing the skills of future leaders by embedding leadership development into your organizational culture and establishing strategies that will help identify future leaders internally, and by creating ways to develop the skills of future leaders through internal promotions, training, and leadership coaching programs. Full Article

Why Leaders Need to Reinforce Company Culture and Values (540 words)

Organizational culture is a living and breathing entity. To create your envisioned organizational culture, it is vital that leaders not only reinforce company culture and values, but also treat it as a dynamic entity and fill the company with leaders and people who reflect the desired company culture. Full Article

Building Your Change Management Plan (667 words)

Once you identify the need for change, leaders need to develop a concrete plan that frames the importance of change through each phase. At its core, there are three main phases of leading change that you need to work through to achieve a desired organizational culture. Full Article

How Weak Leadership Impacts Customer Loyalty (581 words)

There is no question that leadership sets the tone of everything that happens. Weak leadership has a trickle-down effect on your team and organizational culture. When there is a disconnect between leadership and people in the organization -- especially those who are in direct contact with customers -- it usually results in a negative impact on customer experience. Full Article

Moments of Truth: Critical Moments that Allow for Transformation (756 words)

Understanding when you can affect change is one of the keys to making change stick and creating real, impactful change. There are critical moments in the change process that have a major impact on adoption, and you can make the biggest difference by understanding how and when to communicate change to your team members. Full Article

6 Ways for Leaders to Create Organizational Change (681 words)

There is no doubt that forward thinking organizations understand that change will always be part of doing business, especially as new technologies and ways to do business emerge in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Leaders themselves need to be transformative in order to inspire higher performance that create customer-focused cultures and create long-term, profitable relationships with customers. However, the process of getting to this point is often a difficult one. Full Article

How to Alter your Approach as a Leader – Building a Strong Leadership Team (807 words)

It is clear that advocating for change internally and communicating the need for your team to alter the way they do things is extremely difficult if leaders first do not make noticeable changes themselves. Actions speak louder than words, and this is particularly the case when it comes to organizational change. You first need to change how you lead before the organization will follow your call for change. Full Article

How Strong Performance Can Mask Issues in the Future (578 words)

One thing I have observed that has gotten many organizations in trouble and has caused issues within the leadership ranks is relaxing too quickly when things are going well. Even though strong performance is a positive thing, it does not mean that performance will remain this way into the future. Full Article

Leaders Need to Change First Before Organizations Change (862 words)

A common theme that has emerged is that creating change within an organization starts with leadership. Leaders first need to realize the need for change, not only within their organization, but also within themselves for real transformative change to occur. How and what you change will be dependent on evaluation of your own personal strengths and weaknesses and those of your organization in order to stay competitive and maximize growth within your industry. Full Article

How to Get Your Team to Buy into Organizational Change (610 words)

Change is never easy. It is not easy for leaders, managers, or employees. Change poses a threat for most people, especially when it comes to their career or position within their organization. People like consistency, and change creates uncertainty that makes people uneasy. Transformative leaders understand how to frame organizational change effectively. Full Article

Transformative Change and Change Realization (1106 words)

Change is not easy, but it is necessary if leaders want to achieve their strategic goals and objectives. It is inevitably much easier to maintain the status quo, rather than make the tough decisions needed to sustain growth over time. Understanding the need for change is the first key component to making transformative organizational change. Full Article

Leadership Skills your Organization Needs to Develop (661 words)

Consistently developing leadership capacity within your organization needs to be a prime objective. Failure to develop leaders internally will hurt your organization’s ability to be successful in both the short term and the long term. While the leadership style and organizational culture will be different from organization to organization there are four leadership skills that need to be developed on a consistent basis to help current and future leaders develop professionally. Full Article

Five Actions You Can Implement Today to Build a High Performance Work Environment (716 words)

Success starts and ends with the people in your organization. When your team is managed effectively and clearly understand their role and what is expected of them, good things happen. Good leadership shapes behaviour and increases an individual’s level of engagement. This article will outline a number of actions that you can immediately implement in your company. Full Article

How Transformational Leaders Make Organizational Change Stick (728 words)

Change is an inevitable process that every organization must face and successfully manage if they want to remain competitive and grow. Since most people are naturally resistance to change of any kind, it is a leader’s ability to effectively frame change will make a significant difference in how it is viewed and embraced by your team and is often the difference between success and failure when it comes to adoption. Full Article

Seven Steps for Creating Behaviour and Performance Expectations that Drive Employee Engagement (723 words)

There is very little difference between most companies that compete in the same industry. In your strategy to achieve the highest percentage of the market you need to create differentiating factors that your competitors cannot match. While most companies focus on tangible differentiators such as price, speed, delivery, and convenience, these are all things that your competitors can match. As an effective leader, you need to create an intangible differentiator that cannot be matched by your competition -- and that is your people and your culture. Full Article

Creating a Customer Experience that Drives Results (788 words)

Creating a great experience for your customers is more than just providing good customer service -- everyone provides good customer service. Successful companies create desirable customer experiences by focusing on emotional connectors. To accomplish this, companies start by developing a customer experience map. Full Article

Four Core Areas of Leadership Focus in High Performance Environments (710 words)

As a leader you have a lot on your plate. Since your time is a finite resource, focusing on the key areas that will drive your team to produce desired results and sustain a high performance environment is something that you cannot lose sight of -- even when your attention is being pulled in every direction. Full Article

Core Elements of Employee Engagement (596 words)

Employee engagement plays a significant role in the success of your organization. But, the harsh truth is that a large portion of your team is not engaged. There are certain elements that drive employee engagement and leaders need to focus on implementing these elements into the work environment to get more out of their team. Full Article

Three Critical Elements for Finding the Right People to Work in High Performance Environments (720 words)

Your organization is only as good as the talent you recruit. No matter how well defined your vision may be or how well the vision is communicated internally, you still need to have the right people in roles that are suited for their personality, skills, and abilities. Finding the right people to work in your company starts with well-defined recruitment expectations and the right process to back them up. Full Article

How to Build Your Organizational Culture Based on Trust and Collaboration (662 words)

Without trust in your organization, what do you have? Trust starts with the leadership in your organization. This is why it is so important for leaders to establish an organization culture that is based on trust and collaboration both on paper -- and in practice. Full Article

Three Ways to Support People in High Performance Environments (695 words)

Consistently challenging your team and setting the bar high is only effective if you have the proper support in place. Failure to have a level of support that matches your expectations will not only make it difficult for individuals to meet their targets, it will also create an unnecessary source of stress internally. People thrive when they have the resources to do their job. There are three key areas of support all individuals require to perform consistently at a high level. Full Article

Essential Elements When Framing Organizational Change (922 words)

A critical element of initiating a successful change initiative is communicating that change is a normal and positive function of doing business -- it is a key factor in a company’s ability to remain relevant and differentiate from competitors and grow year over year. Change is a process -- and a leader’s ability to manage this process effectively makes change possible. Full Article

Four Leadership Behaviours that Build High Performance Work Environments (835 words)

Focusing on the small fixes will not put out the fire. Instead, this approach only takes up your time and leads to your company losing sight of larger, more important issues. Successful companies understand that achieving success is about addressing larger culture issues within the organization. Getting your organizational culture right is what leads to building a high performance work environment. This starts with leadership. Full Article

8 Ways to Inspire Employee Behaviour That You Can Implement Today (897 words)

Leaders create the vision, set company goals, and develop strategies -- but it is front line employees that execute the plan. They are the ones that carry out the daily tasks and initiatives that help make a leaders vision become a reality. This is why incentive programs have become a popular tool. But financial incentives don't touch the emotional aspect of engagement. To truly inspire engaged employees, we must touch them emotionally so they consider the value of their contributions to the organization -- not just to their pocket book. Full Article

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How to Continue the Growth of Leadership Capacity in Your Organization (787 words)

To continue the development of leadership capacity and build a culture of leadership, organizations need to have an internal process in place. While some leaders will emerge from the pack naturally, this is not enough and companies need to address their leadership needs by putting their employees in the right position to grow and evolve into company leaders. Full Article

Moving from Customer Service to Customer Experience (1463 words)

Most of us already know that customer service is not good enough -- in order to compete, successful companies must shift their focus from providing customer service to creating a memorable customer experience that builds loyalty. Rather than focusing on a specific customer interaction, a true customer experience is focused on your relationship with a customer from the moment you engage them and over the duration of your relationship with that customer. Full Article

How To Develop Your Leadership Capacity Through Leadership Behaviour Assessment (723 words)

Building a culture of leadership requires the organization to define the skills and behaviours that are required by organizational leaders from the top down. But highly effective leaders need to regularly conduct self-assessments of their own behaviour as leaders. Therefore, leaders need to be conscious of their behaviour at all times and it is their ability to self-assess and separate ego from the equation that will further a culture of leadership and growth within the company. Full Article

5 Ways Courageous Leadership Evokes Action and Engagement (592 words)

Courageous leaders set the tone for organizational performance. When leaders establish themselves as a strong and courageous personality they set the tone for the rest of the company and shape the overall culture.There are a number of common traits that courageous leader possess. It is these traits that make them transformational leaders and put them in a position to inspire their employees to engage in the vision and culture they have created for the company. Full Article

How To Assess Your Organizational Leaders And Their Capacity To Lead (1064 words)

Rarely is a great leader born. Developing leadership capacity and the “must have” leadership characteristics does not happen by accident. Building leadership capacity is a process that starts with understanding the concept of leadership capacity, defining the expectations of leadership within your particular organization, and then building intentional, implementable steps that help leaders assess and develop their ability to be a leader. Full Article

10 Tips to Improve Your Customer Experience (832 words)

Today customers demand a great customer experience and will not settle for anything less -- companies need to create memorable interactions with customers that help establish a loyal relationship and promote brand advocacy. And, for it to be successful it needs to be clearly defined so that each one of your employees understands how to deliver the experience you want to create for your customers. Here are 10 ways that you can improve and refine your customer experience and improve your relationship with customers. Full Article

10 Characteristics of Transformational Leaders (887 words)

There are certain core characteristics the majority of leaders possess. However, there are also an additional set of characteristics that define transformational leaders — leaders that have the ability to make an impact on organizational growth. It is an organizations ability to develop this next level of leadership capabilities through training programs, mentoring, and skill development programs that put organizations in the enviable position to grow year over year without experiencing dips in performance. Full Article

7 Must Have Transformational Leadership Qualities (732 words)

Today, we need courageous leaders who empower others to reach heights they never thought possible. We need our leaders to expand their capabilities and move outside of the transactional space and into a transformational space that focuses on long term solutions rather than short term gains. Leaders need to focus on developing a transformational leadership style that creates positive change and growth. Full Article

Is Your Leadership Limiting Your Organizations Ability to Grow? (1039 words)

Leadership capacity is more than simply skill development; it’s about performance, growth, transformation and change. They are the result of building effective leadership capacity and an awareness and willingness to take the necessary steps in identify internal talent and nurture them into the leaders of tomorrow. Leadership lays the groundwork for success in 3 key ways. Full Article

5 Ways Managers Should Support Their Employees (585 words)

It’s essential that staff receive support or they can’t do their job properly. Support isn’t limited to merely work-related aspects of the job but to other things such as morale and recognition as well. There are plenty of different ways employers can support their staff. Here are a few thoughts to keep in mind in your work environment. Full Article

4 Tips to Turn Satisfied Customers into Loyal Customers (1184 words)

In this article we’re going to cover a few key ways to turn customers who are satisfied into those loyal customers who are responsible for most of your company’s income. Loyal customers mean more profitability for the company and stronger job security for the employees-- so taking active steps to turn satisfied customers into long-term loyal ones is in everyone’s best interests. Full Article

5 Steps to Turn a Negative into a Positive Customer Experience (898 words)

A negative experience often means the customer goes elsewhere with their business. However, research also tells us that if we are able to recover from a poor experience -- then customer loyalty actually increases. So if you can turn a negative experience into a positive one -- that can lead to loyal customers and increased profits for the company. Full Article

6 Valuable Customer Service Training Tips (678 words)

There are many different aspects of work as a customer service representative, regardless of whether it’s face-to-face or on the telephone. Understanding some of the key tips that improve customer service will enable staff to do their job better. Full Article

3 Reasons Why Customer Service Should Exceed Expectations (708 words)

Exceeding customer’s expectations is in the best interest of all employees at all times. Here are 3 key reasons why investing in exceptional customer service is an investment in your long term success. Full Article

5 Tips To Create More Powerful Employee Engagement (536 words)

Positive, engaged employees will stay with a company much longer than those who simply turn up and do the bare minimum because they’re unhappy, bored or the job isn’t challenging enough for them. In May we discussed the first 5 of 10 tips to create more powerful employee engagement. We are continuing this article with the next 5 tips. Full Article

4 Steps to GIVE Exceptional Customer Service (745 words)

Good customer service leads to satisfied customers -- but exceptional Customer Service leads to loyalty and this leads to overall increased profitability. Each and every person in your organization has the opportunity to create a positive impression on your customers -- to impact their experience and potentially convert them from a lukewarm satisfied customer to a red-hot loyal customer. These 4 steps will help them deliver exceptional customer service. Full Article

5 Tips To Create More Powerful Employee Engagement (649 words)

Positive, engaged employees will stay with a company much longer than those who simply turn up and do the bare minimum because they’re unhappy, bored or the job isn’t challenging enough for them. In this 2 part article, we will examine some of the techniques managers can utilize to build engagement with their teams. Full Article

Why Employees Need Guidelines Not Just Rules (915 words)

Rules are an essential part of any business. Rules are necessary to ensure we make intentional decisions. While there’s nothing wrong with this in principle, there are always going to be situations where a certain degree of flexibility is essential because people are unique, so you have to be flexible enough to respond to their needs. Full Article

4 Essentials Every Employee Needs To Deliver Exceptional Customer Service (890 words)

These are 4 key elements that your employees need so they can provide superior customer service to the people they come into contact with on a daily basis, whether it’s on the telephone or in person. Full Article

6 Golden Rules for Handling Customer Complaints (736 words)

Most employees hate complaints. They don’t like having to deal with customers who call or visit their store or office with a complaint. What they don’t understand is that a complaint is actually a positive thing. Here are 5 golden rules for handling customer service complaints. Full Article

3 Pillars of All Successful Organizations (853 words)

I like ideas that are easy to remember. That is one key reason why I often use memory hooks -- something that helps me remember more complicated ideas. One memory hook that is always popular is the 3-legged stool. When one leg is weak, uneven -- or worse, missing -- the stool loses it ability to perform effectively. Full Article

4 Reasons Why Teamwork Makes The Dream Work (719 words)

We discussed the expectations a team has of their leaders. It’s important to understand those points to empower a leader to forge a strong team. Leaders understand that to achieve goals, it’s important to have everyone working in unison. If they all have different goals, the only result you’ll get is chaos. Here are four reasons why teamwork makes the dream work. Full Article

5 Special Qualities Shared By Courageous Leaders (627 words)

There are many different aspects that make up the complex psyche of a true leader who passionately strives for success for both themselves and others. A leader has so many special qualities that it's inspirational when you work with them. They possess an invisible aura that radiates confidence and challenges everyone around them to achieve greater heights than they would have ever dared to try before. Full Article

5 Expectations Your Team Has For You As A Leader (637 words)

Leaders help to create powerful, cohesive teams that enable organizations to achieve their targets. Part of being a great leader is understanding what the members of your team expect from you. You can use that knowledge to become a better leader and make them an even stronger team that can achieve anything. Full Article

5 Key Ingredients of Courageous Leaders (674 words)

A great leader knows how to get the best out of their people. Through strong, clear guidance, they enable others to walk tall and achieve success in many ways. Courageous leaders are inspirational. That isn't their ambition. It's simply a positive by-product of their character and powerful work ethic. By following the example a good leader sets, others can also achieve the same results. Full Article

5 Ways to Create A Powerful Cohesive Team (527 words)

Leaders are the people who guide companies into the future and inspire people to follow them along the way. In this article we will discuss the specific thought processes that a leader uses to transform a team from average to awesome -- into one cohesive, highly motivated team who are willing to go the extra mile to meet objectives. Full Article

5 Ways to Ignite Passion In Your Team (752 words)

True leaders have the innate ability to motivate staff to achieve better results. Leading with a passion is what separates great leaders from the "wannabees." Some people come to work every day, do their job and then go home. Their heart isn't really in it, but they need the money, so they see their job simply as a means to an end -- money. So how do you inspire your team to deliver superior results? Here are five ways to ignite the passion in your team. Full Article

4 Reasons a Leader Embraces Change (545 words)

A leader has an entirely different vision to that of a manager. Managers fear change because it upsets their carefully structured way of life -- while leaders embrace change because they know that change leads to new ways of growth and accomplishment.Leaders understand these 4 principles of change to help companies and their teams grow and progress to the next level of performance. Full Article

4 Powerful Ways To Motivate Your Team (754 words)

Inspiring leaders recognize that money is not the main reason people come to work. Sure, it's the primary motivator for why we work -- but once the concept of comparable pay for comparable work has been addressed, it fails to inspire passion in the work place. Great leaders learn how to motivate their people on an individual basis instead of falsely assuming they'll all work harder for an extra financial incentive. Full Article

3 Ways to Improve Your Leadership Aptitude (542 words)

Being a leader is not the same as being a manager. Thankfully, the skills of being a leader can be cultivated. Developing these three qualities in your life and career will help you become a better leader. Full Article

5 Essential Characteristics That Differentiate Leaders From Managers (642 words)

Often people use the terms leaders and managers interchangeably. But nothing could be further from the truth! Anyone can become a manager, merely by awarding the title. That makes them a manager -- but that is simply a name. A leader, on the other hand, must be earned and recognized by one's peers. Full Article

5 Steps To Customer Service Glory (640 words)

We all know that providing exceptional customer service is the stated goal of every business leader, regardless of how large or small the company. Sadly, the personal touch customers want -- and deserve -- is often lost in the daily grind of doing business. Here are five simple ways to keep your customers coming back, even after facing their problems or complaints. Full Article

15 Tips That Excelerate Performance (1008 words)

Developing loyal customers begins with developing a team who understand the importance of customer-focused service and care about the total customer experience. A key building block of developing high performance employees is recognizing the behaviours that you want repeated -- those that ultimately create loyalty with your customer. Full Article

3 Simple Steps to Help You Win the Customer Service Race (622 words)

Excellent customer service is a hot commodity in today's challenging economic environment. Your customer relations are truly your only sustainable competitive advantage for growth and profitability. The brutal fact, however, is that 75 percent of your customers would gladly do business with your competition! Regardless of how low your prices are or how much your service is needed, customers will shop elsewhere -- even pay more money -- to be treated well. Full Article

5 Ways To Turn Indifferent Customers Into Raving Fans (509 words)

Providing good customer service just isn't enough anymore, not with companies the world over clamoring for the dwindling dollars consumers spend. And heaven forbid your customer service should be classified average! That could, literally, be the death of a company if it's not turned around quickly. Full Article

The Power of Parables (484 words)

Parables are defined as a short simple story intended to illustrate a moral or religious lesson. These stories have been passed down from generation to generation through story-telling -- each story with its own significance and message. What makes these messages so important is that a key message is embedded into the story, which illustrates or demonstrates the message. Modern fairy tales and fables often contain similar messages that help children learn accepted and wise behaviours. Building a high-performance culture is no different. Full Article

10 Service Principles Every Employee Should Know (522 words)

Even employees who never deal with the public must exhibit good customer service skills. How employees treat each other is the harbinger of how the organization will treat the public. Here is quick checklist of behaviours we should all demonstrate when dealing with colleagues or the public to ensure an exceptional customer experience -- internally and externally. Full Article

Critical Qualities of a Top Manager (635 words)

In business we are only as successful as the people we hire. And while our front-line employees are critical to our business, choosing the right managers can have significant impact on our success. So what makes a good manager, what are the behaviours that stand the test of time? Here are a few thoughts on the characteristics to look for in a successful Manager. Full Article

Customer Service Training is For Managers Too (743 words)

Good managers know that customer service is the lifeblood of any successful company. Given this, it's no wonder that many companies invest in customer service training. What's less obvious, but probably even more important, is that customer service training isn't just for the front line; it's for managers too -- and for good reason. Full Article

Starting an employee engagement program

We have all heard the importance of developing engaged employees at our workplace, but too often the articles are full of theoretical discussion instead of practical steps to making it happen. Without any claim that this is the definitive list, here are some simple steps to consider when starting your own program. Full Article.

10 Tips to Keep Your Team Positive (559 words)

Your sales and customer service team are the primary customer contact for every business. What does their attitude say about your company? If some of your team are not communicating the message you want, here are 10 questions to ask yourself to ensure they stay positive, focused on message and deliver an exceptional customer service experience. Full Article

7 Tips to Deal with Unhappy Customers (649 words)

No one likes to receive a complaint -- but complaints are worth their weight in gold if an organization learns from them and then uses the information to improve the customer experience. Customer complaints can be used to build a better customer experience and turn a dissatisfied customer into a raving fan. Full Article

10 Tips for Impeccable Customer Service & Repeat Customers (582 words)

Every business claims they focus on customer service and offer the best to their clients. However, how many really do? If you want to be able to stand out from the crowd and offer truly great customer service instead of just empty promises, here are ten great tips that will help. Full Article

Turning Adversity into Opportunity (554 words)

Despite the doom and gloom of today's economic downturn, smart leaders look to history for learning. History tells us that now is not the time to cut important foundational programs, but to leverage current conditions for competitive advantage so they emerge from this economic downturn better positioned for success. Full Article

Growing in a Down Market (462 words)

Okay, we all know about the recession. I have decided not to focus on the problems but the opportunities (old P&G training kicking in!). So what are the opportunities that we can leverage? For starters, focus on motivating and inspiring your teams. Here are a few things that you can do tomorrow, for little or no money, which will have a positive impact on your business results. Full Article

Providing Positive Feedback (600 words)

I must admit, I am uncomfortable when someone compliments me about my work. Of course I want people to be happy about my behaviour (performance) and I want positive feedback versus the alternative, but for me, I am uncomfortable responding to praise, or compliments. I'd like to hear something specific about my work rather than some generic comment about me. Full Article

Give Your Employees The Finger (372 words)

Another successful technique for providing recognition doesn't require talking—that's right, you can provide positive feedback to anyone without saying a word. The only requirement is you have to see them demonstrating the desired behaviour. Full Article

7 Critical Success Factors to Exceptional Customer Service (422 words)

Employees report that one of the key factors they are engaged in their organization is predicated on how well the organization treats their customers. So treating your customers well will also have a corresponding positive impact on your employees. Here are 7 critical success factors to providing exceptional customer service. Full Article

7 Steps to a Customer-Focused Company (550 words)

There are a few common imperatives shared by all successful customer-focused companies. Scholars may debate the exact number or wording, but it is universally agreed that to create a well-integrated organization, these basic characteristics must be in place. If any of these essential ingredients are missing, no organization will achieve its full potential. Full Article

12 Steps to Improve Your Customer Experience (425 Words)

Employee engagement and exceptional customer service play a critical role as a competitive advantage in the business landscape. Great customer service built on a foundation of high employee engagement isn't a revolutionary concept. More companies are recognizing just how important a deliberate and intentional customer-focused culture is, but few companies do it well. Here are 12 simple steps to ensure your organization is maximizing this important competitive advantage. Full Article

Who Do You Work For? (1,353 words)

If I was to ask you who you're working for, what would you say? a) Your company? b) Your boss? c) Yourself? d) Your customers? Most people, when they are honest, answer a, b or even c. But if you answered d, are you really working for your customers, or just paying lip service to it? Full Article

How To Provide Corrective Direction (762 words)

When discussing the "How to's" of building an engaged culture, we hear lots of talk about 'reinforcing the positive' and 'catching people doing things right', but what happens when people are doing things wrong and we need to provide corrective direction. Specific steps need to take place to get the person moving in the proper direction while still keeping them positive and motivated. Full Article

How to Achieve The Ultimate Customer-focused Company (350 words)

While many companies claim to be focused on their customers, they are unable to deliver on these promises within their current company culture. The argument is that companies continue to focus on their own needs versus the customer needs. Four values are identified that companies must adopt in order to successfully be customer-focused. Full Article

Have you Identified Employees as a Key Target Audience? (478 words)

Are you facilitating a conversation? Do you have a process set up that stimulates a conversation or is your messaging primarily just being pushed out from the communications team? Full Article