Lary – Page 142 – www.exkalibur.com

The Best Advice you ever received?

Fortune Magazine’s most recent issue challenged a wide variety of business and government leaders to share the The Best Advice I Ever Got. I think that’s a great challenge and encourage readers to share those that have been meaningful in their life.
One in particular always comes to mind for me.Back in the Stone Age during my formative years, the Chairman of the first company I joined in private industry was an irascible and tough disciplinarian.
(A few years earlier, in boot camp, I think I saw his alter ego wearing a Smokey Bear hat.)

What Would You Do if You Didn’t Get Your Paycheck?

Anyway, he summoned me into his office one day and asked me “What would you do if you didn’t get your check on payday?” Fortunately, before I fumbled around with something like “I dunno”, he answered his own question. (more…)

How to treat customers? Like guests.

Saturday's NY Times carried an interview with Alan J. Fuerstman, CEO of Montage Hotels and Resorts. His view of customer service and the incredible value of staff training and retention, offers several insightful observations about how to serve with "grace and humility" and to successfully put the customer first.

The Game Changer

A recent book published by A.G Lafley, the CEO of Proctor & Gamble and Ram Charan, the globe-trotting uber consultant, called The Game Changer is all about the turnaround at consumer giant Proctor & Gamble. Fortune carried an excerpt about it in their "America's Most Admired Companies" edition, which argues…

Spend a billion. Save a billion. DHL and UPS hook up!

DHL, the international delivery firm with prominent colors of red and yellow, announced they have hired UPS to handle of their U.S. delivery needs. It's an outsourcing choice and approach that seems counter-intuitive between two major competitors. Read the provocative article for a different perspective on outsourcing and competition.

Quit? Never! Well, maybe . . . .

Have you ever thought about quitting? Did you ever think it might be the best choice? The New York Times carried an article summarizing some of the latest theories and scientific studies discussing our obsession with perseverance. There's something to be said, as some of us may have surmised, for…

No sauce on my sandwich. 911?

The SF Chron carried a brief notice today summarizing an AP story about a Florida incident. It’s quoted below:
“The sauce for a spicy Italian sandwich was apparently a must have for one Florida man. The man, Reginald Peterson, called 911 twice after a sandwich shop left off the sauce. (more…)

Zimbabwe – where’s the fun now?

Just as we were having a little fun with the Zimbabwe currency quagmire – they were running out of the paper required to print money – and prepared to report on their official 2.2 million percent inflation rate – yes, you read that correctly – which some independent economists say is closer to 12.5 million percent, they go and wreck all of the fun!
Effective Friday, they’ve dropped the last ten 0’s from the currency. (more…)

Another view . . . on the Economy

I don't know about you but I'm pretty tired of the one-sided, "the sky is falling approach of journalists" filling the front pages with dastardly economic news. Since we all know that economists have correctly predicted 13 out of the last 4 recessions, it's painful to watch unqualified journalists recording…

Boomers? GenX? Generation Y? Huh?

A colleague recently passed along a handy reference chart which summarizes - and generalizes - the generational groups we hear about all the time - the Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y. It won't fit everyone perfectly but it's good reference point. (It's not readable below, but if…