Total TrustTotal TrustThis blog is for leaders, change agents, and anyone who wishes to build trust with other people. Articles
Skipping Christmas According to Macy?s
2007-12-27 15:54:00 This year, our family decided to have a low-key Christmas , rather than traveling frantically to see family or friends, and spending tons of money in the process. Our family was simply too tired from either taking or grading exams, running full-tilt since we moved in June. We simply needed to sleep late, take ... More About: Parenting , Macy , Cord , Accord
Use Checklists to Increase Your Reliability
2007-12-20 20:57:00 A great article in a recent issue of The New Yorker, brought to my attention by good friend Dr. Kevin Lobdell, points out the critical importance of checklists in achieving reliability in highly complex task environments: In 2001, though, a critical-care specialist at Johns Hopkins Hospital named Peter Pronovost decided to give it a try. ... More About: Health Care , Management , Trust
Be Cautious and Wise in Giving Free Advice or Favors
2007-12-18 16:12:00 As professors, colleagues, and consultants, we are often asked for for free advice, mentoring, and favors (e.g., recommendation letters). We believe we have been generous in granting these requests over the years, and we’ve certainly never charged for these. However, as we have matured in our experience in these roles, it has become ... More About: Advice , Careers , Free , Giving , Wise
I?ll Keep My Giving Separate From My Buying, Thanks
2007-12-13 23:37:00 Call me old fashioned, but when I buy something, I’d prefer that my purchase benefits the retailer, service-provider, or other seller. When I give something, as in a charitable donation, I’d prefer that it all goes to the charity. I occasionally make exceptions for charity auctions (once a year or less I attend ... More About: Buying , Giving
Please Give to Those Who Need it Most This Season
2007-12-07 17:53:00 As the bumper sticker says, “If you’re not mad, you’re not paying attention.” I’ll add “sad” to that as well after reading today’s local paper about families in need in the Durham area this holiday season. Here are a few excerpts: DURHAM — This family has an extremely limited income. Share your ... More About: Season , Trust , Give
Great marketing makes me cringe?
2007-12-04 22:36:00 The Wall Street Journal described a great marketing idea: send your loved ones (e.g., husbands) a specific wish list from your favorite store. The stores claim that women are tired of hoping their husbands will get them a great gift, so they are using these wish lists to help them give great gifts. While ... More About: Marketing , Technology , Great
Going backward to get ahead
2007-12-03 18:19:00 A great article in the Wall Street Journal this weekend addresses what we have done many times in our life: take a step back to get ahead. It takes courage to leave the known for the unknown, but our parents have set the example in our lives, all going back to school at ... More About: Education , Careers , Ahead , Goin
No cold calling in the winter!
2007-12-03 03:19:00 It’s time to forget about cold calling and move towards “warm calling©.” The marketing and advertising textbooks I am using still tell students to rely on referrals and cold calling to find new prospects. I completely agree with cultivating referrals from people you know and have worked with, but I can’t believe we ... More About: Winter , Networking , Cold , Calling , Cold calling
Where in the World is This Notepad/Memo Pad? It?s at West Leather!
2007-12-01 14:41:00 Update 12-1-07: I have now given this monogrammed notepad as a thank-you gift to several guest speakers, all of whom have loved it. I now declare it to be a hit! Aneil Update, 10:30 a.m.: Nathan Bond, one of my Babcock Evening Students, found the site, ElizabethWest Leather. Thanks so much to all of you who read this ... More About: World , Networking , The World , Memo
Having Surgery? First Visit the Comittee to Reduce Infection Deaths
2007-11-30 00:14:00 Read about the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths in today’s Wall Street Journal, and here is an excerpt an editorial by its founder and chairman, Betsy McCaughey: Hospitals used to routinely test surfaces for bacteria, but in 1970 the CDC and the American Hospital Association advised them to stop, saying testing was unnecessary. The CDC still ... More About: Health Care , Surgery
Penny for Your Thoughts, and Your Tomatoes?
2007-11-29 16:36:00 I take a backseat to no one in my love for tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, and just about any food that uses the red vegetable. I still remember how tasty the vine-ripened beefstake tomatoes from my grandfather’s garden in Alabama were. So, when I read this editorial by author Eric Schlosser in the New York Times ... More About: Thoughts , Tomatoes , Penny
Some Men Don?t Want to Work ? Here?s How to Be a Better Husband and Parent
2007-11-29 14:06:00 Update 11-29-07 This post continues to be on of more popular, so I thought I’d update it. Although not directly related to this issue of whether men want to work or not, I found this posting in the Wall Street Journal blog, “The Juggle” by Sara Schaefer Munoz, interesting, but the responses to it mostly ridiculous, ... More About: Parenting , Careers , Work , Husband , Interpersonal
Gag Me with a Caviar Spoon!
2007-11-22 22:08:00 Perhaps it is fitting on this Thanksgiving Day, a day in which we should be thankful for so much, but also when most of us gorge ourselves that I came across this New York Times article on excess, in this case lavished on attorneys. The benefits for lawyers have burgeoned in recent years as firms pull ... More About: Careers , Spoon
Wal-Mart Saves a Few Dollars and Worsens a Family Tragedy
2007-11-20 22:39:00 I’m having trouble seeing the fairness in WalMart ’s latest effort to reduce its costs, in this case health insurance costs, from what I read in today’s Wall Street Journal: JACKSON, Mo. — A collision with a semi-trailer truck seven years ago left 52-year-old Deborah Shank permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Her husband, Jim, and three ... More About: Family , Health Care , Tragedy , Wal-Mart
Review Your Performance Reviews
2007-11-20 14:56:00 Today’s Wall Street Journal has an article by columnist Jared Sandberg in which he discusses the limitations of most employees’ performance reviews. I am proud that our Babcock alums Bill Savage (FT), and Ed Smiley (Charlotte Saturday, on leave) were quoted. (Yes I was quoted too, and am grateful to our Trust Network ... More About: Reviews , Performance , Management , Review , Careers
Parenting with ?personal authenticity??How to Explain Life to Your Kids, an
2007-11-19 15:56:00 Update 11/19/07: I’ve found that Monty Python skits (which Karen deplores) sometimes provide a useful way in which to explain how life really was back when I was a kid. My Okemos High School and Princeton chums regularly revisit our “tough childhoods” when dealing with our own children, but perhaps it is just as informative ... More About: Personal , Life , Kids , Parenting , Careers
Coughs Due to Colds: Avoid Robitussin, Mucinex, and Guaifenesin!
2007-11-19 11:26:00 Update 11/19/07: I caught some kind of chest cold over the weekend, and it exacerbated my asthma, so I called my doctor’s office this morning. The triage nurse recommended I try some Mucinex, which I then told her was contraindicated in patients with chronic cough due to asthma. I don’t have chronic cough, but I do ... More About: Health Care , Avoid
Fixing the U.S. Health Care System: I?m as Mad as Hell, and I?m not Going
2007-11-16 16:07:00 Update, 11-16-07: Here’s another article from the WSJ, published today, that should make everyone in this country demand a complete overhaul in the U.S. health care system. Write your U.S. Representative, your Senators, and demand your doctors do their part to provide the health care system we deserve. Such a health care system should provide ... More About: Health , System , Health Care , Care , Hell
In Praise of Less Praise: Make Performance Evaluations Meaningful, and Tel
2007-11-11 09:35:00 Update 11/11/07: Is it any wonder that managers want to avoid giving negative feedback during performance reviews? When I worked at General Motors in human resources more than 20 years ago, one of my tasks as a new employee was to audit several hundred annual performance evaluations in an effort to get managers to improve ... More About: Education , Parenting , Performance , Careers , Praise
A Real Doctor on the Cutting Edge of Healing Who Won?t Use Human Growth Hor
2007-11-08 17:41:00 Gwen Knapp on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle’s sports section today had this to say about Barry Bonds , Matt Williams and human growth hormone. She interviewed my brother Allan, who’s conducting clinical trials on an ethical treatment for sports injuries. Excerpts below: Et tu, Matty? How many of us were naive enough ... More About: Health Care , Human , Cutting Edge , Healing
Express Yourself : Reading the Dictionary Can be a Good Use of Time!
2007-11-07 16:54:00 Yes, I read the dictionary as a middle-schooler and from then on (still do, although online now). Perhaps it was because my dad was a journalism professor, or my mom encouraged me to memorize Latin and Greek roots to build up my vocabulary (thanks, Mom!). I’m a stickler for grammar and punctuation, and ... More About: Education , Parenting , Reading , Time , Dictionary
Networking, Value Migration, Associated Content, and Branding Yourself
2007-11-05 17:58:00 We discussed networking and enterprise risk management in my EMBA class last Saturday, with some great input from one of my Full-Time MBA alums, Bill Savage of The Hartford. I was interested, therefore, in today’s Wall Street Journal article which addresses Value Migration, networking, and a host of other important topics each of us ... More About: Technology , Branding , Networking , Careers , Content
Red Envelope is No Longer Making Me See Red
2007-11-04 18:33:00 Update 11/4/07: No longer seeing red at Red Envelope — got a refund for most of the cost of the flowers, actually back in May, but never was informed by Red Envelope of this refund. Nevertheless, I’m changing the title of the post to reflect the resolution of the problem. Trust restored, at least ...
We Should all be Shook Up About Hook Ups!
2007-11-01 22:24:00 In today’s Wall Street Journal, Jeff Zazslow, laments the passing away of romance among his daughter’s group of friends: Last month, a boy asked my 16-year-old daughter to his school’s homecoming dance. She agreed to go, bought a new dress and made a hairdresser appointment. The boy never bought tickets to the dance. Neither did his friends. ... More About: Parenting , Trust , Interpersonal , Hook
In Praise of Less Praise
2007-10-30 09:35:00 Update 10/30/07: Here’s more evidence that we’re praising our young people too much, this from Tara Parker-Pope today’s Wall Street Journal: Are Kids Getting Too Much Praise ? Can kids have too much confidence? (Ruby Washington/The New York Times) An excess of praise may be doing kids more harm than good. A cover story in this month?s Scholastic Instructor magazine asks ... More About: Education , Parenting
WUNC Radio Fundraisers: ?Where are Y?all Calling From??
2007-10-30 01:11:00 I’m Yankee born and bred (okay, I was born in India, but it was in the northern part of the country, to a Bihari-born father, and an American mother from Detroit, MI), and so I don’t always pronounce Southern words correctly. For example, “Buena Vista” is pronounced “Buna Vista,” not “Bwayna Vista” in Winston-Salem, ... More About: Radio , Calling , Adio
Double Your Miles for Charity with American Express
2007-10-29 21:32:00 I was checking out my Membership Rewards points with my American Express account today, as I’ve used my points with great success to order laser printer cartridges from Dell, gift cards that can be used at P.F. Changs, and simply sending other gifts to family and friends. Until now, however, I haven’t thought about ... More About: Charity , Double , Miles
Red Envelope is Still Making Me See Red!
2007-10-29 18:33:00 Update 10/29/07: We finally connected today via phone (they left a message on my phone last night). They claimed to have refunded me for one of the flower orders to my Amex account, but I couldn’t find any evidence of the refund. This is what I just emailed them, and we’ll see how they reply: Mr. Steward: Here ... More About: Trust , Envelope
Red Envelope is Still Making Me See Red!
2007-10-28 18:33:00 Update 10/28/07: Still no reply, and now it’s been seven-plus months — I emailed Red Envelope again just now! Aneil Update 7/31/07 Still no reply from anyone in customer service at Red Envelope! Other consumers in 2007 apparently agree with me. Reviewers at Dealtime.com give the store only mediocre ratings on average for its customer service ... More About: Trust
What to Pay the Sitter?
More articles from this author:2007-10-25 18:55:00 Here’s and article and the question of the day in today’s Wall Street Journal on what to pay a baby sitter. Sue gives some great advice at the end of the column, which resonates with my disdain for bargaining when it comes to pay for child care: Finally, don’t make the common mistake of assuming ... More About: Parenting , Sitter 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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