Email, text messaging, and social media messaging are some of the greatest technological innovations of our time. But there is a dark side to these communication tools. One that destroys time and creates trouble for the unscrupulous […]
Author: John Demma
Welcome to my blog. I have been a manager for fifteen years, and for the past five years I have been leading teams of 500 people or more as a director and VP for large growth companies. I share my leadership journey and thoughts here with the hopes of helping and inspiring other leaders.
Busy Work
Peter Drucker, one the most celebrated management minds of the twentieth century, applies the 80/20 rule to time management. Drucker says that managers spend 80% of their time on busy work, and only 20% of […]
Staying Power
Some ideas come and go while others have real staying power. One of my favorite business writers, Gary Hamel, compares the odds of developing a lasting innovation to the survival rates we see in nature. […]
Internal Customer Service
When you are a customer, how do you judge customer service? Quality. Value. Speed. Help with resolving your problems. I like to think of associates as customers of the management team. How would your direct […]
My Favorite Interview Questions
To me, hiring and developing an effective team is the most important part of a manager’s job. Here are my five all time favorite interview questions: 1. If you could land a dream job, what […]
The Costs of Turnover
High turnover is like having a tapeworm. No matter how many new people the organization hires, they never grow. Here are a few of the less obvious costs: Training costs Think about the amount of […]
Five Free Ways to Boost Associate Morale
You cannot have happy customers without happy associates.The real value in a company is created at the interface between the associate and the customer. Here are some best practices for creating and keeping happy associates. […]