Mike Lehr's Blog

Improving customer service productivity by listening better.

Improving Customer Service Productivity Through Listening Skills

Posted on07 Oct 2019

Tagsconflict management, customer service, customer service sailing analogy, efficiencies, listen, productivity, soft skills

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Improving customer service productivity often means looking at operations, management, performance metrics or incentives. If it looks at listening skills, it focuses on listening among...

The key to telling leaders and managers apart

Key To Telling Leaders And Managers Apart In Any Workplace

Posted on30 Sep 2019

Tagsformal organizational power, informal organizational power, leadership vs management, organization chart

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The key to telling leaders and managers apart in the workplace is that anyone can be a leader. Not so with managers. Management is named...

Following Business Leaders Who Lie, Resolving The Conflict

Posted on23 Sep 2019

Tagscognitive dissonance, followers of leaders, justification, leadership, leadership dark side, lying, rationale

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Lies pop up more than we think. Many lies we don’t even think are lies. Still, some are bigger than others. They compound too. That’s...

Pigeonholing at work blinding employers to talent right in front of their noses.

Pigeonholing At Work Blinding Managers To In-House Talent

Posted on16 Sep 2019

Tagsexperience, hiring, pigeonholing, Talent, training

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It’s easy to pigeonhole people. We do it without knowing it. Thus, pigeonholing at work easily blinds managers to talent in their firms. Too much...

Crash Course On Becoming A Better Conversationalist By Tomorrow

Posted on09 Sep 2019

Tagsacknowledgement, closed questions, communication, conversation techniques, conversationalist, encourage, open-ended questions, pause, reflection, relationship building techniques, summarize, synchronizing

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Becoming a better conversationalist is easier than most people think. A few tips will do it by tomorrow. Each link explores the tips further. That...

Talented employees face challenges from the group in any workplace.

Top Challenges Talented Employees Face In Any Workplace

Posted on02 Sep 2019

Tagsdiversity, group dynamics, homophily, rules, star employees, Talent, team building

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Talented employees face challenges in the workplace. Much of these stem from groups being the natural enemy of the individual. That means the person is...

Understanding Agile for everyday business success

Understanding Agile As A Non-Technical Way To Drive Everyday Success

Posted on26 Aug 2019

Tagscreativity, problem solving, process management, success, trial and error

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Agile is all the buzz in information technology. Yet, understanding Agile in a non-technical way can drive everyday success in any field for any business....

Ways People Lie By Asserting Dominance Through Wording

Posted on19 Aug 2019

Tagsauthority, confidence, dominance, lying, phraseology, question and answer

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When we see people asserting dominance, it can indicate lying. After all, people use their dominance to influence us, and lies exist to influence. Both...

Using Power Of Personality To Influence Groups

Using Your Power Of Personality To Influence Organizations

Posted on12 Aug 2019

Tagsformal organizational power, grapevine, Influence, informal organizational power, organization, organization chart, power in personality, symbolism, von Freytag-Loringhaven

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The digital and technological age dominates our world. This age routinely discounts humans. Falling into this mindset, we lose touch with the powers life gave...

The emotional intensity between people’s fears of loss and desires for gain differs widely.

Exploiting People’s Fears Of Loss And Desires For Gain

Posted on05 Aug 2019

Tagsemotional triggers, fear, Influence, loss, motivation, presentation, subliminity

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Fears of loss and desires for gain work in all of us. People exploit them. We see them in ads. We see in them in...

The importance of gestures in presentation of ideas

Importance Of Gestures In Presentation Of Strategic Ideas

Posted on29 Jul 2019

Tagsgestures, ideas, presentation, public speaking, strategy

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We can’t touch ideas. That makes them difficult to present. Words help. Pictures do too. They’re not enough though. That’s where the importance of gestures...

Asking better questions of job applicants to get better hires.

Asking Better Questions Of Job Applicants To Make Them Think

Posted on22 Jul 2019

Tagsbias, hiring, planning, question and answer, questioning techniques, team, thinking process

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Asking better questions of job applicants makes hiring better. Yet, most interviews still run without any agenda, planning or pre-work. People wing them. Applicants get...