This Part explains the first 5 practices. Part 2 describes the last 5 strategic partnership practices. Recent and very public “white collar,” stock-fraud crimes have brought much public attention to how governance is supposed to work, but too often doesn’t. The Sarbanes Oxley Act is one example of new regulations intended to strengthen the transparency …

In Part 1, we reviewed the first 3 of the 15 questions that should be addressed during the “plan for a plan” phase of strategic planning. In this Part 2, we review questions 4-6. 4. What is the Scope of Our Plan? It’s not uncommon for leaders to believe that a long-term plan will somehow …

Purpose of this Customer Service Blog This blog helps you improve your customer service by providing articles, opinions, commentary and many related resources. The blog is for a general audience, including beginners and those advanced in customer service. The benefits of strong customer service are many, including that it ensures: Clear understanding of your customer’s …

I’m Barb Lyon and I’m the host of this blog. You can read more about me next to my picture in the sidebar. This blog will be about various aspects of customer service, will focus especially on practical tips and tools, and will include posts from guest writers. You can learn more about this blog …

Evaluation – not everyone’s favorite topic but it is a necessary “evil” especially if we as trainers are running our programs like a business. What do I mean by this? Well with this lovely economic environment we are currently in, we all know that soft-skills training departments are the first to make cuts or lay …

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Some view leadership as a series of specific traits or characteristics. Others see it as comprised of certain skills and knowledge. And some, me included, think of leadership as a process. This view of leadership, as a process, places an emphasis on social interaction and relationship.

“The Hokey-Pokey of Fundraising” Whether it’s a Corporation, a Foundation, a prospective Major Donor or the recipient of a mass solicitation, they’re not going to write you a check if the process doesn’t satisfy their needs. Getting a Corporation to want to give to a non-profit organization (NPO) is a simple matter of learning, understanding …

Current competency models in the field of Human Resources (HR) share common themes. Among them is the necessity of the HR professional to serve as a credible activist.

My clients, and my kids, have been told that there are four ways that they can be perceived as lying: Dishonesty by commission — literally saying black is white. Dishonesty by omission — leaving important information out of your communications. Dishonesty by understatement for the purpose of obfuscating the truth. Dishonesty by overstatement for the …