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Since the official release of The Power of Approachability on March 22, 2005, things have been going tremendously! The book has been selling quite well around the country, both through the website and at various speaking programs. (If you’d like to read the first three chapters, click here.) I asked several colleagues, associates and members of my internetwork to share their comments about the book and how approachability plays…

When I walked into Dallas’s famous Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse, all I wanted to do was to enjoy my New York Strip steak, relax and quietly review my notes for the following day’s speech. Little did I know that a valuable business lesson awaited me at the table. The only other customer in the bar was a guy sitting in the corner pounding away on his laptop. He didn’t look…

According to a recent review by the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), becoming a blogger can be a frustrating task for people with vision loss. “What we found through our evaluation is that the world of blogging is out of reach for many blind and low vision computer users,” said Jay Leventhal, editor of AccessWorld®, AFB’s online technology magazine. “With 40,000 new blogs cropping up each day and…

I had the opportunity to give a speech at the Hyatt Regency’s Annual Employee meeting this week. The program centered on Hyatt’s service essentials, one of which is using the guests’ names. During the meeting GM Barry Kaplan spoke for a few minutes. He forewarned the employees about the possibility of inspectors coming through the property to evaluate their adherence to Hyatt service essentials. Then, when he came to…

During a recent keynote at a conference for the International Association of Workforce Professionals, I spent several minutes telling the audience about one of the most horribly overused words in the English language: fine. “After looking up the word ‘fine’ in 23 different dictionaries, I noticed that it was never listed!” I joked with the audience. “Upon further research, it was brought to my attention that ‘fine’ was actually…

Worthwhile’s blog posted a link to a great article from 999 Today. Here are a few excerpts: “In a series of tests carried out by Dr. Glenn Wilson of Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, an average worker’s functioning IQ falls ten points when distracted by ringing telephones and incoming emails. And this drop in IQ is more than double the four point drop seen following studies on the…

The Rib America Festival is a fun filled family event featuring award winning BBQ and live entertainment from national, regional and local talent. Each rib cooker features their very own special cooking strategy and recipes that make for a truly unique food festival experience. My Dad and I attend every year. And it’s our tradition to sample a few ribs from each of the cookers and ultimately choose our…

Joe McCarthy at Interrelativity sent me a fantastic link to a website called Front Porch Classics. The company was founded by three dads in Seattle, Washington, looking for ways to spend quality time with family and friends. “Too often we found ourselves watching TV, DVDs, playing cheap plastic games or sitting around a computer game console. This inspired us to create a new line of games. Games that can…

Several hundred years ago Ben Franklin contemplated a revolutionary business concept: to gather people together on a regular basis to share ideas and help each other boost business. Little did he know that his idea would evolve into a field of study embraced by legions of businesspeople centuries later: networking. Certainly over those next hundred years, networking evolved in myriad ways. But with the advent of and dependence on…

In a recent article in Sauce magazine, various locals were asked, “If the food was excellent at a restaurant, but the service terrible, would you go back?” The following two answers caught my attention: “I usually give it a shot one more time. Service is important, but sometimes servers have a bad day.” “I would have questions about going back, unless I really like the place. I understand that…