Of course you want the best talent available for your business, with the characteristics and personality that fit your culture. Hiring the “right” people is critical to every organization. In a recession the stakes are even higher: every smart idea to innovate or save costs matters more; and every bit of passion enhances…

If you’re searching online for a blind date, you can narrow the field demographically to, let’s say, people between age 35 and 45 who live in Denver. And you can take a peek at the all-important photograph. But is that enough information to make even one valid assumption about someone? Before you commit to that blind date, you’ll want to know what kind of personality they have and what their interests and values are, among other things. That same kind of curiosity about your customers gives…

I have to tell you, I’m done with the “new normal.” Let’s get back to business! It was in this state of mind that I recently attended a Colorado CEO Forum where I had the good fortune to hear speaker/author/trainer/coach Jack Daly. What a refreshing perspective he offered on the opportunities for robust growth in any market.…

By Kathleen Quinn Votaw

The statistics on why companies lose customers haven’t changed for years. Is anyone listening? A full 68 percent of customers who leave are turned away, not by dissatisfaction with the product, but by the indifferent attitude of a single employee. All the money you spend on perfecting your product and advertising its quality is wasted if your employees aren’t delivering what your customers expect. In other words, your entire brand comes down to the…

By Kathleen Quinn Votaw

For the first time there are four generations in the workplace—and two of them are often maligned: the Boomers and Millennials, some of the oldest and the youngest in the workforce. While organizations and industries push out older “slower” workers and hesitate to hire “entitled, self-centered” twenty-somethings, we are wasting some of the best brains in business.

Far from these stereotypes, new research shows that our brains are actually better…