I am a little annoyed with myself. As I address this topic of Leadership i find that I have fallen into the same trap as most others. I have succeeded in treating the difference between managers and leaders as two ends of a continuum and conveying the impression that one (managers) is bad and the [...]
Protecting the Past and Perfecting the Present Does Not Equal Finding a Future. Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic is a behavior often seen in organizations responding to massive change. Why is that? and why is it so prevalent in DeathCare. It turns out our century old culture is to blame and resolving a [...]
As I travel about the country I encounter a lot of good ideas and some bad. It seems to me that my readers might enjoy learning about some of these first hand. Not long ago I encountered a young funeral home owner who had improved on an old idea. In fact, when I first saw [...]
Insights come from the strangest places. This time from why women dress the way they do. My wife has bad feet. Most women do. Why? Because women's shoes are not designed for practicality. They are intended only to create an impression. Comfort and productivity, as purpose, are lost in favor of competing with others. When [...]
OR WHY FUNERAL DIRECTORS ARE NEUROTIC A pastor friend once told me: "The test of love is whether or not you are willing to tell someone their fly is unzipped." Funeral service I love what you do and I love many of you. Your fly is unzipped. My phone rings: "Al, this is Ron." Me: [...]
Sometimes you read stuff and it fits so perfectly all you are left with is: "I wish I had said that." Just as I was preparing my next followup article on how to make yourself unnecessary Linked-In published this blog post. Since I couldn't improve on it I will just share it. If you are [...]
Funeral Service is simultaneously over managed and under led. The key to overcoming the "Being Necessary" complex is to recognize the difference between management and leadership. It is the overmanagement that creates all the physical and emotional stress in this profession. More to the point the current trends in misapplying management data is turning professionals [...]
Saturday morning, January 7, 2012 my phone rings at home. "Al, this is Bob. Guess where I am?." Bob Neiman is a successful internet entrepreneur who flies his own plane and dominates a narrow niche in the construction industry. Bob and his wife Amy have been friends of ours for many years now. Amy is [...]
Recently I read something that triggered an insight. In my Funeral Home Consulting practice it is clear that businesses don't just suddenly spin out of control. Except in the rare case of disruptive innovation like an unconventional competitor, calamity does not occur overnight. "Things" start happening well before the challenges are apparent. Almost all of [...]
I think I can make a very strong case that funeral service as a profession makes a vital social contribution to society. For me that makes it a noble profession. Unfortunately, the profession doesn't act with nobility as often as so many of us would wish. Not long ago I spoke of Alpha Dogs and [...]
