Leadership
What To Do When Your Heart Isn’t In Your Work Anymore
Call it what you want: Career fatigue, burnout, and boredom. The truth is almost all of us go through times when we feel our heart isn’t in it anymore. In fact, research shows that only one in three of us are actually engaged at work. I realize there are circumstantial issues that contribute to this; […]
Business Partners: The Rainmaker & The Operator
Partnerships, by their very nature, are problematic. They are worse when there is not a clear vision of role differentiation that is understood by all and mutually respected. This role differentiation is key to smooth and successful partnerships. When differentiation is not present roles tend to overlap and conflict. Competition among partners develops and eventually […]
The Intentional Funeral Director
What is an Intentional Funeral Director? Some years ago I attended a Men’s Retreat at my church. The plan was that we would all ride to the camp on the church bus. What the pastor told us before we climbed on board set the whole tone. He said: “Some people rise above their circumstances and […]
Employee Pushback – A Strategy
A client and friend of mine recently spent days revising the staff schedule to be more efficient and effective. He took great pains to think about its impact on staff and did his best to devise a plan that would work best for the funeral home AND create the least inconvenience for his staff. After […]
A Fat Man Dresses For Work
“My name is Alan and I am overweight!” Last week I was shocked when someone said to me, “Alan, you are always well dressed and so professional looking.” It really took me aback. I certainly don’t see myself that way. But I DO see myself as a professional who has a responsibility to myself and […]
This Is What I Would Tell My Staff
What happened to social etiquette? You spend a couple of million dollars on a new building and you let the public be disappointed the moment they enter the door. I visit a lot of funeral homes and the experience ranges from abysmal to glorious with a whole lot more on the abysmal side than the […]
Confronting Passive Aggressive Behavior at Work.
Most people in the funeral profession are almost pathologically averse to confrontation. As a result, the predominant internal culture in funeral homes is Passive Aggressive. If you have been a subscriber for long you know I have a personal issue with what I call the “Ten Call Tyrant”. He or she is that individual you […]
Serve more families, work less and be more profitable
Staff shortages among licensed professions have been successfully addressed by changing the model in the medical and legal professions. The solution is simple: focus skilled licensed staff on the right duties and supplement them with trained lower level staff. The result: Licensees handle more cases, work fewer hours, produce more income and, as a byproduct, […]
You Don’t Need Another Licensee
Lessons From Radar O’Reilly Some years ago there was a nationwide nursing shortage. Then some very wise doctor’s and hospitals realized that there really wasn’t a shortage…there was a problem. Too many nursing duties were non – nursing tasks. Things like paperwork, bathing patients, cleaning rooms etc. Doctors and hospitals were using nurses as glorified […]
Lessons From Bar Fighting
While I was in college I spent a summer as a Merchant Seaman on a Great Lakes iron ore carrier. Some of the crew “took me under their wing” and while in port one time invited me to join them on a trip into town. On the way one of them turned to me and […]
Why We Fail: How Blame Game Defeats Us
Why is it so important in the funeral service culture to find blame? Blame is always a counterproductive force that slows us down and PREVENTS us from the personal accountability we need to move us to a higher plane. Some years before my engagement with funeral service I was employed as a project manager and […]
Why You Should Be A jerk More Often
Happened across this excellent advice the other day. Some things really are worth sharing. “Now, when I spell jerk with a small letter “j”, I’m referring to someone who is willing to say or do something that pushes a peer or subordinate far out of their comfort zones in order to make them or the […]