David Marshall
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Manage Upward: How to Influence Those Above You in the Org Chart
- March 19, 2025
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
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A lot of leadership blogs all talk about the same thing: How do you motivate your staff? How do you get them to buy into your vision? How do you make them do what you want them to do? But how do you influence those people who are above you in the organizational chart? How
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How to Identify and Nurture Future Leaders Within Your Organization?
- March 12, 2025
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
Some of the best leaders for your company are the ones who started as fresh-faced newbies a few years ago and had trouble navigating their way around the office. Now, they’re one of the people that everyone turns to when they need help with a project or advice on something bothering them. They’re the team
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How to Avoid Micromanaging Your Employees
- March 5, 2025
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Management
Micromanagers are some of the worst managers there are. They get bogged down in the details that, if we’re being honest, should no longer concern them. Managers should be executing visions and motivating employees, not on the front line, producing and counting widgets, or performing the functions of the people who work under them. A
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That Time a Customer Tried to Screw Me and How I Resolved the Problem
- February 26, 2025
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business
Years ago, when I still worked in the lighting industry, I helped to consolidate one company into another, giving me total access to all of our books and sales reports. One of the things I saw was that one company was terribly delinquent in its payments to us to the tune of $56,000. This was
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The Happiest I’ve Ever Made a Customer
- February 19, 2025
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Innovation
I’ve been answering questions this month about the angriest a customer has ever been at us or the biggest career mistake I’ve ever made. So now let’s talk about how happy I’ve made a customer. Years ago, Texas utility companies were offering big credits and rebates to their customers for switching out their old industrial
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The Biggest Professional Mistake I Ever Made
- February 12, 2025
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management
We’ve all made big mistakes during our careers. Not just the little “oops” moments like a late report or missed deadline, but the big mistake that you’re sure is going to derail your career and see you switch to becoming an insurance claims adjuster. While I never switched my career, I did end up switching
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The Angriest a Customer Has Ever Been at Me
- February 5, 2025
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management, Manufacturing
You can’t go through your business life without a customer getting angry at you. The thing that defines you is how you deal with that problem. Do you fix it, ignore it, or twist it around so it’s the customer’s fault and you can wash your hands of the entire problem? I remember an incident
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How to Recognize and Avoid Leadership Blind Spots
- December 26, 2024
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Innovation, Leadership, Management
Your leadership journey can certainly be derailed by unseen obstacles and leadership blind spots. These are the areas where your perceptions or behaviors don’t align with reality. We all have them, and if you think you don’t have them, well, there’s one right there. It’s like the scene from Catch-22 where Yossarian tells Appleby, “‘You’ve
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How to Cultivate a Growth Mindset Across Your Team
- December 18, 2024
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Innovation, Management
“Growth mindset” is not just a trendy leadership buzzword. I mean, it is a trendy leadership buzzword, but it’s also a new leadership philosophy that works for most companies, regardless of industry, function, or size. It means that you see your team not as a collection of cogs in a machine but as a group
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Managing Workplace Conflict Effectively Without Damaging Relationships
- December 11, 2024
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
I’ve seen my fair share of workplace conflicts, from an argument in the executive suite to disagreements among team members to fights on the factory floor, including one that nearly became a knife fight. But conflict doesn’t have to be a four-letter word, and it doesn’t have to end up with blood spraying the walls.