Business
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Emotional Intelligence: The Leadership Skill Nobody Teaches
- June 3, 2026
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Leadership
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I’ve worked in manufacturing long enough to see the same story play out over and over. A company has a great employee. Maybe it’s the best machinist in the plant. Maybe it’s the engineer everyone calls when a machine goes down. Or it’s the maintenance tech who can hear a strange noise in a gearbox
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Why Great Leaders Prioritize Work-Life Balance for Themselves and Others
- May 27, 2026
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Leadership
“Work-life balance” is one of those phrases that sounds good until you think about what it really means. Companies talk about it, employees ask for it, and consultants build entire presentations around it. The reality is that no one can give you a work-life balance. It’s something you have to create for yourself. You have
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Don’t Build Factories for Promises
- May 20, 2026
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management
Over the years, I’ve watched companies spend themselves into trouble because they confused optimism with strategy. The conversation starts the same way: A customer says, “If you build a facility closer to us…” or “If you invest in this equipment…” or “If you manufacture locally…” They’ll assure you the business will be there. It sounds
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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 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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The Power of Transparent Leadership in Building Trust
- November 11, 2024
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Leadership, Management
Too many leaders have fragile egos that make them think they’re the smartest person in the room. Or believe they have to be the smartest person in the room, and they’re afraid of being found out. But if you want to build trust as a leader, it starts with admitting you’re not the smartest person
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Building a Winning Team by Hiring for Skills, Not Education
- September 11, 2024
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Manufacturing
When you’re building a winning team, it’s important that you hire people for their knowledge and smarts, not their education and degrees. Too often, businesses require certain educational experiences that either don’t make any sense or mean you miss out on some prime candidates. If I had to choose between hiring a 22-year-old with a