business culture

  • My Four Non-Negotiables: #4 – Check Your Ego at the Front Door

    • April 4, 2020
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Leadership, Management
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    My fourth of the non-negotiables is to check your ego at the door.

    Over the years, I have developed a management philosophy I call the Four Non-Negotiables. Over the last few weeks, I’ve shared what each of them are and what they mean. This final week is about Non-Negotiable #4, Check Your Ego at the Front Door Actually, the full title is “Check your ego at the front

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  • Creating a Caring Company Culture Where You Can Have Retention

    • April 17, 2019
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Leadership, Management
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    A foosball table is not necessarily a good sign of a caring culture.

    When I think of company culture, I think of a company’s office environment, the attitudes of the people, and the general emotional atmosphere around the building. It’s the feeling of camaraderie and the drive to get things done. It’s the relationships and whether people get along. A company culture can tell you a lot about

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  • Nepotism Destroys Company Culture & Productivity

    • May 30, 2018
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Management, Productivity
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    Pope Paul III with his cardinal-nephew Alessandro Farnese (left) and his other grandson, Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma (right). The term 'nepotism' came from the practice of popes appointing their nephews to positions of cardinal, creating Cardinal-Nephews.

    If there’s one thing I don’t like about companies is nepotism. If you’re in a family business, nepotism is a productivity killer. And it was certainly the cause of a lot of my headaches when I first started working at Robroy. In those early days, we were running three 8-hour shifts in the factory, and

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  • Claudia Steed and the Be Uncommon Initiative

    • May 23, 2018
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Business, Innovation
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    Uncommon Ground restaurant. Would be a great place for the Be Uncommon crowd to meet.

    I’m not a big fan of fitting in and being just another face in the crowd. I love standing out and being known for doing good and interesting things. So I started a philosophy at Robroy called Be Uncommon. It means, if you’re living in the shadow of giants, (i.e., your company is small and

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  • Leadership Sets the Tone for the Whole Company

    • May 16, 2018
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Leadership, Management
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    Letter cubes on a desk that spell Leadership

    In March and April, I talked about a couple of the major mistakes leaders can make, such as 1) Not asking for help; and 2) Keeping your weakness a secret. That’s a problem with a lot of leaders. We think we’re supposed to know everything. That if we’re in charge, it must be because we’ve

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