Four Hooks That Hang Juries

The medical malpractice lawsuit in Oakland, CA. centered on a wife (plaintiff) who was suing a mental health facility for allowing her husband to come home for the holidays after being committed after a suicide attempt.  The wife had visited the hospital late on a weekend night, when the primary care people were not there.  She had insisted that her husband be allowed to go home with her and a newer resident physician complied.  The next morning her husband was dead of a “self inflicted gunshot wound.”  She sued the hospital for letting him out!  My client was her attorney.  I did not like this woman and I felt strongly that she was a dark force in this scenario.  No one on the jury liked this woman either, but they awarded her a large settlement because one of the jurors held out for a mind numbing time over the fact that the attending physician failed to follow EXACT procedure and even completed the discharge form incorrectly.  This was a gift for her attorneys and a nightmare for the hospital.  The jury didn’t want to “reward her,” but “the rules were not followed.”  If that sounds familiar, take a look at Casey Anthony, OJ, Phil Specter and Robert Blake.

Quest for Respect May Backfire

One of the greatest causes of conflict in any organization is the issue of respect. We are bombarded by pleas to be respectful of others, or demands for respect, or threats of withholding cooperation if there is no respect. That all sounds so simple, yet it is anything but.

The thing that gets in the way of true respect is that many people think that what they do is the foremost skill surrounded by the “necessary evils” of other skills. An example is the controller who creates state of the art reporting structures, technologies and the best information for capturing tax credits, avoiding penalties etc etc. That is truly a tough job, never ending challenges and truly one that the peers do not really understand.

Are You Part of the Problem?

I am preparing a workshop for a company that has an exceptional track record of success and yet has a notable morale problem. In general, good sales, profits and performance generate good morale, so this one presents a new challenge. By interviewing people throughout the company, and in their customer base, it is apparent that the morale issues are generated by a group of 5 people in a company of several hundred. How can this be????

The group is in the center of every transaction, and every activity. They are the support center. They have been in the company a long time, though their ages vary from late 30′s to early 50′s. They have resisted every new technology that has been introduced and every attempt to elevate their performance, and most particularly their attitudes. If you ask them, they will tell you they have grievances from long ago, some so long they can’t even remember the specific circumstances and some involving people who are no longer there.

How Did They Ever Get This Far?

I agreed to assist a client in screening some resumes he received in response to an ad for a sales rep. We were looking at recent college graduates who were just entering the professional sales marketplace for the first time.

I called a young lady who stated her objective was to obtain a position in sales although she had just graduated with a degree with a major in radio and tv. I asked her why she was interested in sales and she said she was looking “for something different.” That took me by surprise since this would be her first job.

Your Expectations Are Too High???? Really????

Would someone please just tell me who in the world thinks lowering expectations is a good idea?  Where does it get you?  What has it done to our country?  Our ambition and achievement? Our independence and freedom?  I am livid at the  the nerve of anyone saying that to someone who has the vision and courage to have high expectations, given what they have to go through to get anything done! The only reason they have the nerve is there are so many of them, those who relish the land of the middle, of the mediocre.  These are the ones who didn’t want to go the extra mile to make something happen, who hate those that do.  By out numbering the achievers, they believe themselves to be legitimately entitled to  procedures and “movements” that blur the distinctions between the achievers and themselves and also just make it so difficult to get anything accomplished.

Is Leadership Dead?

In an age inundated by forces of political correctness, we have gotten away from the perspectives of what leadership means.  Many great books have been written about leaders, and my personal favorite is Good To Great but there are thousands of others that speak of leadership.  Better than anyone,  John Maxwell and Warren Bennis have defined leadership for decades.

Is it Diversity Awareness or Something Else?

Most people go to the refrigerator, channel surf or do almost anything else when the commercials come on TV. That is why they may not have noticed a subtle, yet pervasive theme in modern commercials- the ridicule and undermining of respect for the white American male, young and old.

I began to notice this trend a few months ago