There’s a Polish idiom that goes, “Nie mój cyrk, nie moje małpy.” In English, that translates to “Not my circus, not my monkey.” Or, simply, “Not my problem.” Think of your job as a circus. Within your circus, there are lions to feed, monkeys to train, and lots and lots of elephants to clean up […]
Read MoreGrowl. That’s what I usually do when I get frustrated and hit a stress wall – until last week. Bill from our production team walked by my desk and did a double take because I was playing with what he thought was PlayDoh. After pulling out a can of Thinking Putty that a coworker surprised […]
Read MoreJanuary 1st. A lot of resolutions are made. Losing that extra weight, actually taking a vacation, eating healthier. But somehow, we tend to fall short on most of these. We bog ourselves down with work and activities galore that weigh on us. How do we create the time to do some of the things we […]
Read MoreEver feel like your day is incredibly busy and you could use one more set of hands in the office? Or another technician to support the general repair work you’ve recently started advertising? Sometimes it’s hard to even stop and think about making the time to hire and train a new employee. I recently felt […]
Read MoreBorn in the ‘80s and raised in the ‘90s, Millennials are a tricky generation to court. Confident but coddled, competitive but team-minded, social but independent, young professionals from this generation are a breed apart – and that can be a great thing for your business. Before you go fishing for young talent in the pool […]
Read MoreHave you had a long hard week at work? Is your team tired and unmotivated by the time Friday creeps up? Rallying your troops is one of the hardest things to tackle as a manager and last week, that’s exactly the challenge I had to meet. After a busy week slinging transmissions, a group of […]
Read MoreThis week’s post is based on a letter from one of our loyal readers, Eddie Symonds at Powertrain Products in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Thanks so much for sharing, Eddie! From Eddie: “Dear Captain Reman, I just hired a new employee & they asked me for a new chair at their desk that they were assigned […]
Read MoreI took my own advice over the past week and spent a fair amount of time on our sales floor. I answered front line sales calls. I took some customer complaint calls. I talked to loyal customers. I talked to new customers. I fumbled through our new-ish computer system and created quotes, wrote a few […]
Read MorePart 2, A Manager’s Perspective Last week, Jennifer Porter (aka The Woman Behind the Curtain) shared a video interview and a few thoughts on eliciting great employee performance. This week, Captain Reman weighs in. Want to lead your team (company, employees, department, coworkers) to greater success? Read on! The secret to becoming a great leader […]
Read MorePart 1, An Employee Perspective Earlier this week, I couldn’t help but notice an air of sluggishness all around me… The lackadaisical grocery store cashier, checking her nails and staring off into space as the little old lady in front struggled with the credit card machine. The Jimmy Johns delivery driver, arriving 30 minutes late […]
Read More
