______________ Salespeople, with virtually endless variations in between, come in three basic categories. Bad ones tell you what they think you want to hear. Good ones tell you the truth. Great ones tell you the truth – even when its bad – and leave you excited to have received the news. This generalization probably translates into the rest of our lives as well. Unfortunately, I have to admit my position on the scale falls well short of great. Years... View Article
_____________________ Success is a nebulous term. By societal measure success is often equated with financial achievement. If making money is your primary objective, setting out to achieve that result can be an exercise in futility. Conversely, examples abound of passionate people, even in the most obscure arenas, reaching the pinnacle of both their profession and their bank account. Passion and process it would seem, is the egg that comes before the chicken. This is not to suggest financial achievement ought... View Article
In an age when so much is made of marketing, and speaking from personal experience, much pressure is placed upon companies to spend marketing dollars. Perhaps it would serve us and our businesses well to pause and consider exactly what we are hoping to achieve when we market ourselves or our company. Are we wanting to create an image for the consumer? Or would we be content to accurately reflect what we really are? All businesses have a brand.... View Article
————- Tim Hortons Roll up the Rim promotion has firmly established itself as Canadas first sign of spring. Move over robin and Wiarton Willie, when I catch the first glimpse of Tims red and yellow emblazoned cup I know the end is near. Aside from being an enormously successful marketing campaign, it also serves as an interesting insight into our sense of character. Consider this: You buy a friend a coffee. He rolls up the rim and wins a donut.... View Article
——— My parents immigrant story is not an uncommon one. Arriving post war with nothing, they worked, saved, worked, and worked some more. Canada provided them with the opportunity to get ahead, which did not exist in Europe at the time. By the time their youngest of five came along – me – much of the heavy lifting had been done (according to my siblings) and my parents had begun to realize what was for them the ultimate accomplishment –... View Article
On a recent Christmas car trip through the heart of the American rust belt, and the tip of the Bible belt, I indulged myself in some syndicated AM talk shows – of the right wing variety. When away from the comfortable surroundings of home, I like to listen in on what folks in other parts of the world are thinking. In Ireland its Hurley. In America, its right wing radio. For the uninitiated, this industry is not your run of... View Article
The Gloucester Rangers Atom AA team must have been an excited group of kids and parents. The Canadian ritual of travelling to attend a hockey tournament, replete with noisy hotel rooms, noisy restaurants, and noisier arenas had finally arrived, and off they embarked on the 5 hour journey to Guelph. The same was no doubt true for their opponent on this Saturday morning, the Kent Cobras, albeit their commute was a mere 2 hours. The venue to host the showdown?... View Article
Whats the Lesson? The 2015 World Cup of Rugby final match was contested by two teams averaging six feet two inches in height, and 250 pounds of fast twitch muscle, playing 80 minutes of what to the uninitiated can best be described as football without the equipment or stoppages in play. If you do not know what you are looking for, it looks very much like extremely aggressive and athletic men repeatedly tackling each other at full speed. If... View Article
Find Your Cardboard Box When our kids were little, like many North American millennial parents, my wife and I had a tendency to over provide our kids with the popular toys of the day. If Fisher Price made it, we bought it, albeit sometimes used. A eureka moment occurred for us when on one particular Christmas morning we noticed that our daughters, having opened all their gifts, lay on the living room floor playing – not with the toys –... View Article
Very very early in my career and many times since, my father, who preceded me in the family real estate brokerage, would say to me: take notes, someday you may want to write a book. Save for these articles, I have yet to heed his advice. Having had the fortunate opportunity to observe the habits of professionals for almost 30 years now, some recurring themes begin to emerge. And while my observations are generally of the real estate industry, they... View Article
