DW's Blog

Employee Development

by DW Green — May 11, 2016

In the end it is employees who make the difference. No amount of merchandising or advertising can be successful over the long run without a dedicated, knowledgeable staff. If employees don’t support your market position or advertising claims, your efforts will be undermined.To build a company that is profitable, enduring, and able to hold its own against major competitors, managers need to foster a sense of community among employees. Above all, employees must share common values. This means recruits should be judged as much on the basis of their fit with the company’s values and principles as they are on the basis of their ability to fulfill the technical requirements of the job.People should be hired into your company with the understanding that they are there to develop their potential. You must ensure that processes are in place to assess individual potential, ensure adequate training and development, evaluate performance, and provide graceful exits from the company. If employees don’t pull their weight or share the company’s values, they must move on. At a certain point, managers must be prepared to pass the baton, as well, so the company can continue to renew itself.Employee training and development is critical if your company is to remain a leading contender in the market. After all, competitor...

by DW Green — May 4, 2016

Shunryu Suzuki

“If it’s not paradoxical, it’s not true,” Shunryu Suzuki.In today’s economy the need to effectively communicate a company’s value proposition to consumers is critical to maintain and grow revenue.However, the values I’m talking about here go much deeper than a pricing strategy. I’m referring to the social principles or standards held by individuals or groups. How is this relevant to the grocery business? You’ll need to know to compete successfully.The importance of shared values in building lasting businesses cannot be overstated. Businesses, like children, need a solid foundation of values to build on as they grow. Great companies foster a culture founded on shared values, which, in turn, more effectively serves customers and the broader communities in which they live. Everyone benefits from the existence of a great company—customers, employees, suppliers, investors, cities and nations.In their most basic form, values are a set of guiding principles that unite people as they work toward achieving a common goal. In their strongest form—when individual employee and organizational values are in sync—they generate...

by DW Green — April 20, 2016

Manifesting Grace through Gratitude

“Gratitude is a powerful mental state that causes a palpable transformation in our internal landscape. When we put our attention on those things we can be grateful for, it automatically shifts us out of a negative mentality. Just by simply repeating the statement, I am so grateful for _____, we create positive momentum in our internal dialogue. Focusing on what’s good or uplifting in your life also conditions you to stay vigilant in looking for more of the same gratitude-worthy experiences to come into your life—or as the saying goes, where attention goes, energy flows.”—Adam BradyI’m taking a 21-Day Meditation Experience course, Manifesting Grace through Gratitude. Below is an email I recently sent to each of my employees and two vendor associates.All good things bring gratitude. My gratitude practice for today was to list three things I am grateful for.So here they are (21 awesome individuals to be accurate!):

Adam ZackBecky SimmonJudy NavarroEstevan SanchezDan EdensAubrie LeonLesley DreyerGarrett ...

by DW Green — April 13, 2016

He’s a real slob

I didn’t think I ever gossiped. Yea right! We all gossip at times. Yet it’s not a positive thing to do, and benefits no one. Like most everything in life, personal responses involve awareness and being PRESENT in the moment. When you’re aware you’re in a gossip conversation, you can choose to participate or not. Reactions are about choices, and when you’re aware and conscious of what’s happening in the moment you can choose how you want to respond. For me, it’s about limiting my “automatic, ego centered” reactions. Not easy to do. But with awareness and presence in the “now” I can make a conscious choice on how I choose to react.And yes it’s true…my office is cluttered and a mess!...

by DW Green — April 6, 2016

Is your business blooming?

Differentiation is the essence of competition. I love the word differentiation. It’s a difficult word for me to spell and pronounce—the word inaudibly tumbles out of my mouth, often landing on deaf ears! But aside from poor enunciation skills and misunderstanding, differentiation is a very powerful business tool.Everything can be and is differentiable, even such “commodities” as steel, cement, money, chemicals and well, meat sauce. Success goes to those who differentiate themselves in ways that attract differentiably superior numbers of customers to themselves.Though clothes may not make the man, they help make the sale. And if they do, the customer is buying something beyond the generic product that the salesman offers. That is what is meant by “differentiation.”Positioning is about performing different activities from rivals or performing similar activities in different ways, differentiation then, arises from both the choice of activities and how they are performed.See http://dwgreen.com/2010/03/activity-breeds-success/Adam’s <...

by DW Green — March 30, 2016

Some 2,500 years ago, Lao-tzu spoke of ‘the four cardinal virtues’ and noted that when we practice them as a way of life, we come to know and access the truth of the universe. These four virtues don’t represent external dogma, but a part of our original nature—by practicing them, we realign with Source and access the powers that Source energy has to offer. According to the teachings of Lao-tzu, the four cardinal virtues represent the surest way to leave habits and excuses behind and reconnect to your original nature. The more your life is harmonized with the four virtues, the less you’re controlled by the uncompromising ego.The Third Cardinal Virtue, deals in part with Adams blog today.The Third Cardinal Virtue: Gentleness
This virtue personifies one of my favorite and most frequently employed maxims: ‘When you have the choice to be right or to be kind, always pick kind.’ So many of your old thinking habits and their attendant excuses come out of a need to make yourself right and others wrong. When you practice this third virtue, you eliminate conflicts that result in your need to explain why you’re right. This virtue manifests as kindness, consideration for others, and sensitivity to spiritual truth.Gentleness generally implies that you no longer ...

by DW Green — March 23, 2016

Messy Office

I remember my chiropractor once told me that mental multitasking is a misnomer. Sure, multitasking can apply to motor skills, like walking and chewing gum but mental multitasking is not possible. You can’t talk and listen at the same time or read and write at the same time. Mental activities require 100% attention to the task at hand. What happens when you read or write and daydream simultaneously? Well, it can’t happen. You’re either reading, writing or daydreaming. Wouldn’t want to mess up a great daydream by reading a book!

The greatest gift you can give another person or yourself for that matter, is presence. Try being totally present in every thing you do. Try being completely present in the shower tomorrow morning!...

by DW Green — March 16, 2016

Reflecting on the wisdom of others is a very meaningful activity for me. My wish is you will find value in doing so too.An excerpt from Mark Nepo’s excellent book, The Book Of AwakeningRepetition is Not Failure. Ask the waves, ask the leaves, ask the wind.By Mark Nepo“There is no expected pace for inner learning. What we need to learn comes when we need it, no matter how old or young, no matter how many times we have to start over, no matter how many times we have to learn the same lesson. We fall down as many times as we need to, to learn how to fall and get up. We misunderstand the many voices of truth as many times as we need to, to truly hear the diversity that surrounds us. We suffer our pain as often as necessary for us to learn how to break and how to heal. No one really likes this, of course, but we deal with our dislike in the same way, again and again, until we learn what we need to know about the humility of acceptance.”...

by DW Green — March 9, 2016

We have a very successful retail client in the Seattle area who is wholeheartedly dedicated to the training and development of their employees. They invest heavily in programs that benefit their staff…both professionally and personally. Their commitment to employee development is a core value of their company. And their commitment to development contributes to the success of their organization and clearly differentiates their company in the marketplace.It is through our relationship with this client that our company was introduced to Gale Leadership Development in Bainbridge Washington. Over the years I have attended many of the courses offered by Amba Gale as have many of my associates. I can’t speak highly enough of the course material and the personal benefit I have received from participating in the work.Next week, Adam Zack and Judy Navarro, one of out lead designers, are attending The Heart of Leadership in Seattle. The Heart of Leadership is the foundational program of Gale Leadership courses and is the requisite course for all other offerings.As a small company investing in this training is expensive. Knowing that some employees will leave our company for other career opportunities, the communication and leadership benefit to DW Green Company is short lived, but the benefit to the employee will last a lifetime.It has been said that, “You know what you know. You know what you don’t know. But you don’t know what...

by DW Green — March 2, 2016

Adam’s blog on whether employees “like you” matters is actually a philosophy of life question that everyone needs to answer for him or herself. A question that needs to be answered whether one is in a leadership position or not. To me it’s an integrity question.If you strip away the ego B.S. that shows up everyday…power, authority, company politics, control, judgment and approval…life is about choices. On how we choose to react to what happens to us. You can choose to accept the situation, try to change it or leave. Choosing which way to respond is both simple and difficult. It is the awareness of the choice you are making that’s important. If you choose to accept an uncomfortable, difficult or demeaning situation then at least you know you are making a conscious decision to do so. When your personal integrity is at stake, you will eventually do what is best for who you are as a person.Rather than worrying yourself with how others are treating you, just be concerned with how you are treating others....