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Business personalities – 2's Company – MagnusInsights.com https://magnusinsights.com Mon, 10 Oct 2022 18:13:16 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://magnusinsights.com/wp-content/uploads/cropped-2sCompanyLogov23-32x32.jpg Business personalities – 2's Company – MagnusInsights.com https://magnusinsights.com 32 32 Colossal Failures at American Express and Chase https://magnusinsights.com/colossal-failures-at-american-express-and-chase/ Thu, 13 Oct 2022 17:00:00 +0000 https://magnus.lisawhitsell.com/?p=3309 Over the past 2 months, I’ve been battling American Express to get them to correct a colossal mistake THEY made, but for which they blamed us/me and penalized us accordingly. To be fair to American Express, Chase Bank also failed during this time period, but not as badly as American Express. The issue common to both American Express and Chase is that their mail center can’t process all the incoming mailed payments in a timely fashion (both companies admitted as much to me). Thus, despite mailing our payments on time, and the post office actually delivering them on time, they sat at the destination. Both American Express and Chase failed to adjust for this and started sending late notices, imposing late fees, and even reporting Magnus to the credit agencies. To Chase’s credit, they had figured out the problem by the time I called and had started making corrections, although it is impossible to know whether the damage they did will linger, for example, on our credit reports. American Express, on the other hand, was completely obtuse about the problem. The situation was compounded by Melissa and me being on vacation. They called, texted, emailed, froze the card and basically harassed me for days, which turned into weeks, then months. Calling them was painful and the calls lasted an hour or more with transfers to multiple agents, many of whom had accents I couldn’t understand, and they were unable to comprehend that the failure was on their end. Not only did they process a payment late, but they failed to credit an $11,000 payment to us. That’s right, they lost $11,000 of our money. For some people, that may be pocket change. I’m not one of them. At some point, I decided to go to the top and I wrote the CEO’s office. Apparently this person gets lots of messages such that he has a “public” email address (chairmansoffice@aexp.com) where messages are answered by his minions. This did trigger some action, but it was still very difficult to communicate with anyone who seemed to “get it” and who was willing to find our lost money. We did receive a letter telling us they were working on it, but never did anyone take responsibility for their mistake(s). As of this writing, most of the situation has been resolved, I think. And, we received another letter, but of note, at no time did any of the correspondence from American Express offer an apology for the (massive) inconveniences they caused. I have about 12 hours into this situation that THEY caused. In billable hours terms, that is a lot of money – especially due to the vacation damage. So, I have to say “Shame on American Express.” Their customer service was horrible. It is hard enough running a small business without having to fight a company that is supposed to help run that small business.

]]> Formality Never Hurts https://magnusinsights.com/formality-never-hurts/ Mon, 10 Oct 2022 18:15:00 +0000 https://magnus.lisawhitsell.com/?p=3277 In thinking about the job candidates who failed to get out of the starting gate due to their wardrobe choices, I reflected on how formality provides a guide for “good” behavior. Being formal in addressing people with “Ms.,” “Mr.,” “Dr.,” etc. is a good starting place. It is likely you will soon be told to be less formal, but starting out informally might be like wearing shorts to a job interview, a non starter. Assessing the situation, listening to others, and being situationally aware allows one to determine what is appropriate, or not. Melissa can explain the psychological concepts related to internal/external focus further. There are many ways to evaluate a situation; checking websites and social media are good indicators. Turning on one’s listening and observational skills are a requirement. Showing respect by using formal titles, dressing formally (situationally) and being appropriately deferent are good ways to get off on the right foot in a new work situation or a situation involving a new client or customer.

]]> Know What You Don’t Know https://magnusinsights.com/know-what-you-dont-know/ Thu, 06 Oct 2022 17:00:00 +0000 https://magnus.lisawhitsell.com/?p=3307 Many years ago, a college professor of mine told me that knowing what you don’t know (or that you don’t know something) is an important sign of intelligence. It was an enlightening discussion and I think I’ve mentioned this in another post. But, it bears further discussion because we seem to live in a world where not knowing what you don’t know is amplified by the media, including social media. Showing your ignorance is apparently not seen as undesirable to some people. I suppose many of the ignorant ones to whom I refer are too ignorant to know they are. But, stepping out on a limb and talking about things the person clearly has no knowledge of seems all too common. I’m venting a bit, but this phenomenon is apparent in many settings. It has been something I’ve seen repeatedly in both personal, and professional, encounters. In the latter, I’ve observed it when working with job applicants who do not realize they are dealing with people who know more about many subjects than they do. For me, quietly listening and learning, all the while assessing what someone is telling me what they know, is an important technique, not only for learning, but to working together. To combine a couple of sayings, going off half-cocked is a sure way to shoot oneself in the foot.

]]> Dress for the Interview https://magnusinsights.com/dress-for-the-interview/ Thu, 22 Sep 2022 17:00:00 +0000 https://magnus.lisawhitsell.com/?p=3275 Job interviews are something with which Melissa and I have had considerable experience over the last 30 years. We’ve revised our procedures over time, but we have always utilized an in-person interview as a final part of the process. Regardless of the position for which we are interviewing, we, as a professional practice serving a discriminating client base, have certain expectations. First and foremost, applicants should dress for the job they are seeking. In a professional environment, this means suits/jackets, ties, nice pants and shoes, etc. We’ve had some surprises over the years in which the first impressions were all we needed to know that the individual in question was not situationally aware enough to be hired, or worse, to work with the types of clients we have as trial consultants. There was the young woman, recently graduated with a master’s degree, who flew into town, at our expense, who showed up without her suit jacket “because it was too hot.” We’re in Florida, she was from Texas; heat is normal. Perhaps if she had not made it a point to tell us that she did not wear a jacket because of the heat, we would have thought she intended the no jacket look (though her outfit really called for the jacket). Then there was the guy who was so disheveled that he arrived with his dress shirt ½ way untucked and never realized it. The pièce de ré·sis·tance was the recent applicant for research technician who showed up in a polo shirt and…shorts. He blew his chance at a job by dressing so casually, not even “business casual” – but shorts! Again, because it was hot. First impressions are critical. Having the right look is important. Dressing in the right “costume” for the job is something that should be easy to comprehend. It is hard to overdress for a professional interview. Failing to do so speaks volumes about the applicant’s potential.

]]> Employees Should Cover Each Other https://magnusinsights.com/employees-should-cover-each-other/ Thu, 15 Sep 2022 17:00:00 +0000 https://magnus.lisawhitsell.com/?p=3244 This is the 3rd in a series about “covering” or looking out for each other in a work environment. The need to do this is on a top down, down to top, and peer to peer basis. In the immediately prior post, I mentioned an employee who was hostile to another employee. The fact that this was happening was unknown to Melissa or me. To some degree it was known to other employees, but the full extent of it was known only to the junior most employee who was being verbally abused by a more senior employee. “Covering” for each other would have required any employee who was aware of the situation to report it. Another time we had an employee who was drinking on the job. When the intoxicated employee was eventually terminated, one employee reported to us that she was aware of the situation but thought we were trying to help the impaired person. Both situations are examples of NOT covering for each other. Being a “tattle tail” certainly has a negative connotation. Allowing bad things to happen in a workplace should outweigh that connotation. Looking out for each other is critical to “mission success.” The lesson we learned from these experiences is that it is important to discuss various scenarios with employees and explain how they should handle observations about problems among and between other employees. Ensuring that staff know what is expected of them in this regard is crucial to doing the right thing, and doing things the right way.

]]> Cover the Employee’s Back https://magnusinsights.com/cover-the-employees-back/ Thu, 08 Sep 2022 17:00:00 +0000 https://magnus.lisawhitsell.com/?p=3242 As I wrote the prior post about the need for employees to cover the boss’ back, I had this post, and the next one, in mind, because covering for each other is critical. It is important for a boss to keep the health and well being of the employees in mind. In our 30+ years of being employers, Melissa and I have had examples of issues where this came into play. One employee had an issue with the hostility of another employee. In that instance, we were kept in the dark about the extent of the behavior by other employees (see next post). For other reasons, the “bad” employee was terminated and the truth of the hostility came out. Another example was on a research day, when a mock juror was verbally abusive and made racially derogatory comments to one of our employees. Melissa overhead these comments and immediately jumped in to help our employee by dismissing the abusive mock juror. I was quickly enlisted to escort the abuser out of the room and facility. We have always known we did the right thing by ending the abuse as quickly as possible and ensuring there was no residual impact on our team member. Another memorable occasion was when one of our employees, a black, Haitian, male, was followed by our local police department and stopped for questioning on multiple occasions while in our neighborhood. I decided the only way to “cover the employee’s back” was to approach a supervisor in our small police department about the issue. Ironically, the supervisor was a minority as well, an Asian man, who at first didn’t know how to react to the situation. But, after a bit of discussion, he helped me come up with a solution that eliminated the “harassment” of our minority employees. These are things you never learn about in business school. Things you may not consider otherwise. But, they are things that demonstrate the need to look out for employees in ways that go beyond the norms of a job.

]]> Expand Your Horizons: Johnny Cash, Jazz… https://magnusinsights.com/expand-your-horizons-johnny-cash-jazz/ Tue, 06 Sep 2022 17:00:00 +0000 https://magnus.lisawhitsell.com/?p=3235 Expand your horizons. Exit your comfort zone. Try new things. Visit new places. Meet new people. These are mantras to which I aspire. Many people are too afraid to venture outside things they’ve always done. They go to the same restaurants, then order the same things off the menu. When it comes to music, some of my friends say “Oh, I like all kinds of music” when they really mean they like all kinds of music within a narrow framework, such as 70s “classic” rock. Boring! I like to shake it up once in a while. My dear friend, Bob, who is my best friend from graduate school (not to mention one of the coolest people I know), visited David and me recently. As usual, our conversation turned to our mutual love of music. Bob was a university professor for his entire career and he lived in a small town that didn’t afford many opportunities to see concerts. When he was visiting, he remarked that, although he had gone to lots of concerts while growing up in Texas, he hadn’t seen as many concerts as David and I have seen. This led me to a recitation of some of the many performers David and I have had the pleasure of seeing live, including: B. B. King, Johnny Cash, Barbra Streisand, The Rippingtons, Barry Manilow, Tom Jones, Chick Corea, Waylon Jennings, Englebert Humperdink, The Temptations, The Village People, and so on and so on. Bob was astounded that I, a fan of rock and roll music (including today’s groups, such as Five Finger Death Punch, Disturbed, and Godsmack), would consider, not to mention attend, concerts that are not within the genre of rock and roll. Bob was incredulous, questioning “Barry Manilow?” to which I remarked, “Yes, and he played 20 minutes worth of jingles he wrote for TV commercials during the show!” The point about experiencing things outside of one’s usual practices is, of course, not limited to music. Never had Lebanese food? Try it! The worst thing that could happen is that you won’t like it; if so, you can always go to your favorite fast food place to satisfy your hunger. Never been to Miami? Come to visit David and me. We will take you to many unforgettable places! How about the Grand Canyon? Let’s go! The world awaits us!

]]> Probing Questions and Difficult Answers https://magnusinsights.com/probing-questions-and-difficult-answers/ Tue, 23 Aug 2022 17:00:00 +0000 https://magnus.lisawhitsell.com/?p=3226 I went to my primary care physician recently for my annual check up. (As an aside, my physician is smart: He has a Ph. D. in addition to an M. D.) My physician is committed to helping medical students with their education. He has mentored medical students from The University of Miami for decades and often involves them in my appointments. On this day, there was a particularly eager and earnest medical student who was helping my physician by asking some of the questions that are routinely part of medical examinations. The medical student asked me whether anything was bothering me, to which I replied that there are many things bothering me, none of which are medical in nature. (Word to the wise: Be careful what questions you ask a psychologist!) The medical student asked me if I take any drugs, prescription or non prescription, to which I replied, in a voice that sounded just like my mother, “No. I don’t even take an aspirin. I never have a headache or anything drugs would help.” He droned on and on with similar routine questions until he finally lost interest due to the fact that there was, apparently, nothing wrong with me. When he closed his notepad, signaling the end of his questioning, I informed him that, of all the questions he asked me, he forgot to ask a couple of important ones. He was quite taken aback, but he quickly recovered and asked, “What did I forget to ask you?” I told him that he should include in his pre-exam interview a few questions to determine whether the patient (female or male) is being victimized by physical abuse, sexual abuse, domestic abuse, sex trafficking, or anything similar that they might be reluctant to volunteer on their own. I told him it is his duty, in the interest of “doing no harm,” to ascertain things that are difficult to answer by asking probing questions, then paying attention to both verbal an nonverbal cues in an attempt to help his patients. Many times, a primary care physician is the first person to realize something is wrong with a patient that is an underlying cause of a medical problem. This young future physician thanked me profusely for contributing to his medical education. Lesson learned: Ask probing questions even when anticipating an answer that is difficult to provide. You might save someone’s life!

]]> Vacations https://magnusinsights.com/vacations/ Thu, 11 Aug 2022 17:00:00 +0000 https://magnus.lisawhitsell.com/?p=3214 At the time of this post, I am likely on vacation. After missing the opportunity to take a vacation for a couple of years, Melissa and I have been looking forward to it. The visit to this destination, Alaska, was delayed from our original plan and thus, we’ve been working on and revising the plans for months. It is difficult, as small business owners, to get away, really away, and be detached from work for any extended period of time. I’m not sure we ever can. I’ve “worked” from vacations in Hawai’i, Greece, Australia, and more, if only to reply to some emails from clients or staff. The purpose of a vacation is, to me, like rebooting a computer. Our brains need rebooting; they need to be cleared. It is a pressure release, and frees up brain cells from the stresses of daily life which recharges my brain for when I get back to work after the vacation. Permanent vacations have appeal, but I haven’t won the lottery yet. Vacations are a reward for hard work and they are good for mental health as well. Over the years, I’ve noticed some people almost apologize for vacations; I’ve felt that, at some level, when I realize how our schedule impacts our ability to work for clients at certain times. But, a vacation should not be a sign of weakness; rather, it is a sign that one is doing something healthy and productive. Bon voyage!

]]> Mutual Admiration Societies https://magnusinsights.com/mutual-admiration-societies/ Tue, 09 Aug 2022 17:00:00 +0000 https://magnus.lisawhitsell.com/?p=3222 There are relatively few people with whom I share a mutual admiration. Don’t get me wrong: I like a lot of people and there are some people who like me, but that is different than my definition of a mutual admiration society. The first person who comes to mind is the first person who used the expression, “mutual admiration society” to describe our friendship. Her name was Viola McHugh Fauss and she was David’s grandmother. “Olie,” as she was called by her grandchildren, and I formed an instant bond upon our initial meeting. Like me, she was a career woman whose work defined her life. She was no warm and fuzzy grandmother; instead, she enjoyed talking about her glory days working in downtown Atlanta. Instead of writing notes, she typed them, which always impressed me! Olie and I had great times together. She worked during a time when most women had no aspirations of a career; she worked hard; and she worked until she could no longer do so. She was my kind of woman! The next person with whom I have a mutual admiration society is, of course, Bob. (In case the reader needs a reminder, Bob was my best friend, office mate, and favorite person in graduate school. He is one of the dearest friends I have ever had. Not a day goes by that I am not thankful for “my Bob.”) Bob and I have a running debate on who, between the two of us, is smarter. I say he is and he says I am. That sums up our relationship! Two other people, one who is alive and one who is no longer with us, also come to mind in the category of mutual admiration society. They are both attorneys, clients, University of Florida law school graduates (proving, once again, how open minded I am!), and among my favorite people. One of them is Buddy Schulz, who is amazing in as many ways as it is possible to be amazing, and the other was the late Pat Geraghty, who was super cool in every way, including being a true “Parrot Head” (Jimmy Buffett fan) like me. Perhaps, if I gave this topic more thought, I would be able to come up with a longer list of people with whom I share a mutual admiration society, but the fun part of writing this post is that I gave absolutely no thought to the four people about whom I wrote. They came to mind instantly!

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