1: “We can hire nice people and teach them to sell, but we can’t hire salespeople and teach them to be nice.  We believe in ‘hire the smile, train the skill,'” says Bruce Nordstrom, who led Nordstrom for 40 years, growing the company from seven shoe stories and under $40 million in revenue to 156 stores in 27 states and $8.6 billion in revenue.

How has Nordstrom maintained its … continue reading

1: Imagine dining at an expensive restaurant.  

“Everything is delivered perfectly, cleared perfectly, decanted perfectly,” writes Danny Meyer in Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business.

Yet, something is missing.  

“It’s not fun. It’s not sincere. There’s no soul. It’s a perfectly executed but imperfect experience,” he writes.

“It’s remarkable to me how many businesses shine brightly when it comes to acing the tasks but emanate … continue reading