The best doctors are successful because they have immaculate bedside manners. Some of the traits of great bedside manners include: Being a good listener. Using easy-to-understand terminology. Caring about their patient’s concerns. Being non-judgmental. Respectful of their patient’s time. These traits are second nature to good doctors. Maybe more business owners should go to medical school.

Halfway through my six month in-house contract with Maritz Canada, I’m still happy to see that the company continues to restore my faith in how larger corporations treats its employees, clients and more. A perfect example is this year’s video holiday card, which captures the fun and people culture Maritz Canada has. It also shows their commitment to social equity and corporate giving. Hope you enjoy the video, and would love to hear any similar stories about your company or…

If my friends are correct, I’m pretty fortunate that I don’t live in the U.S., have an iPhone and AT&T as my carrier. When I speak to people like Tim Jahn and Michael Schechter, they mention the crappy coverage and dropped calls they have to suffer on Apple’s baby thanks to the AT&T network, even though the fault may lie as equally with Apple as it does AT&T. Being in Canada and on a BlackBerry, I guess this is something for…

Do a Google search for “emotional marketing” and you’ll find a whole bunch of views on what it is and how to tap into it. One of the best examples I’ve seen recently was the one put forward by Nick Desbarats at this weekend’s TEDx Ottawa event. Nick is one of the brains behind ChoiceBot and has some great ideas about how we make decisions, and how marketers can tap into that. There’s no doubt that tapping into the heart and…

Online rules of engagement are changing. Old school business approaches and methods are getting left behind for dynamic new mediums that offer more interaction and less broadcasting. Businesses and industries are realizing it’s no longer possible to simply say what you do – you need to say what you can do as well. This is the dawn of social media as a true business outlet and there’s never been a better time to get in on the inside. Look online…

This weekend, on Sunday December 6 between 10.00am and 6.00pm, TEDx Ottawa is taking place at bitHeads, Inc. An independently organized event under the main TED banner, it promises to be a weekend of learning, interactivity, thought sharing, music and much more. I’ve been very lucky to be asked to speak at the event, and I’ll be joining a cast of speakers with amazing stories and ideas to share. Due to the overwhelming response to the event, TEDx Ottawa was…

This is a cross-posting from the 12for12k blog. Throughout December, the 12for12k focus is on the homeless and how you can help in your own towns and cities. There’s no donation widget this month – we’re offering a more hands-on challenge. By all means, if you wish to donate cash as well as the time and items we’ll be suggesting, that’d be great as well. So, with that said, let’s get into our streets this month and really help those…

via conversationagent.com This is an absolutely awesome resource list from Valeria Maltoni (@ConversationAgent) that you should check out immediately if you’ve lost your job.

So the much-vaunted Federal Trade Commission guidelines for social media came into play today. There’s been a lot said about them on both sides of the fence, with plenty bloggers offering their views for and against. Some say it will inhibit free speech, while others applaud the FTC for getting involved. Whatever your stance, one thing that is abundantly clear is that it’s not that big a deal. So what if the FTC have turned their gaze towards social media,…

Giving up is easy. Close our eyes, wait for problems to go away – anyone can do that. The highway of life is full of sleepers and short stay hotels of those that have given up. Getting back up? That’s the difficult part. But think how many times you’ve been ready to give up in the past, only to keep getting back in the game for more. No-one likes giving up, but sometimes it’s the only natural thing to do….