Jeff Havens Ultrasound

We’re Expecting!

Surprise! Last month I told you that a had a fun surprise for you this month, and here it is – my wife and I are expecting our first child! We decided that we had too much disposable income and free time, and anyway I’ve been sleeping far too well lately. There was this one…

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Matt Havens Office Fun Keynote

Boring Isn’t A Business Requirement!

Another week, another city! This week I’m in Atlanta where I’m getting the opportunity to learn all about highway transportation systems as I sit in hours upon hours of soul-deflating gridlock. (Am I kidding? Only slightly.) Quite frankly, though, I really enjoy visiting Atlanta. You’ve got a mix of great weather, a thriving big city,…

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how to become a successful ceo

How to Become a Successful CEO

Welcome to October! The earth is moving ever farther away from the sun (which is not at all what’s happening), and trees all around the world are very, very slowly trying to kill us. If only they could drop their leaves all at once, they might succeed in taking a few of us out –…

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Jeff Havens Little Free Libraries

Little Free Library Update

If you get my newsletter (which you absolutely should!!) you probably read about our initiative with LittleFreeLibrary.org and the unexpected upside that comes with being charitable.  Well our little libraries are all finished and I wanted to provide a quick update on the AMAZING response we received!  In fact, we had more people wanting the…

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How to Become an Economist

How to Become An Economist

I put this video together three years ago just for fun and it’s amazing how the message is still as timely as it was when we filmed it! Video below…    

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Jeff Havens Work From Home

How to Act Like a Professional When You Work From Home

Hello all! I’m currently writing to you whilst in my pajamas. They’re bright pink, and they go great with the silvery boa I have draped around my neck. My feet are quite warm in their bunny slippers, and my ears are nice and toasty behind the bunny earmuffs I threw on in an ecstatic fit…

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Little Free Library

The Unexpected Upside of Charity

Hello everyone, and (almost) welcome to September! We’re finally done with the tedium of warm days and scampering around in swimsuits. No longer shall you have to pretend to love spending your every waking moment with your children, since you now once again ship them off to school! And perhaps most importantly of all, I’m…

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Matt Havens twins

2 Things I Learned from My Kids about Generational Differences

Hi everyone! I wanted to try something new this month. As you know I talk about generational differences – and given my age and propensity to SnapChat emojis (which I’m not really even sure is a thing), I’m normally talking from the stance of a Young Person in our battle against the crotchety Old People.…

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Do Interns Have Rights?

Do Interns Have Any Rights At All?

Earlier this month, an entire cadre of interns was fired for submitting a petition to their employer asking for a more relaxed dress code. The Internet got hold of the story, and all kinds of people decided to weigh in. “Kids these days,” said Jason Chalker, whoever that is. “Real life can be brutal,” Glenn…

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Jeff Havens Teamwork Article

The Upside of Compromise

Recently my wife and I had a disagreement about how to wash the dishes. She’s a big fan of throwing every single thing into the dishwasher, which I largely applaud. But occasionally there’s an exceptionally dirty pot that needs more vigorous attention than our meager dishwasher can provide, and so I’ve argued to have those…

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Matt Havens Customer Service Speaker

3 Ways to Fix a Terrible Customer Service Experience

Normally I write about generational issues each month; however, I had an interesting customer service experience this past week I simply had to share. No matter the job title or industry, we’re all in some sort of customer experience field. Every handshake, every business deal, and every conference call is an interaction which leaves an…

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Jeff Havens Office Olympics

How to Have Your Own Office Olympics

Hello, and welcome to the Olympics! As many of you already know, I have decided not to participate this year. It was a difficult decision, but in the end my complete lack of talent won the day. Just once in my life I’d like to pit myself against any Olympic athlete in any sport –…

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how to be a terrible leader

Terrible Leaders Do These 4 Things Really, Really Well

Leadership is an art. And, as with any art form, some people are better at it than others. In painting, for example, some people create breathtaking masterpieces, scenes of sweeping beauty and poignant emotion capable of evoking rapture in the viewer. Others paint reasonably well, good enough to admire but not quite deserving of the…

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Jeff Havens Customer Service Article

The Customer Is Always Annoying

Wow!  Today is an awesome day to have no idea what I was going to write until 10 minutes ago.  When I woke up this morning I had absolutely no useful thoughts.  I couldn’t even decide what I wanted to eat for breakfast; I merely stared at my various boxes of cereal, trying to remember…

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Jeff Havens Internship Survival

How To Survive Your Summer Internship (or Your Summer Interns!)

Hi everyone! We’re almost the halfway point of summer! By now, parents across this country are running out of activities (or money) to keep their kids engaged and are counting down the minutes until school resumes and their lives can return to normal. For some lucky parents, their kids have snagged an internship. Or maybe…

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Jeff Havens Pinterest Article

Life Lessons from Pinterest

Hello, and welcome to summer! More than that, welcome to a short workweek! There’s a good chance that you think today is Tuesday, and if that’s the case then it’s quite possible you’re still drunk from the weekend. Your clothes might smell vaguely of barbecue sauce and charcoal, and your nose is probably peeling. You’ve…

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What Customer Service Workers Wish You Knew

I worked for seven years as a waiter, through high school and college.  I did this because it was the best money I knew how to make that didn’t involve selling drugs.  And for the most part I liked it, even though I once worked at a breakfast place and always always came up smelling…

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Jeff Havens Leadership Article

7 Reasons Your Employees Don’t Respect You!

First off, I’m sorry nobody respects you.  It’s bad enough to need employees in the first place, since all they seem to do is ask for money you would much rather spend on nicer things for yourself.  But to have to deal with that and their lack of respect is really more than any human…

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Jeff Havens Blooper Reel

BLOOPER REEL! Difficult Conversations

We tried to pull a Jay-Z and film our entire  Difficult Conversations video series in one take, but unfortunately we messed up a few times so we thought we’d compile a few of our favorite outtakes.  And when I say ‘we’ I actually mean 95% of the time it was Adam.  It’s hard working with…

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How to make millennials loyal to your organization

How to Make Millennials Loyal to Your Organization

Hi everyone! I’m coming to you from a cruising altitude of 36,000 feet – somewhere over Missouri if my bearings are anywhere accurate (or Missouruh if you’re from there) – on my way back from a speaking engagement in Michigan.   I’m quickly learning that one of most glamourous part of this speaking gig is to…

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