The two greatest role models in my professional career were Walt Disney and Dr. Deming. Dr. Deming was the Father of Total Quality Management and the person who redefined quality for the entire world.

When values are deeply embedded within an organization, they seldom change.

My mother's work ethic, her attitude, and the way she treated each and every customer as if they were her best friend were better lessons than could be found in all the text books in the world.

Always look for ways to improve even the "good show."

This is great if you know all those "not to do" strategies. Sometimes you learn the "not to do's" by doing. The key is to fail forward fast. Try, fail, learn, and quickly try again.

When you focus on results, you will very seldom see a change in your culture. But, if you focus on a customer-centric culture, you will realize long-term results.

Companies whose marketing and sales departments are not using the Internet and social media for communication may have the same fate that the dime stores had when Wal-Mart came onto the scene.