When we create cultures in which higher-ranking managers become insulated from ever facing a "yes" or "no" from a customer, our leaders lose a little perspective.

The best sales folks realize rejection isn't a sign they’re bad at their jobs. It's a sign they are actually out there doing their jobs.

A basketball coach's praise for his opponent serves as a reminder that the best results come from hustle and hard work.

When making a point to banker groups about how much the week-to-week banking habits of Americans have changed in recent years, one simple question tends to create much side chatter, nods and chuckles.

While having dinner with a couple of old banker friends recently, our conversation turned to a consistent challenge many management teams face. It started when one friend shared that he was recently in a meeting in which his bank's "revised" incentive plan for branch managers and frontline employees was being explained.

On a recent flight, the gentleman next to me shared a banking story that made my day.

Over the past couple of years, the seemingly dull topic of time management has become one that senior managers are showing increased interest in discussing with their teams. I suspect this has as least something to do with the fact that we are asking smaller and smaller branch teams to accomplish more with less.

I recently recounted a personal story to a bank's management team that I've shared frequently over the years. I tell it to drive home the point about the importance of eliminating "clutter" that accumulates in our organizations over time. As the group laughed, I assured them that, sadly, this was a true story.

Recently, after giving a speech to a banker group that skewed rather young, the bank's head recruiter offered me a ride to the airport. Along the way, she told me that she had paid special attention during my presentation to the reactions of their newer hires in the audience.

In our increasingly detached world, where folks spend more time staring at little screens in their hands than interacting with people, the things that create real customer relationships are as simple as ever.