Americans are most annoying to travel with according to the French

Americans are most annoying to travel with according to the FrenchAmericans are most annoying to travel with according to the FrenchIts Americans that are the worst to travel with, according to a survey that Jetcost.com did of 2,300 French residents.U.S. was 1 (winning by 46%), as usual, in the Frenchies opinion of annoying airplane passengers. But there were other boorish nationalities as well, in their opinion.2. Germany (35%)3. South Africa (32%)4. England (29%)5. Australia (27%)Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreThose darn AmericansBut what do they object to? Is it our appalling leisurewear and our tendency to sprawl on the floor of dirty airports? Is it the way we must be constantly snacking at all times? Is it the way we are seemingly incapable of controlling our children?The French couldnt nail down which nationalities did the most annoying things, but there were generalitie s that grated on their nerves.Being intoxicated (36%)Having an annoying voice or accent (25%)Overly loud (24%)While the vast majority of the fliers the French deemed annoying were adults (81%), a full 19% were children. Well, we havent all read Bringing Up Bb in order to raise the perfect, quiet French-style child.While most French maintained a stiff and dignified upper lip and didnt complain about the annoying, loud, drunken, and probably American people on their flight (35%), just over a quarter (28%) have complained, inan accent that we dont find annoying, to the cabin crew. One in five deigns to tell the disruptive person to keep in down.Considering that Americans are incapable of being quiet on planes, this new data has set France-U.S. diplomatic relations back years.

3 unforgivable failures of toxic leaders

3 unforgivable failures of toxic leaders3 unforgivable failures of toxic leadersOn Tuesday, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick announced his resignation from theride-hailing company he co-founded after a reported rebellion fromshareholders made his tenure untenable.In his email to employees, Kalanick, whose mother recently passed away, cited personal reasons for his departure rather than issues of performance, although he did note that the companys shareholders had asked him to step aside.I love Uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult moment in my personal life I have accepted the investors request to step aside so that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight, he wrote.But it welches his professional failures as a leader, not his personal reasons, that led five of Ubers major investors to write a letter entitledMoving Uber Forward demanding Kalanicks immediate resignation. This comes a week after Kalanick said he was taking an indefinite lea ve of absence to work on Travis 2.0.With his forceful exit, it becomes clear that no one in a position of powerwanted any version of the CEO who became known for his brash, aggressive workplace culture of Always Be Hustling.Here are key missteps that Kalanick and other CEOs before him have made that led companies to say no thanks.1. Too much talk and none of it is goodAs a leader, you will be judged every moment, even during your off-hours, so watch what you say and how you hold yourself. You never know who will be listening (or recording).In our digital era where actionscan be seen by millions in seconds, CEOs are under more scrutiny than ever about their professional and personal conduct. One offhand commentcan tank peoples perception of you, as seen by the example of Kevin Roberts. The former Saatchi Saatchi chairman was forced to resign after he told a reporter that he did not think gender diversity was an issue in the advertising industry and he spent no time thinking about it . Once his comment had been circulated and reblogged on the internet, Roberts fate was sealed.For Kalanick, his self-defeating impulses helped his company becomesynonymous with Silicon Valley startup culture gone wrong. Kalanick engaged in a tone-deaf argument with an Uber driver over decreasing fares, and after video of his encounter went viral, Kalanickapologized for disrespecting his driver but the damage was done. His unprofessional, boorish behavior was reinforced time and time again as he attendedescort bars with employees and used company email to advise them on sex rules at parties. His behaviorleft a lasting impression on the public and his shareholdersthat no email on how he would improve himself and seek leadership help could undo.2. Enabling the bad behavior of othersKalanicksbehavior alone is bad enough. But his unprofessional behavior was modeled by those who worked under him. Top executives were forced to resign following sexual harassment allegations. Aftera law firm lookedinto allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation at the company, more than 20 employees were fired. The toxic behavior had taken root, unchecked for far too long by managers who looked the other way. Susan Fowler, theformer Uber engineer who kicked off the firms investigation,alleged that Ubers human resources department tolerated and enabled sexual harassment from high performers.As a leader, your job is to set the tone of whats acceptable and whats not. Kalanick oversaw a human resources department that defined high performance as one that tolerated harassment as long as you hit your Objectives and Key Results. For Uberstoxic behavior to be eradicated, it became clearer to stakeholders that the company would need to unroot where the bad behavior stemmed from at the top.3. Mismanagingtheir company into unprofitabilityThe real CEO kiss-of-death is when they commit the most unforgivablesin to investors making their company unprofitable.American CEOs are paid up to fourtimes as much as their European counterparts, and with that increased pay, comes higher expectations from activist investors who will push for change when CEOs dont meet their performance standards. Its in this setting that it becomes possible for shareholders to plot a revolt like they did with Kalanick.Its not surprising then that tenures in the executive suiteare getting shorter than ever before in the U.S. CEOs now only stay an average of six years and that number decreases to four years if theyre an external hire. With his resignation, Kalanick beats the average tenure but still gains membership to a club no CEO wants to join.

Tips for Conducting Customer Satisfaction Surveys

Tips for Conducting Customer Satisfaction SurveysTips for Conducting Customer Satisfaction SurveysWe all know that customer satisfaction is essential to the survival of our businesses, but howcanwe find out whether our customers are satisfied? The best way is simplyto ask them. What you ask your customers is important when you conduct a customer satisfaction survey.How, when and how often you ask the questions isalso important. But what you do with their answers is the most critical component ofconducting a customer satisfaction survey. Howto Ask Whether Customers Are Satisfied You have several options for askingyour customers whethertheyresatisfied with your company, your products and the service theyve received. You can do it face-to-face as theyre about to leave your store or office. You can call them on the phone after their visits ?if you have their phone numbers and permission. You can also emaille or snail-mail a questionnaire or survey, but if you use email, take care bed rngnis to violate spam laws. You might email an invitation to take a survey instead. Mail-in survey resultstend to be predictable. When to Conducta Customer Satisfaction Survey The best time to conduct a satisfaction survey is when the experience is fresh in your customers minds. A customersresponse may be less accurate if you wait. It is easy for any customer to forget somedetails over time, or respond regarding a later event. What to Ask ina Customer Satisfaction Survey Theresa school of thought that says you only haveto ask a single question in a customer satisfaction survey Will you buy from me again? Although it can betempting to reduce your customer satisfaction survey to this supposed essence, youll missa lot of valuable information and can easily bemisled. Itstoo easy for a customer to simply answer Yes. Instead,ask questionsto get closer to the expected behavior and to collect information about what to change and what to keep doing. By all means, ask the basic custo mer satisfaction questions How satisfied are you with the purchase you made of a product or service?How satisfied are you with the service you received?How satisfied are you with our company overall? And askcustomer loyalty questions, too How likely are you to buy from us again?How likely are you to recommend our product/service to others?How likely are you to recommend our company to others? Dont neglect toask what the customer liked ordidnt like about the product, your service oryour company. How Often Should You Conducta Customer Satisfaction Survey? The best answer is often enough to get the most information, but not so often as to irritatethe customer.In reality, thefrequency with which you conductcustomer satisfaction surveys depends on the frequency with which you interact with your customers. For instance, in a state that renews drivers licenses for five-year periods, itwould be silly a survey to be conducted annually. Conversely, it can be easy tomiss important changest hat may be driven by seasonal or weather-related events if you only survey customers of a rapid transit system once a year. What to Do With the Answers The most importantaspect of the customer satisfaction survey is what you do with their answers. It is important to compile the answers from different customers, keeping an eye out for trends, differences by region or product. However, the most important thing is to act on the information you get from your customers through the survey. Take the time to fix the things the customers have complained about and to investigate their suggestions. That way, you will improve your company and product in the areas that they mean the most to your customers, all while avoiding changing the things that they like. Its also important to let them know that theiranswers were appreciated and that theyrebeing acted upon. That feedback can be individual responses to the customers if this is appropriate, or it can simply be fixing the thingstheyve told youneed to be fixed.