We have to be brutally honest with ourselves individually and at an organizational level if we want to improve our skills and be better.  We all know that person who, when confronted with a task or training opportunity, proudly quips "I know all that already."  No one on the face of the earth knows everything.  "I'm just being confident."  Confidence is nice but false confidence is deadly.  Those people are only fooling themselves and robbing themselves of the opportunity to learn, improve and be better.  What's the point of paying attention to the trainer or working hard on the task if you erroneously think you are a master.  Watch an early episode of American Idol to see people who think they can sing, yet have no talent whatsoever.  

I have worked with individuals who receive the same type of criticism from multiple managers or even multiple employers, yet conclude it is unfairness or some other external factor at work.  Consistent critical feedback should tell you something about yourself.  A brutal frank assessment is necessary.  If your speaking skills aren't as good as your writing skills, own it and work hard to improve.  If you are not good at time management, work on it, don't blame your boss for expecting you to be able to handle many tasks in the course of a day.  If you are a bad marketer of yourself, own it and take steps.  Build a website, network more, realize and discuss freely what you bring to the table.

Companies must also accurately assess themselves.  Maybe your company is not the beacon of customer service you wish or hope it was.  Be honest, make some changes.  Select and train your service representatives better.  Make a product worth believing in and stand by it.  Constantly assess yourself and your organization.  Take those critiques in your appraisal to heart, ask your manager how to get better, get the proper training.  An honest significant other can provide helpful insight too.  "You're fabulous honey, don't change a thing" isn't really going to help you be better.  Hopefully, you have at least one person in
your life who will give you honest feedback, even if it is only "your shirt doesn't match your pants."  That's something.  But, we all need to be truly honest with ourselves first.  It may be impossible to be objective but successful people know where their weak points and strong points are, exploit their strengths and work on their weaknesses.  Being honest opens up the pathway to success.  http://www.employmentlawman.com/monday-morning-musings.html

The various employment laws and regulations all set minimum required practices.  Outstanding companies do more than this, one of the reasons they are exceptional places to work and less likely to be sued or at least be sued successfully compared to the bare minimum employers.  

Most employers expect much more of their employees than bare minimum effort, yet many themselves do the bare minimum or less for their employees in return.  You can legally pay more than minimum wage and should if your expectations and requirements are more than minimal.  Excellent employers provide more benefits than the minimum required (e.g. tuition reimbursement, bereavement leave, retirement plans, generous vacation and sick leave policies).  Some companies are struggling and can't afford to do as much, we all understand that.  However, don't expect excellent employees to join such a company or, if they do, stay with a sinking or struggling ship for long.

Who wants to be a continued patron of a store that provides the bare minimum of customer service?  Likewise, who wants to work for an employer with that same bare minimum philosophy toward its employees?  Provide a place of employment to believe in and to get excited about.  "Just shut up and do your job" will net you much turnover and also the legal problems such a philosophy deserves.  Rarely does an excellent organization get sued relative to a bare minimum one, an extra bonus.  When outstanding employers make mistakes, they rectify them promptly and appropriately. They don't tend to engage in years of pointless and expensive litigation. 

If we all only do the least we can, we shouldn't expect much in return, in any aspect of life.  "Do more, be better" is a two-way street in the employment world.  http://www.employmentlawman.com/monday-morning-musings.html   

It is important to periodically audit your employment practices and documents.  Pay a qualified professional to look at such things as your employment application, handbook, job descriptions, general policies and practices, postings, document retention policy, sample some personnel files to make sure your files are in compliance with the law, etc.  

If the only employment audits that occur at your company are the surprise ones conducted from time to time by such agencies as the Department of Labor or OSHA, you may learn the hard way that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  You are never finished with legal compliance issues, thus the need for periodic self-audits.  http://www.employmentlawman.com/monday-morning-musings.html

Yes, there are many differences between a magic wand and a law license (size, shape and material of wand versus license, training required, and more) but of course the chief difference is that a magic wand is fictitious.  It would be nice to be the Harry Potter of the law, to be able to wave a magical legal wand and have every client instantly get everything they want and deserve, maybe even more.  

Back to reality now.  All of us should be honest with our clients/customers and tell them what they need to know, not want they may want to hear.  In evaluating cases, I don't give any thought whatsoever to what I think the client wants to hear.  I focus on telling them what I believe they need to hear, which in some cases may be equivalent to what they want to hear, but often isn't.  You need your doctor to be honest.  If you're overweight, have a disease, have high blood pressure, you need to know that, even though you want to hear you are in perfect health.  

Armed with the best information and advice, you can then make more intelligent choices.  Or not. It's up to you as the end user.  Lose weight and exercise or not, the choice is yours.  Although a skilled legal advocate or other professional can sometimes make something look like magic, it isn't magic.  It's ability, skill and experience at work, hard won over many years.  In the end, though, facts are facts and the law is the law.  Telling someone what they want to hear may result in a quick sale/new client but if it differs from what they need to hear, you have not done your job, your client now has unrealistic expectations and can't truly make the best possible decision in the matter.  Sometimes we have to give out painful truths like "you have a weak case" or "it's a long shot but this treatment is all that's out there now,"  or "we can't get this product to you tomorrow, we need a week to fabricate it."  Tell them what they need to hear and everyone will be better for it in the end.  http://www.employmentlawman.com/monday-morning-musings.html