Ron Kaufman

Authorship

Kaufman is the author of 16 published books on business, service, and professional motivation. Uplifting Service: The Proven Path to Delighting Your Customers, Colleagues, and Everyone Else You Meet was published on May 15, 2012, and has appeared at the #5 spot on The New York Times Book Review, “Best Sellers Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous”(June 3, 2012).

Kaufman also serves as a columnist for Bloomberg Businessweek and Chief Learning Officer magazines. Kaufman's work with large organizations was cited in Harvard Business Review, April 2016, in "Revolutionizing Customer Service".

Founder of UP! Your Service

In 1990, Singapore Airlines and the government of Singapore through SPRING Singapore (formerly the Productivity and Standards Board and National Productivity Board) invited Kaufman to help create and launch a national service quality training organization, the Service Quality Centre, in an effort to improve the nation’s service culture. Kaufman resides in Singapore. He became a citizen of Singapore in 2013, where he lives with his wife Jenny and daughter Brighten.

In 1993, Kaufman founded Ron Kaufman Pte Ltd to coordinate his speaking, training, and publishing activities around the world. In 2006, Kaufman founded the company UP! Your Service to provide education and consulting services to help organizations build an “Uplifting Service” culture. Kaufman’s methodology includes Service Leadership consulting, Service Education courses (named “UP! Your Service College”), and The 12 Building Blocks of Service Culture.

UP! Your Service has offices in Singapore and the USA. The company provides management consulting and customer service training for businesses, associations, and government agencies. Kaufman’s UP! Your Service courses have subsequently been translated into 14 languages.

"Uplifting Service®"

In his book, Uplifting Service: The Proven Path to Delighting Your Customers, Colleagues, and Everyone Else You Meet, Kaufman states his definition of service: “Service is taking action to create value for someone else.” Kaufman suggests incorporating service education into school systems.

The book also outlines what Kaufman calls his “12 Building Blocks of Service Culture,” which are: 1. Common Service Language 2. Engaging Service Vision 3. Service Staff Recruitment 4. New Staff Orientation 5. Service Communications 6. Service Recognition and Rewards 7. Voice of the Customer 8. Service Measures and Metrics 9. Service Improvement Process 10. Service Recovery and Guarantees 11. Service Benchmarking 12. Service Role Modeling

Early Entrepreneurship and Citizen Diplomacy

Kaufman learned to play Ultimate Frisbee while at Staples High School in Connecticut, USA, which was the second high school in the nation with a team. Later he co-founded and captained the Ultimate Frisbee team at Brown University.

In 1976, Kaufman founded Discovering the World as a mail-order operation selling flying disc sport equipment, which is now a store in Buena Park, CA, and an online outfit specializing in Disc Golf, Ultimate Frisbee, and all other flying disc sports equipment. Kaufman then planned a national series of Frisbee Disc and Hackysack Footbag Festivals with Wham-O company sponsorship.

Between 1985 and 1990, Kaufman used Frisbee as a means of citizen diplomacy. Part of this mission was the creation of World Peace Tours, based in La Jolla, CA, to organize Frisbee Flying Friendship Tours to the People’s Republic of China. These tours included Frisbee demonstrations, festivals, and tournaments to cities around the world. Kaufman also led Youth Ambassadors of America tours to the Soviet Union. Kaufman stated that the purpose of the China and the Soviet Union tours was to “to break down the walls of misunderstanding.” As Kaufman recounts, “How can you drop a bomb on somebody you’ve gone skateboarding with down the Great Wall of China or played Frisbee with in Red Square?”

Awards and Accolades

The National Speakers Association named Kaufman an award-winning speaker in their July/August 2009 issue of Speaker magazine in its “Top 25 Who’s Hot.” Also in 2009, Kaufman earned the Spirit of Enterprise Award in Singapore. In 2016, the Asia Professional Speakers Association awarded Kaufman the inaugural "Lifetime Achievement Award".

During the 1980s, Kaufman served as the Master of Ceremonies for the World Frisbee Disc Championships at the Rose Bowl in California; the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum Frisbee Festival in Washington, DC; and the Milton Keynes Bowl Air Day in the United Kingdom.

Kaufman is a professional member of the Author’s Guild, Global Speakers Federation, and the Association of Learning Providers. He is a founding member of Asia Professional Speakers Singapore.

Speaking Engagements

Kaufman’s line of work includes keynote motivational speaking engagements. He has been invited to present for audiences such as Authors@Google, Stanford University, and Harvard Business School.

Television Appearances

Kaufman also appears on television. He has been interviewed about his book and business philosophy by Fox 5 Morning News, Fox News, Fox & Friends, The Morning Blend with Mary Perkins, and First Business in Chicago.

Noted Webinars

Kaufman also holds webinars, including the University of Chicago Women’s Business Group series.

Education and Personal Life

Kaufman is a 1979 graduate of Brown University, with a History degree concentrating in International Political History. He obtained Singapore Citizenship in 2013.