Today I had an occasion to really explore something about myself that I already knew. I knew it, but I didn’t know what to do about it. You see I am nothing if not up front about what I like and don’t like, but I often skip conversations that are not productive. The end result is that the irritation builds and then you have a blow up. I learned that this is really passive … [Read more...]
The Big Dream of a Small Company
I had an interesting conversation today about strategy and growth. What was different about this conversation was that the tone of it just made sense. As my firm has grown and matured, things have changed. The stakes have become bigger, the rewards better and the disappointments more bitter. As I wondered aloud ‘am I dreaming too large’ these are the nuggets the conversation … [Read more...]
From the World Series to the Boardroom
On Wednesday night, the umpires in the World Series gave the business world a lesson in quality. If a call is the right call, it’s the right call. The call was new, upset some people and could still have repercussions but the spirit of the call was spot on. The umps did what all entrepreneurs should do and here is what I learned from the call. Confer with your colleagues This … [Read more...]
Ch..Ch..Changes
I know that I’ve spoken of this before and I hate that I am writing about it again, but if I just had this situation chances are that many of my readers are struggling with something similar as well. I have a colleague that I worked with and the relationship crashed and burned. To me it was a part of business, while we did not work well together I didn’t see it as anything … [Read more...]
Play Ball!
There is a theory out in the world of baseball that everything you need to know about life, you learn in the outfield. I think there is some truth to that. Baseball is a game of knowing when to swing, learning about the other team and waiting for the right time to steal the bases. Sounds an awful lot like business right? We all know that we have to be strategic and … [Read more...]
The Small Business Owner Blues
In the silence of the night when everyone else has shut down and you are left with your decisions, that’s when you become an entrepreneur. Someone said to me once that to be an entrepreneur you have to have a spouse with a full-time job and while that anecdote is funny it’s also a bit sad. The very essence of an entrepreneur is a risk-taker, however unfair that risk is to the … [Read more...]
Business Advice for Dummies
As a business owner particularly when you are starting out, ‘constructive criticism’ is something that you get in spades. Some of the criticism is great, it tells you things about yourself and your company that you didn’t know. Other times it can feel like a direct attack, so how do you know the difference and how do you find the silver lining? Consider the source Sometimes … [Read more...]
For Love of the Game
This morning I had the privilege of attending an Executive Breakfast that focused on employee engagement and what that actually means. It was a timely discussion because I hear the phrase employee engagement in just about every explanation of what’s wrong with an organization. But what is it really? What does employee engagement mean and why is it important to your business? … [Read more...]
The Ties That Bind
In the past year I have found myself talking about partnership an awful lot. As one partnership crashed and burned this week and several other began, here is some advice I have learned. Understand your value When you are starting out I don’t care how much you think you know, you don’t know as much as someone with 10 years of experience on you. If you don’t have all of the … [Read more...]
Business by Perception
This week has been a blur of promotions for the Lance Armstrong interview and I’ve begun to wonder, how do you protect the image of your company when your company is you? There is an old adage that says ‘you are the company you keep’, but in this increasingly global marketplace how realistic is that? Is it reasonable to assume we can manage all of our partnerships and alliances … [Read more...]