Accountability Action Plans

Accountability Action Plans

  When working with clients, one of the most important roles I play is holding them accountable to do what they know they must do to keep their businesses thriving. When you own the business, it can be easy to allow the urgent to overwhelm the important. Before you know it, the important has slid for months and the business…

Perception and Preparation Create Performance

Perception and Preparation Create Performance

Perception and Preparation Create Performance Whether you are in sales, guiding employees or dealing with upset customers, perception and preparation will determine the outcome of the situation you are facing. Perception No matter how we try to deliver information, how it is received and perceived can have all the impact in the world. Recently, I watched an overwhelmed waitress take a series…

Success is 25 No’s Away

Success is 25 No’s Away

The process of creating success in your life is truly not that difficult to understand. It’s in the execution where most people get tripped up, because it requires a change of attitude and a change of heart. When I have shared this with audiences, I hear many comments, or as I see them, excuses, for why they are unable to…

3 Marketing Mistakes that Kill Small Businesses

3 Marketing Mistakes that Kill Small Businesses

Small business owners usually focus on one of three areas of the business: addressing employee issues that can create problems and reduce service effectiveness, enjoying the passion for the task of creating their products, and making sure cash flow is in good shape. Marketing for the small business owner is frequently tossed together with what monies they have left over…

Part of the Pack or Part of the Herd?

Part of the Pack or Part of the Herd?

Which approach best fits your style of running your small business? Are you more part of the (wolf) pack or do you align with being part of the (sheep) herd? Other than the obvious, what really is the difference? From a business standpoint, plenty. And your business results are predicated on your choice. A pack mentality has a distinct hierarchy…

3 Components of Work Culture

3 Components of Work Culture

Employees are moving on from companies because the employer’s work culture no longer fits their needs. I’m surprised when I ask small business owners about their work culture by how different their perspective is from that of their employees. As we see daily in the news, the evolution of culture of a workplace is changing rapidly with executives being called to…

Retaining Millennials

Retaining Millennials

For most managers, this is proving to be a complicated generation of workers to understand and retain in the workplace. In fact, 68% of Millennials surveyed say the longest they will stay at the same employer is 3 years. Surprisingly, today the average U.S. worker spends just 15 months in one role in today’s working environment. Retaining millennials is a…

3 R’s of Entrepreneurial Success

3 R’s of Entrepreneurial Success

Success as a business owner can be a constant chase. As soon as you believe you’ve figured out the puzzle, the rules change and you are chasing success in a new way all over again. How can a person continue to be successful in a constantly changing environment? Here are three habits that will bring entrepreneurial success to a business…

Working With Someone Who Drives You Nuts

Working With Someone Who Drives You Nuts

Working with someone who drives you nuts can range from the co-worker who is simply too loud to the one who has no control over their “personal habits” (Did he just hack up a hairball?) to the person who is an outright ogre to be around. Every one of these employees obviously make some contribution or they still wouldn’t be…

3 Family Business Owner Pitfalls to Avoid

3 Family Business Owner Pitfalls to Avoid

Most family-owned businesses are small businesses, and inherent in most family businesses are a unique set of challenges. Be careful to avoid these common pitfalls that can plague a family business owner. You can’t escape the stress of your job. The line between the family business and the family get blurred easily. Unplugging from the business can be very difficult.…