Driving Improved Results – The Dance of Business

Leadership. Most people think of leading others when they hear or read the word, but self-leadership is even more important. How can you effectively lead others (whether on the job or at home) if you are not effectively living your own life? As I work with clients on leadership development, a large part of those [...]

Perhaps one of the most important and often times forgotten skills is being aware of what is going on in the process during sales conversations. This is true in retail or business-to-business sales. Those who master the art of being aware of where the customer is and what they are looking for and how to [...]

To borrow a phrase, “it’s the little things in life that matter”.  This is so true when talking about improving our lives. How often is it that when we accomplish the little things in our lives they quickly add up to huge results? It’s true in life and business. Right? So if this is true, [...]

Let’s use an Olympic athlete as an example. She probably was introduced to the sport like downhill skiing at age 5, took lessons, practiced, started to shine by age 9, took advanced lessons, attended special camps, traveled to where the best teachers were for private instruction during her teenage years, spent hours every day at [...]

It seems you can’t go anywhere without someone asking you what your goals are! What’s up with that? You want to buy life insurance…what are your goals for the future? You want a financial plan… what are your goals? You say you want to sell your business, what are your goals and strategy for the [...]

If change were an acronym, what would it be? C.H.A.N.G.E.:  Constant Havoc Amidst Needy Grumbling Employees or C.H.A.N.G.E.:  Challenging, Hostile, and No-Good Edicts (from management) or C.H.A.N.G.E.:  Corrosive Headaches Arriving and Not Going (away) Effectively We laugh because it is funny, and we laugh because it is true.  Even organizations and employees who claim to [...]

I’ve been studying company culture for awhile now. At its’ best it drives profitability. At it’s worst you’re replacing staff every time you turn around. Who is responsible for creating your company’s culture? If  you’re the business owner, you are!!! That means you can change it if you don’t like what you’ve got. You change [...]

What is a culture of connection and what does it do for the profitability of a company? In your industry who is eating who for lunch? (yes you’ll understand what I mean if you read through the article.) Years ago when I had my IT company we received a $1,000,000 RFP. It was a bigger [...]

Authors Larry Bossidy and Ram Charam in their book “Execution…The discipline of Getting Things Done” included a letter to a new leader. The letter not only outlines the points of the book, but also represents what can be described as a path to organizational excellence.  A leader’s responsibility is to bring the critical elements of [...]

Have you ever found yourself with the proverbial “foot in your mouth” because of something you said?  We all do that sometimes – and often in situations where we then feel foolish or embarrassed.  I once heard a great way to filter your thoughts before they come out of your mouth, and to consider what [...]