I recently asked this of a client who was questioning where they were going. We had established the steps that were needed to move them forward financially. The anticipated results were not quick-coming, and they were getting nervous. In life and in leadership, we will always encounter situations that, at times, feel hopeless. We know we’re doing…
We all have a performance superpower at our disposal. It’s not a performance-enhancing drug or a recent self-help book. It’s your attitude. There are many things required to excel in your vocation and life…..smarts, hard work, self-analysis and deprecation, teamwork, a positive attitude. Having a positive attitude may be the most important. Invariably, we will face obstacles…
I have a client that is currently limited in how much they can grow because they do not have the correct talent/skill-set mix at the top of their organization. The structure at the top of an organization may be the most important factor in determining if a business will be successful. It is imperative that we have…
This is true for us personally and professionally. People learn in different ways. In a classroom setting, we may be a visual learner, an auditory learner, or a written or reading learner. When we personally experience challenges, we become an experiential-learner. We may be living the consequences of our own or other’s bad decisions, or we…
Yes, this may be a bit of an overstatement, but there’s a bit of truth to it as well. If you work in a large organization, you most likely have established procedures for many of the typical tasks required of the team. If you are in a startup, you’re throwing things against the wall to see…
I have a Mechanical Engineering degree, so I can make fun of engineers. Engineers are gifted at finding new and better ways of doing things. There is pride in innovation and continuous improvement, which is all fine and good until great gets in the way of good. They can be afflicted with NIH (Not Invented…
We sometimes think that anyone who could potentially purchase our product or service is a prospect. How do we determine who we should target? Warm leads are far preferable to cold ones. A cold lead does not know who we are or the service or product we provide. A warm lead is a prospect who has…
What would you call a man who lived as an early teenager through the horrors of WWII in the Netherlands, who was described later in life as being about the most positive and encouraging person people had ever met? I’d call him my dad! During the war, he had to run the family farm with…
Success is great. It’s rewarding. It’s the culmination of hard work. Except when it isn’t what you are experiencing, when you are caught in the whirlwind of a downturn, a market change, or the results of poor decision-making. I will never forget the Great Recession of 2007-2009. We thought we were positioned well for a…
Apply enough pressure to carbon and what do you get….diamonds. Apply significant pressure to people and what do you get? It depends. Stress strengthens metal. It can strengthen or weaken relationships. I’ve found that you find out what someone is really made of in these situations and have experienced both the good and the bad in…