Vacation and rest in general have become a bit of a foreign concept to me in the six years as a business owner and far more absent over the past 3 months as I have been consumed with a recent project. Yesterday was Saturday, and as I was still in bed at nearly noon, I [...]

Many of us hear the word vacation, and we automatically think of a million reasons why we can’t take a one. We get stressed at the idea of leaving our work behind for a week, and about the problems we will come back to; but we don’t think of the many benefits taking a vacation [...]

Too often today, managers – whether supervisors, directors, or even owners – see their role as the creator and enforcer of rules. “Be on time…,” they tell their employees, “or I will have to write you up.” “Be a team player.” “Show initiative.” “Call on more prospects.” “Service the existing customer.” And so on. More [...]

Strategic. Planning. Planning – putting thought into the next step, next day, next year, next expansion. Strategic – is most often associated with the military. Generals plot and study maps, cultures, people, plans of attack, and every other detail available to find the best strategy to surprise, and therefore, overthrow their enemies. Leadership should be [...]

“To build a durable, long-term business, the entrepreneur will eventually have to abandon the rules that got him/her started.” –HBR 1999 Successful entrepreneurs tend to build their business in a somewhat protected niche that allows each customer to be handled separately and each transaction to be unique. Growth puts pressure on the organization’s capacity, in [...]

I have been so looking forward to writing this article because as a leadership and life coach, one of my favorite clients to coach is the one who is trying to discover their passion. They’ve gotten “stuck” and want more from life. A great little Sunday afternoon read is called “The Dream Giver” by Bruce [...]

“I don’t know which we need; I only know we need help…” “It’s frustrating trying to figure out who we should be working with…” “I don’t think any of these will solve the whole problem…” “Doesn’t anyone do what we need?” Ever uttered any of the above or one of a thousand variants expressing the [...]

The election is over for another four years. The economy is still in a state of flux. The end of another year is fast approaching. You met all your goals and stuck to all your New Year’s Resolutions from January 1, 2008 [or maybe not quite.] With all this uncertainty, is it possible to guarantee [...]

Over the past twenty years, companies, and particularly American companies, have emphasized growing productivity as the means to greater profitability and growth. Yet, in most cases, the growth in productivity has been the result of staff reductions and putting greater stress on the remaining workforce to achieve the same results as a larger workforce had [...]

As a leader, what role do you play in the marketing and branding of your company? Let us ensure we are on the same page by first understanding what constitutes branding. According to Martin Roll, CEO of Venture Republic, an international branding strategist, “Branding in the classic sense is all about creating unique identities and [...]