Want a great business? Then do great things. As a leader, business owner, decision maker, you set the tone for the rest of your team, no matter what the size or location. Often, there are so many things to do in a day, we bypass some of the most important concepts that can make our businesses GREAT. The following Business Improvement Concepts, as basic as they may seem, are often overlooked. Apply or revisit these GREAT concepts and see how quickly you can improve your business! Step 1: Have a GREAT Vision Great leaders have great visions. Bill Gates envisioned  “a computer on every desk ..read more

How do you define “Trailblazer”?  A Pioneer?  An Innovator?  A Leader?  More importantly how can you transform your business into an organization that embraces entrepreneurial principles?  What steps do you need to take today to position yourself for the future? It is the end of the year, and these questions may bubble to the forefront of your thoughts.  However, if you do not act, now, then your ability to truly change your organization cannot begin.  Sounds simple, but we all know organizational transformation is difficult.  Setting your organization o ..read more

Whether you are a small business owner, large corporate exec, middle manager, or fresh out of school, you go through your day doing many different things.  Some of these tasks we enjoy, some we may despise, and some we may just tolerate.  However, the key to becoming truly successful is to do more of things we are really good at (our Area of Awesomeness) and less of the things we are not so good at (our Areas of Awfulness).  As I am sure you have been made aware of, 80% of our success comes from 20% of our activities….The Pareto Principle (aka The 80/20 Rule).  How cool wou ..read more

If you are a basketball fan, then you have been following the Ben Simmons saga.  Ben is an all-star player with the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers who has asked the team for a trade, despite having multiple years left on his max contract.  Recently, he stated that he cannot perform for the Sixers because they just did not understand him. In short, this is an Empathy vs Performance dilemma.  The employee, Ben, does not feel enough emotional support from his supervisor (i.e., the Sixers coaches and players).  As a result, he feels that his performance is suffering.  From th ..read more

Today’s business environment requires unprecedented levels of skills & knowledge but the real key to success is MINDSET.  Technology has given us the opportunity to be productive at any hour of the day and any day of the week.  But, it has also provided numerous distractions, unthinkable volumes of information, and the need to be self-regulating and accountable, especially when working remotely.  These conditions closely resemble the life of an entrepreneur…. The “Eat only what you hunt, kill, and prepare” environment that a new business owner lives every day. Although there ..read more

Who would imagine 2 little letters could make such a difference? A few weeks ago I received 2 emails. One was offering new business owners the opportunity to gain visibility in a new online and print business magazine. The other was inviting me to the launch party for a new magazine with the same name. I opened the first email, clicked the link and checked out the advertising, featured business owners and comtemplated whether or not it would reach my target market. Next, I reviewed the launch party invitation, thinking what fun it would be have a new group to network with. Looked interesting ..read more

Employee training is one of the best practices to keep your current employees engaged and attract good candidates in today’s tight labor market. It ensures you see good candidates and your employees will be highly productive, engaged, and remain with your business for many years. How Does Training Increase Employee Retention? If you’re unsure of the link between training, employee hiring and retention, here are some statistics that will prove this connection: Employee turnover is 50 percent more likely in businesses that have ineffective onboarding processes, Companies with strong ..read more

Recently, I was asked by a very good client to speak to our networking group about “The Law of Reciprocity”.  Brian Tracy defines this law simply as…”If you do something nice for me, I’ll do something nice for you.  I feel obligated to reciprocate”.  Some people believe that this is possibly the most important law of human nature.  It forms the basis to solid relationships and it is the fundamental bedrock of any effective networking group. Consider the last time you went out to lunch with a colleague and he or she picked up the tab.  You probably said, “Thank you.&nbs ..read more

All businesses have competition. It may be a business down the street, across town, in another state or even another country. The competition might appear on the internet or in a catalogue. Sometimes the toughest competition is lack of knowledge the business even exists! But NOT all businesses are the same—even if the product or services appear to be the same. Each business provides something unique. The challenge is to know and communicate clearly just what it is that sets your business apart from the competition. Clarity in these three areas will set your busine ..read more

As a leader, how difficult do you find providing positive constructive feedback to your team members? How often do you give instant feedback, only to realize that your colleague did not take the discussion well? What if you had a simple construct that helped frame the discussion? How important to feedback is the approach? Let’s explore these questions further. We have all heard about the “time for positive constructive feedback is immediately after the event”. However, is your team member or colleague in a position to even receive the feedback at that time? If con ..read more