In the 25+ years or so that I’ve been working with small to mid-sized businesses, I’ve seen just about every type of “end.” Some good, some not so good. Let’s start with “the ugly.” One entrepreneur grew his business to about $15M and wanted to … Read more
An entrepreneur from last year’s Emerging Leaders class that I teach at the Small Business Administration experienced what most businesses would call “phenomenal growth.” He started by creating what he thought was a workable strategy to achieve the vision he had. The vision was good, … Read more
One of my clients has been struggling with the dashboard question for a while. What to track? What makes a difference? In addition, he had a couple of partners whose interest in the “numbers” was less than enthusiastic and they simply wanted to get the … Read more
I have worked with so many entrepreneurs who had trouble hiring salespeople that I had difficulty picking which example to use for the puzzler! I decided to use the one that most everyone can relate to. This was a services company that had struggled for … Read more
Marketing means so many things to so many different people that it’s hard to pin it down. In many ways, it’s a misunderstood discipline, so when one of my clients kept saying, “we need more marketing,” I finally sat him down and asked, “what does … Read more
I thought about all the stories I have of leaders, including myself, who at one point or another behaved in a manner that was exhibiting very low EQ, (or emotional intelligence), and quickly realized that I had a lot of examples. Of course this speaks … Read more
When an employee does not work out, it’s always a disappointment for the company and the employee. No one likes it, we don’t want to talk about it, and we feel like we failed. And it’s expensive! The figures I’ve heard put it at three … Read more
A situation I have been faced with many times as a coach is working with partners, or multiple business owners, most frequently at professional services firms. These are typically well-educated professionals who have degrees in fields like law, accounting, manufacturing, medicine, marketing, architecture and others. … Read more
I worked with a brilliant man once who was in the “culture change” business. He went into large companies and helped with mergers of two disparate cultures to move the united company forward or came in after a leadership change to reinforce the new culture. … Read more
This is the launch of a new monthly feature I call, “Leadership Puzzlers.” The “Puzzlers” are stories in business that I will share to show where one of the puzzle pieces was not properly in place, or not being utilized, and how ultimately the problem was … Read more