Overwhelmed. Tired. Depressed. Stressed. This is how I felt having created a business that was a reflection of me without really knowing who I was and what I wanted from my life. I was tired, unhappy, in chaos and felt like my world was coming down around me. The world was in recession and I was caught in the eye ...
Do you ever ask an employee for something you requested several days earlier and get a puzzled look? Or get the response: “I didn’t know you wanted it today.” Or even more baffling, the employee tells you: “I don’t know how to do that.” These are the kinds of answers that cause many owners to hesitate when delegat...
Interviewing can be fun and exciting—the thrill of adding new capabilities to your team, thoughts of growth and expansion. Yet, we seldom recognize the cost of moving too quickly. Hiring for the wrong reasons. Rushing the process.
This is the first installment in helping you fully develop and implement Org Charts and Position Agreements, which support a culture of ownership within your business. There is a certain point in every business when you realize you need to organize your people more effectively. And it can happen with as few as fiv...
This is the season for planning for the new year and we’ve been talking a lot about it. If you haven’t started yet, it’s not too late to create your Annual Plan. We have a six step process to get you there. If you really want your business to look, act, feel and perform differently a year from now (Is there anyone...
Have you ever stepped back from your business for a few hours to think about what you want this company to give you? Maybe it's the dream you started with, the one that gave you the momentum and courage to quit a job and venture out on your own. Maybe it's the time and support you want to dedicate to your family a...
This is Part Four on how to build a sales system that works. Read Part One, Part Two, and Part Three here. When you really break it down, a salesperson who has the highest lead to sales conversions is doing one thing better than everyone else: leading the sales conversation. If you, in your sales role, or your sal...
As an owner of EMyth and its Board Chair, this is a meaningful time for me. October is National Women’s Small Business Month. My 35th anniversary at EMyth is a few months away, having spent the first 17 years building the company into a global brand with my former husband, Michael Gerber, EMyth’s founder and best ...
The day you decided to stop working for anyone but yourself was probably glorious. No one to tell you what to do and how to do it. Life suddenly had promise, imagining yourself spending every day doing the work you’re passionate about. Until… until the day you realized that instead of your boss dictating how you d...
John Lennon gave us, “Yes is the answer,” and I get what he means. He was talking about saying yes to love, embracing life, and seeing opportunities instead of limits—all important and valuable in building the kind of world we want to live in. But what about saying “No?” Is there a place for that, especially in yo...
Imagine what kind of workplace your business would be if your employees thought to themselves: "I’m excited about my work.” “This is a place where I can achieve my goals.” “I feel safe. It’s okay to make a mistake, and I will learn from it.” “I have some great ideas on how to improve things. I can’t wait to share ...
This is the sixth and final installment in helping you develop and design clear systems. Click here for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5. Before I dive into this final article on systems development, I want to thank those of you who have written to me during the course of this series. Your participation ...
This is the fifth installment in helping you develop and design clear systems. Click here for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 6. Last week I covered how an operations manual can save your business (and your life), much like the operations manual on Apollo 13 saved Jim Lovell’s life. This week, I want to t...
It was about a year ago today that I was asked by Ilene Gail Frahm, our Board Chair, to become the next CEO of EMyth. The last year has been filled with an immense amount of learning and growth. My appreciation for every single person on our team in Ashland, Oregon has never been greater: they are all incredibly d...
This is the fourth installment in helping you develop and design clear systems. Click here for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, and Part 6. During the last long-haul flight I was on, I re-watched ‘Apollo 13’ (the one with Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell). Perhaps not the best choice as I was hurtling through the sky at 500...
I’m in the upstairs bathroom writing notes on my iPhone when it strikes me—the apparent irony of me sketching out notes for a blog post about work-life balance while in the middle of giving my daughters a bath. I left work hours ago but had hardly left my work behind me. And in that moment I felt so close to the m...
This is the third installment in helping you develop and design clear systems. Click here for Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6. This week I want to share a business development concept that will help you turn your current frustrations into operational systems. It’s one small step for you and your team, b...