Our recent post about systems should have your gears turning already, but for your business to truly thrive, the best-designed systems alone won’t suffice. You need people. But not just any people: You need a high-performing team. The kind of team that makes your systems—and your business—really work.
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 fifth installment in helping you fully develop and implement Org Charts and Position Agreements, which support a culture of ownership within your business. Click here for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4. “My employees know what to do, but if one thing goes wrong, they just stand around.” “They can ge...
This is the third installment in helping you fully develop and implement Org Charts and Position Agreements, which support a culture of ownership within your business. Click here for Part 1 and Part 2. If you followed my previous blogs—and you kept it simple—you should have a Position Agreement for each role in yo...
This is the second installment in helping you fully develop and implement Org Charts and Position Agreements, which support a culture of ownership within your business. Click here for Part 1. The three things people crave in a business are: Certainty, Unity and Stability. Certainty enters when people know what you...
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...
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 ...
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...
You call your team together to roll out your strategy for the coming quarter. Everyone gathers around and all eyes are on you. You’ve spent at least forty hours over the last two weeks planning, modeling, forecasting, all in anticipation of this day. OK, take a deep breath, and begin your presentation. Five minute...
Now more than ever, money, technology and personnel are invested in the user and customer experience. In today’s world of instant reviews and feedback, businesses are sprinting to stay one step ahead of their customer to attract their target market, intuit their needs and attempt to exceed expectations.
What do oyster farming, planning and your business have in common? If you work in the oyster farming business, then one thing is certain: everything can—and will—go wrong in your business. Wind, rain, tidal swells, oil spills and sea sickness to name a few. Rest assured, there will be an obstacle in your way.
Trendspotting is a term most commonly used in fashion circles. Top designers will spend thousands of dollars to send their curators all over the world to… spot trends. We’ve notoriously been told that the fashion industry is capable of predicting what colors we will want to wear before we even know we want to wear...
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 delega...