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I recently experienced the loss of a significant contractor commitment, and I realize now that it’s partially my fault for relying more on my hope than doing good due diligence.
The hard part is coming to internal peace. On the outside I can raise my chin and look forward to fixing the problem, but inside it still hurts a bit.
I’ve experienced this even more in the past when I lost a great employee or had a work relationship go sour. There are ones that I still regret, over twenty years later. And I’m not a particularly emotional guy.
Perhaps it’s some kind of “long grieving”, like the aftereffects of “long COVID.”
Read the rest of this entry »I don’t know about you, but my business doesn’t seem to be nearly as organized as I’d like.
I have stuff coming at me from all directions all the time, and things that I have a plan for … change anyway.
It feels like I’m just making it up as I go along. And, in fact, that’s a lot of what’s happening.
Read the rest of this entry »Are you looking forward to the next person you’ll need to bring on board?
I’d like you to think about what their key attributes will need to be, because it’s likely they’ll need to be different from your current people.
It’s easy to talk about job skills, but often those skills will be quite similar to others in the team. More challenging are the other attributes and characteristics, because you’ll want to fill in what’s missing.
Read the rest of this entry »There’s a new discussion popping up in various European countries and Australia. It’s about establishing a right for employees to completely disengage from their work.
No phone calls. No texts. No emails.
In the US, we pretty much get it for hourly workers. But for salaried? Our culture tends more toward expecting – sometimes demanding – complete accessibility. But it depends on the organization’s culture.
Read the rest of this entry »If you started your company, or are the owner, you know what I’m talking about.
You’ve put your heart and soul into this venture, and it’s consumed every waking moment. For years. That passion and commitment has driven you to whatever success you’ve had. And hope to have.
But your team? Well, it seems like it’s just a job to them. You feel like they could walk away at any moment.
Read the rest of this entry »You want to deliver a uniform experience for your customers. I understand.
The problem is that much of the experience can become devoid of the humanity. You squash out any individuality from the interactions.
I think about my favorite coffee shop. Yes, I’d like to know what I’m getting, so I want the same quality of my cappucino or mocha. But the rest of the experience is all about the barista who’s in front of me.
Read the rest of this entry »Perhaps it’s time to look at things anew.
This comes to mind, of course, because it’s the start of a new school in the US. But there are other reasons why it might be good to get rid of some of that old stuff which isn’t really serving you anymore.
Perhaps you have a change in leadership. Or have just completed a big project. Or your business cycle just got you past the busy phase.
Read the rest of this entry »We use mirrors all the time to check how we look to the outside world.
My question is: How often do you hold a mirror up to your leadership skills?
As a leader, it’s tough to know how others perceive you. One useful tool is the 360° assessment, where you ask for formal inputs from employees, partners, and those above you in the organization. I’ve even seen those who ask for inputs from customers.
Read the rest of this entry »Some of us think about making repeatable processes, others don’t. I’m in the former camp.
You see, it can drive me crazy when I see something that’s repetitive and boring and could be made more efficient. I guess it’s the engineer in me.
Making a process isn’t the same as automating. For instance, I have my beginning-of-day routine which includes checking my calendar, email, app notices, and texts. It’s pretty straightforward, and within 4-5 minutes I feel like I’ve got my head around what the day’s going to look like.
Read the rest of this entry »It’s fire season in Colorado, which gets me thinking about conversations I’ve had with my business clients.
I know that seems like a little bit of a stretch, but let’s explore for a moment.
When disaster happens, our natural instinct is to run away. Get as far away from the danger as fast as possible. With that distance, we’ll have a bit of safety to examine the situation and figure out what to do next.
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The Values-Based Business 