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AS YOU WALK IN the front door of C3 Real Estate Solutions, you see three words on the glass in the lobby:
That’s not a terribly uncommon thing; a number of businesses like to prominently display key words to make an impression on their customers. Fresh! Best deal anywhere! Innovation!
But when I attended their Chamber Red Carpet event a few months ago, I got the distinct impression that the founders, Jesse Laner and John Simmons, actually run the company this way. That’s NOT common.
LAST FRIDAY 
WE HAD AN INTERESTING DISCUSSION over lunch, about the value of identifying your brand with your own name. It’s a conundrum, so I thought I could throw it out for a larger audience.
Here’s a range of examples:
- Joe’s hot dogs
- Smith investment strategies
- Fred and Wilma accounting services
- The Jones consulting group
- Marvin Winklestein and sons
WHAT A TIME of celebration and relaxation! People around here are definitely getting into the summer mode, and appreciating the Independence Day holiday with family and friends. I sure am.
It makes me think about the deeper values of this country.
FOR ME, newsletters and podcasts are an important part of my development and inspiration. So a column today by Richard Rohr caught my eye. In it, he states:
Spiritual gifts increase only by using them.
This brings together a whole lot of thoughts I have around the nature of love, of giving, of support.
THIS WEEK I had the opportunity to participate in a very interesting discussion around the topic of brand-building. This was an 
EntrepreNerds meeting focused on the books Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out by Marc Ecko and Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger. Both were worth the read and had some good lessons.
What struck me most profoundly was digging into the topic of authenticity. There’s actually a number of interesting dimensions to this concept: Read the rest of this entry »
THE 
WORD “COLLABORATION” has shown up for me multiple times this week. It must be a message!
I totally understand the reluctance to put your future in the hands of someone else. No doubt many of us learned the lesson in school that a “team project” would sometimes turn into all the work being done by the one kid who cared about grades the most. The others would let things slide a bit, letting the dedicated one pick up the slack.
Instead, let’s look at this from the standpoint of collaborations which work well.
My first example might surprise you: Read the rest of this entry »
MY 
SPIRITUAL LIFE can feel a bit dry at times. I know this happens to most people, and it seems to be a part of the human experience that God needs us to learn from.
This time, I decided to try something new. I’m reading a new book called How to Hear God by Lynne Lee. It’s a challenge for me, so I’m taking it slowly, pondering and praying as I go along.
After reading the chapter on journaling, I decided to finally give it a try. Read the rest of this entry »
ASPEN INSTITUTE just came out with a new report entitled Unpacking Corporate Purpose: A Report on the Beliefs of Executives, Investors and Scholars. It’s an interesting read, especially for those who are thinking about how investors change the landscape of their company’s purpose.
For me, the most thought-provoking idea was that there are distinctly different philosophies about the concept of a corporation – and they’re all valid.
You’d think that traditional wisdom holds that the purpose of a corporation is to serve its shareholders. But is it? Read the rest of this entry »
THIS WEEK was an exciting time in the city: 
Fort Collins Startup Week. There were a tremendous number of activities, presentations, competitions – and face-to-face connections. I was honored to be a startup mentor, meeting with people who are launching their creative ventures.
It’s awe-inspiring what some of these folks are coming up with.
But there’s a general perception that this is a young person’s game. Older folks don’t have the energy and inspiration to go out there and so something that’s risky and edgy. Right?
MICHAEL HYATT 
is a powerful speaker and leader in the area of values-based companies. I was listening to a recent podcast on this topic this week where he reinforced one of my key messages:
Stated values are fine, but they don’t make a difference until you take action.
It’s a simple concept, really, and should be blindingly obvious. After all, when your favorite cable company states that they’re “customer oriented,” do you believe it when they’re also not showing up for appointments? When they don’t answer your questions over the phone?
