What’s next?

February 14, 2022 in Success in business | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

If you’re a leader, then people will look to your crystal ball to provide some reassurance about the future. The problem, of course, is that you have no magic crystal ball and can’t tell the future better than anyone else.

But did you notice that I used the word “reassurance”? Because that’s what people are really seeking. Being able to tell the future is one way to do that, but not the only way. Honestly, if you try to rely just on THAT skill, people are going to be skeptical because they know that nobody has the ability.

So what is it about, then?

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Chaos!

February 7, 2022 in Success in business | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

This is the time of year when all your business newsletters are telling you to create a plan for the coming year. Which is perfect if you have a baseline to build from.

But what do you do when all your assumptions have been blown to shreds in the last two years? Regulations are constantly changing. Supply chains are massively broken. Employees are unreliable. Whole industries are restructuring.

Your foundation, my friends, is much deeper than that.

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Take a break!

January 31, 2022 in Success in business | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

For some of us, things are slowing down. For others, it’s a crazy time of year. Hopefully you’ll have a chance for things to settle, perhaps in January or after April 15th or during next summer.

The point is that we all need a break from the intensity of work.

And not just the weekends. Those are very necessary and vital, but aren’t sufficient. What we need is the chance to REALLY check out of our work. For a week or two or three.

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The Right Amount of Confidence

January 24, 2022 in Success in business | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

You’re the boss, so you have all the answers. Right? Yeah, not so much.

I sure try to show confidence in my leadership roles, but that only works up to a point. Inside, I feel a variety of emotions, both positive and negative. Occasionally even cluelessness.

You know what? The people I’m with know that too. They know that we’re all just doing the best we can – hopefully succeeding more than failing.

So if we’re all just making it up as we go along, why do we seek out confidence? Because it’s about our desire for control and stability. If I don’t feel in control, then I’ll seek out others who look like they are. Even though I know that’s partially an illusion.

How should leaders deal with this? The key is honesty.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could get to the point where you’re honest with your people? Where you could say that you’re proceeding on the basis of partial data and educated guesses?

Yes, that opens up vulnerability. But it also creates trust that you’re telling people the real story, not hiding information.

What’s the next step you want to take on showing that kind of honesty?

When disaster strikes

January 18, 2022 in Success in business | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Recently we had some devastating fires whip through some small towns between Boulder and Denver, Colorado. Nothing could be done with the high winds we had that day, and a thousand families lost everything they own.

And yet, we are grateful for the limited loss of life. And millions of dollars were contributed by the community within a couple of days to help these folks get through the toughest times of their lives.

What do we learn for our businesses?

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The Tiny Details

January 17, 2022 in Success in business | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

I’ve noticed that beauty often comes in attention to the details. The kitchen utensil that does its job perfectly every time. The keyboard that I use constantly. The location of the shift lever in my car. The layout of the website that just makes sense.

It’s kind of crazy, yes, but these things matter a great deal.

But how do you keep this design sense from becoming all-consuming? Because we can spend WAY too much time obsessing about stuff that really doesn’t matter that much.

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Love and Passion

January 10, 2022 in Success in business | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Today I’m speaking from my heart to your heart. Because we’re all more focused and productive when we bring our heart into our work.

But we struggle to describe how that works. We tend to more strongly relate to the logical, unemotional part of business: income, job tasks, and so on. And that’s fine, but terribly incomplete.

The part which draws you in, and keeps you engaged, is mostly emotional.

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Bringing the soul into business

January 8, 2022 in Success in business | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

The traditional wisdom is that businesses are best run with unemotional logic and analysis. And there indeed is a place for that, but it misses the elements that engage customers, partners and employees.

There’s a place for passion, purpose and story. To have your soul shine forth.

About five years ago, Simon Sinek introduced us to a concept he called “Start With Why.” Check out his TED Talk if you haven’t seen it.

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The Entrepreneurial Mindset

January 3, 2022 in Success in business | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

What does “entrepreneur” mean to you? It’s probably as simple as someone who launches a new company.

Fair enough. But it’s a lot more interesting than that.

As I’ll be discussing at the Soulful Entrepreneur Summit in January 2022, being an entrepreneur is really a mindset which can serve anyone.

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Are you soulful?

December 27, 2021 in Success in business | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

I’m honored to be speaking for the Soulful Entrepreneur Summit in January 2022. I’ll be part of a panel on day 3, focusing on Soulful Messaging.

But what does it mean to be soulful? Sounds a bit woo-woo, right?

My approach is to help clients bring together the heart of their business and their own personal passion. In a small company, this is what sustains you to do the hard work, week after week, year after year.

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