Build a great company on a powerful foundation!
I spoke recently with a business owner who’s getting depressed about so many opportunists entering his industry. He’s worked hard to establish himself as honest and credible, while others merely come in to harvest profit and then move on.
As we talked, though, we realized that this is part of the nature of an emerging industry.
Many of you are familiar with the concept that products have life cycles. Geoffrey Moore broke it down this way in Crossing the Chasm:
Read the rest of this entry »There are times where everything seems to blow up at once. It might be something specific to your industry, like a drastic new regulation or disruptive innovation.
Or it might be something more general, like a worldwide virus threat or global financial crisis.
Yeah, I know that never happens, but stay with me here. Just in case.
Read the rest of this entry »Leading in business is about planning. Creating plans, executing plans, and monitoring progress against those plans.
Here’s the problem: creating plans is about the future, then everything after that is about living in the past.
When are we ever in the present? Here’s why that’s important:
Read the rest of this entry »Goals are great, and can inspire you to wonderful things. But I find that people often neglect to answer a critical question: Where are you starting from?
With all my clients, we uncover their goals and visions and possibilities, but then we spend a good amount on their current situation. It’s not about me understanding their challenges.
No, it’s about uncovering resources and limitations, before designing the best next steps to take.
Read the rest of this entry »Diversity is a wonderful thing. Truly, it makes life rich and interesting.
Yet, for whatever reason, humans are wired to prefer people who are similar to themselves. I find the juxtaposition of these two ideas to be fascinating … and deeply challenging.
It’s not healthy to have an organization or society where everybody thinks the same. We’ve seen examples where people become subservient to “groupthink” – yielding their individuality to what seems to be commonly accepted. That’s dangerous!
Last week I contrasted the jobs in a large company to the more collaborative engagement in a startup business. It’s not necessary to be a startup, of course, it’s just easier because that’s where new ideas can take off and flourish.
I had a chance recently to talk with a lady in another country who works for a company which connects global contract workers with part-time roles in larger companies. If you’ve used a remote Virtual Assistant, that’s what I’m talking about.
Sure, that lets you outsource tasks to get cheaper labor. We’ve been doing that for decades. But in this case, there’s a larger driving purpose behind it.
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I had the opportunity recently to have a great conversation with Chris Ippolito on his podcast. Chris is interviewing a wide variety of coaches, spreading the word about the amazing positive impact that this profession is having in the world!
Last week I talked about poor Valerie. She’s a solid worker, but isn’t bringing much loyalty or passion to her job. It’s just a job.
Across the street, though, we have a small startup company of 8 people who are now getting traction. It’s a small enough group that they know each other fairly well, so their teamwork is pretty darned good.
And they’re not afraid to embrace new ideas. It’s part of their culture, after all.
Read the rest of this entry »Here’s today’s headline from Gallup’s research: What’s Driving Record-High Employee Engagement in the U.S.?
This great company has been monitoring the trends for many years, so seeing an upward trend in employee engagement is truly important. And a bit shocking, really, after all the bad news we’ve been hearing.
So what’s behind it?
Read the rest of this entry »Valerie has a pretty decent job. She’s pretty good at it, having been in the position for four years now.
It’s not inspiring, but hey, it’s a job.
So how much creativity and productivity do we think she’s devoting to her work?
The Values-Based Business 