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I grew up in Colorado, which means I really enjoy the variety of seasons that we have. We’re now moving from the heat of summer into a more subdued, introverted time. I look forward to seeing snow-capped peaks again.
It turns out that everything goes through seasons: jobs, projects, relationships, even lifetimes. And even though we often strive for stability, changes are good too.
I’m thinking about each of my clients, who are each going through their own version of change. Many times it’s not at all clear what the next step is going to look like. That’s when our conversation can be extremely valuable.
Read the rest of this entry »Uncertainty is an inherent part of being in business.
Of course, it runs directly counter to what we want to do, which is planning. And in a previous career, I was directly in this dilemma, creating disaster plans and alternative scenarios and backups.
Unfortunately, business results come from doing stuff, not from planning. So how do you deal this this?
Read the rest of this entry »I’ve noticed that people are quite uncomfortable with complicated situations: we’re always looking for a single root cause.
Or a straightforward categorization.
This has ultimately led to huge polarization in our society, where people are pulling apart into camps.
Read the rest of this entry »A crucial part of management is solid planning.
But of course, reality rarely goes according to plan. Customer needs shift, people get sick, technical challenges arise, machines break, weather changes, … and on and on.
So the challenge becomes how you adapt to this ever-changing path.
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 »OK, THAT was a mistake. We don’t want to have THAT happen again.
As the leader, what’s your role in addressing this? Well, the top priority is to fix it as best we can, whether that means with customers, regulators, partners, employees, or whatever. But fixing it for THIS time is much different than getting to the root of the problem so we can ensure it doesn’t happen again. Or at least that recovery is a lot less painful.
Read the rest of this entry »When we think about opportunities we encounter, it’s often with the perspective that the universe is being generous to us.
It’s not necessarily something we can create ourselves – it’s from the outside in.
But I’ve found that I have MUCH more influence on the opportunities which come to me than I ever thought possible. It starts with a surprising perspective which sounds like a contradiction:
Read the rest of this entry »Sometimes opportunities just pop up out of nowhere!
I’ve been teaching a class recently which talks about the idea of being open to opportunities.
“Luck favors the prepared mind.”
Louis Pasteur
I have to confess that I don’t favor using the word “luck” in this context, because it feels too random and out of control. The fact is that opportunities happen all the time, but most of the time we’re not prepared to do anything about them.
Read the rest of this entry »Sometimes an exciting new possibility opens up for you. But should you jump on it?
That can be a tougher question than it looks on the surface. At first, it might appear simple: If I have time, and it’s not too risky, why not?
The problem can be is that you don’t know all the factors up front, and it may distract you from other things which are more important in the long run.
Read the rest of this entry »One of the great things about working in a large company is that there are predictable seasons. You can get into a rhythm of work hard, play hard.
But since I started my own business, I had to get much more intentional about it. I could decide whether to work on evenings, weekends, holidays, and any other days special to me.
I got to define what “holiday” meant to me, personally, and work my calendar around that. Even avoiding workshops on Sundays.
Read the rest of this entry »
The Values-Based Business 