An effective leader creates an inspiring vision of the future and are passionate about developing the emerging leaders around them. They constantly work to improve their emotional intelligence and know that a strong team culture is the foundation for accomplishing the mission. They are in a perpetual state of preparation and embrace the inevitable changes their businesses will face.
Branch Mentality and Sanctuary Cities Every multi-unit company suffers from branch mentality. I’ve worked with many, and no matter how much they promote a corporate culture and team spirit, branch mentality creeps in sometimes. It comes in two versions; the outposts’ attitude and the headquarter’s … Read More » Exit Planning: Telling Secrets Planning your exit from a business is a process of telling secrets. For many owners, it is the most terrifying part of selling. A rancher in South Texas once said to me, “I’m going to tell you a secret, and you … Read More » Resisting Technology A substantial number of business owners are still resisting technology. Clearly, they can’t be doing so in the expectation that it will go away. The only possible rationale is that it could hurt their business. One laggard in adopting technology … Read More » Bah Humbug! Remembering Mr. Fezziwig To celebrate the holiday, I’m reprinting a post from 2012 about the underappreciated boss of A Christmas Carol, Mr. Fezziwig. I hope that you enjoy it. Merry Christmas! Last week was the 170th anniversary of the publication of Charles Dickens’ … Read More » How Much Does that Gorilla Weigh? How much does that (fill in your preferred number here) pound gorilla weigh? I always refer to an 800 pound gorilla, but I’ve heard others use everything from a 400 pound gorilla (which is pretty close to their real size) to … Read More » Protecting Your Best Asset If you are planning your exit from the business, what is the best asset that you have to sell? Unless you have patented product, exclusive rights, or long-term customer contracts, you answer was likely “Our people.” Even if you have … Read More » The Entrepreneurship Meritocracy For those of us who compete in the entrepreneurship meritocracy, listening to the complaints of those who are employed can sometimes be irksome. I recently sat at an open table for an event. One of the other guests there was … Read More » Millennial Employees: Why Their Opinion Counts A couple of months ago I followed Jabez Le Bret‘s presentation about Millennial Employees on a national meeting agenda. He is an entertaining speaker and an excellent story teller. As every speaker hopes, one of his stories stuck with me. When Jabez (a Millennial … Read More » History Begets Attitudes History begets attitudes. I’m back from my biannual depressurization trip. This time it was to Central Europe. As always, I assess new and different things through a business owner’s eye. We visited five countries (Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary), … Read More » Trust in Business and the Law Every day, in almost every transaction, we rely on trust in business. We believe that a customer will pay us according to the terms of a sale. Our employees have access to money, goods and confidential information because we trust them. … Read More » Ownership Transfer and Employee Security When we start planning for the sale of a company, many owners ask me about sharing information with employees. They are naturally concerned that an ownership transfer will cause their workers to seek more secure positions elsewhere. This is true whether … Read More » Generational Differences and Identity Politics Generational differences are a hot topic for organizational behaviorists. Is this a real issue, or is it just the current management fad? “Never in history have we seen four generations together in the workplace.” That line starts thousands of articles … Read More » Employee Gratitude isn't Loyalty Most of us have heard something like this expression of employee gratitude. “I’ve enjoyed working here. You taught me so much, and you’ve always treated me well. But the company down the road is paying a lot more for people with my … Read More » Is Your Business Built on Individual Heroics? Great employees are a wonderful gift, but individual heroics aren’t healthy for your business. Someday, you will start thinking about leaving the business. Perhaps you already do. When you begin planning for your transition, what will your company systems sound like … Read More » What is Your CEO Job Description? On occasion, a business owner client will ask me if I have a CEO job description. I’m sure such exist in large corporations, but for an owner-managed company it’s a bit vague. The simple (and usual) answer is that the … Read More » |