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I was frustrated. And confused. And didn’t know what to do. I really liked my executive team. Each of the seven people on our team was a highly skilled expert in their function. We shared the same values. We got along. We worked hard and had fun doing it. But our progress was much slower than I thought it should be. And I couldn’t pinpoint why. Then the US Navy came to visit. The Commander Our Finance Director’s father-in-law was a retired naval commander. He now consul

I was so surprised by the question that it took me several seconds to even respond. My client sat across the desk. He’d been in marketing for more than a decade and his firm had experienced some real success. Now, though, he was facing one of the most difficult growth barriers for a business owner to overcome. We call it mid-life crisis. You can tell a business is in mid-life crisis when they have already achieved success; they continue to do the things that made them s

“This place just isn’t the same as it was when we started.” Marilyn had quietly started looking for a new job. As she sat across the lunch table from Mary, her best friend at work, she shared the frustration that drove her to think about leaving. “When I first started here everyone was excited about what we were doing. All the employees and our families would get together for a company picnic in the summer. We would have a hilarious white elephant gift exchange every Chri

“I know we charge decent prices,” Martha said, “but I seriously feel like I make about $5.00 an hour sometimes.” I was stunned. I couldn't imagine why she would feel this way. But then she explained. A new client was demanding constant attention. In the last 48 hours he had texted her four times, emailed her twice, and left three voicemail messages. It felt like he was literally stealing her sanity. She needed to find a way to get it back. How Far Will You Go? We all wa

One of the eeriest games in American football history was played on December 31, 1988. The Philadelphia Eagles met the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago for what would come to be known as the "Fog Bowl." Late in the first half fog began rolling off Lake Michigan into Chicago's lakefront stadium. Players couldn't see more than 15 yards in front of them. The end zone was lost in the haze. Visibility became so bad that the press was invited to watch the game from the sid

"This is the perfect place for our new apartment complex," I thought. "It's big enough, easily accessible, and cheap." Years ago, I had recently started leading a real estate development organization. We bought land, built homes and apartments, and helped families find safe, secure places to call home. When I started, I knew almost nothing about construction. My role was to be a catalyst for business growth. Learning the basics about how things got built was left to on-the-jo

What if your employees—not your logo, colors, and tagline—are the most important parts of your brand? What if every employee functions as a brand ambassador, intentionally or not? What if they represent your brand to everyone who knows where they work, not just customers, but friends, family, neighbors, and acquaintances? If Gallup is right and only 21% of employees are engaged in their work, that means almost 80% are poor brand ambassadors. That can’t be good for business. B

Sometime "good enough" is, well ... good enough. Other times it isn't "good enough" until it's as close to perfect as possible. The challenge is to discern which "good enough" is needed for the particular project you're working on now. What's on your plate that might really just need to be "good enough?" What are you working on that truly needs to be as close to perfect as possible? How will you tell the difference?