Talk About and Share Your Priorities

Prioritizing is a skill with several steps. This is the first in a series of articles that will break down and explore the importance of each step. When we practice conscious prioritization, we see more – hear more – and make better decisions.

business growth strategy tips

Hit a Business Growth Plateau? 5 Insights to Break Through

Do you have the capacity to grow? There are internal and external factors involved to achieve business growth. Finding improvements looks easy when someone comes in and points issues out to you. Think about a symphony. You go, sit down, and the performance begins … without the violins. You immediately know something is up. Afterward, […]

Anticipate Customer Expectations, leadership, business growth, business strategy

Anticipating Changing Customer Expectations: An Elusive Leadership Skill

If you are like many leaders, you think about customers often and scan for potential tweaks and improvements in processes and products, so consumers continue to choose yours over another solution. Technology advances have set a high bar for all; people expect tools and products that make lives and work easier, quicker and, yes, cheaper. […]

Growth Strategy tips, leadership, business tips, business growth

More Growth Requires More Commitment

Who’s in charge of growth strategy at your company? When the answer is anything other than EVERYONE, there is a business problem that requires attention. Doing more with less and dealing with change shapes where there is growth potential. The process to learn where to look for growth may mean “unlearning.” Unlearning what worked in […]

people meeting communication

The Spectrum of Character Traits: Genuine Connection

Greg Jameson invited me to join him on his podcast, 20 Minutes of Influence. Our conversation on influence covered two areas: first, the sales side – specifically, getting another person to take action based on what we say or do or suggest; and second, three soft skills necessary to have influence. On the latter topic, […]

leadership, decision making, problem solving

LEAD Model for Better-Decision Making and Problem-Solving

Owning a business, running a department, doing the best we can is a constant challenge. Not that our pants are on fire all the time, but that there is always something that diverts our attention, demands our time, and competes with the activities that are the main and best use of our time. Every business […]

Three Ways of Showing Up with Courage and Empathy in Business

Have you ever thought about your EQ … your “Emotional Intelligence” … and how this relates to your career or business? If not, you should! Emotional Intelligence is how we show up for us. Empathy is how we show up with others. It’s our capacity to care without interference. While they are not interchangeable terms, […]

Three Skills To Leverage in Team Building

For the last several years, businesses have spent tremendous energy and resources on efficiency. Tightening up processes, removing actions lacking returns, and even combining responsibilities into fewer roles. The big question is what to do in an always-changing market where we are overloaded, and often have more than our job – specifically, the people looking […]

4 Steps To Get What You Want At Any Time, Any Place

The Sweet Spot of Tradition, EQ and Empathy. How many things do you do each day, month, and year that are always the same? A tradition is something we repeat that has meaning to us. Holidays are a given. What about monthly activities – maybe dinner with friends and family, a networking event, something we volunteer […]

Elephants in the (Conference) Room

Elephants in the (Conference) Room

Elephants have strength and gentleness. They act with power and grace. They have pride and love. Just like elephants, humans also possess contrasting attributes – which can sometimes happen concurrently in an individual or a team. When opposing, interdependent emotions occur simultaneously, the path becomes clouded; momentum slows (even stops), missed deadlines crop up and […]

What Present Has to do With Business

(Spoiler Alert: There is NO Magic Box) In maintaining a healthy and adaptable business, one helpful tip is to examine situations through different lenses. For example, let’s take the meaning of a single word. Here’s what happens when we look at our business through three definitions of the word “present”: A present?! A gift for […]

How do you get comfortable making choices?

The more we choose the easier the action becomes. There are three main components to making choices: Know there is a choice to be made. Understand what’s in our control (or not). Consider the options. Let’s take moment to clarify: there are decisions we make for ourselves, our families, and for our work. The aforementioned […]

4 Steps for Business Problem Solving to Get Results

“What are we supposed to do here?” is a question that I use to gauge what the team is thinking as we tackle problems together. The steps to problem solving are universal, and we can apply all to situations throughout life – including business. Let’s imagine that the last problem we worked on is one […]

How To Successfully Employ Customer Touchpoints

  A previous blog commented on the importance of listening skills in choosing a consultant. Not surprisingly, listening is also important to successful business as a whole. As a business owner or executive, how and how well you listen has a direct impact on how the execution of those decisions and plans will actually benefit […]

How To Choose THE Consultant For Your Business

  So, an opportunity presents itself with regard to your business – expected or not. Either way, your business plan might not account for it. Or perhaps you’ve got a nagging feeling that something isn’t quite right with what’s happening and you don’t (easily) know how to figure it out. That’s when it’s time to seek […]