Your Growth Strategy is Nothing if it Doesn’t Include This
The legendary Vince Lombardi once said, “Coaches who can outline plays on a blackboard are a dime a dozen. The ones who win get inside their players and motivate.” This nugget of locker-room leadership applies to the boardroom too. As a business owner, you can have a compelling vision and solid strategy for growth, but unless […]
Coach Up or Out: What to Do When Jack’s Skills Aren’t What You Need Any More
In a previous article, “Why You Might Have To Fire Your Jack-Of-All Trades,” I explained that versatile employees able to perform in a number of capacities can be an asset during start-up, but can later become a significant obstacle to growth. Instead of having a team of utility players covering all the bases, a growing business […]
Not Sure How to Motivate Your Team? Why Not Ask Them?
When it comes to incentives, what managers believe their employees want and what employees actually want are often different. Ask managers to name the best reward they can offer their people and most will likely say that it’s money. Yet research shows that in reality, employees rank pay far lower than managers expect. While money […]
Is It Time For A Slingshot Strategy?
Lifestyle and growth companies are completely different animals. A Lifestyle CEO starts or purchases a business to provide stable income, in an industry they know well. These are the people who put their software coding skills to use by opening a web development business or who go after their dream of opening a family restaurant. […]
3 Reasons Why You Haven’t Hired Experts (And Why That’s Bad Business)
If you are going to get past a plateau, one of the most important factors is getting your key personnel on board. What often ends up happening is that a founder caps business growth by hiring people beneath his or her own competency level. That is, he or she doesn’t hire anyone with greater knowledge, productivity, experience […]
3 Big Reasons to Stop Micromanaging Your Employees
Previously, we discussed what happens when business owners get stuck in the Founder’s Cap, and believe that they alone must make all the decisions that propel the company forward. Owners often get tripped up by thinking that they have to manage every detail of the operation – after all, no one understands it as well as […]
The Pros & Cons of Sharing Office Space
Shared office space is a smart solution for some businesses, but definitely not for all. Here are five key considerations to help you decide whether sharing office space is right for your business: Does everyone really need their own fax machine? When I’ve worked with organizations with limited resources, I’ve often asked why individual organizations […]
Do You Truly Want To Be A Growth CEO?
Professor William Wetzel, a venture capital expert, is credited as the first person to use the term “lifestyle business.” In these companies, he said, “there’s no upside potential for creating wealth.” Today, the term “lifestyle business” is oftentimes used dismissively. The companies we respect most – Apple, Google, Amazon, Coca-Cola – are growth companies with […]
Coach Up or Out: What to Do When Jack’s Skills Aren’t What You Need Any More
In a previous article, “Why You Might Have To Fire Your Jack-Of-All Trades,” I explained that versatile employees able to perform in a number of capacities can be an asset during start-up, but can later become a significant obstacle to growth. Instead of having a team of utility players covering all the bases, a growing […]
Your Growth Strategy is Nothing if it Doesn’t Include This
The legendary Vince Lombardi once said, “Coaches who can outline plays on a blackboard are a dime a dozen. The ones who win get inside their players and motivate.” This nugget of locker-room leadership applies to the boardroom too. As a business owner, you can have a compelling vision and solid strategy for growth, but […]