Featured Articles
Book Review: Leadership and Self-Deception
“Leadership and Self-Deception” written by The Arbinger Institute This month I re-read one of my favorite books on leadership, “Leadership and Self-Deception”. It’s been 15 years since I first read this book, and I was quickly reminded why I enjoyed it so much the first time. I am still finding my way into and out of those “boxes”. Hundreds of management books have been written in the past decade prescribing ways to increase organizational and Read more about Book Review: Leadership and Self-Deception[…]
My Favorite Business Coaching Questions (2/2)
In last month’s Small Business Matters blog post, I shared five of my my favorite small business coaching questions. I hope that you put those questions to work with your team and found them useful. This month, I share five more effective coaching questions and look forward to your feedback. 6. What are you pretending not to know? Sometimes, in making an important decision it is convenient to overlook or ignore that which we know Read more about My Favorite Business Coaching Questions (2/2)[…]
My Favorite Business Coaching Questions (1/2)
I have wanted to be a coach ever since I was 16 years old. In high school, I wasn’t talented enough to play varsity sports, so I decided to do the next best thing… coach. I volunteered to coach little league basketball and baseball. It was a ball! Not long after that I thought maybe that I wanted to start a career as an athletic coach. My school, Tulane University, had a teacher/coach degree program. Read more about My Favorite Business Coaching Questions (1/2)[…]
Book Review: Necessary Endings
“Necessary Endings”, written by Dr. Henry Cloud How hard is it to end something in your life? A home project? A personal relationship? A business? I always find it much easier to start things in my life than ending them. Starting new things often require minimal thought, come with some amount of anticipation, and will often eventually take the place of old things. Ending things in life is much harder. The decision to stop doing Read more about Book Review: Necessary Endings[…]
Small Business New Year’s Resolutions
This is the time of year that we make New Year’s resolutions for ourselves. The most popular include weight loss, exercise, and being nicer to our in-laws, etc. What about your business? Have you made any New Year’s resolutions for your business for 2018? If not, here is a list of ten that I suggest for any business, large or small. Feel free to pick any one or all of these resolutions for your business. Read more about Small Business New Year’s Resolutions[…]
Book Review: Deep Work
How much time do you spend each day in a distraction-free state of mind? My guess is very little. Whether it’s the “noise” from family members or work colleagues, our cell phones pinging us with phone calls or texts, or the constant interruptions of your favorite social media; most of us live a very distracted life. And yet when I speak to small business owners what I hear is a desire for a quieter life. Read more about Book Review: Deep Work[…]
12 Days of Entrepreneurial Bliss-mas
The Twelve Days of Entrepreneurial Bliss-mas (You are welcome to sing along) On the first day of Entrepreneurial Bliss-mas Small Business Matters sent to me; A Huge New Order from my best customer to start the new year (with a large upfront deposit) On the second day of Entrepreneurial Bliss-mas Small Business Matters gave to me; 2 Great New Salespeople (one is never enough) and A Huge New Order One the third Read more about 12 Days of Entrepreneurial Bliss-mas[…]
10 Meeting Mistakes to Avoid in 2018
When my youngest son was in elementary school he was asked by his teacher what his dad did for a living and his response was, “He goes to a lot of meetings.” This was actually a very accurate answer. This past year I have facilitated almost one hundred different meetings with group sizes from five to twenty-five people. One hour meetings to multi-day retreats. On-site and off-site meetings. Good meetings and not-so-good meetings. At the Read more about 10 Meeting Mistakes to Avoid in 2018[…]
The Most Frustrating Sporting Event of My Life
One of my favorite parts of being a dad was attending my kids’ sporting events. Both of my sons, Taylor and Carter, played baseball from T-ball at the age of 4 all the way to high school baseball. Early on, I helped coach both boys’ teams. Then, I settled in to just being an active (sometimes overly active) spectator. The high school team had a relatively new field with a beautiful computerized scoreboard. I remember Read more about The Most Frustrating Sporting Event of My Life[…]
Book Review: Finish Big
“Finish Big”, written by Bo Burlingham There are very few good books on exit strategies for small business owners. I have reviewed several of them over the years with some of my favorites being “Dance in the End Zone” and “Built to Sell”. Best-selling author and INC Magazine editor Bo Burlingham has recently written a book, “Finish Big”, which focuses on exit strategies that small business owners will find helpful. His premise for the book Read more about Book Review: Finish Big[…]