Featured Articles
The Stay Interview: What Would It Take For You To “Stay”?
In the key area of employee retention, the “stay interview” has become my new favorite tactic. The concept is simple: “What would it take for you to stay?” When do we normally pose this question to a key employee? Of course, when they have announced their plans to leave our company. In the exit interview, as a[…]
Book Review: The Ideal Team Player
Patrick Lencioni has always been one of my favorite authors and his newest book, “The Ideal Team Player” was a most enjoyable read. Lencioni’s past best-sellers have included “Five Dysfunctions of a Team”, “Death by Meeting”, and “Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars”. I have participated on a variety of different teams in my lifetime. Baseball[…]
See It, Hit It
Last month, nationally recognized speaker and best-selling author Barbara Babbit Kaufman spoke to one of my Vistage groups about “Attitude”. Among her “Ten Tips for Maintaining a Great Attitude” was to create a personal mantra. A mantra is an abbreviated (3-5 words) personal mission statement. Kaufman suggested to my members that a personal mantra helps[…]
Lessons Learned at the Ballpark
I often times receive my best training in customer service in the most unlikely situations. My 6-year- old son, Taylor, had been pressuring me for weeks to take him to a baseball game. At the time, I was still on strike as a major league baseball fan. Hence, I decided to take him to see the local[…]
Five Financial Numbers for Every Small Business Executive
I believe that one of the most important roles of the small business executive is “Scorekeeper”. You are responsible for making sure that score is being kept in your business and that your team members are seeing the numbers they need to see. My experience is that many small business owners see monthly financial statements[…]
Book Review: Originals
Best-selling author Adam Grant has done it again. In his first book, “Give and Take”, Grant gave the reader a provocative and refreshing perspective on how some people give of themselves and how people take from others. In his newest book, “Originals”, takes a similar look at how non-conformists, “trailblazers” as he calls them, change[…]
Three Reasons to Host a Tribal Meeting
On May 20th, I am hosting my 4th annual Small Business Matters Conference. This is a tribal meeting. Marketing guru Seth Godin suggests in his best-selling book “Tribes” that we are all the chief of our own “Tribe”. My tribe includes Vistage members, GrowSmart participants, colleagues, and friends. Who are the members of your tribe?[…]
Book Review: Key Performance Indicators for Dummies
I believe that one of the most important roles for the CEO of a small company is that of “scorekeeper”. You are responsible for making sure score is being kept in your business and that those key numbers are being communicated to the right people. How do we know which numbers to keep track of?[…]
Are you a settler?
I love the new “Settler” commercials from Direct TV. The commercials have caused me to consider the possibility that there are small business “settlers”. Business operators that continue to do business as they always have. Unwilling to change. Set in their ways. Possibly accepting less than optimal results. Here are several examples: Profitability. Are you “settling”[…]
Book Review: Are You Fully Charged?
Do you find there are certain days you feel more energized than others? Are those days becoming fewer and fewer? Best-selling author Tom Rath’s new book explores this issue and provides the three keys to energizing your work and your life. Tom Rath is Gallup researcher who studies the role of human behavior in business, health,[…]