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 Read more about See It, Hit It[…]

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 Read more about Lessons Learned at the Ballpark[…]

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 Read more about Five Financial Numbers for Every Small Business Executive[…]

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 Read more about Book Review: Originals[…]

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” Read more about Are you a settler?[…]

This is a question I spent much of my time pondering this past summer as I forged my way across Spain on the El Camino Santiago. When will I know when it’s time to move on? To start fresh? I have been a Vistage Chair now for over twelve years. Over 500 monthly group meetings. Read more about When is it time to go?[…]

DECEMBER FEATURED ARTICLE The Twelve Days of Entrepreneurial Bliss-mas 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 deposit) On the second day of Entrepreneurial Bliss-mas Small Business Matters gave to me; 2 Great New Salespeople Read more about The Twelve Days of Entrepreneurial Bliss-mas[…]

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu   On May 22nd, I left Atlanta and began one of the most challenging and rewarding “journeys” of my life. It’s called the El Camino de Santiago, a 500-mile hike from the France/Spain border eastward to the city of Santiago, which is Read more about My El Camino Journey[…]