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 Read more about 10 Meeting Mistakes to Avoid in 2018[…]

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 Read more about The Most Frustrating Sporting Event of My Life[…]

“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 Read more about Book Review: Finish Big[…]

When we think of bad hiring mistakes, we often zero-in on specific hires such as the sales guy who couldn’t sell or the accountant with math issues or even the customer service specialist with bad people skills. Those bad hires always tend to haunt us. Sometimes, they even prevent us from wanting to make future Read more about Revenue Per Employee: How to Avoid the Worst Hiring Mistake[…]

My wife and I purchased our first home in May 2014. At the time, we couldn’t be happier. Open floor plan, updated finishes, big yard; this house had it all. However, after two years, we learned that home ownership isn’t exactly what it’s cracked up to be. Dealing with the constant cleaning and landscaping, pesky Read more about Business Lessons Learned from Selling a House[…]

“A Tale of Two Owners”, by Patrick Ungashick Many of my Vistage members and consulting clients have business partners. It seems really easy in the beginning to team up with a best friend, an old college roommate, or maybe even a family member. You have shared responsibilities. Each of you invest some amount of time Read more about Book Review: A Tale of Two Owners[…]

My story, as it relates to indirect competitors, started over 20 years ago, while I was operating a small retail travel agency in Homestead, FL. It was a tough business to make money in, but the perks and free travel were great. Our clients were both business travelers as well as individuals taking personal vacations. One day Read more about Indirect Competitors: Do You Really Know Who Your Competitors Are?[…]

My first “great boss” was my dad. I worked for him every summer while I was in college. He was as tough on me as he was on anyone else. When I wanted to work inside the nice cool office, he instead put me outside in the warehouse which was like a poor man’s sauna Read more about Book Review: How to Be a Great Boss[…]

“Managers are not responsible for the thoughts, feelings, attitude, morale, performance, or behavior of any employee. These are all things managers cannot control… Your responsibility is to facilitate employee behavior and performance. You are expected to create an environment that fosters the employee behavior and performance that your organization requires. You then hold employees accountable Read more about The Carlson Management Philosophy[…]

It’s easy to feel very stressed or even depressed over what’s going on in the world today. Highly partisan politics. Hate crimes. Unemployment. Wars on multiple continents. Climate change. And the list goes on… There is one author that helps me the most from time-to-time make sense of this crazy world we live in. He Read more about Book Review: Thank You For Being Late[…]