Simon Sinek is an author and lecturer . . . he’s a favorite of ours and we refer to him often. He is a self-described idealist who “imagines a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single morning inspired to go to work and return […] Continue Reading…
“Strive for continuous improvement, instead of perfection.”
Our previous post talked about Continuous Improvement, but it’s an important topic that deserves to be thoroughly explored, so please consider this a continuation of the discussion we began with our last post.
No matter how good we are, we can always be better. No matter how proficient we are, […] Continue Reading…
“When was the last time you did something for the first time?”
George Romney once said, “There is nothing more vulnerable than entrenched success.” In other words, we get a little success under our belt and there’s a risk that we become fat, dumb, and happy . . . in short, complacent. Hubris sets in and some rigor leaves. We take […] Continue Reading…
“Success seems largely to be a matter of hanging on after the others let go.”
Let’s talk about Bill Gross, the serial entrepreneur. As it turns out, there’s also Bill Gross the billionaire investor, but that’s not who we want to talk about. We want to talk about the other guy. The entrepreneur. This Bill Gross has personally started over 100 companies, and more […] Continue Reading…
Psssst. Hey buddy! Wanna sell your company?
If your company has successfully navigated the challenges of “startup” and “early stage development,” and if it has arrived at a place where it is relatively stable and has market recognition, you can expect would-be buyers to start sniffing around, trying to determine if you’re interested in selling. Some […] Continue Reading…
“The real job of leadership is not to take charge. The real job of leadership is to take care of the people in our charge.”
As company owners, if we want to grow our enterprise into something that has size, depth, staying power, and value, we can’t do it alone. We need a team to help us . . . a team of leaders. But how do we develop our team? How do we […] Continue Reading…
Turnover can be good or bad. When we’re talking about inventory, turnover is very good. But when we’re talking about employees, turnover is bad. Very, very bad.
Employee turnover is a serious matter. And it’s a very expensive matter. It affects everything -profitability, productivity, customer service, quality control, and more. Yet too many of us treat turnover as an unavoidable annoyance. It’s true that some turnover is a good thing. From time to time, we need […] Continue Reading…
The Power of “I Don’t Know”
Sir Ken Robinson is an expert on education. learning, and creativity. He tells a story about once having served on a panel of speakers that included the Dalai Lama. During a Q&A session, the Dalai Lama was asked a question that he didn’t answer right away. After a long […] Continue Reading…
“Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‘What’s in it for me?'”
We all talk about outstanding customer service, and many of us even claim to deliver it, but do we really? Too much of what we call customer service is really an attempt to mollify a customer after we’ve screwed up in some way . . . a restaurant may […] Continue Reading…
“It’s important to have a sound idea, but the really important thing is the implementation.”
Picture this. You’re in a meeting to discuss a particular operating problem you need to solve. The group discusses several possible solutions, and finally settles on the one that seems most likely to succeed. Then the leader of the group says, “Good work gang! I think we’re on the […] Continue Reading…
