I wrote this last year for Shawn Murphy’s Wake Up & Shake It Up series. The article is now part of an e-book from Achieved Strategies. Here’s what it takes to create a business of value: Think big; act small. This is the best business strategy that I know. Sound easy? I’m sure it does. [...]
Clean Up Your Grammar
November 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I didn’t intend this, but my website has become a noun. No one cares about a blog if someone isn’t blogging. I haven’t done that in quite a while, which has turned this site into an inanimate object (for now). It’s no different with anything else. Do you care about fish? Paint? Bicycles? I’m fairly [...]
Being Meaningful
August 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Shortly after his return to Apple in 1997, Steve Jobs defined the company’s purpose to employees. The brief video below captures the essence of this message. Belief in the mission matters. Do you believe in yours?
Three Words
July 21, 2010 By 3 Comments
Character counts. Always. Yet somewhere along the line, companies started to favor rhetoric and excuses instead of results and accountability. How do you know when a company lacks character? Simple. When discussing poor results, leadership: Makes excuses Rationalizes limited progress Formulates arguments to minimize accountability Not so with companies of character. They tell the truth. [...]
Shake It Up
June 8, 2010 By 1 Comment
My friend Shawn Murphy doesn’t follow. He leads. Shawn (@shawmu on Twitter) just launched the Wake Up and Shake It Up blog series. Need a push to think bigger than you have before? Here it is. The first post, Big versus Small, went live this morning. I think you know the author – check it [...]
Yes, But
May 29, 2010 By 4 Comments
How many times have you heard someone say “yes, but”? “Yes, I’d like to ship that for you, but you can’t use that box.” “That’s a good idea. I’d like to say yes, but this isn’t the time to try something different.” Somewhere along the line, people were conditioned to say no. What would happen [...]
Don’t Change Your Story
May 23, 2010 By 2 Comments
It’s frustrating to listen to people, companies, and politicians say they stand for something while at the same time they try to please everyone. It doesn’t work that way, no matter how hard they try to convince us otherwise. A company’s story can’t be about convenience, low-cost, premium-value, and great selection. A politician can’t talk [...]
Yesterday, Tomorrow, & Today
May 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The secret of business success comes down to one thing: Time. Sound too simple? I’d probably agree – if not for the fact that using time well is incredibly difficult. Perhaps this story will help you to change your perspective on time. Imagine that your bank credits you with $86,400 every morning. You don’t have [...]
Stop Reinforcing the Status Quo
March 4, 2010 By 3 Comments
Every day, people do the same thing over and over without questioning the policy or the system. Which is why new ideas are usually met with resistance. “That will never work.” “It’s never been done before.” “Don’t bother – we already tried that once.” “Nice idea, but can you prove that it will work?” “We [...]
Improve Your Follow-Up
February 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Most businesses look at follow-up as something that’s easy. Wait until someone shows interest in your product, then call or email in an effort to push the sales cycle along. But that’s a call about you, not them. There is another kind of follow-up that seems hard, but really isn’t. And since it takes place [...]
