Joe is a really strong swimmer. Every day during the summer he swims out and around a small island in the lake near his home. The total swim is about 50 lengths of a standard pool. Joe has been doing this swim regularly for over 8 years.
As Joe arrives he notices a few other swimmers out on the small lake. Not as many as on the weekend but this is a […]
We all know that we are competing for business in a competitive world. We claim our people are our advantage. Or our product. Or some other magical ingredient.
Yet it is my experience that there are usually a number of factors that come together into a system of excellence rather than a single thing. High performing systems are composed of many parts including the people in them.
So what does that look like?
As a business owner […]
Visionary business leaders and entrepreneurs are attracted to ideas. We get excited by them in fact. They idea of accomplishing something amazing or new can keep us motivated when most other people will quit.
At least until something distracts us and we have a new passion of the day.
Or until a crisis comes along that forces us off our path.
Distractions, whether from a crisis or from new ideas, are generated by our emotional […]
Purpose or mission driven businesses are not only more satisfying to start, run and be employed at; they also tend to significantly outperform their competitors financially.
So I’ve been thinking a bit about mission or purpose driven businesses recently. There are more and more examples coming out where mission or purpose driven organizations are outperforming their competition.
In fact, two of the books I am reading right now touch on this very concept from a client attraction and retention perspective.
The first is “Getting Naked” by […]
I was just thinking about how the two camps around resolutions: those who “make and break them” every year and those who say they “don’t believe in making any”.
The second camp realize that they will break them so they don’t bother; the pessimistic or realistic view.
The first camp remains optimistic and tries to make “this” year different. Yet, unfortunately most will fail to reach their goals.
Which camp are you in?
It is quite odd that most business owners and entrepreneurs are not actually business builders by nature. Yet, building a business is your primary role when you start and try to grow a business.
Most business owners started their business because they were good at something… their products and services. Or they were visionaries creating something brand new. But it was still about the product or service.
That was true for us. We were really good at systems, technology and projects. […]
If your business plan goes something like “we will seize opportunities as they come”; how will you know what an opportunity is? Do you seize every opportunity? How long do you pursue one before you chase the next? Do any of them get completed?
In this post by Brittany Leung, she shows you what this could look like and why it might be the reason you are not creating lasting results in your business.
By Brittany Leung
As we head into 2015 I’ve been pondering why a lot of small and even mid-sized businesses fail to reach their full potential. Here is one startling fact:
“People who regularly write down their goals earn nine times as much over their lifetimes as people who don’t. Yet less than 4% of people write down their goals and less than 1% of people review them on an ongoing basis.” ~ Dr. David Kohl
That’s right. On average you will earn 9x more over your lifetime.
If you […]
I hear a lot of people saying I gave 100%. Some can even apparently give more then everything they have, 110% or 120%.
Physics, economics, logic and math aside, how do you know you are giving it your all?
Is it time spent? Are you spending every waking moment dedicated to achieve your goal. Is this effective?
Are you going until you collapse into exhaustion? Are you sprinting or running the marathon?
Or maybe you are dedicated to learning everything you can about the subject and succeeding because everyday you out think your competition. At the end of […]
I was at the office a little late the other night. My plan was to catch the 9:00 p.m. train and head home, relax a bit, and then get a good sleep.
Sometimes plans get derailed.
I got to the train platform and heard the announcement, “Trains are not running in the downtown core. Shuttle buses will be available for passengers at the orange 201/202 stops.”
Crap! I had thought the earlier accident with a pedestrian was cleared. […]
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