In my executive career I have collaborated with business consultants hired my company’s CEO. And I currently work as a business consultant focused on helping small businesses with strategic planning, leadership, building high-performance teams, and creating a healthy culture. As a result, I have heard the old jokes about consultants: …

I have worked with and admired some CFOs in my career as an executive and consultant. But sadly, too many are “bean counters” lacking perspective when it comes to their company’s most valuable asset: their people, especially sales people. …

Growing up, I relished playing competitive sports. Wrestling and football were major passions of mine, and I loved the famous quote, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing” which is widely, but wrongly attributed to American football coach Vince Lombardi. It was actually first spoken by UCLA Bruins football coach…

Whenever I have led High Performance Team LearnShops™ at least one person will claim that they are so new or inexperienced that they don’t play much of a role in the team’s success. …

It has been said that the essence of leadership is managing change. In this article we will explore how effective leaders do just that. We will cover: Your people’s resistance to change. Your role as a leader in implementing change. Overcoming resistance to change and gaining buy-in. Resistance to Change Why do most…

“Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.” - Japanese Proverb If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there. Your Mission Statement defines the organization’s purpose and primary objectives. Its prime function is internal — to define the key measure or…

Vision statements and mission statements serve two distinctly different purposes. In this article we will explore the vision statement and how to create one for your organization — it should be a team process. The vision statement communicates both the purpose and values of your organization. For employees, it gives…

I have met business owners that firmly believe that if one their employees talks with a recruiter, even when the recruiter initiates the contact, that they are being disloyal. Others will even fire someone that they learn has interviewed elsewhere. How dumb, shortsighted, and petty is that? Here’s what I…

I am fairly confident that many reading this will disagree, and some will even view me as a heretic; so be it. I truly believe that the very best sales people have the following traits: They don’t have the best “pitch” they have best questions. They are genuinely curious and…