GrowthPath Blog

7 Signs Your Business Needs A Consultative COO to Turn Things Around

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 14:00:02 GMT

(The Cost of NOT Bringing in the Help Can Be Devastating)

7 Signs Your Business Needs a Consultant to Turn Things Around

Running a business comes with its fair share of challenges. But how do you know when it's time to bring in a business consultant to help steer things back on track? Recognizing the signs early can save your business from prolonged struggles and set it on a path toward sustainable growth. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 20% of new businesses fail within the first year, and nearly 50% fail within five years. These sobering statistics highlight the importance of proactive decision-making. Many business owners wait too long to seek help, often resulting in irreversible setbacks. To prevent this, here are seven key indicators that it's time to seek expert guidance before it's too late.

1. Declining Revenue and Profit Margins

Consistent drops in revenue and shrinking profit margins are major red flags for any business. Yet, many business owners attribute these issues to temporary market fluctuations rather than systemic problems. Studies reveal that poor financial management and misaligned pricing strategies are among the top reasons businesses fail. A 2023 report by the U.S. Small Business Administration found that 82% of small businesses fail due to cash flow problems. Declining profitability may stem from inefficient operations, poor pricing models, or lack of market differentiation. A business consultant can perform a financial health check, identify root causes, and implement strategies to restore profitability by restructuring operations, revising pricing strategies, and identifying untapped revenue streams.

2. Inefficient Business Processes

Inefficient workflows and processes can quietly drain a business's resources. Research from the Harvard Business Review indicates that inefficiencies can cost companies up to 30% of their annual revenue. Missed deadlines, project overruns, and redundant tasks signal that your operations need restructuring. Many businesses suffer from outdated processes, siloed departments, and manual operations that slow productivity. A business consultant brings expertise in process optimization, implementing automation tools, and refining workflows to eliminate bottlenecks, reduce overhead, and improve overall productivity. Streamlined operations can lead to faster turnaround times, better resource allocation, and higher customer satisfaction.

3. Lack of Clear Strategic Direction

Operating without a well-defined strategy is like sailing without a compass. A survey by Clutch found that 50% of small businesses operate without any strategic plan, leading to misaligned priorities and stagnant growth. Without strategic direction, teams lack clear goals and measurable outcomes. A business consultant can help craft a strategic roadmap, establish key performance indicators (KPIs), and align business objectives with market opportunities. This ensures every department works cohesively towards long-term objectives, improving decision-making, operational execution, and driving sustainable growth.

4. High Employee Turnover and Low Morale

High staff turnover and low employee morale are often symptoms of deeper organizational issues. According to Gallup, disengaged employees cost U.S. businesses up to $550 billion annually in lost productivity. Poor leadership, lack of career growth, and unclear expectations are common causes. High turnover not only increases recruitment and training costs but also disrupts workflow and lowers team morale. A business consultant can assess your company culture, leadership practices, and team dynamics to implement solutions that boost employee engagement, improve retention, and foster a positive workplace environment. This could involve leadership coaching, employee recognition programs, and clearer performance expectations.

5. Stagnant Growth

If your business has hit a plateau despite continuous effort, it's a strong indication that a new strategy is needed. Research by the National Small Business Association shows that 33% of small businesses struggle with stagnant growth due to ineffective marketing and operational inefficiencies. Stagnation often results from relying on outdated marketing strategies, failing to diversify product offerings, or neglecting customer feedback. A business consultant can introduce innovative strategies, identify untapped markets, and refine operations to reignite growth. Consultants provide market analysis, competitive benchmarking, and customer insights that help businesses pivot, diversify, and scale sustainably.

6. Poor Financial Management

Financial mismanagement is one of the most common reasons businesses fail. A study by CB Insights found that 29% of startups fail because they run out of cash. This issue isn't limited to startups—many established businesses struggle with budgeting, cash flow management, and financial planning. Uncontrolled expenses, poor forecasting, and inadequate financial reporting can cripple growth. A consultant provides expert financial analysis, tighter controls, and better budgeting practices. They can implement financial tracking systems, optimize cash flow, and design cost-saving measures to ensure your business remains financially healthy and prepared for future challenges.

7. Struggling to Adapt to Market Changes

The business landscape is constantly evolving, and companies that fail to adapt risk becoming obsolete. According to the World Economic Forum, 67% of small and medium-sized enterprises worldwide are struggling to survive due to rapid market changes and evolving consumer demands. Factors such as technological advancements, shifting consumer behavior, and economic volatility can threaten business stability. A consultant helps businesses pivot strategically by introducing innovation, digital transformation, and agile practices to stay competitive. This might include adopting new technologies, expanding into emerging markets, or restructuring products and services to meet changing demands.

Don't Wait Until It's Too Late

Many business owners wait too long to seek professional help, often hoping that issues will resolve themselves. Unfortunately, this delay can lead to irreversible damage. A business consultant provides an objective perspective, expert insights, and actionable solutions to turn things around before it’s too late. Early intervention can prevent small problems from escalating and provide your business with the tools to adapt, grow, and thrive.

Ready to turn your business around? GrowthPath specializes in helping businesses overcome operational challenges and achieve sustainable growth.

Let’s discuss how GrowthPath can help your business thrive. Book your free discovery call today!

Top Operational Goals Every Small Business Owner Should Set for the New Year

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 16:06:29 GMT

The new year is a perfect opportunity for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in St. Louis, Wentzville, Chesterfield, and surrounding areas to refine their operations and set the stage for sustainable growth. By focusing on key operational goals, you can boost efficiency, drive profitability, and create a stronger foundation for success in 2025.

Here are the top operational priorities SMBs should consider and actionable steps to achieve them.

Streamline Processes for Efficiency

Inefficiency can cost your business time, money, and momentum.
Whether it’s manual processes slowing your team down or outdated systems creating bottlenecks, these inefficiencies can hold back growth.

Here’s how to fix it:

Audit your processes : Identify redundancies and bottlenecks.
Invest in automation : Use tools like automated invoicing and project management software to simplify workflows.
Set measurable KPIs : Track and improve productivity through clear benchmarks.

By streamlining your operations, you’ll free up resources and position your business for faster growth.

2. Strengthen Financial Management

Healthy finances are the foundation of sustainable growth.

For SMBs in competitive markets like Chesterfield and Wentzville, financial stability is critica
l.

Steps to strengthen your financial management:

Analyze cash flow : Identify areas where costs can be reduced without sacrificing quality.
Forecast regularly : Plan ahead to avoid surprises and capitalize on growth opportunities.
Leverage fractional expertise : A fractional COO can offer expert insights to optimize your budget and ensure long-term stability.

Better financial control empowers you to make strategic investments and weather economic uncertainties.

Build a High-Performance Team

Your team is your most valuable asset.

Misaligned or disengaged employees can slow progress, but a motivated, high-performing team drives success.

Key actions to build team alignment:

Define roles clearly : Ensure everyone understands their responsibilities and contributions to overall goals.
Foster collaboration : Hold regular meetings to review progress and celebrate wins.
Invest in growth : Offer training and development opportunities to retain top talent.

A strong, engaged team will help you deliver better results and build a culture of accountability.

Enhance Customer Experience

Delighting your customers leads to loyalty and referrals.

Providing a consistent, exceptional experience ensures your business stands out in St. Louis and beyond.

How to improve customer experience:

Gather feedback : Use surveys or interviews to identify pain points.
Invest in training : Equip your team to handle customer interactions with care and professionalism.
Use a CRM system : Personalize interactions and streamline customer communications.

When prioritizing customer satisfaction, you build long-term relationships and generate repeat business.

Plan for Scalability

Scaling requires foresight and flexibility.

Many SMBs struggle to grow efficiently because they lack the systems to handle increased demand.

Steps to prepare for growth:

Create a roadmap : Outline key milestones and strategies for scaling.
Build flexibility : Allow room for adjustments based on market changes.
Bring in a consultative COO leadership : A COO can guide your scaling efforts while keeping costs manageable.

With proper planning, you can scale your operations without sacrificing quality or overburdening your team.

Driving Success in 2025 with GrowthPath

Achieving these operational goals takes more than just good intentions—it requires expert execution. GrowthPath’s COO services help SMBs in St. Louis, Wentzville, Chesterfield, and surrounding areas achieve streamlined processes, stronger teams, and scalable growth.

Ready to take your business to the next level?

Let’s discuss how GrowthPath can help you start 2025 strong.

It’s Part of Your Job, but Are You Actually Taking Good Care of People?

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 17:17:26 GMT

Jim Collins famously said, “Get the right people in the right seats.” Simple and poignant—and its execution can make or break your team, and your company. As leaders, it’s not just our job to manage; it’s our responsibility to ensure that every person on our team is in a role where they—and their team—can thrive. This requires WAY more than hiring for skills—it demands intentional, ongoing assessment and a willingness to have hard but necessary conversations.

In a previous post, I wrote about the importance of stepping back from the day-to-day grind to focus on strategic thinking and team assessment . One of the most critical questions leaders should regularly ask during this time is: Do I have the right people in the right seats?

Most leaders genuinely want to treat their people well. They want to act with kindness and do right by their teams. But sometimes, that desire to care for others causes leaders to protect people—even when they are no longer a good fit. By sheltering someone who’s struggling or disengaged, we may feel like we’re being supportive, but in reality, we’re doing a disservice to both the individual and the team.

A significant responsibility of leadership is to carefully craft—and re-craft—your teams. It’s to position people and teams to collectively do excellent work. As teams and businesses evolve, a role that was a perfect fit last year might no longer align with someone’s passions and strengths or with the needs of the business. Without regular attention to this dynamic, teams can drift into mediocrity—frustration builds, trust erodes, and performance suffers.

In other words, when we protect or cover for someone whose performance or skills are lacking, we’re actually positioning them and the team for failure—or at the very least, stacking the deck against them.

"...when we protect or cover for someone whose performance or skills are lacking, we’re actually positioning them and the team for failure..."

I learned this lesson firsthand several years ago with an experienced leader on my team. They’d been in the role for quite some time and had done great work. But over time, their performance began to slip—and so did their team’s. They were disengaged, no longer driving their team’s development or bringing the energy needed to create results.

I sat down with them for a candid conversation and asked: “Is this something you’re still passionate about? Is this something you still want to do? Can you still sign up for this mission?” Their honesty was refreshing—they admitted they were burnt out and ready for a change. Together, we explored what re-engagement could look like, whether in this role, somewhere else in the company, or at another organization altogether.

"Leadership requires honesty, care, and a commitment to building an actual culture of excellence...which...demands focus and intentionality."

Ultimately, we crafted a new position that matched their skills and passions as an individual contributor. It allowed them to excel in an area they loved without the responsibilities that had become a drain. This move also created an opportunity to bring in a new leader who was passionate and ready to drive the original team forward. It was a win-win—for the individual, the team, and the company.

Leadership requires honesty, care, and a commitment to building an actual culture of excellence. It takes a commitment to curating great teams. It takes consistent reassessment of your team’s alignment with your mission. It’s a cyclical process that demands focus and intentionality.

Do you have the right people in the right seats? If not, what steps can you take today to fix that? Because great teams don’t just happen—they’re built. And as a leader, it starts with you.

Assuming The Best

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:57:43 GMT

Have you ever been written off by someone—or worse, written someone else off—only to realize later that your assumptions were wrong? What might have been possible if you had looked at the situation differently?

Our personal values are important. They define the behaviors we aspire to uphold as we go about living.

One of mine, ‘Assume the Best’, is one I’ve found to be incredibly important when working with struggling leadership teams.

Why?

Because years of frustration and disappointment can trap us in ruts, reinforced by those we spend the most time with—sometimes knowingly, sometimes not.
Because our understanding of others is limited to the narrow lens of our own experiences with them.
Because I’ve been shown that same grace, and it gave me hope.

But, not just because of these. Also…

Because it acknowledges people are capable of changing and growing.
Because sometimes I haven’t set someone up for success.
Because sometimes they lack information, maybe even key information, that impacts their perception and decisions.

I once worked with a senior leader who was highly qualified, deeply caring, and an incredibly hard worker. But despite their strengths, they had unintentionally become a roadblock for their team. Every new idea seemed to hit the same brick wall: “That won’t work because…” Slowly, their team’s energy and creativity drained away.

I remember one particular meeting where their objections once again derailed a discussion. But as I listened more closely, I realized their resistance wasn’t about negativity—it was about their drive for clarity and perfection. This wasn’t someone trying to sabotage progress; it was someone who cared deeply but had no idea how their approach impacted others.

Assuming the Best means calling someone to something bigger and giving them the opportunity to step up. It was time to lean in.

What followed wasn’t easy. It required hard, candid conversations and a shared commitment to improvement. But this leader rose to the challenge. They shifted from blocking progress to championing it. Their team thrived under their mentorship, and they became a cornerstone of our success—fostering creativity and collaboration in ways that once felt impossible.

For me, “Assume the Best” is an invitation to be curious. To pause and ask: Who is this person? What are they capable of? How can I help them rise?

It’s a call to invite others to step up, build something greater together, and unlock the unique magic they bring to the table .

Is your team stuck? Are you ready to unlock your next phase of growth? Let’s connect—I’d love to help.

The Top 3: A Simple Exercise for Daily Intentionality

Mon, 09 Dec 2024 16:36:49 GMT

I use a daily exercise to create intentionality around how I spend my time—it’s my “Top 3.”

It starts the night before, at the close of my workday. When my to-dos are clear, I do a brain dump into an app called Focus3d . (Pen and paper work just as well.) From there, I highlight the three tasks that matter most—based on timing, risk, and impact.

The next morning, I dive right in, starting with priority #1 and giving it my undivided attention. I tackle each task in order, taking it as far as I can before moving to the next.

If something isn’t on my Top 3 list, it only gets my attention if its urgency and impact outweigh my current priorities. When unexpected demands pull me away, my Top 3 acts as a lens that helps me quickly refocus on what truly matters.

If I finish all three, I move on to other tasks on my list. Unfinished items just roll over to the next day.

Over time, things I once thought were important may fall off the list unfinished—and that’s completely okay.

Why It Works

This system helps me:

Be Present
Offloading tasks frees up mental space. I don’t spend energy trying to remember or stress over what’s undone. When I transition to personal time—like being with family—I can be fully present, knowing the work will be waiting for me tomorrow.
Consistent Progress
By focusing on what truly matters, I make steady progress toward my most meaningful goals, personally and professionally.
Time Spent Where It Matters
The Top 3 framework forces me to reserve my time and energy for high-value tasks that drive impact or mitigate risk.
Less Noise, More Impact
Filtering out low-value distractions creates space for more meaningful work. The bonus? The time saved can be reinvested into creative pursuits, family, or simply recharging for the next day.

Your Turn

How do you bring intentionality to your time? What would your priorities look like if you filtered them through the lens of timing, risk, and impact ? I’d love to hear what’s working for you—drop your thoughts in the comments or share your approach!

The Danger of 'Follow Your Passions'

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 17:11:35 GMT

We’re often told to follow our passions. But what if that’s the wrong advice?

I’m passionate about a lot of things, most of which my younger self couldn’t have predicted. From running and playing music to woodworking, brewing beer, and even aquariums, my interests are as varied as they are unexpected. In fact, I often have to cull the list of things I devote time to because there are only 24 hours in a day.

Yet, I don’t follow my passions.

"...I don’t follow my passions."

As a kid, baseball consumed my life. We were a baseball family. I played year-round, devoured games on the radio, and lived for every moment on the field. But, by my teens, I burned out completely.

In the void baseball left, I found the freedom to try something new. That freedom led me to music and running—passions I never would have predicted. But here’s the thing: they didn’t start as passions. They started as simple curiosities, which grew as I invested time and effort into learning and improving. The better I got, the more the passion developed.

"...they didn’t start as passions. They started as simple curiosities, which grew as I invested time and effort into learning and improving."

When I first picked up a guitar, I wasn’t good—far from it. But I loved the challenge of learning something new. Slowly, I improved. The better I got, the more I enjoyed it. The more success I had, the more passionate I became about it. The same thing happened with running—it wasn’t love at first stride, but a curiosity that turned into something greater.

So, the real discovery was that I could find passion in unexpected places as long as I sought opportunities to learn and kept an open mind.

"...the real discovery was that I could find passion in unexpected places..."

In part, this is why I detest the advice to ‘Follow your passions’. It assumes passion is something innate and unchanging. Except that mindset can trap people in a narrow view of their potential. It discourages exploration and can leave you feeling lost if the passion you chase doesn’t work out. Passion isn’t something you find—it’s something you create.

So, I don’t follow my passions - I cultivate them. I look for things I can become passionate about.

"...I don’t follow my passions - I cultivate them."

Why? Because we become passionate about things we’re good at and have some success in. We acquire skills over time, but often limit our opportunities with the familiar. If we’re only exposed to a small number of things, we may never really discover the handful of things we were made for. Because acquired skills can often be applied across a plethora of opportunities, all it takes is the willingness to learn and an openness to something new.

So, what advice do I give…

Seek and embrace opportunities to try new things
Constantly learn and discover new things
Apply yourself to things you can become passionate about

Whether in life or leadership, the most rewarding moments often come from exploring the unknown. By seeking new opportunities and staying open to discovery, we not only grow ourselves but inspire others to do the same. Passion isn’t a roadmap—it’s a result of the journey.

If this resonates with you, and you’re looking for guidance on your journey—whether in life, leadership, or simply exploring what’s next—I’d love to help. Let’s connect and grow together.

What you don't know might kill you...or your business

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 01:01:07 GMT

I started hunting in my 20s. I didn’t have anyone to teach me, so I did a lot of my own research and learned as I went. I was young, scrappy, and didn’t have a lot of money, and my gear reflected that.

As a runner with a very slow resting heart rate, I very quickly learned how cold it was to sit still for hours in the woods in frigid temperatures. So logically I began layering up. Looking somewhat like the Michelin Man in camo, I’d wobble out to the woods, climb a tree using my climbing stand, and hunker down.

One particular cold December morning, I teetered on the edge of hypothermia. It was no laughing matter. I almost didn’t have the strength to climb down the tree. What I 'didn't know' put me in a very dangerous position.

Through additional conversations and research, I would later find out the very thing I was doing to protect myself was the very thing escalating me toward a potentially dangerous outcome. Fully layered with the wrong materials, I’d built up a sweat heading to the stand. Because of the lack of breathability and the wrong materials, the sweat stayed against my skin, negating the protection of the many layers I wore.

"...the lack of breathability and the wrong materials, the sweat stayed against my skin, negating the protection of the many layers I wore."

What started as countless layers of cotton is now just 3; wool base, fleece, and jumpsuit. Thanks to feedback from other more experienced hunters, my experience and comfort are now completely different. Counter-intuitively, especially when it’s really cold, I travel to my spot with minimal gear on, allowing myself to completely cool down before layering up in the stand. I now commonly sit comfortably for the entire day.

I watch many small business CEOs wrestle with similar conundrums. They have a general idea of what needs to be done, but lack the experience and expertise to understand the pitfalls. Well-intentioned, they move forward, often causing more harm than good.

"Well-intentioned, they move forward, often causing more harm than good. "

But there are things every leader can do to dramatically increase their odds of success.

Surround yourself with other leaders in similar positions and at a variety of points in their business journeys - The power of a trusted group with an expansive skillset can’t be overstated. It’s a resource you can lean on, candidly share details with, and trust to challenge your assumptions and fill in gaps in your expertise. Whether a formal group or not, EVERY leader needs to surround themselves with other leaders they can learn with.
Get specific about what you’re trying to do - If you don’t have a north star, no amount of talented individuals can help propel you forward. Intelligence without a strategy and supporting culture is, well, just intelligence. Get specific about where you’re going and what you need to get there…because then you have something specific to discuss and get feedback on.
Get intentional about going there - Define your path. Define the timeline. Define your successful outcomes. Measure them. Report on them. Be transparent with your supporting leadership group/mentors/peers to drive your own accountability.

Leadership is hard, as is building a strong and growing business. You don’t have to have all the answers and you don’t have to journey alone.

Remember—a successful future transaction starts now. Worst case, you hold onto it and end up with a stronger, more valuable, and more predictable business. If I can help, let me know.

Key Ingredients to Strong Teams

Mon, 04 Mar 2024 20:34:38 GMT

If we slow down enough to observe, there are a lot of lessons we can learn from watching our kids. The ways they think, interact, absorb, try, and grow. The ways they explore, get curious, and resiliently rebound for another attempt. The ways they determine what’s important vs. what to let go. One such lesson I recently observed was around a few of the key ingredients required for building great sustainable teams.

Over the weekend, following an end-of-year nail-biting season-ending game, my youngest daughter’s team found their way to our house to celebrate the end of their middle-school basketball careers. It was a tough season. They weren’t the biggest, strongest, or most talented. They weren’t dropping 3 from the outside or consistently driving the lanes, though the occasional 3 did find its mark. And, they didn’t have a deep bench. In fact, with only 1 sub, they weren’t even getting a lot of breathers.

But week after week, game after game, they showed up ready to play. They showed up smiling. They showed up with heart. They showed up ready to take on whatever ‘goliath’ of a team lay in front of them. And somewhere, along the way, in the messiness of practices and hard-fought competition, they learned to battle together as a team.

...somewhere, along the way, in the messiness of practices and hard-fought

competition, they learned to battle together as a team.

And so, on Saturday night, after playing 2 games with 0 subs, the team gathered together to celebrate. 1st thing on the agenda, head to the kitchen and make cookies. (’cause who doesn’t love a good cookie!) With the recipe in hand and ingredients spread across the counter, they began. They read the directions, measured, added, and mixed the ingredients. They had ideas for improving the recipe, which led to disagreement, though they eventually coalesced around decisions and moved forward in unison, regardless of whose idea the change had been. They laughed...a lot. AND, eventually, the cookies made their way to the oven to bake. When the timer sounded and the cookies had cooled, this team was beyond proud of the result...and the cookies were devoured!

From beyond the kitchen, I was privileged with a front-row seat. From beyond the kitchen, I observed as this group of young women demonstrated the magic that happens within a team when the key ingredients are present. From beyond the kitchen, I observed a team operating in unison, towards a common mission, with trust and belief. From beyond the kitchen, I pondered why something so simple is so often brushed aside and replaced by politics, power struggles, and drama. From beyond the kitchen, I marveled at how easy they made it look.

...I pondered why something so simple is so often brushed

aside and replaced by politics, power struggles, and drama.

What are the 3 key ingredients needed for the recipe of building a great sustainable team capable of consistently punching above its weight class?

Mission - Mission provides the rallying cry. In this case, cookies. It’s the purpose and charge for this group of people and is part of their identity. It provides a common understanding of where the team is heading and what they're signing up for.
Belief - Belief comes in 3 forms: belief in self, belief in the team, and belief in the mission. It opens the door for trust and permits us to engage. Without it, we have very little chance of succeeding. But with it, we can accomplish things beyond our individual abilities and aspirations.
Trust - A common denominator of all winning teams is trust. Trust allows us to combine our skills and energy. In the aggregation, it elevates our contribution. But trust doesn’t come easy. Trust requires vulnerability with each other. It requires a willingness to take risks. It requires a willingness to try, to admit our shortcomings, and to lean into each other’s strengths to improve the output. Without trust, we waste our energy struggling to move forward while often making little progress.

What is simple in concept is often so easily forgotten or lost as we navigate the complexities of our business, teams, and markets. But, simple as it is, the right team, comprised of the right ingredients, increases our likelihood of moving faster and successfully navigating the challenges we face.

Does your leadership team encompass these key ingredients?

The Conversation Ending 'No'

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 19:53:30 GMT

A key pillar of emotional intelligence (EQ) is your ability to bring others along in the conversation. Your ability to not just understand those around you, but help channel the collective group towards a common mission that builds something great.

In practice, because our EQ can either help us or hurt us, it’s important to understand that it’s not just our ability to understand ourselves and those around us that matters. It is also our ability to allow that understanding to impact our behaviors and, ultimately, impact our effectiveness. If culture is what we allow , and our EQ impacts both the behaviors that flourish and are suppressed, then our EQ has an oversized impact on our culture.

In my early 30s, I ran the operational and technical teams for a small scrappy company. We had big dreams, large aspirations, and aggressive timelines accompanied by a few significant constraints; money was tight and people and systems were scarce. Despite the restrictions, we charged ahead at a ferocious pace, working to build an innovative company that, at the time, led the way with customer experience-centric solutions that gave unheard-of access and visibility across their systems.

And...it was during that time that I began to gain a reputation as the ‘no’ guy. We were a young company with some highly creative folks who were constantly thinking of new ideas like services, functionality, and potential market segments. We had a team of intelligent leaders looking to grow the business. We had outside investors pushing for value creation, which resulted in an increased return on their investments. As the operational leader responsible for discerning where and how we utilized our time, skills, and money, I was often approached with new ideas. As the operation leader responsible for the allocation and execution of those resources against our strategy, I would assess the ideas, weigh the impact, and make decisions. And my answer was often ‘no’ or ‘not right now’.

I began to gain a reputation as the ‘no’ guy.

Actual decisions aside, I remember a very visceral feeling of opposition that would creep up over and over during this process. It was like getting orange juice from an orange. The first time I am asked to get more from what we have is like the first time you squeeze a freshly cut orange. It’s plump and juicy, and the liquid freely flows. The next time, though, is not as easy. There’s still juice, but it takes a little more work and a little more pressure to squeeze it out. You get some, but not as much. At each subsequent attempt, the amount of work increases and the resulting juice decreases. It just gets harder and harder.

And that’s how I felt. As each new idea emerged, as our team accomplished bigger and bigger feats, I put the onus on myself to continue finding new ways to create incremental value from our existing resources. So, when approached with a new idea, I was already putting pressure on myself to deliver something I couldn’t actually deliver. It felt like it signified a failure on my part for which I had only 2 choices; work harder OR say no.

‘Yes, and...’ allowed me to keep them in the conversation, ...bring them along in the decision-making journey, ...and

help assess resources, priorities, risks, and benefits to determine whether or not a path forward was warranted.

That’s when a colleague pulled me aside and said, “Dominic, you’re not wrong, but every time you resist and say ‘no’, you shut down the conversation. You become the resistance. You create stress. Why don’t you tweak it just a bit and say, ‘Yes, and here’s what it will take’? You’re still saying the same thing, but you’re conveying your thought process along with a potential path forward. Then, it’s up to them whether or not they want to pursue it.”

Talk about a light bulb moment. ‘Yes, and...’ changed the conversation. ‘Yes, and...’ allowed me to keep them in the conversation. ‘Yes, and...’ allowed me to bring them along in the decision-making journey; an invaluable teaching tool for growing leaders. ‘Yes, and...’ allowed me to help assess resources, priorities, risks, and benefits to determine whether or not a path forward was warranted.

Ultimately, it’s an ROI decision based on our company’s identity. (Purpose/Mission, Vision, Value, Goals) So, what goes into ‘Yes and’ in practice?

Current priorities - How should this new thing compare with existing priorities?
Timing - What’s the urgency? Can it wait or does it need to be tackled now?
Teams - If we utilize the people we already have, how could we tackle this? What if we outsourced or hired additional people?
Money - What will it cost to tackle this now? Later? Does the cost increase with time?
Risk - What risks do we take on if we tackle this now? If we wait? If we don’t do it at all?
Benefits - What benefits do we gain by tackling this now? If we wait?
People - How well do I know and understand our people and their skills, passions, and motivations?

How would you rate yourself at bringing others along in the decision-making journey? Are you stuck on repeat with the conversation ending ‘NOs’?

4 Lessons From One of the Greatest College Basketball Players of All-Time

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 21:16:39 GMT

The lights came on as fans funneled into Carver–Hawkeye Arena, and homes across the nation tuned to Iowa Women's Basketball game. The team was gearing up for what was sure to be an incredibly special day. Just 8 points away from the all-time NCAAW scoring record, today history might just be made, and the excitement was palpable.

And, for good reason. It didn’t take long. Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeye’s came out ‘blazin’. 1st possession, a 2 pointer; 6 points to go. 2nd possession, she knocks down a 3-pointer, bringing her within 3. Then, just moments later, Caitlin came screaming down the floor, popped a logo shot from the left side of the court, and bam, just like that, just over 2 minutes into the game, she’d done it! History was made and we had a new NCAAW record holder. And don’t worry, that was just the beginning. She went on to finish the game with a record-setting 49 points, an Iowa program record for single-game scoring that she fully expects teammate Hannah Stuelke to surpass in the near future. (Hannah already has a 47-point game under her belt)

Caitlin is one of the greatest college basketball players ever, men’s or women’s. Her speed, control, awareness of the court, and shot are all off the charts. But what makes Caitlin so special isn’t merely her performance. What makes her stand out is how she leads herself and others on and off the court. It’s how she shows up and carries herself day after day, game after game, and season after season. It’s her attitude, preparation, the way she talks about and treats her teammates, leans into pressure and big expectations, and resiliently refocuses after defeat and in preparation of her next challenge.

There’s so much we can learn from watching Caitlin in action. Here are just a few of the leadership lessons we can apply in our businesses to help us become better leaders that, in turn, build better leaders.

Records and Great Achievements Are Not Solo Ventures - Records don’t stand on the record holder’s own 2 feet, not in an individual sport, team sport, business, or any other venture. Great accomplishments typically take villages. They take teachers, trainers, coaches, and competitors among others. They are a cumulative result of the people and experiences from across timelines. It’s ‘We’ vs ‘I’. Caitlin gets that, and her words demonstrate it. Every moment she gets, she’s celebrating the people around her. She needs them and relies on them, and she knows it. She lifts them up, they lift her up, and together they charge on towards their next mission.
Lean Into Big Expectations - There are clearly big expectations of Catilin and the Hawkeye team, not just for this game, but for what the remainder of the season holds. Her coaches know it, her teammates know it, and Caitlin knows it, AND she fully embraces it. In fact, despite any concern or fear she might have, she leans into the challenge. There’s no guarantee of a successful outcome, but the leaning drives commitment. The leaning creates visibility of the goal that makes it tangible. In turn, the visibility drives accountability that assets the stage for great achievements. In her own words, “We always talk about pressure as a privilege, ... You want those expectations. You want people to expect you to be great.” - From Caitlin Clark becomes women's all-time leading scorer: Big Ten foes explain why she's a 'generational talent' by Isabel Gonzalez
Resiliency - You wouldn’t know it, but just 1 game before, in a game where all eyes were on Caitlin in anticipation of a broken record, Iowa suffered a disappointing loss @ Nebraska as Caitlin was shutout in the 4th quarter. Losses bring up all sorts of emotions, including feelings of failure and inadequacy. Great leaders are mindful of the emotions that arise and know that they are just that. Emotions. They may or may not be reality and they’re certainly not indicative of their capabilities or identity. After losing and getting shutout in the 4th quarter, Caitlin processed the loss, regrouped, and came back renewed. (And, well, you read what happened above. �� )
Allows Celebration For the Good of EVERYONE - If you watch her, she doesn’t seem to need or want the attention. She seems to want to play basketball, to celebrate her team and coaches, and move on to the next pursuit. But, she allows moments of celebration to occur because she recognizes how important these moments are for everyone around her. This is a really important one for all high-achieving, highly motivated leaders. As soon as we accomplish a feat, we’re ready to quickly shift our attention to the next big challenge. But it’s important to stop and allow everyone the chance to soak in the moment. These moments allow reflection which create learnings that equip everyone involved with an upgrade for use in their next opportunity.

There are so many valuable lessons that come from watching leaders like Caitlin in action. Are you looking for help growing as a leader and/or applying these lessons at your business? Reach out.

Business Identity Matters

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 21:01:35 GMT

"Cheshire Puss," she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like

the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. "Come, it's pleased so far," thought Alice,

and she went on. "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.

"I don't much care where-" said Alice.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.

"-so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation.

"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

― Lewis Carroll

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass

I was recently reminded of this brilliant quote from Alice in Wonderland. If you don’t know where you want to go, any road will take you there. I’d add, though, that while you may get lucky, you’re just as likely to be dissatisfied with the results.

As a fractional COO, I always start with the Purpose/Mission, Vision, and Values...and I’m amazed at how often I receive pushback.

Your PVV is your company’s identity. It is the blueprint that conveys who you are, what you care about, how you show up, and how you make decisions. To get the most from it, it must be well communicated and adopted.

Purpose - Your mission and what drives your business each and every day.
Vision - Where you’re heading
Values - How you behave, or show-up, to do the work.

Years ago, I was at a company facing a critical juncture in it's journey. Like many others, we were a small local business with large growth aspirations. We were also facing a critical point in our growth journey...the graduation from leasing our datacenter space from another business to building, running, and maintaining our own. Aside from the projects and complexities that come with building and running a datacenter, we would also need to migrate our entire customer base to our new facility.

Running a datacenter is one thing, but migrating one comprised of 100s of customers running business-critical applications is an entirely different proposition. It’s risky. Elongated downtime is not an option, especially for a business running 24x7.

We...hired the best firm in the industry... and partnered with them

to carefully craft an approach that minimized customer downtime.

We did some research and hired the best firm in the industry. We partnered with them to carefully craft an approach that minimized customer downtime to 4 hours. We learned that we should expect to attrition ~ 15-20% of our customer base if things went well, more if they don’t. We carefully defined the criteria for each move. We carefully planned the migration of each group of servers. We carefully planned the timelines to ensure servers were back up and running within acceptable limits.

But, as we conducted multiple test migrations in preparation for our first customer migration, it became apparent the company couldn’t deliver on what they had promised. The problem was in the execution. The time it was taking to physically move the servers was just too long. The time it was taking to get the servers racked and wired was too long. The time it was taking to get the servers back online was too long. Downtime averaged 5-6 hours, some of which included breaks for the movers while the migration was supposed to be taking place. It was evident that what was important to them did not align with what was important to us. Our business and reputation were on the line... theirs was not.

It’s in moments like these where the importance of your PVV shines through. We had a plan, we were following that plan, but that plan wasn’t working. We returned to our PVV.

Without a PVV, we probably would have done what many other companies do; shrug our shoulders, say something along the lines of, “It is what it is.”, and continue, accepting what we were given as if we didn’t have a choice. But with a deeply embedded PVV that defined how we approached and made decisions, we could choose a different path. It was time to reevaluate...and we knew it.

After careful evaluation, it was obvious that the hired firm's approach didn’t align with our core values, in particular, our value to WOW the customer. So, we fired them and hired ourselves.

...the hired firm's approach didn’t align with our

core values...so we had a big decision to make.

It was a big decision, but it wasn’t hard to make. We knew what was important to us. WE defined the criteria for who we were, where we were going, and how we made decisions. WE understood the importance of WOWing our customers. WE understood what WOWing our customers looked like. WE understood the impact interruption had on our customers' businesses. WE understood because we’d been walking that journey with them for years. So, despite the enormity of the task ahead, we fired the firm and placed our bet on us. As our CEO shared, “When you came to me and said these people did not honor our core value, especially WOW, it was clear that we needed to do something different. If we had these standards and meant them, we needed to uphold them. That meant that we bet on you…you bet on your team…and they bet on their teams.”

Turns out, it was EXACTLY the right move to make. We proceeded to migrate our entire customer base over 6 months with less than 2 hours of downtime per customer. (Not just per server) Oh, and we only attrition'd 1 customer with 1 server, and it was only because they needed to keep their IP address. That’s a greater than 99% success rate!

Your identity as a business drives what you care about, where you’re going, how you show up along

the way, and how you make decisions. Take the time to define it and embed it within your culture.

If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there. If you don’t know what’s important, any approach will work. If you don’t know who you want to be, you’re unlikely to become it. Your identity as a business drives what you care about, where you’re going, how you show up along the way, and how you make decisions. Take the time to define it and embed it within your culture.

And, if you need help, reach out ! ;)

The Process of Learning

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 19:07:32 GMT

What does it take to learn something new? The learning process isn’t complicated, but getting the most from what we learn does take discipline and intentionality. When we’re exposed to new information, we absorb it, assimilate it, mesh it with our existing knowledge, simplify it, and finally, regurgitate it. Sure, we can take shortcuts and skip a step here or there, but this can significantly compromise the realized potential benefit.

As a young kid, I struggled to read. Book after book after book, while I read the words and turned the pages, my mind wandered. I’d slow down, re-read, and take notes, but to no avail...my mind still wandered. For the life of me, I just couldn’t quite remember what I read. I couldn’t remember the characters, themes, or major events. Eventually, exhausted after hours of rereading the same material, I’d call it good enough and throw in the towel to play baseball with my brothers in our backyard. I’d tell myself, “That’s probably good enough. I’ve probably got the gist of it.”

Because I hadn’t processed or applied my knowledge,

it hadn’t stuck and I couldn’t logically articulate it.

But man was I wrong! Inevitably, I’d be asked to demonstrate my comprehension on a test or through a book report. Inevitably, this is exactly where I’d get stuck. I’d read the material, sometimes multiple times. I’d tried to absorb, organize, and comprehend it, but I’d really only captured disjointed pieces, pieces that were individually good, but wholly insufficient on their own. Because of this, I hadn’t processed or applied my knowledge. Because of this, it hadn’t stuck, and couldn’t logically articulate it. So, when asked to answer questions, I simply hadn’t captured enough detail to effectively do so.

The real value of learning comes from the ways we allow it to shape

and evolve our thinking followed by our attempts to apply it.

As I’ve grown, become an avid reader, and learned tricks to better absorb and retain information, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the challenges that come with making use of what we absorb and, in particular, the breakdowns that occur when we miss important stages of the learning process. Learning is a discipline and we must be both open to new ideas and intentional about the process if we, and those around us, are to benefit from it. The real value of learning comes not from taking in new material, but rather from the ways we allow it to shape and evolve our thinking followed by our attempts to apply it. It’s the application process that makes it come alive, embedding it into our minds as something we know, have given deep thought to, and have experienced in the real world.

What are the key components:

Absorption - We access and absorb new information. (Like reading a book or article or listening to a podcast.)
Assimilation (Organization) - We organize new information. This is where we tend to look for patterns based on our current knowledge and experiences. This is where we are likely to be lazy, and may want to skip ahead. We take it in, relate it to what we know, and are ready to move on. But stopping here prevents it from expanding our field of view.
Percolation - This is the 1st of the 3 steps that transform what we’ve absorbed. This step broadens our views as we think about it, and relate it, in ways beyond our existing patterns. Like a good cup of coffee, new information needs time inside of our heads to mesh with our existing knowledge and experiences. This is where we toss it around, allow it to challenge our previous truths, and allow new thoughts to form. And like coffee, the more we rush the process, the more we compromise the result.
Compression - It’s not enough to wrestle with the information and let it transform your thinking. The next step is to figure out how to communicate what’s in your head in a way other people can absorb. You’ve gone on a journey to reach a moment of clarity. The process of whittling down the vast pool of thoughts that have driven you to a moment of clarity drives an even deeper clarity around what’s important vs supportive vs superfluous. Work towards conveying it in a way others can easily comprehend without having to invest the same time and energy you did.
Application - Applying what you’ve learned, and teaching others, moves your new ideas from something learned (Head knowledge) to something known (Life experience). Ultimately, this helps the ideas permanently take root in you (Vs. a passing thought forgotten in time) and readies you to repeat the cycle (Whether to build on these new ideas or generate wholly new ones).

Strategy, Structure, People

Tue, 30 Jan 2024 17:24:01 GMT

Years ago I adopted a frequently used axiom from a former colleague. It’s Strategy, Structure, People. Start by defining your strategy, then design and implement the structure required to execute that strategy, and then, and only then, place people in roles within that structure where they can successfully contribute towards the execution of the strategy. They are reliant on one another, complimentary, and the order of implementation is important.

Every once in a while I come across a video of a talented musician picking up a cheap toy instrument in a retail store, tuning it, performing a song, and, to my surprise, sounding fantastic! Like these guys . It may be simple, but when moments like this come together just perfectly in the hands of a skilled musician, it can be both magical and bewildering. If you’re like me, it might even drive you to search for more of their music, wondering what they could do with a higher-quality instrument, a band, and a proper recording studio.

But, while it’s fantastic for what it is, there are quite a few limitations to what can be done with a toy instrument, especially when performing in front of a live audience, or creating a studio-quality recording. In fact, what they’re doing in the video is essentially maxing out the instrument’s potential. But it works because it’s a small vision that only requires a small number of people, a minimal breadth of skills, and minimal equipment to execute. It’s just the two of them with a single instrument and a phone.

What if they wanted to play with a group? Perform a concert? Record an album? While possible, these pursuits exceed the intended designs of this instrument and the phone used as recording equipment. They weren’t intended for producing a studio recording or live performance in front of 5,000 people. As a result, a greater vision would quickly uncover new obstacles and challenges that require additional people, skills, equipment, and complexity to achieve.

The greater the risk, complexity, and number of people involved, the

greater the need to define where you’re going, and how you’ll get there.

This is where Strategy, Structure, and People come into play. Businesses often encounter many of these same challenges as they move through the stages of growth from founder to 25 people, to 100 people, and beyond. As their vision increases and their team grows, they often find themselves feeling stuck, overwhelmed, and exhausted as they continue to approach their business like they did when it was just them, or them and a very small team.

A few common scenarios:

The business has an extremely talented and forward-thinking founder who, like the gentlemen in the video, can make their idea come to life. It’s entirely dependent on them. Take them out of the equation and you lose the idea, or at the very least the momentum. Scaling the business requires a good strategy, supporting structure, and proper people placement that allows the founder to impart responsibilities to teams and people with the skills to do them well, and at a greater scale than they can.
They have a vision but lack a strategy to achieve it. They know where they want to go, but don’t have a plan for how to get there. It’s hard to communicate and measure success when it’s not defined, and this leaves teams confused about what’s expected of them, and what success looks like.
They have great people but lack both a vision and strategy to take them somewhere. They spend a lot of time and energy doing things without a clear understanding of why they’re doing them, in part because they lack a clear picture of where they’re going, and how they’ll get there. Similarly, this leaves people and teams confused about what’s expected of them, and what success looks like.
They have an extremely talented group of people who spend most of their time firefighting and struggling to make tangible progress. They may have a great vision and strategy, but without the supporting structure and people placement within that structure, they’re limited in their ability to make progress. The right structure defines the roles and skills needed to execute their strategy and reach their vision. They may need more people, lack the right people and skills, or have the right people in the wrong places. This often manifests as highly skilled individuals feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and frustrated while they spend the majority of their time on things outside their skillset.

Bigger typically means bigger risk. Bigger typically means more complexity. Bigger typically means greater scale, which necessitates more resources. The greater the risk, complexity, and number of people involved, the greater the need to define where you’re going, and how you’ll get there. So, we start by creating a strategy in support of the vision. We then define and implement the structure needed to achieve the strategy. Finally, we position people in roles within the structure that play to their strengths. Definition brings clarity to what you’re trying to achieve and how you measure success. When clearly and consistently communicated, those definitions remove ambiguity for everyone involved and allow them to play their role .

A clear vision backed by a solid strategy, supporting structure, and intelligent

people placement removes the friction and ambiguity that hinder growth.

This is the importance of Strategy, Structure, and People. When you start with a clear vision, create a strategy that takes you towards your vision, implement a structure that supports the strategy through role and skill-based definition, place existing people in the structure in roles that align with their strengths, and supplement your teams with unmet role and skill gaps defined by the structure, you remove friction and ambiguity that hinders growth.

Stifling GroupThink

Tue, 30 Jan 2024 17:11:06 GMT

Groupthink is dangerous. In its least dangerous state, it allows us to move quickly and efficiently based on a single point of view. In its most dangerous state, it causes us to blindly rally around an opinion or decision regardless of circumstance and consequence.

On a quiet night alone, sparked by a series of conversations with, and observations of, my 2 teenage girls who are growing up in a world obsessed with fame and celebrity, I found myself reminiscing about my childhood.

In the early 90s, the Buffalo Bills appeared in the Super Bowl for 4 consecutive years. Year after year after year came new hope that this could be their year. This could be their season. Year after year after year they showed up, made it to the big game, and ended the season disappointed. And year after year a young boy from the Midwest cheered them on; not because they were his team, or even because he liked them, but because a slightly older friend he looked up to rooted for them. He didn’t have a team and didn’t know much about the Bills, but he wanted to emulate his friend and, thus, took up rooting for the Bills each year. That boy was me.

The consequences were insignificant because the matter was insignificant.

It was harmless enough. I rooted for them, they lost, and I moved on with my life. If you asked why they were my team, I couldn’t tell you. I didn’t have a good answer. I had a core need, as a human, to fit in. To be accepted. To survive. They weren’t my team, they were my friend's team, so the only arguments I had were the ones I’d stolen from him. If pressed on why I liked them, my desire to survive drove me to defend my position rather than do the hard work of thinking through, building my understanding, and forming my own opinions. The consequences were insignificant because the matter was insignificant.

But what about when they’re not? What happens when we’re faced with a problem of greater significance?

This is the danger of groupthink, especially within our businesses. While allowing us to quickly rally around a cause, create an approach, and move efficiently towards it, it prevents us from understanding what we’re trying to achieve. It blinds us to the myriad of alternative options available. It reduces our ability to create the strongest solutions. And, as we grow, it discourages risk-taking, creating a culture with people who do what they're told rather than iterate, grow, adapt, and build upon previous accomplishments.

...the speed at which we progress and grow, along with the strength of our decisions and

the solutions that emerge, are largely impacted by our ability to utilize the strengths,

skills, and experiences of our teams.

In our businesses, though, the speed at which we progress and grow, along with the strength of our decisions and the solutions that emerge, are largely impacted by our ability to utilize the strengths, skills, and experiences of our teams. We spend a lot of time and money finding the best people, building great teams, and providing ongoing development. When we allow groupthink to take hold, we stifle what could have been. What could be.

What do we do within our businesses to encourage original thinking? How do we prevent group thinking?

Create a culture that teaches and encourages deep and clear thinking. - If you want deep and clear thinking in your organization, teach people how and encourage them to do it. Initial reactions from leaders in your organization matter a lot. If it’s not safe to have an opinion, or if leaders aren’t open to hearing them, people will stop sharing them. This is one of many reasons so many people mindlessly execute their jobs and, when asked, respond something like “This is how we’ve always done it”. Either they lack the tools and experience or they lack the opportunity. Just like plants in a garden need water and sunlight to produce a bounty, if we don’t teach and create receptive opportunities, we won’t reap the fruits of deep and clear thinking.
Recognize and Incentivize challenges and objections that drive deep and clear thinking - When you see it, encourage it. When you see it, recognize it. When you see it, incentivize it. It takes great minds working together to create great solutions that solve complex problems. It takes great minds working together to expand our understanding as the problem grows and changes.
Draw out information, depth of understanding, and options - Like weeding a garden, keeping group thinking out of an organization is intensive. It requires significant discipline. Don’t allow it to occur, and in fact, lead the charge by leading people and groups through discovery. This doesn’t mean you have to hold your opinion, but it does mean you have to recognize the weight your opinion carries, and that it is only an opinion, AND drive the conversation accordingly. When you share, how you share, how you encourage objections, and how you listen matter a lot. Let your guard down; you are not under attack and don’t need to defend yourself. Be curious. Seek to understand. Draw out details that help piece together the thoughts and opinions so you can gain a clear understanding.

How are you creating a culture that cultivates great solutions?

What We Don't Know CAN Hurt Us

Tue, 23 Jan 2024 19:50:58 GMT

Sometimes, what we don’t know can hurt us, badly. So why is it we often charge forward into the unknown with such bravado, regardless of the limitations of our skills, knowledge, and experience?

A while back, on a Friday evening, as a long week began to wind to a close, I made my way from my desk to the kitchen. What better way to end the week than a nice dinner at home with my family?

With visions of relaxation, a beer, and a wonderful meal, my thoughts quickly shifted to the medium-rare cuts of meat I’d been preparing in the sous-vide. A few hours in, they were cooked, tender, and ready for a quick sear to add a mouth-watering crust to the outside. Removed, resting, and cooling down, I started preparing a cast-iron skillet when I noticed an urgent email.

“Not a problem,” I thought. “I’ll quickly respond while the pan heats up.” Quick must not have been as quick as I thought. By the time I wrapped up and added the oil to the pan, well, the pan was way too hot. The oil hit the pan, spread, began smoking, and, in a flash, burst into flames.

All fires are not created equal. While water works well for extinguishing a fire with general combustibles like wood or paper, water has the potential to dramatically amplify a grease fire, causing the grease and flames to splash out of the pan and onto other surfaces. For a grease fire, the best thing to do is cover it with a lid, pan, baking soda, or salt, or use a fire extinguisher.

But if you don’t know this, a well-intentioned move in a moment of panic can make things significantly worse.

Fortunately, moments of panic in our businesses play out more slowly than a flash fire in our kitchens. Instead of seconds, we typically have hours, days, or longer to determine our move.

Acknowledge your limitations - We all have limitations. Limitations in our skills. Limitations in our experiences. Limitations in our knowledge. That’s ok. None of us need to have all the answers. The better you understand and acknowledge your limitations, the better you’ll be at seeking experts to speak about them.
Be Curious - Curiosity is the mindset of an explorer. It opens our minds to seeing and absorbing something new without the pretense of accusation of being less than. Curiosity creates learning and, over time, learning combined with application creates expertise. Ask questions, explore, and ponder options and potential outcomes based on what you’re learning.
Seek Experts - Don’t wait until facing a crisis to surround yourself with other experienced leaders. When facing a challenge, a trusted community of mentors and peers possessing a broad spectrum of skills and experiences is invaluable. Lean into them, seek their advice, and learn from their experiences.

What’s your move when you encounter an unfamiliar challenge?

Infections can ruin a great beer...or a great company

Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:25:40 GMT

Company culture is a lot like sanitizing during the brewing process. Properly done, it allows the yeast to happily consume the sugars in the wort to create a well-crafted drink with a variety of subtly nuanced flavors. If done poorly, you may end up ruining the whole batch.

As leaders, we think and talk about our company culture often. We create our mission. We define company values. We tell stories that exemplify the behaviors we want to see. So why isn’t our culture living up to our expectations?

Years ago, before the explosion of pumpkin beers on the market, I got it into my head that I wanted to brew a nice big pumpkin stout. With the help of a friend and a carefully crafted recipe, I set out to make my vision a reality.

There are no shortcuts when crafting great cultures.

We roasted and carmelized several pounds of pumpkin and butternut squash. We measured out base and adjunct grains, ground them to break the husks, and combined them in the mash tun with the caramelized squash, spices, rice hulls, and hot water. After a timed and controlled steep, we sparged the mixture to rinse out the sugar and spices released from the grains and squash, leaving us with a wort ready for boil and hops. We boiled and cooled down the wort to ready it for transfer to our sanitized carboy, where it would be combined with yeast to convert the sugars to alcohol and produce a rich balanced pumpkin stout.

And then we began the transfer...and that’s when disaster struck. As we pulled and plunged the auto-siphon to start the transfer, the hose popped out of the carboy and onto the floor, a floor sullied by the in-and-out traffic accompanying a brew day.

Now, the smart thing would’ve been to stop the siphon, rinse everything off, resanitize, and begin again. But, because it was already late and we were tired, we quickly picked up the hose, still siphoning wort, and plunged it into the carboy to complete the transfer.

You can probably guess the result. After a few months of aging, transfers, and bottles, well, we had a bacteria-infected beer that was significantly over-carbonated and not at all pleasant to the palate.

Culture is not just what we say;

it’s what we say + what we allow.

Our cultures can be a lot like the sanitization process. Even in the midst of doing so many of the right things, great cultures demand our attention to every detail. There are no shortcuts when crafting great cultures. Like in brewing sanitization, shortcuts introduce the potential for infection, which can ruin the whole batch, despite the effort and all the other right things. When it comes to culture, we can’t leave anything to chance. Doing many of the right things simply isn’t enough. We must meticulously craft and care for the culture we seek.

Know ‘Who You Are’ - This is your Purpose, Vision, and values. If you don’t know it, you can’t expect anyone else to.
C ommunicate based on ‘Who You Are’ - While it’s impossible to over-communicate ‘Who You Are’, it is very easy, and even extremely common, to under-communicate it. Communicate who you are, where the company is going, how you’ll behave on the journey, and how success is measured, and share stories of employees and customers who exemplify the behaviors you desire.
Hire based on ‘Who You Are’ - Every employee, without exception, must embody the behaviors that define ‘Who You Are’. Superstar at their craft or not, if they don’t, it’s like introducing an infection to an otherwise great thing. You may get lucky, but then again, you may ruin the whole batch.
Measure and Drive accountability by ‘Who You Are’ - Assuming all of the above, success measurements and accountability should correspond with ‘Who You Are’. How we measure success and hold people accountable speaks volumes about what’s important. People believe what we do over what we say and, where it differs, we sow the seeds of distrust.

How are you leaving your culture to chance?

'Want' Or 'Want to Want'

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 14:29:52 GMT

“The first thing you have to know is yourself. A man

who knows himself can step outside himself and

watch his own reactions like an observer.”

- Adam Smith, The Money Game

How well do you know yourself? Your desires? Your purpose? Your driving motivations? What feeds you vs what drains you of energy and momentum?

Knowing yourself is key to many things in life, including your happiness and success. The better you know yourself, the better you can recognize what matters most. The more you recognize what matters most, the more you can focus your time and energy on those things and away from things you merely desire.

Do you know what you want? Can you identify the things you only want to want? What’s the difference?

I was 15 when I first thought about playing music. I always liked music. It energized and inspired me, but I hadn’t realized people spent their whole careers studying and perfecting their skills to produce the beauty that moved me and so many others.

When I ‘Want’ something...I get lost in the doing and progressing.

I received my first guitar at 15 and was off, learning to play, performing songs, and chasing the dream of stardom. For years, I progressed, improved my skills, and played on bigger and bigger stages. I entered college to study jazz performance and became a better musician by the day. I set my eyes on becoming a great and proficient Jazz bass player and spent hours a day, including nights and weekends, practicing and playing, building my repertoire, increasing my vocabulary, and gaining performance experience.

As I left school and began to build my family, the time I had available for music decreased and I found myself often spending the bulk of it writing simple songs on the guitar and piano instead of practicing my proficiency on the bass. When my wife was away and the kids were in bed, I’d spend hours upon hours lost in time crafting songs. Hours seemed like minutes, and there never seemed to be enough time to reach my self-imposed finish lines. Occasionally, I’d get the itch to improve my bass proficiency and pick up my stand-up bass, but inevitably, within a few days, I’d be drawn back to noodling on the guitar. Year after year after year I would set goals for myself to increase my skill on the standup, and year after year after year I would feel like a failure, having completed yet another year with minimal progress.

This is the difference between ‘Want’ and “Want to want’.

When I ‘Want’ something, I’m willing to sacrifice. I’m willing to consciously choose to spend whatever available time I have to achieve it. I get lost in the doing and progressing. I work hard over long periods to reach my desired goal. My reward is heavily weighted toward the journey vs. the outcome.

Are you chasing what you ‘Want’ or what you ‘Want to want’?

However, what I ‘Want to want’ doesn’t come so easily, at least not for long. I may desire it, even significantly so, though I often discover I desire the result or benefit more than the journey itself. Said differently, I desire what it gets. It’s because of this that when I choose something I ‘Want to want’ I am consistently left feeling like a failure, having failed to make the progress I desired. Maybe I desire the compliments and recognition that come with proficiency as an instrumentalist, not the proficiency itself. Regardless, my progress is limited because I often choose to focus my time and energy on other things.

This has become an instrumental question for me when I’m faced with new opportunities, reviewing my year, and setting upcoming goals. Am I spending my time chasing something I ‘Want’ or something I ‘Want to want’?

How about you? Do you spend your time on ‘Wants’? How often are you derailed by what you ‘Want to want’?

Reflect & Reset

Mon, 04 Dec 2023 21:51:43 GMT

It’s the week before Thanksgiving week, and I’m nowhere to be found...at least around the office. The lights are off, the doors are locked, email is set to auto-respond, and voice-mail messages will go unanswered. It’s the same thing every year, and I don’t apologize for it. For 1 week in November, I hit the woods in pursuit of whitetails.

For 1 week, I break away from the cadence and rhythm I’m accustomed to. I shift my priorities away from my pressing professional to-dos and toward hunting. I give my mind the freedom to wander away from my standard routines and challenges, and instead fixate on something completely and wildly different. I focus my energy on wake-up times, hunting locations, and hunting strategy.

But it’s not just about hunting. It’s about breaking routine and doing something radically different. Something that challenges my mind to react differently. It’s about breathing and discovery.

While I spend the majority of my day 20 ft up in a tree, waiting for deer, the majority of what I do is just that, waiting. And it’s in the waiting that the magic happens.

It’s in the waiting I experience things most people miss. I listen to creatures moving and stirring in the dark. I witness the awakening of the woods as the sun rises, and its hushing as the sun sets. I watch and listen to the wind as it moves through the trees, like the wave at a baseball game that moves through the crowd, picking up momentum as it goes. I watch turkeys scratch in the leaves looking for food, bobcats on the prowl along the edges of the fields, coyotes meandering along creek beds, and squirrels stashing their winter fare and chasing each other across the forest floor. I feel the cold air move in and settle on the land in the evening and the warm air creep in and rise with the sun after daybreak.

For 1 week in November, I break away...so that I can

return with an ever-evolving perspective, clear mind,

and grateful disposition.

But, more importantly, after having mistaken 1 too many branches/leaves/brush pile for a deer, I find my mind relaxing and embracing boredom. I’m confronted with myself; the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’m reminded of the people in my life who I’ve been incredibly blessed by. I’m able to reflect in gratitude on both my successes and strengths AND my struggles and weaknesses. I learn to be more patient with myself, appreciate where I am in my journey, and grow in appreciation for the beauty around me.

I’m convinced that everyone needs the opportunity to completely break away like this. For me, it’s become the perfect precursor to my end-of-year annual planning process, as well as a wonderful reflection time ahead of Thanksgiving week. It allows me to take a deep breath before diving back in for another year.

For 1 week in November, I break away...so that I can return with an ever-evolving perspective, clear mind, and grateful disposition.

Everyone has magic in their heads, but are you letting them use it?

Mon, 27 Nov 2023 22:14:05 GMT

If you’re a business owner or leader, you probably have experience being viewed as the supposed expert. Being the one responsible for all the decisions. Being the one everyone turns to for answers. Being the one responsible for ensuring the business is successful enough to survive another day.

Maybe you’re living it right now.

Try as you might, you can’t be an expert at everything at once. No one is. So, how do you take steps to utilize and encourage others to contribute the magic in their heads to make your company better? How do you reduce the pressure of having to come up with all the answers?

A few years back I started making wedding rings out of wood. Crafting a ring from a couple of pieces of wood is a skill of its own, but what makes or breaks the look of a ring is the finishing process. Because the surface of the wood is imperfect, it’s the removal of material in a structured way that brings out its shimmer.

Wood is an interesting medium to work with. Naturally, it consists of colors, grains, and pours that can be relatively easily manipulated. Interestingly, though, wood takes its shape and reveals its beauty through the loss of material. In fact, it can only ever lose material. Sure, you can glue on additional pieces, but once removed, perfectly matching the grain and color of the remaining wood is extremely difficult.

Communicate the vision and create the structure that gives

people freedom to unleash the magic in their heads.

Beginning with course sandpaper capable of removing significant material, you remove visible imperfections and level the surface. As the piece takes shape, you gradually progress to finer and finer grit. Each progression removes the scratches left behind by the previous step. Eventually, as you move from 80 grit toward 1000, 2000, 4000 grit, and beyond, the wood begins to take on a shine. The more level the surface, the greater the shine. There is no shortcut. Skipping too many steps leaves the scratches from the previous steps, creating a wavy surface that impacts the glimmer in the final result. It takes time, skill, and yes, different grits applied in the right order.

Our companies and teams are made up of a multitude of people with a broad range of passions, experiences, and skills. Like sandpaper, we need the skills and talents of each member to create a great business. Like sandpaper, if we try to skip steps or apply the skills to the wrong places, we wind up with an inferior outcome. Sure, you’ll still have a finished product, but will it be what you aspired to in your vision? With the right structure, we give our teams the ability to see when and where their skills can be best utilized and the freedom to apply them.

Communicate Vision & Outcomes - Communicate the vision and measurements for success. Communicate them regularly and to everyone. Check for understanding. If you want your teams to apply their unique magic, they have to understand where you’re going and how you’re measuring success. With this knowledge and the freedom to execute their responsibilities, they can apply their unique skills in the right place and at the right time.
Resist the Urge to Rush To the End - When we’ve poured our blood, sweat, and tears into something, we want to show it off. Sometimes, this results in us trying to rush the process. However, rushing the process creates inferior outcomes. Just like the time, effort, and progression of grits required for a superior finish, if we want our teams to use their unique skills to make our business and products better, we must allow them the breathing room to do so.
Consistently Drive Accountability with Data and Curiosity - Forward movement still matters. We still have revenue to drive, people to pay, and investments to make. In addition to communicating what success looks like, we need to establish a regular cadence of reviews. We need to regularly review and discuss progress, assess meaning, and get curious about our focus and approach. Are the results what we expect? Are we chasing the right goals? Do we have the right timeline? Do we have the right structure to support the vision? How can we be helpful to our teams?

And just like the finishing process, remember, it takes time and practice to get really good at collectively utilizing the magic in each individual’s head to create a superior business with superior products. If you need help doing this in your business, let me know; I’d be happy to help where I can.

Phone A Friend

Mon, 27 Nov 2023 22:08:51 GMT

If you need me, call me. No matter where

You are, no matter how far. Just call my

Name. I'll be there in a hurry.

-Diana Ross

Business owners are often great problem solvers. We’re incredibly resilient, resourceful, voracious learners, and highly motivated. So what happens when we get stuck?

Last summer I took to the woods with a friend to build a rugged bridge over a narrow wet season creek with a bank incline of 3-4 feet on each side. With ATVs loaded, we headed out, cut down a couple of smaller trees perfect for the task, and built our bridge. After wrapping up, we crossed the new bridge, made our way to the top of the ridge, and began descending the other side toward our vehicles when suddenly, after hitting a root ball in the ground, my 20+-year-old ATV unexpectedly shut off.

Hmm. What to do. This isn’t the first time it has shut off. It had been a bit cranky over the last couple of months, so I was immediately thinking of the worst-case scenario. But here I was stuck in the woods. With just a little further to go to get back to our vehicles, I started with the basics.

Power? Check.

Gas? Check. (And I went ahead and switched it to the reserve tank just in case.)

In neutral? Check.

Ignition? It was trying but wouldn’t turn over.

We can become experts at asking for help and knowing when to do so.

Again, and again, and again I tried. Again, and again, and again I got the same results. After a few minutes, and with my friend already back at the vehicles, I gave up, removed the brake, and glided down the rest of the trail.

With one more thing added to my to-do list, I set to task. After a little research and a YouTube video, I replaced the carb, fuel filter, and fuel lines. But, at the moment of truth....nothing. Same thing as before.

I checked and rechecked everything. Still, the same result.

Finally, having exhausted my working knowledge, I phoned a neighbor with a hobby of rebuilding cars.

He came over and began running through his checklist and within mere minutes found the culprit...the kill switch. I’ve only owned ATVs for about a year and honestly didn’t even know the kill switch existed.

A click of the ignition and it fired right up. That was it...it was so simple...I just didn’t know it was there so I didn’t know to check it.

As business owners, we often face similar dilemmas. Because expertise is acquired through learned experience, there is no way we can be experts at everything. But we can become experts at asking for help and knowing when to do so.

Here’s how I like to approach it.

Have I tried? Have I used up my knowledge? This is pretty straightforward. What do you already know or understand about the problem you’re facing? Have you attempted to apply your existing knowledge? More importantly, what have you learned from doing so?
Is the path forward extremely costly or time-consuming? Will the work be a waste if it doesn’t solve the problem? Using my existing knowledge, how costly, time-consuming, or permanent is the path forward based on my current knowledge? In this case, replacing the carb, fuel lines, and fuel filter on an old ATV is all relatively quick, simple, and inexpensive and isn’t going to hurt the machine or exacerbate the problem. In fact, as the ATV ages, these components can and will get clogged up. So whether it’s necessary to solve this problem or not, it’s kind of like a tune-up that gets it ready for the next several years. So charge on.
Who do I know who has more expertise in this area than me? This is the value of investing in relationships. Of building and maintaining a strong network. When you’ve exhausted your knowledge and skills, these are the people you turn to for advice. Someone who has been there, seen that, and can provide knowledge, skills, and guidance you don’t have. You don’t know what you don’t know, but they do. They’ve likely seen it before. And as important, leaning on their expertise will increase your own for next time.

Make Time To Create

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 18:22:13 GMT

I’m a creative person. I like to learn, explore, create, and reflect. I like to observe, attempt, try, and retry.

Recently, I’ve noticed a pattern. The busier I get and the more tired I am, the less likely I am to be creative. To chase ideas. To tap into my creativity.. Sure, I MAY still think of ideas, but without the time and energy to do anything with them, they remain just that...ideas.

As a kid, after hours of playing baseball in the backyard, my siblings and I would hang around as dusk crept in, waiting for the chance to catch fireflies. The darker it got, the easier their light was to see, though only briefly. They’d flash their light and we’d quickly dash over, attempting to catch them in our hands. The closer you were to the flash, the easier it was to find and catch them. The further away or the longer we took to get there, the higher the chances of losing them.

The busier I get and the more tired I

am, the less likely I am to be creative.

Creative ideas are kind of like lightning bugs. The initial idea flashes in a bright light of brilliance. You can clearly see it. When it shines, you know exactly where it is and what it is. You can reach out to it and touch it. But, the light doesn’t last forever; it fades. And as it fades, so does your memory of it. It requires our time and attention at the moment. If you don’t pay attention or act on them, the moment of inspiration that emerged from the spark fades, leaving you with yet another partial idea that will soon be forgotten in your phone’s voice memos. (Maybe that’s just me. ��)

What are some things you can do to more consistently tap into your creativity and seize ideas when they come?

Change your mindset - Move from ‘what if’ to ‘check this out’ by actively creating. As Nike says, Just Do It. Creativity requires vulnerability. The act of creating is something you do for yourself, but once created and shared, it is a gift for others. It is no longer yours to own, but something for others to receive. With sharing comes feedback and the potential for criticism and judgment. It’s this vulnerability that causes many people to stop before they even get started. They get stuck in ‘What ifs’ and ‘Somedays’. What if I did xxx? Someday, I’d love to create yyy. A slightly different mindset can make this easier to embrace. If the creation is the gift to yourself, the feedback is just that, feedback. It is not a reflection of the gift you’ve already received but of someone else’s view of the gift you’ve given. You get to choose what you do with that feedback. Dismiss it or use it to iterate, that is their gift back to you, the creator.
Schedule creativity - One of my favorite creativity quotes comes from William Faulkner responding to the question ‘ When does creativity strike?’. He said, “I only write when inspiration strikes. Fortunately, it strikes at nine every morning.” You don’t need to wait for inspiration to strike to be creative. Consistently making time for creativity to occur opens the door for creativity and inspiration to emerge. It signals to your brain that this is something you do AND have prioritized. That you have made time for it. Set aside time, sit down, and create. From that, there’s no telling what you’ll be able to create!
Seek boredom, regularly - It’s incredibly easy to move from task to task. There are so many things to do and your list just keeps on growing. But, for creativity to flourish, we must make time for boredom. Boredom gives our minds time to reflect, process, and assimilate the new information we’re absorbing in a variety of ways. Schedule regular chunks of time in your calendar for boredom.
Get plenty of rest and nutrition - Whether you know it or not, your brain is a creative powerhouse. Accessing your creativity requires energy and that’s where sleep and nutrition come in; they are just as important for creativity as it is for deep concentrated problem-solving. Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, getting adequate rest, and consistently good nourishment are important for consistent longer-term creativity.
Live in the messy - Creativity hides within everything we do. When we seek perfection or run towards the execution of a predetermined path, we put up guardrails for what success looks like. We limit our perspective. We reduce the exploration of alternative paths. We limit new findings that may alter our perspective and approach. Living in the messy means we allow ourselves to experience the journey towards completeness. We consider what’s working well, and what’s not. We take in new ideas and evolve our perspective. We ideate alternative paths. We test our work. And we continually return to the problem we’re attempting to solve.

When Bureaucracy Works

Tue, 31 Oct 2023 14:24:21 GMT

“Still we live meanly, like ants; though the fable tells us that we were

long ago changed into men; like pygmies we fight with cranes; it is error

upon error, and clout upon clout,...”

Henry David Thoreau - Walden

A certain amount of bureaucracy is necessary, though it can quickly become unwieldy. Too little and you can’t create a consistent and scalable business. Too much and you end up with people blindly doing what they’re told without a sense of the outcome or empowerment to change it.

My Apple watch recently broke. I was riding my bike along, minding my own business, when suddenly a couple of jagged rocks emerged from a downhill portion of the trail, caught my tire, and...well, I went flying through the air towards my inevitable appointment with the ground.

Sigh. I’ve been here before. After taking a deep breath and checking myself for injuries, I stood up, brushed myself off, and continued. Ain’t no rocks gonna get the best of me this time.

That is until I got home. As I laid my finger on my watch screen to read a new text, I could see the glimmer of light reflecting off the cracks and missing pieces of glass on my Series 5 watch. My assessment: That’s not good. Fortunately, accident-prone as I am, I’m prepared for just this type of event...I’ve got an insurance plan for my watch. Unfortunately, well, I still have to deal with the insurance company. That may be more painful than the crash itself.

I head to their site, fill out the form, and receive a response from an associate to get the watch repaired and send them the bill. Great, I can do that! Off to the Apple store. Because my insurance is through a 3rd party, the Apple specialist gives me 2 options: send my 3-year-old watch off for a 1-2 week repair costing $350, in hopes they can fix it, OR replace it with a Series 9 for $300. Well, that seems to be a no-brainer, except I’m dealing with insurance which is notorious for, well, bureaucratic processes. Ughh. If I want to leverage my policy I need to be careful to follow their rules so I will get reimbursed.

I still have to deal with the insurance company.

That may be more painful than the crash itself.

So, standing with the associate, I combed the fine print looking for clear verbiage of how to proceed. It was absent. I reached out to the agent who provided the initial instructions, but she was out until Thursday...and it was Tuesday. So, last move. I called the main number and explained the scenario to another agent. In my shock, she said, “That makes sense. Go ahead and get the newer watch and I’ll add a note to your claim and send you an email with the next steps.” 10 minutes later I was on my way home with a replacement.

This has me thinking about the role of bureaucracy in business and the balance between too much and too little.

Rules and processes are absolutely necessary for consistency and scale. We need them. They are the guardrails that allow us to easily convey expectations and train new employees. They decrease the time and attention we spend on monotonous tactical decision-making. They allow us to deliver consistent outcomes repeatedly. For both the insurance company and Apple, they allowed for quick claim submission, appointment scheduling, expectation conveyance, diagnosis, and paths forward. They let me go from a broken watch to weighing the following steps within a day of the accident.
Teach people to think, understand, and use the information to make intelligent decisions. When a process isn’t relevant OR the outcome doesn’t match the desired experience, what then? Teach people about what they’re trying to achieve. Teach them how to think about problems in a variety of related scenarios. Give them the latitude to independently make decisions. Sure, sometimes they’ll get it wrong, but more often they’ll get it right. The insurance agent could have stuck to the process and said, “We can only cover your watch for a like model.” Instead, she weighed the facts and had the authority to change course, saving her company money AND solidifying a customer for life.
Teach outcomes AND regularly celebrate people who break the mold to deliver them. What happens when the business changes? When the once-critical process is no longer meaningful? This happens often. Rules and processes are living components of business. They must be maintained, analyzed, and modified on a regular basis OR they become stale. The insurance agent made a smart decision in the moment, but if that decision isn’t used to drive process modification you risk a different result next time. Celebrating the smart decision signals that you care about the outcomes, not the rule-following. It also signals that there may be something you need to adjust for. We can always learn more. We can always improve. We’re ready to move when an opportunity for improvement presents itself.

And remember, finding the right balance is tricky. It’s why so few places do it well. If you need help striking the balance in your organization, reach out for a free consultation. I’d love to help!

Don't Settle for Walking...Leap!

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 13:47:25 GMT

The value of a fractional leader.

Small and mid-size businesses should be utilizing fractional leaders. There’s a tremendous need and value proposition and fractional leaders provide a cost-effective, low-risk way to quickly gain A LOT of firepower.

Someone recently shared a photographer’s blog post with me that can be summed up as, “Your good enough is not my good enough.” While the blogger was attempting to demonstrate his own superiority, it sent me down a rabbit hole.

Perspective is critical and extremely valuable.

Your good enough is not my good enough BECAUSE my perspective and understanding have evolved through gained experience, skills, and knowledge.

Your good enough is not my good enough BECAUSE I can distill my perspective into points of view that can be simply articulated and applied in ways unique to each situation.

Your good enough is not my good enough BECAUSE I’ve made mistakes and implemented a wide variety of approaches and solutions with varying degrees of success. At each step, I’ve learned and broadened my perspective.

As I read and processed this, I was reminiscing about my own journey with music.

I began chasing the rock ‘n roll dream as a young high-school student, joining a band and writing and performing original songs. We had a modest local following and were sure we were going to be the next big thing. One day, the dad of one of our band members offered to let us use his equipment to record our first album. Of course, we jumped at the chance and spent every Friday for the next several months in the ‘studio’.

You’re good enough doesn’t have to be my

good enough for you to benefit from it.

Occasionally, he’d pop his head in while we were taking a break, probably more so to make sure we weren’t destroying his studio. On one such occasion, in an effort to teach, he shared with me how 1 of the notes in my bass run didn’t work against the chord. I heard the words, but I honestly had no idea what he was talking about. I couldn’t read music, I’d never had a lesson, and I’d trained my novice ear to think the note I was playing was correct…even though it wasn’t and the dissonance should have been obvious. I continued playing the same note. We recorded the album and that note, 25+ years later, is etched in stone.

As I pursued my jazz studies, developed my ear, and gained a deeper understanding of music theory, the feel, rhythm, intonation, and misplaced notes started to stick out like fingernails on a chalkboard. It was all I could hear. There were so many imperfections that I struggled to go to a concert and enjoy the music. I’d gained experience and skills that allowed me to see and hear things with significantly greater clarity than I could in my earlier days. Watch out, old self!

A few more years of growth helped me continue to evolve and find enjoyment of the music once again, despite the imperfections. Eventually, I discovered how I could utilize my skill and expertise to elevate those I had the opportunity to play with, regardless of their skills and experience.

Each stage of my journey evolved my perspective. Each stage changed the way I absorbed and reacted to my environment and to the music. Each stage positioned me for the next transition, from novice to expert to applied teacher elevating those around me.

Here’s the key: You’re good enough doesn’t have to be my good enough for you to benefit from it. You can take advantage of my expertise without having to match it, allowing you to focus on the 10% of your business that is truly unique.

Fractional leaders provide a cost-effective, low-risk

way to quickly gain A LOT of firepower.

This is why fractional leaders can be unbelievably powerful partners. They’ve been on a journey. They’ve accumulated experience. They’ve made a lot of mistakes, continued to grow, and seen things you haven’t yet seen. They’ve spent time thinking of numerous ways to apply their learnings to their businesses. They are craftsmen who provide a cost-effective, low-risk way to quickly gain A LOT of firepower. Instead of playing the same wrong note repeatedly without even realizing it, they can help you quickly find the right note and retrain your ear.

Relating Fraction Leadership to Your Business

A craftsman can literally help you fast forward. While learning through trial and error is incredibly important, leveraging someone’s learned experience can help dramatically reduce the time and cost of experimenting and applying lessons learned. In short, they reduce the learning curve by months or years, allowing you to take significant steps towards growth and scale today. The value you’re paying for is their hard-earned perspective.
A craftsman is a teacher who understands how to make the complex accessible. A true craftsman sees detail, color, and areas of focus extremely clearly. While the general user appreciates the attention to detail, most don’t have a perspective to understand why or recreate it. A true craftsman possesses the ability to make the incredibly complex simple and accessible. They use their craft to elevate the projects and situations they are a part of, without requiring everyone to obtain the same level of expertise.
A craftsman isn’t following a single script; they are writing it for you. Their experience is an accumulation of experimentation, learning, and deep thinking incrementally gained over periods of focused productivity. This allows them to craft a solution specific to your team, market, strategy, and strengths.

It shouldn’t be a question of ‘if’ you should leverage a fractional executive, but ‘where’ and ‘when’. Where can you leverage expertise to speed up your growth?

Oh, and if you’re looking for a place to start, reach out for a free assessment. I’d love to help you and your business take the next step.

These Old Shoes - Time for a new pair?

Tue, 17 Oct 2023 14:20:09 GMT

Marshall Goldsmith famously said, “What got you here won’t get you there.”

Simple, memorable, and true, yet easy to forget even when you consistently put it into practice.

The start of the whitetail hunting season is here. With early morning temps beginning to dip into the upper 30s, it’s time to start pulling out warmer hunting gear. So, on a recent weekend trip, I packed my base layer, coverall, hat, light gloves, wool socks, and warm boots. I’ve had these boots for 12 years and have often put them to work while I galavant through the woods in search of venison. They’ve been great boots and have enabled my adventures, especially as the temps drop below 0. They’ve definitely earned the wear and tear they’ve accumulated.

2 years ago the front half of the soles began to detach. Since the remainder of the boot was in relatively good shape, I researched glues, thoroughly prepped the surfaces and re-glued them. A bit of time to set and they were ready for their return to action.

For the next 2 years, they worked great, that is until the end of the 2nd year when they developed a few small holes near the bottom side and the glue holding the front soles began to give. When it rained or I stepped in a puddle, well, I knew it. But still, these were mostly good boots and, with another application of glue, I could still use them in warmish dry weather. So, I packed them away until this year.

Life got a little busy. With the start of the season and my first trip around the corner, I grabbed some black duct tape to hold them together until the end of the trip when I could reglue them. A temporary fix. Upon return from my 1st-morning hunt, I began to remove them when the back soles detached. No problem, nothing a little more duct tape can’t fix. (Ok, it was a lot more duct tape.) Patched up I was ready to head back out.

These boots must’ve been quite the sight; 2 colors of duct tape, flopping soles, and a few cracks. Still, I continued to think, “They’re fine. I can probably get another year or two out of them.” Then my wife saw them and said, “I think it’s time to get a new pair. You need to throw these away”

This is often the position leaders find themselves in within their businesses. You’ve been on the journey. You’ve achieved success. You are comfortable with the skills, tools, approaches, and processes that got you here. And, you continue to approach and execute your business the same way, even though the skills, tools, approaches, and processes may no longer be adequate for today. No longer adequate for the challenges, market, or opportunities you’re presently faced with. Like an old worn pair of well-loved boots, you continue to patch them up and redeploy them to tackle your next challenge.

But, if what got you here won’t get you there, what can you do to recognize and acknowledge the changes that are needed?

Question everything...often - Why are we approaching xxx like this? Why are we structured this way? Why are we using this tool? Why is this process designed like this? What are we trying to achieve? Is this step really necessary? Is this activity adding value? How does this impact our customers? What would make us more useful to our customers?
Keep counsel with someone outside your business - Even when we excel at questioning, you may be too close. Our emotional ties can cause the stories we tell ourselves and the perspectives we maintain to become skewed. Maintaining counsel from a trusted and detached source provides an excellent perspective that draws you into deeper reflection and understanding of the situation. This can be a coach, mentor, or peer group, and it provides you with an unbiased view useful in evaluating the pros and cons. It allows for distinguishing the emotional from the logical. It allows for clear thinking. It allows for seeing an old, worn pair of boots in their current state, detached from the emotion of the value they’ve provided for the last 12 years.
Let go, but don’t discount - We can hinder our own progress by continuing to hold onto what worked, even when it no longer works for the present. Just because a skill, tool, approach, or process is no longer what you need doesn’t mean it’s not important to your story. I can’t stress this point enough. While it may no longer be appropriate for delivering what the business needs, it wasn’t wrong or bad. In fact, it may have even been instrumental. ‘It’ may have been exactly what the business needed to get here and it’s OK to acknowledge and celebrate that within your story. The same holds true for people. We each have different strengths and weaknesses. It’s ok to acknowledge and celebrate the people and skills that got us here, even if they aren’t the people and skills needed to continue to grow.

Is it time for a new pair of shoes?

A Magnified Impact

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 17:45:36 GMT

Are your behaviors accelerating or slowing your business’ trajectory?

As your company grows, so does its complexity. You add team members, skills, customers, products or services, and possibly locations. Your once small nimble shop that was able to pivot at a moment’s notice now struggles to adapt quickly enough to keep up with you.

Why? What’s happened? What do you do about it?

I was out driving on the inside lane of a 4 lane highway the other day. With a steady stream of cars in both lanes, the cars in the left lane were traveling about 10-15 miles an hour faster than the cars in the right. I was cruising along when all of a sudden I was forced to slam on my brakes, decelerating by 50 mph, losing momentum, and gaining a rush of adrenaline.

Why?

There was a dump truck in the right lane that wanted to pass the car in front of it. That car was traveling 20-25 mph slower than the vehicles in the left lane, so, without warning, he pushed his way in. This wouldn’t have been such a big deal if he’d been going the same speed or there were only a handful of cars on the road. But he wasn’t and there weren’t. He had a large heavy vehicle that took time to accelerate and was moving slower than the cars to his left. The resulting impact... everyone in the left lane that suddenly found themselves behind him was forced to react, causing a chain reaction of red lights, increased adrenaline, and lost time and momentum.

Without evolving the structure and approach, seemingly simple

moves can cause the entire business to slam on its brakes, halting

momentum and leaving teams and individuals frustrated.

This often happens to leaders as their business grows. Early days provide the luxury of seeing an obstacle or opportunity, making a move, and gaining momentum. Because the left lane IS NOT congested and their vehicle is smaller, faster, and more agile, the likelihood of hurting organizational momentum is significantly decreased. You make your move, gain momentum, and slide back over.

As your company grows and the complexity increases, so does the impact of these moves. Your vehicle becomes bigger and slower and the road becomes more congested. Without evolving the structure and approach, seemingly simple moves can cause the entire business to slam on it’s brakes, halting momentum and leaving teams and individuals frustrated.

Sound familiar? What can you do about it?

Add a COO or fractional COO - The addition of senior leaders is one of the most crucial steps a founder can make when growing their business. Done correctly, these leaders multiply the CEO's impact, allow for concentrated discipline-specific execution, and create skillset expertise. They are the foundation that allows scaling to begin. In particular, introducing a COO provides a person responsible for turning the vision into a strategy that can be implemented and executed using the existing team and resources. This allows the CEO to cast a vision and freely pull the company towards it, while the COO provides the buffer that prevents a sea of brake lights from emerging at each change. The COO is thoughtful and intentional about the direction they provide their teams. They plan for a change, check for obstructions, signal to begin, accelerate, and then get back over.
Understand the levers that increase or decrease momentum - Leaders need to understand their organization and the impact of their moves. The larger the business or organization, the more time it typically takes to move or change direction. More moving parts requires more time, coordinated effort, teaching, and communication. Moving a large organization without destroying momentum requires a steady and consistent rhythm, so take a little more time upfront to determine your direction. That leads to...
Create a ‘Proof of Concept’ team - This small nimble team is there to evaluate and prove your ideas, opportunities, and potential directional changes before pushing them out to the rest of your organization. This allows you the ability to quickly experiment without hindering or halting the larger organization. It’s important to note this group is meant to prove ideas, not take them from start to finish. Proven ideas are then handed to teams in the larger organization for execution.

The 'Nimble' Find A Way

Mon, 02 Oct 2023 18:48:20 GMT

“...you have dancing shoes,

With nimble soles; I have a soul of lead

So stakes me to the ground I cannot move.”

- Romeo to Mercutio in William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’

The ability to be nimble in the face of the unexpected is an incredibly underrated skill. To put on our dancing shoes, allow our souls to be lifted, and move in a moment when all has changed and we want to crumble to the floor can feel impossible. To take in the moment. The moment with the unexpected circumstances we now have. The moment in which our carefully planned path is no longer relevant or possible. The moment we're presented with a fork in the road. Adjust and embrace a new path or be weighed down, distraught by what has come, and unable to do anything about it.

My youngest daughter, like me, loves to bow hunt. As the leaves change, swimming pools are closed, and firepits come to life in neighborhood backyards, you’ll often find us romping around the countryside in search of an opportunity to put some meat in our freezer.

And so happened recently. A rare 3 day weekend gave us a chance to head out to my Grandma’s property for a 3-day hunt. And it started exactly as we planned. We arrived, said hello, got ready, and were in the stand by 3 for an evening hunt over a small field. Other than the unusual heat for this time of year, it was going exactly as planned.

As Day 2 wound down and we sat at the table eating a late dinner, I got a phone call asking if I could run into town to pick someone up and give them a quick ride. “Sure,” I thought. “I’ll grab my keys, head over, and be back within 30 minutes.”

Well, there are plans and then there’s what happens.

With a turn of the key, my truck sluggishly slurred to life. Hmmm. “Well”, I thought, “maybe the battery is dying.” As we backed up, the headlights dimmed and the lights began blinking off and on. “That’s not supposed to happen.”

Then the engine stopped and another turn of the key confirmed it, I had no power.

So here I am, out in the country with a car that no longer runs and a daughter that has to be home by mid-day tomorrow. This wasn’t the plan. An early morning hunt no longer looked feasible, nor did making it home by mid-day.

Time to reassess and adjust. Our new plan? Wake up early, pack the truck, get a tow to the only shop open on Sundays in hopes they could fit us in, and have my wife meet us to pick up our daughter and take her home while I attempted to sort out the next steps.

As leaders, isn’t this similar to the situations we often find ourselves in? We evaluate. We plan. We organize. We take action. Then, the unexpected occurs. The market shifts. Customer habits change. A new competitor emerges. A critical team member quits. And we find ourselves faced with a choice that often doesn’t feel like a choice.

Do we keep charging down the same path or reassess and pivot?

These are the moments when we are called to be nimble. To take in the situation, leverage our experience and knowledge of our past and the situation, and forge an alternate path forward.

How do we prepare ourselves for these moments?

Plan - Planning is crucial. The process of creating plans, even ones that are eventually thwarted, creates a deep understanding of the components involved. The deeper the knowledge, the more it will benefit us later if we need to reassess and/or change direction.
Observe - When something changes, take it in. Don’t deny it, or fight it. Absorb it. Ask questions. Understand it.
Reassess - Ask yourself, “What does this mean? Should this alter our current plan?” This is the moment you can leverage your knowledge and observations to make a pivot without losing sight of where you’re going.
Act Nimbly - Armed with an adjusted plan that maintains focus for where you’re heading, take action, and redirect your team.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, after scheduling a 1 p.m. appointment on their website, we arrived at the shop to find a handwritten note on the door saying, “Closed today. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Time for another pivot. After church, I located an auto parts store with a replacement alternator and battery. A short walk there, Uber back to my car, and a bit of work later and I was back on the road and home by 4. (Only 3 hours later than the original plan.)

The Courage to Encourage

Tue, 26 Sep 2023 22:34:21 GMT

To have courage means I am able to move forward and take action, despite my fear.

Courage is powerful. It allows me to speak up, share ideas, experiment, stand up for others, etc...But as an individual, the impact of my courage is limited. I lack a multiplier. To encourage is to add a multiplier. It’s a game-changer. To encourage is to equip others to act courageously, even if they lack it. To encourage moves the impact from singular to multiple entities, and the resulting reach is significantly more expansive.

A while back I was watching a show where a scene played out that we’ve all seen hundreds of times. An employee enters his boss’s office. Looking slightly annoyed, the boss looks up at the employee and reluctantly invites them to share. The employee, in a brief moment of courage, boldly shares their desire to apply for an open position. The boss immediately responds, maybe even thinking they're helping the employee, by telling them all the reasons they’re not qualified or ready for the position and that level of responsibility. The conversation has been shut down. The moment of courage, now gone, is marked by rejection. The employee, dejected, leaves having lost their hard-earned moment of courage and learning that an act like this causes pain and should be avoided

To give courage is to give someone the strength to be vulnerable. To continue

to be vulnerable. To push their limits and attempt to expand their horizons.

To discourage is to actively suppress action in the face of fear. For the discouraged, it feeds the fear and invites them to step away from bold action. For the discourager, it diminishes openness for the discouraged’s courageous actions and limits the discourager’s impact to that of a singular courageous person.

It’s true that the employee may not be ready for the position. They may need to continue to develop skills. They may need to gain additional experience. Courage takes vulnerability and, in this moment, the employee is vulnerable. Despite our own insecurities, how we react as a leader will often influence what happens next.

To give courage is to give someone the strength to be vulnerable. To continue to be vulnerable. To push their limits and attempt to expand their horizons.

When faced with scenarios like the above, there’s an exercise I love to engage people in. It’s simple. It’s a reflective exercise designed to collaborate with them to define, assess, and direct. It goes like this.

What skills are needed to be successful in the desired position? At what level? (Rate 1-10)
Rate yourself for each of these skills. (1-10)
With the employee, assess where they are currently at. Are these ratings an accurate representation of their current skills?
Collaborate on a roadmap to develop deficiencies, close the skills gap, and gain experience.

Taking the time to understand, assess, and define a path forward communicates belief in the person. It is an act of encouragement. It says, “I recognize your vulnerability in your act of courage and I want to help you continue to progress and develop your ‘courage’ muscle.”

What are you doing to encourage those around you?

Obsessed With Growth

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 11:58:52 GMT

I’ve been watching American Ninja Warrior since nearly the beginning. It’s a show of grit, courage, and drive. It’s a show where contestants often defy the odds in life just to be there...and then they go on to compete at incredibly high levels. It’s a show of vulnerability, where competitors put themselves out there, give all they have, and sometimes fall short. And then, whether they fall short or are victorious, they line the course and, despite their own emotions and in a display of incredible camaraderie, cheer on their competition.

When you’ve taken your best shot, invest everything

you have, and are still outdone, how do you react?

Case in point. As season 15 winds to a close, there are 8 ninjas remaining for the final challenge, the 75 ft rope climb up Mt. Midoriyama's. Each competitor has 30 seconds to reach the top. Of those who reach the top in time, the fastest time takes home $1M.

The climb itself, without the constraints of time or pressure of securing a prize, is massive. It’s one many elite athletes couldn’t successfully complete. To conquer it, athletes have to create and maintain a consistent rhythm. They have to fight off the fatigue and lactic acid build-up that has their body screaming to just give up.

So, here we are. After the first several competitors attempt and fail in time, Daniel Gil ascends the platform ready to take on the challenge. The signal sounds and he’s off, starting his climb at a ferocious rate. As he ascends and the clock drains, the obvious signs of fatigue become visible, but he continues. He’s got a chance. The 30-year-old Daniel Gil is at the peak of his athletic prowess, and it shows. He’s been on the show since season 7. He attempted the same climb in season 11 but fell just short. Now, with mere seconds left, he has a chance. Hand outstretched through the top, he surges towards the buzzer, stopping the clock with just 2.01 seconds remaining.

Almost before he’s even had a chance to catch his breath, the 18-year-old Vance Walker steps up for his turn. Within moments, Vance soars past him to complete the course in 26:75, a little over a second faster than Daniel. Just like that, his victory and $1M prize are gone.

It’s moments like these you learn what people are made of. Leaders, I’m talking to you. When you’ve taken your best shot, invest everything you have, and are still outdone, how do you react? How do you show up for your team, customers, and those leading you?

As Vance descended the tower, there was Daniel to congratulate him. Again, a few minutes later as the final contestant gave it his all and ultimately fell short, there was Daniel to celebrate Vance. To celebrate with him, and celebrate him...despite the myriad of emotions I’m sure he was experiencing.

What can we take away and apply to our teams and businesses?

Your vulnerability gives your team permission to be vulnerable - If you want your team to take big shots, to not be afraid of falling short, it’s up to you to create an environment where that is encouraged and celebrated. Where dreams can be had, risks can be taken, and results can be analyzed. Safety to take risks requires acceptance that some will win big and others will fall short.
Set big goals - goals that are beyond your current reach. Achievable, yes. Tangible, yes. But goals that force us to stretch ourselves and expand our skills. There were 8 competitors striving to complete the final climb. 2 did, and just barely. Setting goals is not about checking off everything on your to-do list. If you achieve 100% of your targets, your goals are not big enough. Goals are meant to challenge us, to push us, to force us to stretch beyond ourselves and our current thought processes. The way you set goals communicates how much risk is acceptable across your team. Are you taking big shots or are you more concerned with the optics of 100% achievement?
Celebrate successes - Leaders set the tone and know it’s not about their achievement. Their reaction gives others direction on how they should behave. When you win, your team is watching. When you lose, they’re still watching. Celebrating the victories, even when the accomplishment is not personally yours, signals what is important for success. It says ‘we succeed when the team succeeds’. Regardless of your accomplishments or emotions, celebrate the victories. Celebrate the victors. Celebrate the achievements that set you and your team up for the next set of challenges.

A Better View

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 18:03:14 GMT

“To the right, to the right, to the right, to the right

To the left, to the left, to the left, to the left”

- Cupid, The Cupid Shuffle

It’s a late summer Sunday evening. The air is warm but cooling as the sun begins to dip in the sky and my daughter and I cruise along with windows down, radio blaring...enjoying the moment. We’re driving toward the sun, a big bright deep orange ball still hovering just over the horizon. As we slow to a stop at a stoplight, I briefly entertain a thought of how bright the sun is while simultaneously turning away to look at something else. A few seconds later, from the corner of my eye, I catch my daughter whipping out her phone, aiming at the sun, zooming in, and snapping a couple of pictures...trying to capture the perfect shot.

From her vantage point just a couple of feet to my right and 6 inches lower, the sun was already disappearing into the horizon, its glow bursting up from beneath the horizon, illuminating the sky. Until I glanced at her phone screen, I couldn’t see it. But she could.

From my vantage point just a few feet away, all I saw was something ordinary. The beauty was there, I just wasn’t in a position to observe it.

Curiosity invokes movement and

movement alters our perspective.

We’re often like this in our businesses and relationships. We’re in a hurry. Our sights are set on a target as we rush toward it, missing things that can, and sometimes should, grab our attention and alter our path.

We have a plan, designed with the best information we had at that moment, and we’re determined to stick to it.
Our company has been successful and has continued to repeat the same playbook for years with increasingly reduced returns.
We have an employee who’s struggling and we miss the opportunity to see their strengths, help them develop, and place them in a position that leverages their skills.
We have an employee who’s crushing it and, motivated to preserve a good thing, we fail to understand their strengths and ambitions and allow them to hurdle towards burnout or frustration, maybe even feeling like they’re stuck, though they long for something different.
We discuss and reject project ideas because all we see is a ‘big bright sun’ and miss the magnificence of the ‘sunset glow’.

Plans are absolutely necessary if we want to move a business forward. They provide clarity in thought, movement, responsibility, and communication. Likewise, individual roles are necessary. They tell us where each person’s responsibility lies within the structure defined to support the execution of the plan. Without them, too much ambiguity exists to operate as a team and play within our roles.

But, as leaders, our responsibility extends beyond defining, implementing, and executing against a plan. Our role demands we possess the ability to look beyond the plan, view of the market, understanding of the opportunities, and defined roles within our teams to observe new perspectives for what could be. And while a new perspective may not change anything, it could absolutely change everything.

How do we intentionally build and strengthen the skill of observing new perspectives?

Slow down and let your mind wander - Take time to slow down and observe. Let your mind wander. It’s hard to recognize something different or better if we’re moving too quickly to see it. What aren’t you seeing that someone else is?
Be Curious - To be curious is to embrace the reality that you don’t have all the answers. That you can learn more. That your eyes can be opened to something new. Curiosity invokes movement and movement alters our perspective. How can you ‘move’ a few feet to gain a new vantage point?
Lean into dissenting views - When encountering opposing views, do your best to set aside your ego and ask, “What do they see that I don’t?” It may be nothing, but then again, it may be something significant. Seek to understand their perspective and be open to observing a different view.

Growth and Adaptation through Perseverance

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 22:06:34 GMT

My sport growing up was baseball. Sure, I played others as well, but my passion was baseball. Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Regular season games, tournaments, camps, batting cages. Days, nights, and weekends. It was baseball all the way.

Then, in 9th grade, I burned out...and that’s what brought me to the track on a cold, windy, early spring day to run 400 repeats for the first time. Designed to build speed and create a body memory of the pace, 400s have you run 400 after 400 after 400 with only a brief rest in between. The more you do, the harder you have to work to maintain the pace. The harder you work, the more your body is stretched beyond its existing limits...which forces growth and adaptation to keep up.

But I didn’t yet understand any of this.

Lining up for the 1st of 8 400s as an out-of-shape high-schooler, and filled with the excitement and anticipation of something new, I waited for the command from my coach. “Go!” We were off.

The 1st one wasn’t too bad. By the 3rd and 4th I was feeling queasy. I felt like I needed to throw up. By the 5th, as I rounded the turn at 300 to head down the home stretch to the finish, I could barely lift my legs. They felt like lead weights. I thought, “I’m done. I can’t do this anymore.”

I finished, caught my breath, walked over to my coach, and told him, “Coach, I’m finished. I can’t do anymore.” In his wisdom, he replied, “Alright.” After a pause, he added, “I bet you can do one more. Give me one more good one.”

I guess my plan of quitting didn’t work. Obediently, I lined up again and took off for #6. 1 more. That’s all I have to do and then I can stop.

But, as I crossed the line, there was coach with a grin. “I knew you could do it. How are you feeling?” “Alright”, I replied.

Wrong answer and he was quick to seize the opportunity. “Great, let’s see if you can do one more.”

After 8 400s, I collapsed on the track. Exhausted. Unable to think. Having completed what I thought wasn’t possible. As time went on and those 8 grew well beyond 10, that lesson remained.

I’ve learned that my mind often wants to give up long before I’ve reached my limits, both physical and mental. When what I’m doing is hard, I’m running into resistance, and/or it’s demanding more than I think I have to offer, it’s easy to want to stop and give up. But it’s in the perseverance, in the stretch, that the growth and adaptation required for greater accomplishments is achieved.

Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.” You will find your answer either way.

As leaders and visionaries, it can be challenging to maintain your excitement when you’re exhausted, running into headwinds, and still so far away from the vision you’ve dreamed.

You don’t have to get there all at once. Just one more. And the one will become, 2, 2 becomes 3, and eventually, you’ll reach your destination.

Where do you need to do just one more?

You can resist it, ignore it, or embrace it...but change is inevitable

Tue, 29 Aug 2023 00:16:31 GMT

Change is inevitable. You can resist it, ignore it, or embrace it. Though the impact of each approach is drastically different, the choice is ultimately yours.

In 1839, after making his way from Baltimore to Cincinnati and then eventually to St. Louis, German immigrant Nicholas Schaeffer settled down and started N. Schaeffer & Co. (Schaeffer Manufacturing Co.), now one of the oldest firms in St. Louis, MO.

Over the next 40 years, Schaeffer Manufacturing Co. grew exponentially. Focused on manufacturing soaps, candles, and lubricants, they grew to become the largest soap and candle manufacturer west of the Mississippi. But the world was quickly changing.

The next several decades brought the emergence of grocery stores selling mass-produced, individually wrapped floating soap, and the widespread adoption of the electric light that began to eat away at Schaeffer’s market share. By the depression, Schaeffer Manufacturing Co. had become just a shadow of its former self.

20 years before the oil business in the United States, Schaeffer Manufacturing Co. was producing lubricants from animal fats. As the US oil business emerged, they shifted away from animal fat-based lubricants towards oil-based lubricants. Now, as heavy machinery became more prevalent, so did the need for heavier oil-based greases and lubricants that could hold up against the increasing equipment stresses. Schaeffer Manufacturing Co. was in a perfect position to make a pivot...and that’s exactly what they did.

"To awaken your genius, the first step is to relearn. And to do that, you have to first

unlearn, or discard that which no longer suits you.”

Ozan Varol

Following WWII, Schaeffer Manufacturing Co. pivoted its focus away from soaps and candles and towards it’s lubricant business, something that previously made up only 20% of it’s revenue. This change created an opportunity to return their business to growth, and the results speak for themselves. In the decades following the change, the company that had nearly gone under during the Great Depression saw revenue increase to ~$15M by 1982, ~$100M by 2010, and ~$150M by 2017.

What can we learn from Schaeffer’s journey that we can apply to our own lives and businesses?

What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There. As Marshall Goldsmith shared in his book of the same title, our previous path and success DO NOT dictate our future path and success. Keep an open mind, look for opportunities, make the most of them when they’re present, and don’t be afraid to make a bet on something new or different.
We can’t predict the future, so we must take a couple of steps forward and be open to what comes. In Awaken Your Genius, Ozan Varol says, “To awaken your genius, the first step is to relearn. And to do that, you have to first unlearn, or discard that which no longer suits you.” While we can't predict what will happen next, we can commit to being curious and continually learning.
Change is inevitable; we get to choose how we deal with it.
We can resist it , in which case we hold tightly to what created our original success and actively fight off anything different. This preserves what was but risks what could be.
We can ignore it , in which case we hope the change will just go away. This neither protects what was nor puts up a fight for what could be. In fact, this risks losing both.
We can embrace it , in which case a new opportunity is always just around the corner. As with Schaeffer, this doesn’t necessarily mean we lose everything that got us here. It does mean that we’re open to how we can leverage our knowledge and skills towards something new. It allows us to actively participate in the writing of our future stories.

The choice is yours. How will you approach change the next time you encounter it face-to-face?

Know Your Role

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 00:27:38 GMT

Most musicians start out as solo performers. As they progress and become more proficient in their instrument, they oftentimes take the next step and join a band. It’s in this simple act that they begin their transition from solo musician to team player.

While this may not seem like a big deal, it’s monumental. The once independent musician who had 100% control over their sound is now a member of a group. They have to collaborate. They have to work with the other musicians to create a unified sound. They’re no longer free to just do whatever they want, whenever they want. And the more members there are, the more challenging creating a singular cohesive piece of music becomes.

It’s here, in the midst of learning to create beautiful music with other people, that musicians learn an essential life skill...without even realizing it. They learn to play their role.

The role of a musician in a band is nuanced. It’s different from instrument to instrument and often changes, even within a single tune. Here’s what it looks like.

Beginning with the song introduction, the rhythm guitar player is steadily strumming in sync with the well-defined groove laid down by the bass and drums, while the piano/keys comp chords to fill in space, creating a larger sound as the lead guitar adds a few well-spaced and tasteful licks over the top...adding a little bit of color where appropriate.

As the verses start, everyone tends to fall back a bit. The lead guitar becomes more sparse, the piano may subside, and the bass and drum volume decreases. Towards the end of the verse, they reach a transition where the drummer breaks from their steady beat to add a fill, leading to the next part and quickly syncing back into the groove while the piano chimes back in.

As the song progresses, so does the contribution from the bass and drums. Their once simple spacey groove, while still present, has increased in volume and complexity as they begin to match the building energy around them. Eventually, the lead guitar comes to the forefront. Their volume increases as they begin their solo, invoking a call and response with the rest of the band. Think of it like they're having an excited and energetic conversation with one another.

At last the song climaxes, the singer chimes back in, the music progresses towards an ending, and the lead guitar, while still playing licks around what the singer and band are doing, steps back into the band, bringing the song to a close.

When it all comes together and everyone is doing their part, it’s magic...and everyone can feel it.

There’s a great example of this from the 2004 Rock ‘n Roll Hall of fame induction ceremony when Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood, Dhani Harrison & Prince pay tribute to George Harrison. On an overcrowded stage of phenomenal musicians, you’ll notice each of them playing their part when and where it’s needed. In particular, watch Prince standing off to the side for the first couple of minutes of the song, not even playing. Yes! Even silence and space can be the fulfillment of an important role. But when it’s his turn, he’s ready to do his part.

So, how does this translate to your business? To your teams? To you?

Know, understand, and embrace the role you’re in today. Do you know your role in your current position? Just because you can solo like Victor Wooten or John Bonham doesn’t mean you should or it’s appropriate to do so in your current role. Your role, the team you’re on, and the strategy and mission of the company you’re at defines your responsibilities. Understand and embrace your role at each moment, aware that as things change, so will your role...and you’ll need to adapt.
Support and mentor others so they can fulfill their roles. Just like a musician, your goal is to produce something beautiful together, something greater than what any of you could individually achieve. Because of this, you want everyone in your company to succeed in their roles as well. When everyone succeeds, like in music, something magical is produced. Look for opportunities around you to support those around you. Whether they're in over their heads, changing disciplines or roles, or a seasoned professional, everyone needs supportive people around them to achieve success.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering what happens when we don’t play our roles...we create chaos. Instead of one unified piece, it literally sounds like a bunch of individual pieces simultaneously played. We create noise, stepping on each other's toes, duplicating efforts, and wrestling for our approaches to win out.

How well are you playing your role?

Incessantly Curious

Mon, 14 Aug 2023 16:44:11 GMT

Want to know a secret?

As a young budding musician getting ready to enter college to study jazz performance, I remember being equal parts excited and terrified. I didn’t follow a normal path to get there. In fact, as I entered the program, I had been playing for less than 3 years, was self-taught, and couldn’t read music to save my life.

I walked into the audition room the first day surrounded by teachers and students who had been studying and playing music for most of their lives. They could read music like I read a book. They understood music theory. They could solo and transpose. They talked the talk, while all I could do was sit in awe, thrilled to be included and terrified I’d be found out.

The head of the program welcomed us and, as he introduced us to the program and our newly embarked on journey, he shared something interesting. He said, “The more you learn, the more you’ll discover you don’t yet know.”

“The more you learn, the more you’ll

discover you don’t yet know.”

At the time, I’m not sure I even understood what he said. The more I learn and the better I get, the more I’ll realize I don’t know. Really? How does that even make sense? Here I am with some phenomenal musicians and even better professors who all appeared to have mastery over their instruments.

I thought, “I just need to learn what they know and I’ll have it figured out.”

So I began. I worked hard. I learned music theory. I learned how to read, play different styles, and transpose both styles and keys in real-time. I spent countless hours a day practicing. And the better I got and the more skills I acquired, the more I began to understand what my professor had shared. My skills were increasing and my confidence was decreasing as I began to comprehend just how much I didn’t know.

"Being incessantly curious opened me

up to discovery and constant learning."

Most of us spend significant amounts of time looking at others who are beyond our current skills, thinking, “Wow. If I could just get there. If I could speak like that, inspire people like that, write code like that, sell like that, tell a story like that, or even play music like that.” We think if we can just get there, we’ll have mastered our pursuit. But ‘there’ is a false destination. The closer we get, the further out the destination appears.

It was during this time I developed one of my core values; incessant curiosity. Not just curiosity, but incessant curiosity. Relentlessly pursued. Unceasing. This value changed my posture from one of ‘not having yet arrived’ to one of ‘possibility’. It opened me up to discovery and constant learning.

So, that’s the secret. No matter what you know or can do, there is always something more you can do or learn. This applies to everyone. Every individual, team, leader, and business. Master the skills of curiosity and learning and you will have the ability to adapt, grow, and consistently solve challenging problems.

What are you learning this week?

Who's In Your Corner?

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 21:21:32 GMT

I’m a runner. I love to run. I love the chance to explore the outdoors, absorb the peace and quiet, and both mentally and physically challenge myself.

In my mid-30s, with young kids in tow, a busy work schedule, recovering from a broken back in my mid-20s, and years of on-again-off-again running, I’d somehow gotten it into my head that I had one more chance at attempting a speed goal. Determined to make the most of it, I decided to see if I could hit a 1:30 1/2 marathon.

After grabbing a new pair of running shoes, I mapped out a training program and was off. I ramped up my mileage, I trained hard, and I knocked out speed work. As race day approached, I was ready. I lined up, took off with the gun, ran a pretty good race, and...fell short by a couple of minutes.

"Coaches provide insight that helps us get past our roadblocks."

With a week of rest and moping under my belt, I’d determined something was missing. Something, but I wasn’t sure what. I was trying to accomplish this by myself...but I needed the wisdom and guidance of a coach. Someone with experience who knew how to get where I was trying to go. Someone who could help craft my training around me and my goal.

I asked around, found a coach, and reached out. Armed with a new set of insight and tools, and rested from a couple of weeks off, I was ready to try again.

Just like before, I trained hard and put in the miles. Just like before, I showed up to the race prepared. And just like before, I crossed the finish line just short....about a minute short of my goal.

But unlike the last time, this time the result was expected. My coach had planned for me to run my first race as part of my training cycle, giving me a chance to acclimate my body and get a feel for racing. We had a plan. I had a coach to confide in, strategize with, and keep me focused. This time, 2 weeks later, I lined up again, took off at the gun, and nailed it. 1:30!

I was already a decent runner before I found my coach. I knew how to work hard and did a lot of things right. I was just stuck and struggling to accomplish my goal of a 1:30 finish. My coach tweaked my training, strategized with me, provided accountability, and taught me how to approach my racing goal.

"Coaches give us a new perspective, encourage us, and teach us how

to go beyond our current limitations and get to where we want to be."

While we’re quick to see the need for coaches or mentors in sports, we’re a little slower to adopt them in other areas of our lives.

We shouldn’t be.

Coaches provide support within our inner circle. They provide insight that helps us get past our roadblocks. They give us a new perspective, encourage us, and teach us how to go beyond our current limitations to get to where we want to be. They speed up our journey, helping us to shortcut the arduous trial-and-error learning process.

Personal or business, amateur or professional, we can all benefit from the support and experience of a coach.

Where in your life can you use the wisdom and guidance of a coach?

Cultivating The Culture You Need

Mon, 31 Jul 2023 16:48:16 GMT

I have a small old country fishing pond, about an acre, that reaches 13 ft at its deepest point. It’s a beautiful pond tucked away in a little valley. It’s peaceful and calming. It has become one of my favorite spots to pull up a chair and relax, watching the trees sway with the breeze and listening to the soothing soundtrack of the wind as it mixes with the water droplets crashing into the surface, succumbing to gravity shortly after being launched by the fountain.

Pond health can be easily swayed by many factors. Our pond has developed a problem. It’s being overtaken by water lotus.

It started out as just a few beautiful plants that appeared last summer in a small handful of areas. By fall, the plants had spread and the areas they covered had started to become a little larger, so I vowed to work on reducing them. Winter came and passed, and as spring arrived and temperatures rose, I began treating them in an attempt to reduce them back to the relatively small areas they occupied when I first noticed them.

I don’t know if I waited too long to begin treatment (timing is critical because they have to be growing) or if I didn’t apply enough of the specific herbicide, but even after consultation with the manufacturer, the lotuses weren’t deterred. In fact, they continued to rapidly grow and spread around the entire pond. Now, the first 10-15 feet of my once open shorelines are covered in lotuses.

Our culture is a lot like this. When our goals are defined, values set, and behaviors intentionally cultivated, life is pretty good. But, like in a pond, it doesn’t take a whole lot for an invasive species to creep in. What starts out barely noticeable can quickly take hold and spread throughout our organizations. And once they’ve become well established, they also become a lot harder to modify or eradicate.

Cultural isn’t just what we say...it's a combination of our defined

aspirations, our lived example, and the behaviors we allow.

Culture creates the environment where our strategies can be achieved. In a fishing pond covered in invasive lotuses, it becomes increasingly difficult to fish. In a company where the culture encompasses undesired behaviors, it becomes increasingly difficult to achieve the desired results, no matter how well-defined and intentional the strategy is.

Peter Drucker once famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”.

Cultural isn’t just what we say, what we aspire to, or even limited to the behaviors we personally model. Culture is a combination of our defined aspirations, our lived example, and the behaviors we allow.

So, as leaders, what can we do about it?

Define the culture you need - What are the exhibited behaviors you need to achieve the company’s vision? The more clearly you can define and articulate these, the more likely it is you’ll be able to achieve them.
Model and spotlight the behaviors you desire - With organizations looking to you for guidance, the behaviors you live and draw attention to are the ones your teams will deem important. They are the ones they will attempt to emulate. When your behaviors and attention focus on what you desire, your teams don’t have to try and determine what’s being asked of them based on their interpretations of the two. This reduces stress. This increases their time and energy toward the execution of the strategy. Every time you interact with a member of your organization is an opportunity to evangelize the culture. Have 1 or 2 stories that highlight the desired lived culture and behaviors in your hip pocket...and readily share them every chance you get.
Be on the lookout for invaders and quickly eradicate them - As important as modeling and highlighting the behaviors you desire, you must be on the lookout for detrimental behaviors. When you see them, it’s time to act. Don’t wait. Hope is not a strategy. Don’t assume someone else will come along and fix the problem. The invaders will quickly take root and spread. Your immediate attention and actions are required. When you see it, address it.

Great Leaders Multiply Impact By Creating New Leaders

Mon, 24 Jul 2023 20:36:53 GMT

As a young 1st time manager, I assumed my team consisted of smart driven individuals who thought like I did. I had only to share a vision, assign goals, and provide minimal direction and details so the work would happen as intended and on time. Man was I wrong! They were undoubtedly very smart and very driven. They also lacked the experiences and learnings to know how to approach it, execute against it, and learn from their mistakes.

I shared a vision, assigned goals, gave what I thought was adequate detail, and sent folks on their way. Time after time, the due dates approached and I checked in on progress only to find it lacking and unlikely to be successful, especially within the required time. Frustrated at the lack of progress, I eventually swung the pendulum in the other direction, micro-managing the individuals and tasks to ensure the desired outcomes were reached. This drove immediate progress. It also drove frustration and burnout that left un-empowered teams who were reliant on me for progress. I became the lynchpin of the organization and an impediment to their progress.

Sound familiar? Is your organization or company dependent on you?

As part of his Pyramid of Success, legendary coach John Wooden famously taught incoming freshmen how to tie their shoes. Why? If you take the time to put your shoes and socks on correctly, your focus is on the game...not the painful blisters you’ve developed from your shoes and socks sliding around while running and quickly changing directions.

As the players advanced, and games, awards, and championships were won, the players experienced the impact of John’s thinking and teaching firsthand. They became believers. They then became evangelists and teachers.

“Great leaders don’t just delegate and assume things will happen as

they should, they multiply their impact by growing new leaders."

Scaling a business requires not just empowering our teams and holding them accountable, but developing leaders. And, like John’s approach, their development requires our dedication to walking beside them and teaching. Not just hand off and walk away. Not just do it ourselves. But teach.

John’s approach demonstrates the power of teaching. When we teach, empower, and measure, we grow new leaders. Leaders who know how to think. Leaders who know how to empower. Leaders who know how to teach. Leaders who create more leaders. We create a business that can scale well beyond our limitations.

How can we do this in our businesses?

Show people how you think. Let them work alongside you. Let them see your imperfect thinking and imperfect work. Let them see how you gather information and use that to inform and change your view. Let them see how you approach problems, communicate, and persevere through adversity.
Let them make decisions. Be there as a sounding board while they’re making a decision and again for analysis as the decision plays out. As those decisions take root and the results can be seen, be there to walk through the decision, outcomes, and alternate approaches with them.
Success and accountability. Define measures for success and clearly articulate them. This removes interpretation of what success looks like and allows emerging leaders to focus their time and energy on driving progress.

Necessary Stress

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 02:43:38 GMT

It’s a late hot summer night. With the steady whir of the propane torch heating my bending iron, I prepare to bend a pair of mahogany side blanks for an acoustic guitar I’m building. This is literally a make-or-break moment for any guitar build.

In preparation, I evenly thicknessed the side blanks to .9” and soaked them in a tub of water. Preparation is key. Too thick, unique figuring, knots, and wormholes, among other things, cause the wood to be rigid or brittle. Rigid and brittle wood easily breaks.

With the blanks properly prepared, I’m ready to start. One at a time, I work the wood against the hot iron, applying heat, spraying water, and applying pressure. In the hands of an experienced woodworker, the wood seemingly melts as the heat softens the fibers, allowing them to be stretched. I can feel it in the wood. I can feel when it’s ready to give and where it’s still stiff or brittle. But heat is a tricky thing. Too much in a particular spot and the wood burns. Too little and the wood snaps or splinters when pressure is applied.

Little by little I apply pressure. Little by little, the once straight and stiff wood blank begins to take on its new shape. It’s beginning to look a little like a guitar side. Once shaped, the newly bent wood is placed in a mold to rest while it cools and dries, creating the memory and structure that will allow it to retain its new shape.

As leaders, we face this same challenge within our businesses. We see big opportunities before us and desire to position ourselves to capture them. We’re driven to push our organizations forward. But new opportunities require a new way of thinking.

Achieving a new way of thinking and doing requires an introduction of stress. It is the key ingredient. Stress is the instigator that forces us to re-evaluate and acknowledge a more significant or different opportunity. It forces us to acknowledge the way we're doing things won't get us to where we want to head. It is the catalyst for changing our behavior and positions us to capture potential growth.

Just as important, the introduction of stress and the pace of change MUST be carefully managed. Like wood, too much stress and your organization will break. Too little stress and the new shape won’t be achieved or retained.

"...too much stress and your organization will break. Too little

stress and the new shape won’t be achieved or retained."

As a leader responsible for the care and growth of your organization, here are a few things to keep in mind as you work to continually reshape and improve your organization.

Preparation is key. - Remember that your organization has muscle memory. Smaller, newer groups are often more agile and flexible; larger organizations that have been around for a while are more rigid. The time you put into preparation allows the organization to flex and retain its new shape when stress is introduced. This is where a deep understanding of your ‘What’ and ‘Why’, across the organization, is so important.
Take your time and look for feedback. - Apply stress, look for weaknesses, and reduce or change the pressure to avoid breaking or overwhelming your organization. It may take a little longer than expected. You may have to go through several iterations, but with the right care, the old will give way to the new.
A period of rest is required before additional work can be completed. Once the change has been accomplished, you must give the organization a chance to rest for the new shape to take hold. This setting period allows your new shape and behaviors to become your new normal and prevents them from returning to their previous shape.

Exceptional Experiences Create Satisfaction & Power Revenue

Mon, 10 Jul 2023 20:14:24 GMT

Do you know how your customers are experiencing your company? Do you understand how their experience relates to your future revenue?

As this school year was winding down, with summer peering over the horizon, my oldest daughter approached a major teenage milestone, driving. Ready to get her license and hit the open road, my wife and I still faced a big hurdle, getting my wife a new car.

Following a bit of research and discovery, we’d selected a couple potential vehicles for my wife to test drive. With the search field narrowed, dealer appointment set, and confirmation received, my wife and I were off. (In fact, I received multiple calls and text messages confirming the appointment)

We arrived a few minutes early and were greeted by a salesperson who offered to take us to the vehicle, which was sitting on another lot. But, when we arrived at the lot, the vehicle wasn’t there. Interesting. We were notified an hour earlier that it was ready for our appointment. Apparently, an hour or two prior to that they had sold it. Sigh.

Because we were already there, we decided to test drive another vehicle. (Which we ended up purchasing) This led to a multitude of interesting experiences.

While completing the paperwork, they left my wife off the title paperwork and accidentally put another customer on it.
They called 10+ times over the next 2 weeks to check in, have us rate our experience, and attempt to sell vehicle maintenance. (Despite requests to remove us from the call list.)
Upon attempting to register the vehicle with the DMV, we discovered some of the required paperwork was missing or incomplete.
Multiple unanswered/unresponsive calls to the dealer over the next week finally gave way to a conversation with a manager who scheduled time for us to come back so they could correct it. When I arrived, I was informed they would need to redo the emissions testing and, because they were busy and hadn’t scheduled it with their team, I would need to wait until they could fit it in.

This wasn’t a great experience and we won’t be repeat customers.

I don’t think the dealer had any intention of delivering a bad experience. In fact, I think the majority of the individuals I interacted with had a deep desire to make me a customer for life. But something was missing that left the experience feeling a bit disjointed. While they seemed to care, the experience appeared to be something that ‘just happens’ instead of an intentionally defined experience they are on mission to deliver.

What is your customer experience like? Is it benefiting you or, like this dealer, jeopardizing future business? Here are a few basic practices you can use in your business to ensure you deliver the experience you want your customers to have.

Define your ideal customer experience - Definition matters, and the clarity derived becomes your organization's north star. Once you define the experience you want, you’re able to communicate and assign ownership to your teams.
Set clear expectations and do what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it. - Whether good or bad, clearly communicate what a customer should expect from you and when they should expect it. When they know what to expect, they can plan accordingly. Even better, a set expectation can be exceeded!
Regularly measure and review the experience - Measurement and review provide insight into how your customers are experiencing you. With visibility, you have insight into opportunities that enhance the experience. Where is the experience excellent? Where lies confusion or lack of clarity? Where do customers tend to get frustrated?
Don’t just let the customer experience happen to you. Define it, communicate it, measure it, and improve it to grow customers for life.

The Problem With Success

Mon, 03 Jul 2023 20:17:34 GMT

The problem with success is that we fear losing what we already have. We’re afraid of the risk of the unknown, so we hold on tightly to what we already have. Innovation requires opportunity, bold thinking, and focused pursuit of the unknown.

Do you know the story of Kodak? Kodak began in 1888 as a wet and dry plate photography company. From its earliest years, Kodak heavily invested in research and innovation. For decades, the emerging ideas fueled their growth. They were at the cutting edge of the photography revolution, leading the world from plates to black and white film to color film. They were building an empire and the Kodak brand was becoming synonymous with photography and film.

It’s no surprise, then, that In the early 1970s Kodak invented the digital camera. But that’s where things began to derail. What should have been yet another transformational idea was tossed aside.

Why?

By the 1970s Kodak had built a film empire. By 1979 Kodak had revenue of $8 billion and roughly 145,000 employees worldwide. There were 6k-7k employees dedicated solely to their R&D efforts.

This growth, however, spurned a change in mindset. In 1975, when Steven Sasson invented the digital camera, the once agile business found itself operating in preservation mode. They had built an empire and were afraid to lose it. While predictions of a complete shift to digital were made, the significant investment required and fear of cannibalization of their current film business left the executive team reluctant to make a move.

Whether we realize it or not, this scenario plays out regularly in our businesses. Our world and markets are in constant flux. As they change, so do the environments we find ourselves in. We are required to grow. We’re required to learn. We’re required to adapt. We’re required to identify the problems worth solving. We’re required to take risks and invest in something not yet realized.

Kodak identified problems to solve. They learned, gr ew, and attempted to adapt. But they focused on the wrong investments and wrong problems for them. Instead of early investments in a digital photography transformation, they invested in chemical operations and pharmaceuticals. When they finally invested in digital photography in the 1990s it was already too late. As a result, while they held onto their success through the ‘80s and ‘90s, the consequences of their decisions finally caught up with them. By the end of 2022, Kodak was down to 4,200 employees and $1.2 Billion in revenue.

"Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning. "

Robert Kiyosaki

Like people, our businesses, our markets, and our world are constantly changing. Constantly Growing. If we’re not growing with it, we are declining towards irrelevance.

Are you taking time to think about your business, market, and opportunities?
Are you intentional in determining which problems are right for your business to solve?
How do you review and assess whether you’re working on the right problems in your business?
Are you willing to invest in the unknown even if it conflicts with today’s success?

Just Because You 'Can' Doesn't Mean You 'Should'

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 17:29:58 GMT

I have a confession to make. I take my car to an instant oil change business for my oil changes.

I wasn’t always that guy. In fact, for many years I took pride in changing my car’s oil. Every couple thousand miles I’d set aside an afternoon to journey to the store, purchase oil and a filter, and head back home to get started. After gathering my tools, tire ramps, a few shop rags, and my oil basin, I’d drive my car up the ramps and get started on the oil change. Once complete, I’d back the car down, clean everything up, load up the used oil, and head back to the store to dispose of it. (That’s assuming I didn’t have to run out mid change to get a gasket.) Finally, it was time to jump in the shower and clean up. Phew.

Admittedly, I can be a bit slow and it took me years before the light bulb went off and I saw that there might be a better way. While I might have been saving a few bucks on materials, I certainly wasn’t saving money once my time was factored in. I realized that just because I ‘can’ doesn’t mean I ‘should’.

I realized that just because I ‘can’

doesn’t mean I ‘should’.

That’s when I decided it was time to make a change and look for an instant oil change business by my home. By taking my car to a business focused on oil changes, they already have the supplies, replacement parts, and oil disposal onsite. They have the experience, facilities, and process needed to consistently and efficiently change oil. And, if I time it right, I can even drive to the instant oil change location by my house, get my oil changed, and be back home in less than 30 minutes...without breaking a sweat or getting dirty! Now that’s using my time wisely!

How can you apply this to your business? Focus on the 10% that makes you unique and look for places to leverage other companies, services, and products for the other 90%. (Assuming it’s part of their 10%) Whether it’s a product, service, behavior, or perspective, that 10% is your secret sauce.

Do you know what your 10% is?
How much of your time and energy is occupied by the other 90%?
Where can you apply this thinking?
Where can you lean on another product or service to leverage their expertise, provide efficiencies, and regain time for you and your team to contribute towards your 10%?

Knowing How Your Employees Impact Revenue

Tue, 20 Jun 2023 22:55:25 GMT

Many years ago, I noticed something strange while working for a larger company. A PM coworker, let’s call him Carter, would come to his weekly update meeting week after week providing the exact same update. It was an expensive meeting and seemed be a complete waste of time. As a startup guy, it was extremely frustrating. In the environment I came from, every employee had to carry their weight. We were fighting for survival and the potential consequences were significant, so quickly addressing poor performance was critical.

After more than a year, weekly hour long meetings with 12+ people, and 0 progress on his project, Carter was moved to another project. What? That seemed odd. Clearly there was a performance issue here, so why just move him to another team? I asked his boss for some insight only to realize there wasn’t any. Though he clearly knew Carter’s performance was inadequate, his solution was to shuffle the deck, protecting Carter and moving him to a new spot to begin the cycle anew.

The more I progressed, the more I noticed a similar pattern across other teams. I was awestruck by the sheer number of people who were just getting by, moving from spot to spot, team to team, flying under the radar despite their limited contribution.

Adding to the problem, all departments went through an annual budget planning process that usually resulted in the inevitable, and asked for additional resources. More people, really? How could this be the answer? Why should we add more people when we don’t fully understand the contribution of our existing people and aren’t fully utilizing them?

As I stepped into greater leadership roles, this insight stuck with me. How do I make the best use of the people I have and know when it’s time to add?

Leaders are directly responsible for understanding the impact and contributions of their teams and corresponding members. Specifically, here are 3 actions a leader and business can take to increase both their understanding and employee effectiveness.

Know and understand each employee's impact on revenue. - Beyond the high level rev and cost numbers, every employee has a direct revenue contribution: To increase revenue, reduce costs, or advance the strategy. Understand which applies to each role and device a way to measure effective performance.

Regularly review employee impact, including your own. - Regular reviews lead to poignant conversations and decisions around structure and team size.

Do we have the right number of people?
Are we overstaffed for value and capacity or are we limited by current capacity?
How long will it take to hire and ramp-up x role?
How much will it cost to hire x role(s)?
What’s the impact to progress/revenue/pace of growth/customer retention if we accelerate or delay the hire?

Make changes when and where appropriate. - When someone is not performing and is not a good fit, the impact of their poor performance is felt across their entire team, at a minimum. Teammates are forced to work harder to pick up their slack. They become frustrated, lose steam, and eventually burn out. In Good to Great, Jim Collins famously shares that we need to get the right people in the right spots on the bus. He also shares that “...if you have the wrong people, it doesn’t matter whether you discover the right direction; you still won’t have a great company.” Your responsibility to your company and your team is to get the right people in the right seats on the bus and the wrong people off the bus.

You’re a leader for a reason. Embrace the challenge and responsibility to intentionally position your resources. You owe it to your team.

Sharpen Your Chisels - The Importance of Continual Learning

Mon, 12 Jun 2023 20:45:19 GMT

"I remember seeing an elaborate and complicated automatic washing machine for automobiles that did a beautiful job of washing them. But it could do only that, and everything else that got into its clutches was treated as if it were an automobile to be washed. I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail." - Abraham Maslow from The Psychology of Science, published in 1966.

As a hobby woodworker, I often find myself in my garage working on a variety of projects, from relief carvings to furniture to guitar builds. With limited time and an endless list of ideas, I’m usually pushing to get just a little more done so I can move onto my next great idea. In my drive for timely progress, I commonly put off one of the most important tasks any woodworker has, maintaining my tools and keeping my blades sharp.

Doing so allows me to push forward in the moment. I can complete that 1 more task before I need to clean up to join my family for whatever event awaits us. But, like a frog in a pot of boiling water, and almost imperceptibly, my productivity and quality of work gradually decline.

So what. Why does it matter? Well, think about a chisel. A sharp chisel will slice through wood like butter, leaving a clean, precise, and even cut in it’s path. The blade is easy to control and takes little effort to push through the wood. But, as the blade dulls, the chisel requires more and more pressure to complete the same job. In fact, it begins to crush the wood, leaving an inferior cut, potential tear-out, and extra clean-up work.

Think of your skills as the edge of a chisel. The busier you are, the larger your team, and the faster your growth, the quicker your edge becomes dull. The business is looking to you for vision, direction, and purpose and needs you to be sharp. If you don’t take the time to maintain your edge and prepare for the new challenges your business and teams are facing, your effectiveness dwindles. Said differently, if you’re not keeping your skills sharp and learning new ones, you’ll treat everything as if it’s a nail.

How do you keep your edge sharp and add new skills? Through a regular disciplined approach to learning. Curiosity and learning equip us for the challenges we face.

Do you have a discipline for learning?

Looking for where to start? Here’s a sampling of material I've found valuable. (And remember, you can learn from almost anything! Sources don’t need to be limited to business, leadership, or specific market materials.)

Podcasts

The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk
A Bit of Optimism with Simon Sinek
The Global Leadership Podcast
Moonshots Podcast: Learning Out Loud with Mike Parsons and Mark Pearson Freeland
Maxwell Leadership Podcast
The Working Genius Podcast with Patrick Lencioni
WorkLife with Adam Grant

Books

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse
Radical Candor by Kim Scott
Start With Why by Simon Sinek
Setting the Table by Danny Meyer
Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders by L. David Marquet and Stephen R. Covey

Groups

Vistage
A local mastermind group
YPO

Working on the business...not in the business.

Mon, 05 Jun 2023 13:00:00 GMT

In 1954, spurred by the purchase of 8 milkshake machines with capacity of 40 milkshakes at a time, Ray Kroc made a visit to one of his customers, a small burger stand owned and run by the McDonald brothers. Ray saw the opportunity, was intrigued, and quickly arranged an agreement to begin selling McDonald’s franchises. This event served as the catalyst that took McDonald’s from a single CA based location to ~7,500 locations with sales north of $8 billion dollars at the time of his death in 1984. While many factors contributed to his success, 1 in particular is responsible for the astronomical growth he achieved. Ray spent his time working on the business, not in the business.

As a leader of a small-midsize business, you're busy from the moment your day starts until the moment it ends. There are decisions to be made, people to speak with, deals requiring negotiation, employees to train, products to develop, problems to solve, and fires to extinguish. It’s exhausting and overwhelming and, most days, success is measured by keeping your head above water. With so much to do, you’re left wondering how you can find time to work on your business?

So how did Ray do it? His story teaches us 3 lessons we can apply to our businesses to get started.

Define a repeatable process, including how you deal with the unexpected.

Ray believed the success of the McDonald’s franchises was dependent on a consistent experience, regardless of the franchise location. To accomplish this, he created a 75 page manual that outlined every aspect of their operations from cleaning to food measurements to flavor consistency and everything in between. Creating a comprehensive manual like this takes both time and intention and is built 1 process at a time. If you haven’t already started, start by outlining your key processes. Pay special attention to outline the decision-making logic needed, especially for processes where you are the bottleneck.

Grow leaders and teach them to think like you.

Ray knew that it wasn’t enough to define what they did and how they did it. Consistent execution requires you to teach people the ins and outs of your businesses. That’s why Ray introduced Hamburger University in 1961, a program designed to train franchisees, managers, and employees on the proper methods defined in his manual. Do you have the right people across your teams? As you define your processes, can you train them to take over and consistently manage these processes without you? How and when can you consistently make time to develop your future leaders?

Step away weekly to think about the business.

Ray didn’t work in the business making hamburgers, he worked on the business selling franchises, driving consistency, and maintaining quality, resulting in ~7,500 locations at the time of his death. Growing a business requires time, attention, and a different way of thinking. It requires intentional analysis of the components to determine whether you have what you need to reach your goals. While it will take time for you to make this transition, you can with setting aside 1 offsite day per week. Treat this time as precious, only allowing interruptions for emergencies. In addition to your focused attention, it gives your emerging leaders time to practice their skills without you present as a fallback.

To get started, some key question for your day should include:

How are we doing? What’s going well and what’s not?

Do I have the right people/teams/structures/skill sets? If not, what do I need and how do I address it?

How is our culture?

Have I learned something recently that should influence or change our priorities? Who needs to be involved in that discussion and decision?

What’s happening in our market? (Product, competitors, industry trends, economy, etc...)

What are our customers saying? Are we achieving the excellence in service, experience, and/or product performance that we expect?

Right now, how can I best support my team and our mission?

Where is my time best spent right now in the business?

How can you apply these lessons to begin working more intently on your business?

All That Jazz...About Business

Wed, 31 May 2023 16:30:22 GMT

Jazz is a beautiful thing. Done well, the complexity and nuance inspires and moves us. The interactions among the musicians draw us into a lively discussion that allows us to experience the story, the players, their tendencies, and their strengths through the introductions, build-ups, tension, explorations, climax, and release of the music. The net result of this seemingly effortless interaction is a moving experience that engages the listener and delights our ears.

In music, life, and business, we often look for the quick and easy path to success. We’re bombarded with many options for apps and lessons claiming to be the solution that will solve all our problems. Instead, what Jazz does so well is apply a common framework with a shared understanding. For musicians, this creates the structure to play and communicate freely using their own individual preferences and experiences. It’s why the same jazz song, even when played by the same group of musicians, is never the same. Instead of performing a memorized and predefined arrangement, the musicians are exploring and interacting within a specified framework.

3 lessons we can take from Jazz and apply to our businesses.

There isn’t a one-size fits all approach for business.

In jazz, the overall sound of a group is dependent on the skills and sound each member brings to the stage. That is why what drove Apple’s, Google’s, or Amazon’s success may not be right for you. Because your team is unique, your path to success is also unique. Instead of a one-size fits all solution, you want to apply a framework that leverages your teams’ combined and unique skill-set and identifies the skill gaps.

You don’t have to be an expert to achieve the upside

Not all jazz fans understand what makes a good jazz musician or group. They may not understand all the nuance that’s happening in the music or even be able to play an instrument themselves. But they know what good jazz sounds like. In fact, this is exactly why you bring experienced operators into your businesses. You’re bringing in someone who has spent years learning, practicing, and applying their skills. They’re saving you time and money by accelerating your learning process. You get the benefits of their expertise without the time and trials associated with attaining them.

Active listening and engagement is required

A skilled jazz musician is always listening and actively engaging the group. They’re listening for chord substitutions, color tones, rhythm, dynamics, musical call and response, and feel. Based on what they hear, they react, playing a different chord, altering their feel, rhythm or dynamics, or providing an appropriate response. Likewise, implementation of a framework and approach is not a one-time event. It requires active listening and engagement to adjust and refine the approach as you go. Do you have the right people in the right spots? Are you focused on the right initiative? Have you invested in the appropriate places for achieving your goals? Are you progressing at the right pace?

So, what are you waiting for? Now’s the time. :)

Just Take the Shot

Mon, 22 May 2023 22:09:35 GMT

The other day, my brother and I had the chance to hit the disc golf links for a relaxed late spring round. At this stage in life, playing too infrequently to be considered a weekend warrior, our consistency left much to be desired. Almost every tee shot left us exploring the wilderness, leaves, and brush surrounding the fairways. Far from ideal. So, seeing our fate, we’d set out to retrieve our discs and take a second shot.

As we came to hole 15, a 10 ft wide 80 yard fairway lined with trees on either side and with the basket veering slightly to the right, we teed off. My brother drove a nice straight drive down the middle, a perfect set-up for a 2nd shot lay-up for par. Me, concentrating too hard on not hitting one of the 80 trees lining the path, launched the disc right into one. With a thwack, the disc ricocheted off a tree to the left into a patch of woods only 25 yards down the fairway.

Once I found my disc, buried in the woods under a honeysuckle bush, I prepared for my second shot. Assessing the only path I could take to get my disc to the basket, I awkwardly leaned over just inches from the ground and with most of my weight on my front foot. At best it was a near impossible shot. Despite the odds, and knowing what I had to do, I turned to my brother and confidently asked, "You wanna see how it's done?"

He laughed, as anyone there would have.

In one swift motion that I’d like to think was as graceful as an Albert Pujols home run swing, my arm swung around, releasing the disc from under the honeysuckle and around a big oak tree, dropping and settling 2 ft from the basket.

Mic drop. I'm not sure I could replicate that shot if I tried it 10 more times. I walked away with a par.

Reflecting on this, many similarities struck me in how we approach and progress in both our business and professional lives. A couple of scenarios that commonly play out:

In our desire to do things well, we become paralyzed and avoid taking action, impeding our progress and preventing learning. We disguise our inaction with a desire to more deeply understand so we can make the best possible decision. What this looks like - I avoid taking the shot and opt to spend more time analyzing the distance, angle, disc choices, and wind.
We take action but become disheartened by the results and either self-implode or give up. What this looks like - I take the shot, ricochet off a tree into the woods, sulk, and end up with a single or double bogey.
We embrace the results, almost expectedly, viewing it as progress. We then take what we learn, assess where we’re now at, and prepare for our next step. What this looks like - I take the shot, ricochet off a tree into the woods, and figure out the next best shot I can make to walk away with par.

Just like in disc golf, imperfect shots (Mistakes) allow us to take a step forward towards the basket. This is progress. Once taken, though maybe not what we originally sought, we can reassess and more clearly see what we’re up against. Because we are closer and have additional insight, we can now devise a better plan to reach the basket. And, in many ways, because perfection is no longer possible, we are no longer weighed down trying to achieve perfection.

Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. Remembering that a mistake is just the first step towards success, be willing to just take the shot, knowing that once you do you’ll progress and have a chance to assess, adjust your approach, and take aim at your goal.

Rewriting the Script Requires Clear Thinking

Tue, 16 May 2023 23:33:45 GMT

My wife and I saw Air over the weekend, the movie inspired by Nike's transformational journey beyond just a running shoe company.

Nike, who’s already found significant success within the running community, has a desire to enter basketball. Their shoes aren’t great, they don’t have any real market presence, and they have a self-imposed limiting budget. But, they see an opportunity, and it’s big. Sound familiar? The market, currently dominated by Converse and Adidas, is stale. In fact, there haven’t been any significant basketball shoe developments in years.

That’s where Sonny Vaccaro comes in. Sonny, at this point in time and in this situation, is thinking clearly. He sees the opportunity, he understands the goal and success Phil and the Nike board are after, and he sees the limitations in the approach. So, what does Sonny do? He goes to battle, creating and selling a new script with the potential to achieve the desired goal.

Sonny’s approach gives us 3 lessons we can apply in our own planning processes.

Clear thinking - Just because we set big goals doesn’t mean we can or will achieve them. Without clear thinking, big goals are nothing more than a hope and a dream. Clear thinking requires a deep understanding. When we take time to analyze the plan, the team, the desired results, the market, and the potential risks, we gain clarity. The more clearly we think, the greater the likelihood we can devise a successful plan.

Big rewards often require investment...and investments carry risk - Taking big risks can be scary, especially once we’ve found success. We have a tendency to play defense to protect what we’ve gained. In doing so, we suppress the very things that brought us our initial success. For Nike, despite their success in the running industry, the rewards they sought in the basketball industry, and the knowledge of what the market leaders were doing, they weren’t willing to invest. Winning requires offense which requires investment and carries risk. Without it, even with clear thinking and a great plan, we won’t reach our destination.

Connection Matters - Without connection, even with all else aligned, success is at risk. This includes connection with our leaders, connection with our teams, and connection with our customers. Sonny reminds Phil of his journey to build Nike. He creates a connection with Deloris by establishing a shared understanding of how special her son is and why Nike is the only company that provides the chance for him to uniquely stand out. And he creates a connection with Michael, and eventually the fans, by going off-script and sharing his vision “...You’re Michael Jordan, and your story is gonna make us want to fly.” Connection invites all of us to be part of the vision.

Do you have a vision and a plan but are struggling to reach your goal? Are you willing to rewrite your own script? Don’t be afraid to restart today and gain a deeper understanding, recreate your plan, make intentional well-thought investments with the potential for your desired outcomes, and create connections with everyone from the leadership team to the customer.

Dude, What's Your Plan?

Tue, 09 May 2023 13:55:33 GMT

The other day my teenage nephew, we’ll call him Scott, got his first chance to mow his lawn. With headphones in, and fleeting attention, he waited for his dad, we’ll call him Jack, to mow the border, a protective measure to preserve the plants and flowers meticulously planted along the edges of the yard. As Jack neared completion of the outline, leaving the mower running and ready for use, he wandered over to Scott who had long lost focus due to the seemingly eternal 3 minutes that had passed. So, in an effort to get his attention, Jack tapped Scott’s shoulder to let him know it was his turn.

Well, that was all Scott needed to know it was go-time. Without eye contact or pause, Scott quickly grabbed the mower and charged off. Erratically, he trudged forward, arms flailing from side to side in a zig-zag like motion, oblivious to the patches of un-mowed lawn left in his wake.

In a panic watching this catastrophe unfold, Jack does what any dad might do and runs after Scott. Getting his attention, he exclaims, “Dude, what’s your plan?!?! How are you gonna take care of these patches you left behind?” Bewildered by the sudden interruption, Scott just shrugged his shoulders and replied, “I dunno.”

Have you ever felt like this? Charging ahead with the best of intentions only to fall short of the results you’re looking for. You might even buckle down, thinking you just need to try harder and be more disciplined.

There are many ways to mow your lawn or tackle a job, but without a plan, how do you expect to consistently achieve the desired result?

Sometimes you need to start slow to move fast.
Problems scale. The bigger the team, the bigger the impact.

As your team grows, so do the repercussions of not knowing where you’re heading. If you don’t have a plan to arrive at your destination, how do you expect to get there and align your team in the effort? How do you expect to logically pivot when you reach a roadblock? A lack of a plan equals a lack of productivity and autonomy.

By starting slow, planning, and communicating, you’re creating a model for decision-making that you and your team can follow.

Start slow. Define your goal, create a plan, communicate your plan, and track progress. Then use the goal, plan, and feedback to inform necessary pivots.