photo by I’m Fantastic – quote from Conan the Barbarian

Crushing your enemies might be a bit strong, maybe you don’t think about your business ‘Dominating’ in your industry – but you should be thinking about how you will be the premier provider of whatever it is that you do.  If you’re thinking more along the lines of ‘I’d like to be an average provider in my industry and have moderate success along the way’ – I would suggest that you’re going to struggle with your business.

It doesn’t have to be ‘Go Big or Go Home’ – great doesn’t equal big, but if you’re not aspiring to greatness, to dominating your little corner of the market, then I’d like to politely ask:  “What are you doing?”

Most likely you’re shooting for a successful business…

“A successful business…works predictably, effortlessly and profitably each and every day..… [without a supreme sacrifice by an owner/manager]”

– Michael Gerber, the E-Myth Revisited

That’s the kind of success (and domination) that Business Development can deliver.  Of course, the first question might be…what is business development?

Read More…

Are you the king of your jungle?  Master of your own domain (oh wait…that’s something completely different)! 

What I’m getting at is do you feel like you’re in full control of your time and what you do with it?  Are you productive?

If you’re like most people, that answer is a resounding NO!  You’re buried in emails, crushed by voicemails, swamped with action items and you hate to even think about the things that are buried somewhere on your desk.

What you really need is to get more done…be more productive…or is it?

Read More…

   Photo by dpstyles

A new client of mine strongly recommended Patrick Lencioni’s “The Five Temptations of a CEO”, so I moved it to the top of my list and finished it this past weekend.  If you’re not familiar with Patrick Lencioni – he’s the founder of a leadership consulting company called the Table Group in San Francisco and author of 8 books, numerous articles and a highly sought after keynote speaker – in short he’s an impressive guy with some important ideas to share.

The Five Temptations is his first book – written about 10 years ago and although it’s not as big a seller as The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, it clearly establishes him as someone to listen to when it comes to business and leadership.  He describes the book as a Leadership Fable – it’s set in a story format and shows the application of his ideas to a real world situation (and make it’s a lot more interesting to read).

So what can you learn from the Five Temptations?

Read More…

  photo by viZZZual.com 

As a business owner, you always have choices on how you run your business.  It’s not unusual to see a taskmaster chewing out their employees and running a tight ship.  You will also find those businesses that are run with encouragement and a high degree of compassion.

The cynics out there will sneer at the power of positive thinking.  It’s all about profits and the bottom line and there’s no room for fluff and nonsense and making people feel good.  These employees are grown-ups, if they can’t handle getting yelled at, then they need to go somewhere else!

On the other hand, the uber-idealists will tell you that all you need is love (or maybe that was the Beatles) and as long as people are happy, the results, the bottom line doesn’t matter.  It’s okay to spend more than you have if it means helping people out and giving them what they want.

Clearly these are extreme examples, but directionally what is the better answer?

Read More…

Photo by Eneas

Are you a hero in your business?  Are you out there applying your super heroic selling skills, delivery abilities or micromanagement ‘gifts’ in order for your business to thrive (or survive)?

Do you take special pride in your ability to fight the fires and the chaos that surrounds your day to day operations?  Are you especially proud of your creative way to get things done right at the last minute – knowing you are the only one that could pull off delivering the customer’s expected results…or that you were the only one that could close the deal.

If this describes you or maybe one of your key employees, then you are slowly killing your business, headed down a path that far too many businesses end up on.

Here are 5 reasons why you need to stop being the Hero for your business!

Read More…