I’m reviewing budgets with clients right now, and I see one mistake over and over again. It’s a basic math error, but it’s hitting owners right in the wallet! Most of us were taught that Profit = Sales – Expenses. That’s wrong. Or at least it leads to wrong thinking! Let me explain. When new…
Don’t tell me your priorities. Show me your calendar. ~ Shane Parrish We’ve talked this week about slowing down our pace, to give room for rest and reflection. One of the things I’ve been reflecting on is how I’ve spent my time in 2020. This year was exceptional, but some of the ways I reacted…
“That which has been done well, has been done quickly enough.” ~ Cesar Augustus Over and over, we get the advice that we need to go faster. But there’s a problem with faster. We can’t keep getting faster, faster, and faster; there’s a limit to how fast we can go! The faster we go, the…
So, you made it to the first week of December 2020. Congratulations! Well done. Have you noticed that, even during the pandemic, December is the crazy-busiest time of the year? Clients want stuff done before the budget year is over. You’ve got your own year end stuff to work on. There are family traditions and…
One of my mentors likes to remind me that when we are working hard to build a business, when we are learning new things to grow our capabilities, when we take care of our bodies and minds, we are doing it to be of service to others. Thank you for reading along as I have…
I know we’re all looking forward to turning the page on 2020. It’s been a year. But things don’t automatically improve just because we change the calendar, right? If you want 2021 to be different from 2020, you need to take different actions and make different decisions. It’s not automatic; you have to make it…
How do you review a year like 2020? In a normal year, November is when I pull out my goals for the year and see how we’ve done. Maybe there are one or two areas where I can buckle down the last 6 weeks of the year and make up the gap between my January…
Consider the role of French cooking. The techniques and recipes of the French chef have changed the way the world dines. Chefs from all corners of the world travel to France to learn from the masters there. Yes, French chefs know how to make outstanding meals, but they can’t do it without the freshest, most…
Confucius said: We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one. I talked with an agency owner this month. He was earnest about growing his business. “I’m just going to burn hard on my business for like 10 years, then sell it and enjoy life,” he told me. I…
When someone says, “She’s a great leader,” here’s what they really mean: She knows where her organization is going and communicates that relentlessly. She knows how to orient team members to success and hold them accountable. She communicates tasks specifically, with timelines and measurements. She roots for her team to succeed; she believes that they…