The meeting’s over and you are gathering up your stuff. As you review the meeting there’s a pit in your stomach: did we accomplish anything here? You came in to get clarity on your project’s priorities and you left more confused than ever. On top of everything, you sensed from his body language that your…
When you join a workgroup, you are committing your welfare and your future to that group; the stakes are high enough that the potential for deeper meaning is there. There is the potential to grow a tribe. Think about it. What else would a tribe be? You spend the better part of the day with…
What a morning. I opened up my computer and found a pile of email that arrived overnight. No bonfires, luckily, but I know it’s going to take an hour just to look at them, never mind respond! My younger associate just stopped by to let me know she needs my attention. I know my family…
In both the art and the business worlds, the difference between the amateurs and the professionals is simple: The professionals know they’re winging it. The amateurs pretend they’re not. ~ Amanda Palmer, The Art of Asking There’s a voice I hear all too frequently. I might be taking the stage at a speaking gig, walking…
In her wildly popular TED talk Brene Brown tells us that one of our deepest fears is vulnerability. We are afraid of the act of letting ourselves be seen. Yet, in order to start a company, we have to do just that. Not only do we have to let ourselves be seen, but, once we…
Ahh, to be young. I remember the summer I was 10 years old. It was the summer of all summers. My family was living in the San Francisco bay area, in a house that was just a short distance from what (in Chicago) is known as a forest preserve. That 165 acre park was my…
When you started your business it was just you. It was so simple. You were in control and it was easy to start making money (or, easy enough). But then you wanted to go on vacation. And you wanted to take on more work (so you could make more money), and so you hired some…
Buying gifts for employees is often more difficult that figuring out what to buy your in-laws for birthdays or the holidays. So how do you figure out how to show employees your appreciation for their hard work? I’ve got a few employee appreciation ideas that’ll knock ’em out of the park. Let’s start counting down…
Conferences, whether they are industry-specific trade shows, inspirational/motivational events, or learning opportunities around a specific topic– bring up mixed emotions for me. On the one hand, I think about spending a lot of money to travel to another city, spend time away from my family, eat crappy conference food…etc., etc. These are all things that…
If you are active on LinkedIn, your chances of “getting found” increase. You will get more inbound contacts from prospects, job seekers, potential partners and (unfortunately) random connection requests from people you don’t know. While some of these requests can be kind of puzzling, (“Why would the CTO of the country of Bangladesh want to…