Every Friday, I step back and look at all of my active clients and ask myself the question, “How’s it going with this client? How can I serve them this week?” As I was doing this last week, I noticed a trend, and it surprised me! The clients that are the happiest with their work,…
I don’t mean a little bit fun. Like fun when something great happens or when you have a breakthrough. I mean fun all the time. What if work wasn’t hard, or stressful, or overwhelming, or burdensome. What if it was as much fun as playing a game? What would have to happen to make that…
I was cleaning up the kitchen one night after everyone was asleep. I had made quite a mess cooking that night (as is my habit), and so by the time I was drying the last pot, I was a little bleary-eyed. So when smoke rose out of one of the pots I was drying, it…
“It’s about getting the best people, retaining them, nurturing a creative environment and helping to find a way to innovate” – Marissa Mayer You want your agency to grow. You also want it to be a great place to work, where smart, creative people thrive and do great work. You might also be one of…
Last week I talked about spending more time thinking so that we can make better decisions. One of the categories of decisions that I see the least thinking about is new business decisions. When someone wants to talk to us about starting a new project, there is no pause – just a pavlovian response, “When…
I spent most of my life being very goal-oriented. In fact, one of my internal “rules for life” was, “You can rest when all your work is done.” When I get 5 clients… When I can carry 10 clients… When I build my team… When I earn $XXX, 000… That’s when I can relax. That’s…
Good decisions create time, bad ones consume it. Good initial decisions pay dividends for years, allowing abundant free time and low stress. Poor decisions, on the other hand, consume time, increase anxiety, and drain us of energy. ~ Shane Parris One thing I hear from almost every leader I talk to is that they feel…
Summer is typically a time when business slows down a bit. Sure, June is usually solid, but July may feel a little slow before things just come to a standstill in August as all the decision-makers are on vacation! Will 2021 be any different? There are a lot of reasons to think that 2021 will…
On Thursday, I talked about how serving your customer builds the value of your business. Here’s an example of a company doing just that. Last summer, we had some plumbing work done on our kitchen sink. A few months later, a leak developed under that same sink. I called the plumber back to get them…
Help your brother’s boat across and lo! Your own has reached the shore. ~ Hindu Proverb When I studied business, I was told that the measure of a business was to maximize shareholder value. By increasing shareholder value, we attract capital, both financial capital and human capital, enabling us to grow our business. This idea…