It was April 2001. I was 35 years old, and I was done with corporate life. I had spent over a decade living in airports, sleeping in rooms at the Courtyard by Marriott™, and meeting in conference rooms that were out of state. I was tired of it. I made the choice to step out…
It’s taken weeks, lots of calls, meetings, and late night reworking of the numbers, but it looks like it’s really going to happen. The biggest deal you’ve ever pitched is closing. They’re going to say yes! It’s thrilling, scary, and the rush you feel takes you headlong into the challenge! So you go to tell…
Stop for a minute and think about how you’re feeling right now. Are you feeling tired? Overwhelmed? Do you feel like you have more to do than you can accomplish? Are you asking yourself to do more—to be more—than you’re comfortable doing and being? Now think back to the end of your last vacation; you…
On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American safely to the Moon before the end of the decade. At the time he made that commitment, no American had even orbited the earth. We had no idea of what it would take to make good on…
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” ~Jim Rohn Over and over again, business owners come to me with the same problem (though they may describe it differently). Some say, “I don’t have the right people,” or “I can’t hire good people”. Others tell me, “These people just…
It’s that time of year; when business owners take stock of the year gone by, and start to make plans for the year to come. What went well this year? What do we want to do more of? What do we want to do to make 2016 better than 2015? When I’m reviewing plans and…
I have two daughters in college. For each of them, their first choice college was different from the school I thought would be best for them. They were both able to articulate to me why they were in favor of their first choice, but I still disagreed. This is a big decision; there’s a lot…
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…