I work with a lot of different businesses which means I get a ringside seat to all the ups and downs that business owners experience. And there’s no greater source of ups and downs than the nutty employee stories I’ve seen. You may think that you’ve hired some bad apples, and maybe you have, but…
You took the time to clearly lay out the assignment. You confirmed with your team member the process they would use to accomplish it. They agreed that the time frame was good and that they had the skills and tools they needed to get it done. But when they deliver it to you, you are…
Her goals were straightforward. Sounds like a formula for success, right? So we worked to fire up her marketing so there were more leads coming in. We instituted project reviews to make sure the work was good quality and was getting out on time. We set her up with a bookkeeper who would keep the…
One of the things I say to new advisors who join our team is that clients always want us to fix “the team”. Clients tell us, “They [meaning their team members] have terrible attention to detail, they never follow through, they are always missing deadlines…” (the list goes on and on). Of course they are…
“How do you know you are doing a good job?” Early in an engagement with a new client I usually go around and ask this question to each of the management employees in the company. It’s a simple question, but having employees who are clear about the answer is key to driving employee engagement and…
As the business owner, the job of business development for your creative agency has been yours—from the beginning. But the thing is, you don’t like it. Maybe you don’t feel good at it, or successful as a salesperson, or maybe it just feels icky. But none of that matters now, because there’s a solution. You’re…
It could be said that business leaders have one job, and that’s to make decisions. The decisions we make affect people’s livelihoods, their careers – not just our employees – but our customers, our vendors, our community. I wonder how often any of us sit down and think about how we make business decisions –…
A small business is the sum of its people, not the sum of its parts. ~ Jill Salzman Small business ownership can make the best of us act a little weird. Put any normal person into a situation where there are lots of terrible things that can happen (many of which can get you sued,…
“My team just isn’t as committed as I need them to be. It feels like they just don’t give a crap about the business, or the work, or anything…” This is how the conversation started when I went to meet with a client this last week. His business is successful, but he feels like the…
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…