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Attorneys: You counsel business clients to take action. Are they following your advice?

Have you ever had the situation where you provided a business client exactly the advice needed but wondered if they could successfully implement the business end? Or, maybe you knew implementation would happen but speculated if that implementation would go smoothly and/or maximize the business’ potential?   The question then becomes how much ongoing operational advice and oversight are you able to provide?   Outside of actually conducting onsite and ongoing detailed reviews of their operations, how do you best help your clients? (more…)

  • Management Lessons from Coach Steve Kerr Management Lessons from Coach Steve Kerr

    Management Lessons from Coach Steve Kerr

Management Lessons from Coach Steve Kerr

For the fourth year in row, the NBA finals is a match-up between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.  If the Cavs win, it will primarily be due to the super-human strength and talent of LeBron James.  However, a Warriors win would further validate the management talents of Coach Steve Kerr.

A recent article in the New York Times focused on how Coach Kerr and the Warriors spend halftime. Looking at these 15 minute routines you begin to see how Kerr’s management style leads to success. (more…)

  • Checklists = Increased Efficiency Checklists = Increased Efficiency

    Checklists = Increased Efficiency

Checklists = Increased Efficiency

Wouldn’t it be nice if your staff worked with the precision of a fighter pilot and the efficiency of an operating room?  If there was a method for reducing errors while increasing profitability? There is and that method is called “checklists”. (more…)

  • What’s your passion? What’s your passion?

    What’s your passion?

What’s your passion?

I recently met a plumber who told me a story I’ve heard many times before.  This plumber started his company because he had a skill he enjoyed, enjoyed using that skill to help others and desired the autonomy of “being his own boss.” Like most of us who have started a company, this owner had the passion and motivation to strike out on his own.

As the plumber’s business grew, he started adding both skilled and office staff to keep up with demand.  Before long, he found himself running a company instead of being engaged in the skill he enjoyed.  (more…)

  • Going Off-Mission to Stay On Mission Going Off-Mission to Stay On Mission

    Going Off-Mission to Stay On Mission

Going Off-Mission to Stay On Mission

The president of a local company (and now a client) initially said to me: “I’d like to work with you but taking that time would be taking me off-mission.”  That is not the first owner who expressed concern about going “off-mission” and letting things lapse back at the office.  This always leads into a discussion on the different meanings or uses of “mission”: the standard or military definition versus when paired with the word “statement”. (more…)

  • Family Business: Preparing for the 21st Century Family Business: Preparing for the 21st Century

    Family Business: Preparing for the 21st Century

Family Business: Preparing for the 21st Century

“Family businesses that manage these five innate advantages are well placed to make the 21st century a family business century.”  This assertion is the conclusion of a Harvard Business Review* article I recently discovered.  So, what are these advantages and is your business prepared to fully benefit from them?  Here’s a brief summary of each along with the questions businesses and families need to ask themselves. (more…)

  • Think out loud – Carefully Think out loud – Carefully

    Think out loud – Carefully

Think out loud – Carefully

You will find that anything you say has enormous impact on the people around you.  You may make an offhand comment and find that people have scurried around to do what they thought you sent them a signal to do, even though you were merely thinking out loud.  If you do think out loud, you may be viewed as indecisive because people feel that you change your mind too often.  Similarly, a hint of a negative comment about one of your employees is likely to echo through the grapevine and reverberate to a much greater extent than you ever intended or believed possible.  Consequently, you may not have anyone to talk about your own problems in the organization.  You may not be able to think out loud.  Many CEOs take on confidential advisers for this reason.  Doing so is not a sign of weakness or an indication that you can’t perform your job; it is simply a functional necessity.  You will probably find that you do need to talk things out, and it helps to have someone you trust serving as a sounding board.

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Achieving Success by Contemplating Failure

As business owners we are driven to achieve success. It is who we are.  And it is why we are entrepreneurs; working harder than most with higher risk so we can experience that success.

Failure is anathema to our very being.  But, by taking the precaution of contemplating failure we increase our chances for success. Harvard Business School Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management Amy Edmonson studies why businesses fail and suggests four questions you need to ask before starting a new venture in order to avoid failure. (more…)

Topics for Year-End Conversations

I recently broke a promise I made to my wife.  I promised I would not bring up politics at our family’s Thanksgiving Day table.  Well the conversation turned to college football and started to get heated. I quickly changed the topic and asked what everyone thought of our presidential candidate choices.  The tone of the conversation immediately calmed down.

It is amazing which conversation topics turn heated and which are seemingly too uncomfortable to bring up. But some conversations need to be had (more…)

  • The Story in Your Company’s Numbers The Story in Your Company’s Numbers

    The Story in Your Company’s Numbers

The Story in Your Company’s Numbers

A large portion of my career has been spent analyzing numbers.  I have been blessed (or, some would say, cursed) with an ability to see stories in numbers.  Once, an intern handed me an incredibly dry report which only reported the numbers from a market research study.  I told her to go back and find the story in those numbers.  The report she came back with (and with a little guidance) laid out a road map product management needed to create a successful marketing campaign.

Owners need to know their numbers and be able to find the story in those numbers. (more…)