Posted by:
As I look out my office window, I see the leaves on the trees are starting to change color. Believe it or not, I’m not shocked by this. Nor am I wailing about the fact that the temperature is dropping and that dusk is coming earlier than it did a month ago.
Am I superhuman? Perhaps, but not because of this. The simple truth is that, if you’ve been alive on the planet (Earth) for more than a few ...
Continue Reading →
Would you like to find a creative solution to your current challenge du jour? It may be as close as the morning newspaper. (Note to younger readers: the “morning newspaper” used to be an actual thing. It was truly a marvelous invention. It appeared magically on your doorstep, required no scrolling, and never needed to be recharged.)
Posted by:
Options, options, too many options!
Don’t you feel like that sometimes?
· Which of these hundred mayonnaises should I buy?
· Which of these hundred TV series should I Netflix?
· Which of these hundred Kardashians should I ignore?
For those of us fortunate enough to live in the developed world, we’re faced with a mind-boggling number of options every day. But, for the moment, let’s leave mayonnaise, Netflix, and the Kardashians out of it.
Let’s just focus on business.
Whether you’re a solopreneur, a ...
Continue Reading →Posted by:
I’ve just been reading a terrific new book called High-Profit Prospecting by my friend and colleague Mark Hunter. Mark is a consummate sales professional, and his book is about how to keep your sales pipeline full so that you never run out of valuable prospects.
I’m not a sales professional, but I am an idea professional. And, just like I think it’s vital for people in the sales business to keep their sales pipelines full, I think it’s ...
Continue Reading →Posted by:
“So, what does a producer really do?”
During my 15 years as the Executive Producer of Seattle’s hit comedy TV show Almost Live!, I was asked that question a lot. Many times by members of my own staff.
“What does a producer really do?”
I used to answer that question from a very specific, TV-centric focus. Made sense, right? I mean, I was a TV producer, after all.
But after working with thousands of leaders in hundreds of industries, I’ve realized that what I ...
Continue Reading →Posted by:
I just spent a delightful morning with a colleague of mine (Ron, another speaker) who was in from out of town and gave me a call. And yes, I realize I just used the word “delightful,” when the more manly, chainsaw, Hemi word would be something like “awesome,” “radical,” or “killer,” but dammit, it was delightful.
Anyway, as I was leaving this killer get-together, I found myself wondering, “Why don’t I do this more often?” Granted, in this case ...
Continue Reading →Posted by:
Quick quiz: What do all of the following people have in common?
Here are some possible answers:
But here’s ...
Continue Reading →Posted by:
Does this scene sound familiar?
It’s the end of the day, and you’re sitting at your desk. As you shuffle some papers around for the hundredth time, you think to yourself, “Well, I got pretty much nothing done today. Eight hours of wasted time that I’ll never get back.”
You’ve had days like this, right? I know I have. And honestly, they feel pretty crappy. Or rather, I feel pretty crappy when I have a day like that. But mostly I feel ...
Continue Reading →Posted by:
Most of us have experienced bad bosses at some time in our lives. Maybe you’ve had one in the past; maybe you have one now. Maybe you were one in the past; maybe you are one now. So, for most of us, the question isn’t if we’ll run into one of these disagreeable creatures, but when.
But there’s a better question regarding bad bosses, and it’s this:
What can you learn from them?
The leader is frustrated. “I don’t know why I’m having such trouble getting the team to buy-in to the company vision! It couldn’t be simpler!”
Then he shows me the company vision. It’s five paragraphs long. It contains sentences like, “To enhance the long-term value of the investment dollars entrusted to us by our shareholders,” and “To consistently strive to improve efficiency and productivity through learning, sharing, and implementing best practices.” It reeks of having been written by a committee—a committee ...
Continue Reading →