What are we going to be covering in this 2nd podcast in our Action Planning Course?First, we're going to pull up to the dumpster to drop off the the excuses everyone uses for the lack of planning.We'll see why plans in your head are only ideas and why unless they're…
Do you think you could distill a lifetime of experiences into a handful of sentences … so that when your grown children read them, they would hold them as dearly as they once held their teddy bears?
I’ve recently published several lists of “life lessons”, for lack of a better term, that keep coming my way from a variety of sources. These lists, scratched on the back of an envelope found in a plane crash, or tucked in a wallet for 50 years, are treasures because they’re personal … and each person believed he or she had captured the unique nature of their humanity.
[pullquote]Can you capture your life lessons on a 3×5 card?[/pullquote]
So, now come the Guideposts of business philosophy taken from the book, Marriott — The J. Willard Marriott Story by Robert O’Brien. It’s longer than most … not a note card but still a single sheet of paper … maybe Willard did more than most? Some may seem old-fashioned, others a little harsh for the more indulgent company cultures of the 21st century … but most of them are rooted in sound business practices. Work your way past some of the pedestrian entries to uncover a few nuggets and valid reminders that you can add to your own list.
I'm starting to hate multitasking. I've known for some time that it's not healthy ... And not particularly productive. I caught myself in the spring with The Misleading Meandering of Multitasking. I ignored the Stanford researchers ... and I actually reported almost a year ago that multitasking doesn't work by…
Doesn’t a lot of this jawboning about job creation make your brain explode?
I’ve never read articles by Rex Nutting before, who writes for MarketWatch on the WSJ Digital network … but a banker friend of mine referred me to his “Time to stop worshiping small businesses” article.
I’m not sure where Rex gets his information but his conclusions about the limited job creation value of small businesses is generally unsupported. After arguing, in Clintonesqe fashion about “it depends on how small the definition of small is”, he goes on to claim that while “small businesses do create a lot of jobs, but they also destroy a lot.” Citing a Census Bureau study, he claims that “once they pass their first birthday, small companies, on average, lose more jobs than they create. Many fail within years.”
[pullquote]Who says tax rates don’t matter to job creation?[/pullquote]
A recent study by the Ewing Kaufman Foundation reported an entirely different result, concluding that “80% of the jobs created in the first year are still here after 5 years.” There’s not enough detail available to comprehensively compare these disparate reports, but to debunk the value of SMB job creation requires a little more factual support from Nutting.
He also claims that tax rates don’t matter (more…)
For at least 18 years, the Wine Industry Symposium Group, an organization of California wine industry professionals, has held the Wine Industry Financial Symposium to “develop a communications bridge to the financial community.”
This year, I will be conducting a 90 minute workshop to help companies in the wine industry revitalize their free cash flow. Here’s the exact title of the workshop scheduled for Monday, September 20, 2010 at 3:30 p.m. You can find the program and registration details here.
Recently, I wrote, 7 Swing Thoughts to Overcome Adversity, inspired by Dustin Johnson's heartbreak at the recent PGA Championship. It was a controversial call except among golf purists but it resulted in a terrible calamity for the young golfer.Yet, Johnson has shown remarkable aplomb and resilience in the face of…
I've often used this line as a metaphor for the process of accountability and follow up that makes a real difference in executive performance.Just being there ... letting people know you really meant it when you asked for something to be done ... or that it remains important even though…
Urban Meyer is returning as the football coach at the University of Florida, much to the delight of Florida fans everywhere. He has a remarkable track record wherever he’s been and with him, Florida won two national championships in 2006 and 2008. His winning record of .842 is the highest among active coaches with at least 5 years experience (at a Football Bowl subdivision).
So what, you say? Well, Urban Meyer is the poster child for the out of balance work life that earned him an ambulance trip to the hospital last December.
The good news? (more…)
The recent 92nd PGA championship ended tragically for Dustin Johnson based on a questionable and controversial call. What virtually every observer, from fans to PGA champions, saw as a sandy area of the rough outside of the ropes was declared by rules officials as a sand trap even though spectators were standing in it. Under the rules of golf, that resulted in a two-stroke penalty because a player can’t ground his club in the sand. It cost him a chance to participate in a three-hole playoff for the trophy in one of golf’s four major championships.
It was heart-breaking to watch and even brought a roar of disapproval from the usually reticent golf crowd. For most casual observers, it’s a distinction without a difference … but in the rules-driven PGA tour, it was a judgment call without heart or soul. Mr. Johnson’s disappointment now competes with Armando Galaragga’s recent loss of a perfect game in baseball.
What do we do when we suffer a major disappointment, e.g., the loss of a major client we served so well or the departure of a valued employee to whom we thought we had extended every opportunity? (more…)