Marshall Goldsmith said it first and well in his book by the same name. The entrepreneurial journey is a fascinating and exciting one that is fraught with both joy and pain, but Marshall’s message always holds true. Entrepreneurs are by nature intelligent, ambitious, and multi-skilled. These traits serve you well in the beginning. Many entrepreneurs start with nearly nothing and create a going concern of a business. Unfortunately, these same traits can become your greatest

I see this more often than I’d like—leaders who think that they’ll get the best results from their team by “shaming” them into submission. If you agree with me that long terms business success and life happiness depends to a great degree on your ability to build win-win relationships with people, then shaming others isn’t a leadership technique that you practice. You know that encouraging and inspiring your team results in better performance than shaming them into submissio

Yes, and here’s why. Ultimately all decisions are driven by values and priorities. You can’t choose every option, so you choose what is important to you. This is especially important in your strategic planning efforts—you literally can’t be all things to all people. In any organization, your values are your culture. Behavior that is valued and rewarded multiplies, and behavior that is ignored or punished diminishes. Also, the Leader Trickle Down Law is still as true as ever

In one of my recent CEO and Owner Roundtables we had a couple of the members say that they didn’t like the word “fair” as it applied to business. I found this fascinating, because my understanding is that most of the conflict between people worldwide is based on a perceived lack of fairness between the parties involved. Since these leaders believe in living by The Golden Rule and treating others as they would like to be treated, I was certain that they didn’t mean to imply

My clients are CEOs and business owners, and most of them are men. A lot of we men were taught that emotions are weakness, and that’s a darn shame since understanding emotions is fundamental to being a good leader and living a happy life. How do you make decisions if you don’t base them on what makes you happy (feel good) and what makes you unhappy (feel bad)? How do you know what to go toward and what to back away from in your business and in your life? As usual, it’s a

The whole point of being successful in business is to be happy, right? I mean, seriously, who wants to join the ranks of the rich and unhappy? I know plenty of them, and it’s not where most of us would like to wind up. I help leaders double their revenue regularly, but what’s the point if you’re still not happy? The research in Positive Psychology tells me there are four major sources of happiness, but let’s focus on the most important one—a caring relationship with yoursel

As a former waiter myself I pay particular attention to my restaurant experiences. I’m paying money to have a good time, so I want to make sure that I have a good time. For example, I’m very particular about where I’m seated. Oh sure, I know the host or hostess is seating people in rotating sections so as not to overload any waiter with too many tables at one time. I also know that someone is going to sit at the table right in front of the swinging door to the kitchen. Thei

Most entrepreneurs reach a point in their journey at which they run out of hours in the day and need to delegate more. One of the most important delegation tasks is creating a leadership team that shares the workload and advises the final decision maker on the big decisions for the business. Here are the top five requirements for building a high-performance leadership team: 1. Create an environment in which telling the truth pays off. If your advisors aren’t comfortabl

I help leaders in their talent acquisition/hiring efforts by conducting individual assessments of key hires (leaders, managers, and key salespeople). We’re looking for greatest strengths, greatest weaknesses, and potential to contribute in the long term. Given that the cost of a bad hire can range from 2-15 times annual salary depending on the level of the position, any predictive validity (predicting success or failure) I can add to the process is a great help to my client

Artisan Craftsman: someone who focuses primarily on doing high-quality work. Entrepreneur: someone who focuses primarily on making money. In his book The E-Myth, Michael Gerber takes the position that you’re not an entrepreneur if you’re not laser focused on scaling up. I disagree. If you launch your own business, then in my mind you’re an entrepreneur taking a big risk regardless of how big you intend to be. It’s really just a question of how big you want to scale. My bo

I’m in the change management business. I help leaders create and implement positive changes to improve their financial results. Folks, I must tell you that it’s a big ask because, in general, your team hates change. Who can blame them? If you agree with my definition of happiness, i.e., “feeling good now and optimistic that you’ll feel good in the future,” then you can also see how people like predictability in their lives. Usually, they have a life plan that’s working pret

I know a lot of smart people. Heck, I think it’s fair to say that I’m a pretty smart guy myself. I went to graduate school with some of the smartest people in the country, and I know a lot of really smart leaders. And yet being smart and having a head full of information isn’t a good predictor of leadership success by itself. Sure, it’s a hygiene factor in that it’s a necessary ingredient for success, but where the rubber meets the road is getting people to change their be

Growing up I was taught that feelings are weakness, especially in men. I’ve heard male leaders say that women aren’t good leaders because “they’re too emotional” as if having emotions is some kind of liability instead of an advantage. As with most things, it’s about balance. Let’s use my Principle of Balance & Justification SM (PB&J). The single best predictor of leadership success is the ability to care about your followers so that they will care about you in return. That

The Beatles are the best-selling popular music band of all time. They must have done a lot of things right. What? They started as a homespun “skiffle” group called The Quarrymen in a roots style of music that was popular at the time. John Lennon was the leader and driving force behind the band. John and other musicians of his generation soon became enamored with American blues and rock and roll, and they began to mimic their musical heroes. John was soon introduced to Pau

I recently had to withdraw from a long-term client. It made me sad, but it was necessary because I found myself in conflict with a personal value that I hold dear—The Golden Rule. In the early days it was exciting to be part of the meteoric rise of the company. There were many obstacles to be overcome, and everyone pulled together to achieve impressive success. There was a sense of belonging to something special that was both invigorating and fulfilling. A few years later

I’ve been unfortunate to work with a couple of companies whose leaders cared only about short-term financial results and very little for their employees or customers. These leaders missed two big opportunities: 1. To create greater financial success over time by building a sustainable business model. 2. To create more happiness in the world by treating employees and customers with greater respect and caring. Case study #1: The leader of a manufacturing facility was

Lately I’ve seen a great deal of glorification of being “tough” as a leader. This interpretation of being “tough” implies that all relationships should be governed by a dominant-submissive model, i.e., one person wins and the other loses. This model also implies that seeking cooperation, teamwork, and win-win relationships is naïve and “weak.” This outlook sees the world as a literal jungle of constant struggle for survival where there are limited resources and only winners

If you’re reading this newsletter, you’re likely in the high achiever cohort, i.e., you’re achievement oriented and have worked extra hard to get where you are. It’s also very likely that you’re in a leadership position of some sort. This can be stressful, and it’s easy to lose the life balance that makes you happy and motivated and that makes all your efforts seem worthwhile. So, what do you do when you find yourself overly stressed and in an emotional and motivational “

Let’s talk for a moment about emotional intelligence, i.e., understanding how people work emotionally. Since emotions drive most of our behavior, this is a very important skill to develop, wouldn’t you say? Since business success is, at the heart of it, about building win-win relationships, then it is particularly important to sustained success. At the most basic level, we treat others like we treat ourselves. You can only share what you have. It’s obvious that you can’t sh

1. The audience wants you to do well. Whether they want to be entertained, informed, or to complete a project, they want you to do well because it’s better for them. Sometimes there are a few unhappy and critical people in the crowd who will find fault with you no matter what you do. This is because they are too self-critical, and they apply the same standards to you. It’s best to ignore and avoid these angry and unhappy folks in this and all other aspects of your life.