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The Annual Reset: Your Comprehensive Guide to Annual Planning

Avid sports fans start every season full of optimism about their team’s prospects, regardless of the previous season’s results. Cleveland Indians fans, despite a championship drought of 72 years, believe each baseball season brings an opportunity to win the World Series. And during their epic run of eight consecutive NBA titles from 1959 to 1966, the Boston Celtics were always working to one-up their previous season’s achievements.

While business is not a game, it still has a “season” – the calendar year from January to December. Like a sports team, the beginning of each new year is a psychological reset for leaders and team members. It’s a time to reflect on past performance and plan adjustments to improve in the upcoming year.

What’s the Score? Is Your Organization Winning or Losing?

When we think about sports, we typically imagine feelings associated with fierce competition: the joy of winning and the agony of defeat. However, organized sports are a great case study to learn basic business principles. Many of these concepts apply to our organizations and they can dramatically contribute to achieving our goals.

#RuleOfThree – May 28, 2020

May 28, 2020

During the past few weeks, the business conversation has quickly shifted to finding a viable way to reopen as all 50 states have entered phases of opening the economy. The three essential topics for today are PPP loan forgiveness, reopening your business safely, and what does the future hold for the traditional office environment?

#RuleOfThree: Three Things to Know, May 14, 2020

May 14, 2020

My biggest takeaway in the past few weeks is the incredibly creative and entrepreneurial spirit of leaders during a crisis. Despite the unbelievable shock to the economy, I’ve heard many new business ideas in the past few weeks. As governments start to reopen the economy, it is now time for leaders to guide us back to prosperity.

Leading for Results: How to Define, Align, and Track Your Team’s Goals

Being a leader in any organization means taking complete responsibility for the results, regardless of your team size. Whether you lead a team of 10 or 1,000, you are ultimately responsible for their performance. As President Harry S. Truman famously said, “The buck stops here.”

There are two distinct leadership styles that CEOs and managers use when focused on strong results. The first is a compassionate style that aligns, inspires, and positively develops team members to enable them to achieve shared goals. The second approach is a results-at-all-costs style that micromanages, stresses, and demeans team members. Technically both leadership styles will get results, but the former is a healthier long-term solution. In the book The Speed of Trust, Stephen M.R. Covey summarized, “Leadership is getting results in a way that inspires trust.”

#RuleOfThree – May 1, 2020

May 1, 2020

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a lifeline that many businesses need to survive the COVID-19 crisis. The government acted quickly to fund the program but did it without firm guidelines. So, it’s not a surprise that we now see fraud and abuse in this critical small business program.

You Get What You Celebrate

Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway and many other legendary products, once said, “You get what you celebrate.”

For many results-oriented leaders and entrepreneurs, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind of the business. The marketing team has campaigns to roll-out and blogs to post. The sales team’s focus is on capturing new clients and attending the next tradeshow. The operations team has an endless list of tasks and assignments to complete. And accounting, well, there’s always another bill to pay and another month to close. When is there time to stop and celebrate? And, is it even necessary in terms of your bottom line?

#RuleOfThree: Three Things to Know – April 24, 2020

April 24, 2020

An additional $484 billion in government stimulus is ready to support small businesses, hospitals, and further COVID-19 testing. I expect the PPP funds to run out faster than the initial $349 billion. An updated FAQ from the Treasury Department addresses the public outcry of publicly-traded companies receiving PPP funds intended for small businesses. And while we wait for final guidance on April 26 for the forgiveness portion of the Paycheck Protection Program, here are three subjects to improve your remote workforce:

5 Ways to Show Appreciation for Remote Team Members

A critical component of any healthy organization is regular appreciation and recognition of team members. During normal business conditions, it’s easy for leaders to get distracted with the day-to-day operations and forget about this task. The current COVID-19 crisis forced most teams to work from home. These team members are out of sight, which makes it even easier for leaders to get complacent with the critical responsibility of appreciation and recognition.

#RuleOfThree – April 16, 2020

April 16, 2020

In less than two weeks, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) fund has run out of funds. For businesses that received funds and those still waiting for Congress to allocate more dollars, the focus remains on how to adapt and survive.

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