In these highly competitive times, it’s become increasingly difficult to hold onto customers. Retention is tough, and client growth is even harder with fickle clients and fleeting loyalty. It turns out, building deep, loyal, profitable client relationships isn’t as complex as the DaVinci code. In fact, these three simple hacks can boost your client relationships […]
Read MoreWhether you run a 2-person graphic design shop or a 200,000 global manufacturing conglomerate, you’re likely craving growth. We all do. Expansion fuels profits, serves customers, drives share price, and impacts the world. Through building five companies of my own and helping at least 100 others scale, I’ve seen two repeating growth traps that have […]
Read MoreYou have a work flight. After rising early and fighting through the joys of rush-hour traffic, you’re treated to an especially long TSA line. You catch some emails while you wait in security and then again as you’re delayed 85 minutes at the gate. You’d planned to go through your presentation during the flight, but, […]
Read MoreZipping around the globe, I often find myself in the back of a taxi or an Uber. I used to painfully ruminate in frustration – sitting in traffic is a total waste of time, after all. But a few months back, I decided to look up from my mobile phone and strike up a conversation […]
Read MoreHow do you know if you’ve accomplished something today? What should you measure if you didn’t deliver something measurable? In an era of dashboards, metrics, and key performance indicators, should every ounce of your energy be directed at hitting near term deliverables? In studying the behavior of the most successful people, I’ve noticed that they […]
Read MoreWhat Was: “That’s the way we’ve always done things.” What Is: “Don’t rock the apple cart; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” What’s Next: “I wonder what would happen if we took an entirely different route…” When you think about your own organization, what percentage of energy, focus, and brainpower do you spend in […]
Read MoreAs kids, we enjoyed hide-and-seek, scavenger hunts and searching for hidden treasures left behind on sandy beaches. That same sense of curiosity and exploration can lead to our biggest breakthroughs as adults. Opportunity rarely comes by and knocks you in the face. Instead, it requires us to peek around corners and seek it out, often […]
Read MoreProminently displayed on the milk in my fridge is an expiration date. Looking around the kitchen, my chicken breasts, Doritos, tomatoes, and eggs also show a date of expiration. Even beer now has as “must be sold by” date of no return. This makes great sense for food and medication — a time whereby their […]
Read MoreHuman comfort has become a booming industry and a way of life in modern society. The push of a button or the pop of a pill can pacify nearly any discomfort. Our cars are ergonomically designed, often including a duplicate set of controls on the steering wheel to avoid the agony of leaning over 14 […]
Read MoreMy friend Les Gold, star of the hit TV series Hardcore Pawn, gave a dynamic speech this week that left the audience mesmerized. His opening line really struck me: “How bad do you want it?” As products of a consumer-driven society, we want just about everything. We want fancy cars, palatial homes, and exotic travel. We also […]
Read MoreThat’s right… the Nest sells for ten times the price of the find-anywhere industry standard thermostat. And they are sold out everywhere you look.
Read MoreThroughout my career, my favorite saying has always been: “Someday, a company is going to come along and put us out of business. It might as well be us.”
Read MoreLet the countdown begin.
Read MoreIf you are pursuing anything worth doing, they heat is likely to get really hot. Before you forfeit your dreams, perform a careful examination to see if you are really in a “can’t” dead-end or just a “won’t” situation.
Read MoreThat dreaded “oh shit” moment will likely crop up when you least expect it. The next time it does, don’t run from it. Seize it. It’s simply an opportunity for you to shine and grow.
Read MoreTurns out that good old-fashioned grit has been statistically linked to being the number one indicator of high performance.
Read MoreYou can’t be great at everything, but you’re probably world-class at something.
Read MoreMany of us chase success, only to find it to be an elusive tease.
Read MoreAltruism. Sexism. Nationalism. An “ism” is a suffix that refers to a strong principle or belief. It is a set of values so powerful, it drives behavior and serves as a beacon for those who subscribe. The best companies and leaders have ISM’s of their own driving their success.
Read MoreRemember when you were a kid and you read Where’s Waldo books? “Where’s Waldo? Where’s Waldo? Where’s Waldo ?!?” The fun of the books was not in the story line, but scanning the complex illustrations to find your friend in a red striped shirt hiding in the crowd. During the process, your level of awareness […]
Read MoreChimps are to humans as humans are to ______ ? Dr. Neil Tyson, the brilliant director of New York City’s Natural History Museum, speculates on what extra-terrestrials would be like if they were as much smarter than us as we are than chimps. It’s a very clever and fascinating speculation…. http://tinyurl.com/ll78v7 What’s the most innovative […]
Read MoreThe Power of Lego to Inspire If you didn’t play with Legos as a child you missed out. The good news is that it’s never too late. Lego – and any tactile construction-type child game like it – can help adults jump-start their creativity no matter how old or uninspired. This short moving will get […]
Read MoreDetroit, Michigan is in trouble. What was once a vibrant city is now overrun with crime, unemployment, and despair. In its hay-day, it was one of the top five cities in the U.S., and had over two million residents. Today, the landscape is marked by abandoned buildings, burned down houses, and vacant factories. The population […]
Read MoreYour mind has hidden superpowers! What does the power of placebo pills have to do with realizing your dreams? Both depend on your mind. Your mind can take a sugar pill and cure cancer. And it can take an idea – say, a personal computer in everyone’s home – and make it a reality. It […]
Read MoreWe’ve all heard people in the business world proclaim that they are “heads down” on a project. Or that they are unable to explore new opportunities since they are “heads down in execution mode.” Consider, for a moment, the advantages of being “heads up” instead. Let’s compare the two states of being: Heads Down Focused […]
Read MoreCreative Intelligence – sometimes it is life or death Creative approaches to tough problems show up in unexpected places. When the US Special Forces first parachuted into Afghanistan after 9/11, they found themselves adopting some unusual martial techniques to manage the terrain and gain respect in the eyes of the local people. They succeeded because […]
Read MoreRemember the old TV spots: “You got your peanut butter in my chocolate! No, you got your chocolate in my peanut butter! Delicious!” Two great tastes brought together to create something remarkable, as the slogan goes. Combining two distinct concepts in order to form an entirely new one is the root of The Reese’s Peanut […]
Read MoreThere are so many powerful business lessons we can learn from the world of jazz. This fluid, improvisation art form is all about taking risks and trying new things. Going out on limb can be scary, but it is where the magic happens. Extending yourself outside your comfort zone is where the best rewards will […]
Read MoreEarlier this week, I launched a six-part blog series on techniques from the jazz world that can be easily translated to driving business creativity. Jazz music is all about spontaneous creativity and improvisation – skills that are critically important in the business world. We’ve covered a number of powerful concepts already (to read the full […]
Read MoreEarlier this week, I launched a six-part blog series on techniques from the jazz world that can be easily translated to driving business creativity. Jazz music is all about spontaneous creativity and improvisation – skills that are critically important in the business world. The first post covered a technique called Trading Fours. The second post […]
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