Blog

Great companies are companies that experience significant and consistent top and bottom line growth. Why is growth so important? In my experience, a lot of leaders overlook the number one reason. Company growth allows you to keep great people, and keep attracting new great people. To keep the talent-profit cycle moving. I speak about that in the latest podcast episode.

Maybe you started doing what you do out of love. Love for what you do, for the people, for the industry. But after a while, overwhelm and frustration gets to you, and you risk losing that love. Not on my watch. I came up with 13 ways to fall back in love with your business – ways I practice every day – and that help me love what I do every single day.

The culture in any organization? You can gauge it by finding out the temperature of each leader. Are you aware of yours? Listen to my conversation with Paul Epstein to learn more about a leader’s temperature sets the culture.

Your HR department probably wants to have a handle on culture. But they get bogged down in hiring, onboarding, perks, etc. And culture…is everyday. So WHO should be in charge of culture? Better Culture Co-Founder, Brett Hoogeveen has an answer you might not expect.

You’re not hiring somebody. You’re inviting them to be part of your organization. So the question is: who would you like in your home? My guest Howard Behar shares his ‘human skills first, work skills second’ approach that helped him grow Starbucks, the organization he was the founding president of.

When people understand their weaknesses and allow others in the team to compensate for them, it allows the entire team to rise to the top, even against smarter, more talented, or stronger teams. In leadership teams as in sports. Listen to my impressive guest, Chad Hymas, talk about where strength comes from.

1+1=3 when everyone is working joyfully, with gratification and with a sense of fulfillment. 

My guest, Alison Tabor, believes that starts with taking stock: asking 3 questions and aligning what you discover. Listen to the interview to find out how to get that result in your business too.

Are you banding together with people who have the same or similar vision? You should, if you want a great team. My guest Ryann Halo has a lot to say about what it takes to build a great leadership team and more. 

When you are able to sit at the table with your peers, set ego aside, and get to the best solution for the company that isn’t about you, that is the mark of a great team. My guest, Pam Nemec, calls this humble collaboration.

What is the promise you make to your customers + what are you actually doing about it = customer experience strategy. Do you have one? My latest guest on the podcast, Jeannie Walters, talks about why every business needs one, and how to do it well.

‘It’s hard to find good people.’ ‘Where are all the good people?’ ‘There are no good people.’ I hear this all the time. But we can’t build strong businesses working with mediocre people. So how do we find them, those good people? Simple, dig the well before you’re thirsty. I talk about what exactly that means in the latest podcast episode.

Everybody in your organization needs to feel like somebody above them cares about them. That’s what makes you feel part of a team. Leaders can do that by listening. More leadership lessons like this coming to you on the podcast this week, from fighter pilot Tammy Barlette.

I talk about surrounding myself with the right people in the latest Better Leadership Show episode.

Growth and scale are not the same thing. Trey Dunavant describes scaling as all about outpacing the average, and doing so while keeping all the wheels on the bus? I love that reframe. He unpacks it all, and how to scale sustainably, in the latest Better Leadership Show episode.

Great strategy, execution, breaking into a new market, creating a new product or a new service, etc. All those are ways to improve top and bottom growth, sure. But THE most direct, the most sustainable, the most important (often overlooked) way to drive growth? Grow your talent.

Coach Jim Johnson is in the business of developing winning players. And the first thing he’ll tell you is that true leadership is never about just winning on the court. There’s a lot more to it. Hear it all in the latest episode.

There’s ONE thing that guides all strategic decision making. Without it, your team is going to have a hard time understanding why they’re doing what they’re doing. That’s your clue. The rest is in the latest podcast episode.

A leader is someone who has followers. What can you offer that is SO valuable that they would want to follow you?

When did you last get together with your team just to learn? Not to make decisions together or to solve problems, but just to learn. Talk about books you've read, concepts you’ve learned, coach each other.

The challenge with customer responsibility usually falling under the head of sales, and employee responsibility usually falling under the head of HR, is that those are siloed organizational hierarchies that rarely interact with each other.