There’s a difference between respect and servitude. A CEO friend and I recently had a beer, and he updated me on his kids. His daughter worked in sales for a large, well-known company and had been promoted to a “major accounts” position, in charge of relationships with two other large organizations. One of her clients […]
I’ve been thinking a lot about democracy and capitalism recently so thought that I’d share a few interesting quotes—some of them conflicting messages—from some very bright fellows to whom I looked for guidance. Before you read them, please ponder this quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in […]
Runoff season is about over in the Front Range of Colorado as I write this, so fly-fishing season is ramping up. My recent feeble attempts at fishing the big water (when the snowmelt comes screaming down the canyons) were mostly frustrating. Trying to maintain my balance in the raging water when casting to a relatively […]
Common wisdom says that family businesses have an extremely high failure rate when moving from the first to second to third generation, and that’s absolutely true. The numbers often cited state that 30 percent survive the second generation, and it decreases to midteens by the third and single digits by the fourth. What you don’t […]
I got hooked on bike racing many years ago when I watched American Greg LeMond beat Frenchman Laurent Fignon on the last stage of the Tour de France by a mere eight seconds after two weeks and 2,041 miles of racing. Later, I was a big Lance Armstrong fan. There has always been a king […]
“A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” —Confucius In life, we generally want to reduce friction. Car bodies, bike helmets, airplane skins and anything requiring oil are designed to minimize friction. But when you want to stop a car, light a match or shape a piece of wood, you need […]
When I was a kid, we’d sometimes go for a Sunday drive after church. I suspect my mother, a widow with two kids, just wanted some quiet time, but I remember mostly being bored. We lived in the Midwest and frankly, once you’ve seen one field of sugar beets, the others aren’t that interesting! We […]
If you’re an executive and aren’t a bit anxious (or excited, if you’re an optimist!) about the rate of change in the business world, my guess is you’re just not paying attention. Either that or you sell toilet paper and aren’t worried about a new disruptive technology. Even a toilet paper company, however, could find […]
A fascinating and critical question for leaders: Do you reward behavior or victories? Consider these situations: You have a well-established business model but are concerned that it’s too old and a startup may soon eat your lunch. You fund a new division to build out some adjacent product lines. It gets three to market; two […]
The following is an excerpt from my book, “Never Kick a Cow Chip On A Hot Day” (2016) Morgan James Publishing. Most executives squander too much of their most valuable resource, their time.Here is how to get a good return on that asset. Getting a Return On Your Time The $59 time-management seminar I went […]