A friend recently sent me a video in which someone in the back seat of an airplane filmed the pilot and co-pilot chatting during an approach to landing. The gear-warning horn was blaring so loudly that they had to shout over it to hear each other. The video ends with the sound of metal on […]
There are some great lessons we can pull from these wheeled warriors into the business world. I get very excited each year at the beginning of July because it is the start of the Tour de France, a month long event. Thanks to VCR, then DVD and now DVR and the web, I’ve hardly missed […]
Position your business for success As I write this, it’s finally warm out and the lemonade stands — staffed by budding young entrepreneurs — are starting to pop up. This is a great learning experience for a young lass or lad, but might it also teach us something? On the way home from a recent […]
Are you humming the old Johnny Rivers song? “There’s a man who lives a life of danger. … They’ve given you a number and taken away your name. …” (guitar riff here) Sorry, I’m not talking about that kind of agent, but someone who can be just as dangerous! A good friend owns a firm […]
Years ago, I was part of a team that sequestered itself — at the request of our CEO — to come up with our “vision and strategy” for the company. This was a smart group of executives with good backgrounds and many opinions, all with healthy enough egos. We holed up for two days in […]
Hold people accountable in your organization I recently had coffee with a fraud. He looked good, smelled good, dropped names and used buzzwords like a pro. However, he was a chocolate bunny … sweet on the outside and hollow on the inside. These characters can deflect blame like a superhero deflects bullets. All fluff and […]
When I started flying high-performance aircraft at high altitudes many years ago, my friend and I decided to conduct a test. Above 12,500 feet, you’re required to have oxygen (OK nitpicker pilots … between 12,500 feet and 14,000 feet, you can noodle around for half an hour without it). We took a non-pressurized airplane to […]
I recently came home late from a long day hoping I might be graced with leftovers for dinner. Unfortunately, my wife was gone and frankly, her idea of leftovers is the last half of a bag of popcorn anyway (she comes from a long line of culinary-impaired Irish Catholics). As I pulled a pan out […]
“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” — Albert Einstein In business, we talk a great deal about “return.” Return on investment, cash-on-cash return, return on equity and return on invested capital are a few. However, whether you’re a CEO or a sales rep, perhaps your most important measurement […]
At the end of the day, there are really only two ways to win in business, assuming you have a viable market: (1) be like others and execute better or (2) be different. I’ve had clients who’ve succeeded in both camps, but those who took a different approach were more successful — both in top-line […]