Take on the responsibilities of the next role to show you can do the work first When I was growing up, my dad gave me a piece of advice that I think is worth passing on. He told me that if I wanted to get a promotion at work, the best way to get it was to take the initiative. He told me:&...
KEEP READINGIt's all about maximizing the return. Most entrepreneurs are allergic to debt. And for good reason. I've written before about how much debt your business can afford to take on. If you approach a bank about taking on a loan, they'll typically ask for a personal guarantee in return. That me...
KEEP READINGA few easy techniques can help everyone do more. As our work has become increasingly virtual in the wake of the pandemic, email has become ever-more vital to our office communications, even as alternatives like Slack have emerged. That said, email can promote some bad habits...
KEEP READINGTough times require difficult decisions about the size of your payroll. As the government begins to scale back its financial support for businesses impacted by the pandemic, leaders will be forced to do some hard analysis of their labor force. Many of us will be forced to admit we just a...
KEEP READINGThe better the business model, the more valuable the business.The key to building a successful business for the long term--and potentially the opportunity to sell it for top dollar down the road--is to ensure that you have a rock-solid business model as your foundation. But how do you know how yo...
KEEP READINGNeither one is sufficient to cover all situations, but together they can get you the right result every time. Every company has both values and procedures. Yet we don't always think of these as key elements--the yin and the yang--of how our businesses operate. But that's exactly what they are. L...
KEEP READINGMore important, what should it be? There is a fundamental choice that leaders make--consciously or unconsciously--when leading people. You either lean toward orienting around tasks or prioritize supporting people. Understanding how these dynamics work will help you not just become a better leader...
KEEP READINGWe can learn something from prior downturns. Now that we're in the middle of an economic downturn, there's a lot of discussion about how long it will take to begin a recovery. Is the recovery curve going to take the shape of a V (a quick recovery), a U (slower), or even the dreaded L (a long, slo...
KEEP READINGPutting in face time with your team creates transparency, trust, and peace of mind. Woody Allen once famously said that 80 percent of success is just showing up. The same is true of leadership--even in today's increasingly virtual environment. This comes back to a phrase used in the U.S. Nav...
KEEP READINGEven if you can't get a promise of a sale, here's what you can do to keep the ball rolling. Many organizations have had difficulty landing sales lately--especially closing deals involving larger and more complex products and services. The pandemic has slowed everything down to a snail's pace. Th...
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