Blog
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How to Break Down Silos and Enhance Effective Communication in Your Organization
Silos are organizations where each department operates independently from the other departments. Because of this, it’s difficult to have effective communication between different departments as many people only work with those in their own department and don’t know what other departments do or how they operate on a day-to-day basis. Breaking down silos and enhancing […]
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3 Traits of Successful CEOs
How do you know if you have what it takes to be a successful CEO? You’re going to have to show your employees that you’re committed to helping the company succeed in the long run, and you’ll need to know how to be transparent with them. This article provides 3 traits of successful CEO’s: transparency, […]
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Building an Engaging Corporate Culture Starts with Clarifying Your Vision, Values and Mission
How important is it to clarify your vision, values and mission? If you’re struggling to answer that question, consider the fact that Harvard Business Review reports that corporate culture has more impact on revenue and profit than either strategy or structure (Daft, 2007). In other words, if you want to build an engaging corporate culture […]
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Strong Leadership Requires All Your Emotional Intelligence
Everyone seems to have an opinion on how to lead well, but few people have studied the question as scientifically as Harvard psychology professor Daniel Goleman has. Goleman fathered the theory of emotional intelligence, and in his research of more than 3,000 business executives he finds a clear correlation between leadership and emotional intelligence. You […]
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Spring Is Made Possible By the Death of Winter
Whether or not you observe Lent, the 40-day season between Ash Wednesday and Easter, you can understand the profound reality of life that it represents. Lent, from a word meaning “spring,” is a celebration of death and resurrection. To get through a difficult and painful situation, our first instinct is to deny it’s happening, and […]
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Getting Things Done By Learning One New Habit
At Alcoa, a gigantic company that produces aluminum, a new CEO was faced with turning the company around years ago and decided that improving safety was the answer. Wall Street, ever conservative in its approach to change, reacted to this unconventional approach by punishing the stock. Can you predict what happened? CEO Paul O’Neill had […]
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5 Tips To Become a Mission Critical Organization
The USS Benfold was the most technically advanced ship in the world, yet not coming close to its full potential. Commander Mike Abrashoff turned things around by changing the culture of the organization. He interviewed each crew member to see what was working. He separated tasks into mission critical and “non-value added.” This distinction, which […]
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Six Reasons You Do Not Ever Need to Hire a Business Coach
See if any items on this list apply to you: My business is exactly where I want it to be. I have enough clients, and the work is the type of work I want to do. Even if it is not yet where I want it to be, I know just what I need to […]
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The 4-letter Word that Will Catapult Your Career: GRIT
The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses — behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights. –Muhammad Ali The great boxer understood something about life that many of us don’t want to believe. We like to think that stars are born, […]
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Systemize Your Business This Year
Could this be you? You’re a star developer whose mission is to create a game-changing software platform. You start to grow by selling some apps you’ve developed, and you hire junior level developers. Your bookkeeping becomes more complicated with employees and a payroll. You’re a smart person and you know you can handle it. Your […]
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Networking Not Working? Try These 4 Strategies to Make the Right Connections
Business networking meetings can be a superb way to exchange leads and meet potential customers, and many business people have struck gold while networking. Lasting human connections can be made. On the other hand, some people perceive networking in a negative light, as a waste of time and resources, like trying to pick up corn […]
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Make Trust the Lifeblood of Your Business
In September 2015, Volkswagen was exposed as having systematically cheating on emissions testing. It tanked its own stock, boosted competitors’ sales and opened the company to a flood of lawsuits, all of which weaken it in the long run. Not to mention being skewered by late-night comics. Trust takes a lifetime to build, as they […]
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5 Elements of a Good Elevator Pitch: How to Stop Winging It
You are at a networking event with 40 people and are asked to “introduce yourself to the group.” You stand up, say your name and notice how many faces are all looking at you. Here’s your chance to impress. But you can’t remember what you were going to say! You fear failure, so this fear […]
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How To Defeat Sales Objections
Anyone who owns or operates a business is in sales. Sales objections are unavoidable. In fact, regardless of our profession, we all deal with objections in life with co-workers, business partners, spouses, and family. The good news is that there are ways to get around those objections. All it takes is a little preparation. The […]
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8 Critical Questions to Ask Yourself Before Hanging Up Your Shingle
It surprises me to realize, that often when I begin working with a new client, he or she has never thought about the following things: What are your core values? What is your core focus? What is your 10-year target? What is your marketing strategy? What is your three-year picture? What is your one-year plan? […]
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Do You Have Time? 10 Time Management Tips to Maximize your Effectiveness
Have you heard the following adage: “You cannot manage what you cannot measure”? It is hard to improve if we do not establish performance metrics. This is particularly true when speaking about time management improvement. Time seems to escape us and there is never enough time to do everything there is to do. Yet we […]
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Do Not Sell Yourself Short: Pricing Strategies
As we end the year, let’s assess the profitability of your business. Many new (and existing) business owners price their services below market to bring in business. As operating costs increase, however, you find yourself with a growing business–but not growing profits. What should be done? Should you raise prices? Your current clients who made […]
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What Are Your Marketing Options?
Questions you should think about before starting a marketing program: On a Limited Budget You Must Prioritize. Marketing today offers entrepreneurs an amazing spectrum of attractive tools. But can they be all tested within limited resources? Answer: Only pursue the ones that align most closely with your strategic marketing plan. If you don’t have a plan, […]
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Focusing on Customer Retention in a Slow Economy
In today’s struggling economy, consumers aren’t the only ones tightening their belts. With shoppers spending less on non-essential items and socking more into savings, businesses across the country are feeling the effects of the widespread penny pinching. The good news? As a business owner, you can do more than just sit by and watch profits […]