How to Build a High-Performance Small Business
High performance is achievable You don’t need jargon to run a tighter, faster shop. You need a simple way to set priorities, make decisions quickly, and keep work moving without drama. I think…
Management Resources
There is a bigger difference between management and leadership than most people realize. Not all leaders make good managers and vice versa. Whereas leadership is about providing clear direction through strategic thinking, decision making, and planning. It is about the macro. Management is about executing leadership initiatives through directing, organizing, coaching, and holding people tactically accountable. It is about the micro. A good manager knows his/her people well and is committed to their success individually and collectively.
Blog Posts
Improving Performance Management: Eight Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them
These perormance management issues are silent because they creep in slowly. One missed conversation. One rushed hire. One unclear expectation. But over time, they stack up—and they sabotage your culture, your execution, and…
Career Paths Don’t Have to Be Complicated: Three Roads to Success
Over the years, working with numerous clients has revealed a persistent challenge: creating career paths that are clear, practical, and suitable for all types of employees. It's not because they don't care or…
Achieving Success Through Position Clarity: A Blueprint for Leaders and Their Teams
At the heart of every successful organization is a clear understanding of roles. As a leader, it’s vital to define your own five core responsibilities—the primary tasks that drive your business forward. But…
Commitment: A Cardinal Virtue for Personal and Professional Success
Commitment is more than just a quality we admire in others—it is a profound virtue that lies at the heart of human achievement and fulfillment. As a virtue, commitment represents the unwavering dedication…
Building a Culture of Accountability: The Cornerstone of Organizational Success
In any high-performing organization, accountability is not just a buzzword—it’s the foundation upon which success is built. Accountability ensures that every team member understands their responsibilities, takes ownership of their work, and fully…
Are You a One-Way Street or Two-Way Street Professional?
Too many people these days live their professional (and personal) lives as if they are only ever driving on a one-way street. However, in our rapidly changing business environment, the way we interact…
Balancing Leadership and Management as a Small Business Owner
As a small business owner, you assume multiple responsibilities. You’re responsible for setting the vision, inspiring your team, and driving change, all while managing day-to-day operations, resources, and people. Understanding the difference between…
How You Change the Game at Work: It’s All About People
Remember, what you do at work isn't just about hitting KPIs or closing deals. It's about building a team that's all in it together, where everyone feels like they're part of something bigger.…
Balancing Compassion and Accountability: Can You Do Both?
Remember, genuine compassion involves helping individuals become the best version of themselves, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable life challenges. Accountability is something you do for someone, not to them.
The Three Ways You Build Organizational Capacity
As a leader, it is essential to consider all three options—building, renting, and buying capacity—continuously. Rarely will a single path suffice at all times. When faced with the operational challenges of adding labor…
22 Reasons Why Leadership Team Meetings Are Ineffective (or Average at Best)
Instead of treating these important meetings with the professional respect they deserve, most individual participants view them as a means of simply fulfilling a team obligation and/or humoring the senior person in charge…
97 Reasons Why Business Growth Stalls
Growth is hard work. For the past 27 years, I’ve worked as an executive coach, Vistage Chair, trainer or management consultant with hundreds of organizations. They have varied in size from just under…
Moving From A Buddy to Boss
Transitioning from being a buddy to a boss can be a challenging task. As a boss, you must make tough decisions that affect your team's performance and well-being.
Leadership Thought #400 – 25 Ways Leaders Get Themselves in Trouble
Business leadership isn't easy. If it were, everyone would be able to do it. Some talented people make it look easy, but we often don't see all the effort that goes into making…
People Are Complex (Especially In A Crisis)
The best leaders don’t make others feel weak or incapable. They embrace their humanity while accepting the different emotional capacities of those they lead. They don’t offer simple, trite answers to complex situations.…
Leadership Thought #425 – 10 Ways To Ensure Your Business Success As A Leader
Leadership isn't rocket science. Creating the conditions for business success is actually pretty basic: be clear about where you are going and why; define what success looks like and track performance; make sure…
Leadership Thought #202 – Do You Always Wait Until The Last Minute?
I have heard many leaders tell me they always wait to do something until the last minute because they perform best under this type of pressure. This seems like a form of justification…
Leadership Thought #367 – Be Authentic and Honest In Your Communication
The most important thing we do as human beings is communicate with one another. Without honest communication, we would have no idea what the other person is thinking or be able to fully…
Leadership Thought #438 – Good People WILL Leave Your Organization
If you employ people, the reality is that they will come and go. It is extremely rare for someone to take the entire business journey with you (or for you to want them…
Recommended Reading
Be The Best Part of Their Day
Introduction—Be the Best Part of Their Day Communication matters. Every leader leaves a footprint after every interaction. The only real question is: did you lift people up—or wear them down? In Be the Best…
Glad We Met by
Introduction to “Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings” Every day, somewhere between 200 and 500 million one-on-one meetings take place around the world. That’s roughly $1.25 billion invested daily…
Beat The Odds by Sandy Gennaro
Welcome to Beat the Odds – A Journey from the Stage to the Boardroom By Sandy Gennaro — Rock Star. Mentor. Speaker. Difference-Maker. What do Cyndi Lauper, Joan Jett, and The Monkees have…
Managing Oneself
Whether you're a young professional mapping out your future, a business owner seeking clarity, or a seasoned executive facing reinvention, the insights within this book can become a personal compass.
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
In a world full of slide decks and “big ideas,” the winners are the teams that ship. Bossidy and Charan cut through the noise and show you how to build a culture where…
It’s The Manager by Gallup
If you're a business owner or team leader trying to build a high-performing organization, here's a truth you can't ignore: your managers make or break your business. Gallup's It’s the Manager backs this…
The Four Disciplines of Execution
Most teams drown in priorities, meetings, and metrics that don’t change outcomes. 4DX shows you how to narrow your aim, track the signals that actually predict success, make progress visible, and build a…
The Manager’s Handbook: 104 Solutions to Your Everyday Workplace Problems
Most teams don’t fail from lack of effort—they stall from fuzzy priorities, uneven standards, and inconsistent follow-through. This handbook gives managers a simple, repeatable operating system so work stays focused, people know what…
Managing Up and Across
The book shows how to read what your boss actually needs, how to adapt to different styles, and how to collaborate across teams that don’t share your deadlines. You’ll set working agreements, pre-wire…
The Truth About Employee Engagement
Patrick Lencioni’s The Truth About Employee Engagement (originally The Three Signs of a Miserable Job) explains—through a short leadership fable—why good people disengage and what any manager can do about it. It’s memorable,…
HBR Guide to Leading Teams (HBR Guide Series)
Most team problems aren’t technical—they’re people problems: unclear goals, fuzzy roles, slow decisions, and accountability that slips. This guide gives you the basics you actually need: how to form the team, set the…
How To Be A Great Boss
How to Be a Great Boss Simple, repeatable systems to set clear expectations, coach well, and get results—without drama. Most managers don’t struggle for lack of effort—they struggle because the job isn’t clear.…
Reading Excerpts
The Effective Manager by Mark Horstman
All of the data over the years shows that the single most important thing that you can do as a manager to improve your performance and increase retention is to spend time getting…
HBR Guide to Managing Up and Across
Classify your relationships by the benefits they provide. Generally, benefits fall into one of six categories: information, political support and influence, personal development, personal support and energy, a sense of purpose or worth,…
On Leadership and Business Book Excerpts Sections 3-5 by Ed Robinson
I believe that business and nonprofit leaders need to think differently about what constitutes success. Besides the quality of their people, what differentiates most high-performing companies is their vision, focus, and discipline. Culturally,…
Reading Summaries
Be The Best Part of Their Day
Introduction: Why communication matters on the shop floor (and in the boardroom) Most teams don’t stall out because of skill gaps; they stall because people feel unseen, uncertain, or uninspired. When communication frays,…
Glad We Met
Introduction: The Power of Effective 1:1s Using Simple Conversations So much of leadership is wrapped up in big things—budgets, strategies, growth plans, new technology. Yet what often separates great leaders from average ones…
Peak Performance: Aligning The Hearts and Minds of Your Employees
Introduction In the pursuit of organizational excellence, aligning the hearts and minds of employees is crucial. Jon R. Katzenbach’s “Peak Performance: Aligning the Hearts and Minds of Your Employees” provides a comprehensive guide…
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