Over the last few weeks, we’ve looked at the five components needed to build a healthy framework for negotiating agreements: Trust Resiliency Communication Team Orientation Focus For illustration, I’ve applied these components to a particular kind of business advisory group—3to5 Clubs. Last week we explored the last two of these... read more →
Feb
26
Feb
25
This blog is dedicated to the millennial stakeholders of our businesses. Today they comprise 34% of our employees; by 2020 that percentage will rise to 46% (1). Our firms will have a harder time attracting and retaining them if we aren’t giving back meaningfully but, in fact, are interested only... read more →
Feb
24
Last week, I talked about how a couple of merchants in a little medieval town created an unanticipated social capital footprint. Their decisions to uphold and propagate standards of honest weights, excellent service, and integrity had far-reaching consequences for themselves and their community and the world. It is little surprise,... read more →
Feb
23
“I look forward again to coaching to try to win rather than trying to avoid being defeated.”—John Wooden, UCLA basketball coach, after his fifth (of ten) national titles. For our family Christmas card this year, we shared a picture of us after summiting Mt. Princeton—an exhilarating experience! While the ascent... read more →
Feb
22
“Mamihlapinatapai” is derived from the Yaghan language of Tierra del Fuego [and is] listed in [the] Guinness Book of Records...as the “most succinct word."1 (Pronounced ma-mE-la-pin-ya-ta-pI). Being a linguistical hobbyist, I have to share the etymology of this word with you: Mam-- the reflexive/passive prefix ma- (mam- before a vowel) + Ilhapi-- the root which... read more →
Feb
21
Over the last two weeks, we’ve looked at real consequences of the government’s fiscal rigor mortis. We’ve also explored Modern Monetary Theory’s argument that the result of deficit spending is a public good—reduced unemployment and increased GDP growth. This week, I’d like to give you a penny—no, a $1Trillion coin(!)—for... read more →
Feb
20
Business owners so often believe this myth about their lives and their businesses: work comes before play and selling their business for top dollar is their highway to freedom. Have you ever said, “I have to get my business to the next level before I can enjoy my life.” OR... read more →
Feb
19
In This Edition... Featured Article - Business Owners: Are you Stuck in the Bermuda Triangle?” Newsbreak - 360 Degree Check-up Workshop and Purposeful Planning Institute Success Story - Building a Revenue Foundation Featured Article Business Owners: Are you Stuck in the Bermuda Triangle? By Jon Hokama, Senior Vice President Building a... read more →
Feb
18
My wife Susie and I just watched Russell Crowe’s stellar performance in the 2005 movie Cinderella Man. Ron Howard’s movie ostensibly relates the rise of boxer James J. Braddock to world heavyweight champion in 1935. But it’s really a modern parable about a man who knows and lives by his... read more →
Feb
17
The Celts called it right. They considered Advent—the time leading up to the birth of Jesus—to be a liminal doorway where Past, Present, and Future met in a Person. For business owners, it’s likewise a liminal doorway of anticipation for our 2015. Yet, as I reflect on conversations with business... read more →