Archive | Management

The hardest thing about running a business must be figuring out how to manage people. When creating processes, the handoffs in the process, that is the interaction of people and departments are the hardest part. Creating alignment between individual goals and those of the company is endlessly challenging. Think of the creation of an incentive […]

A couple of months ago I talked about seeing Howard Behar, one of the key people in Starbucks’ success, speak at a business function. Despite his understated manner, I thought he was the best business speaker I’ve ever heard. I titled my blog, “The Wisdom and Humanity of Howard Behar.” My summary of why he […]

For the past four years, I have been one of the sponsors of an annual event called Impact. At Impact 2017, held September 15-17, 2017, we gathered together CEOs from about 80 local small to medium-sized businesses. The sponsors, like me, are professionals who serve this size business. Every year Impact is terrific but this […]

My last blog was titled, “Getting Rid of People Isn’t Always the Answer.” Or course, sometimes it is the right answer but I asked the question, “Have you done everything you can to make an employee successful before you let them go?” This is a big deal. As the owner/operator or supervisor of people, it […]

So often, it seems that the default answer to a problem in an organization is to get rid of someone, often the person at the top. Here’s my take on this: This is a lazy approach that often avoids dealing the root cause. Some examples follow. Get the Right People on the Bus It is […]

Unless one buys an existing business, the start of a new enterprise usually begins with the owner being the only employee. It’s the typical start-in-a-spare-bedroom/garage story. The owner fulfills every job and ‘wears many hats.’ If this new enterprise enjoys some success, eventually the owner hires their first employee, an important milestone. Hopefully more employees […]

In business we tend to overanalyze a situation because we’re afraid to make the wrong decision. Everyone is familiar with the term ‘paralysis by analysis.’ A different take on decision making comes from my friend, Ross Bentley. Ross is a race driver coach and an accomplished former racer himself. How accomplished? He raced Indy cars […]

Perhaps the most common advice I give to business owners is to delegate more. This is because the ultimate scare resource is the business owner/operator’s time. By delegation, we hope to accomplish more by working through others. One can achieve managerial leverage much as we achieve financial leverage. Delegating is difficult. One must let go […]

I was a sponsor of Impact 2016 again this year. Impact is an annual three-day gathering of CEOs of small to medium-sized businesses. Our closing speakers this year were the “Ice Chip Grannies.” These are two grandmothers who have started a number of businesses. But they’ve finally hit the big time with a sugarless candy […]