Create a Group Mission Statement
In my first role as a manager, I worked with a high performance team with more work on our hands than time. We worked hard, we enjoyed working together, but it was a tough assignment to get everything done – and still love each other at the end of the day! One day, I decided to try something which had never been done with this team: create a mission statement and values statement. Honestly, I... [Read more]
Online Entrepreneurship Degrees
As more individuals start businesses, entrepreneurship college degrees are becoming much more popular. You don’t have to be an entrepreneur to get a degree in entrepreneurship: many managers pursue entrepreneurship degrees to learn how to manage in the startup environment or for family businesses. Online learning is now an acceptable method of pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree... [Read more]
Building Quality Links for Your Small Business Web Site
There are thousands of resources on the Web to help you with search engine optimization, finding backlinks, creating a link strategy, and all facets of search engine marketing and yet I frequently get asked by business people I work with “how do I get highly ranked in Google?” There are so many facets to search engine ranking, but one of the most consistently known and focused on strategies... [Read more]
Why You Should Care About Financial Statements
Jim couldn’t understand it. His successful window installation company had ten years worth of financials. His business had been profitable since day one. He was never late paying a bill and had impeccable credit, but when he applied for a commercial mortgage to purchase a building for the company, two banks declined his application after seeing the financial reports his accountant prepared. He... [Read more]
How to Hold a Difficult Conversation
Inevitably, as a manager, you will need to have a difficult conversation at some point in your career. This difficult conversation can come from something embarrassing, an exchange between employees, bad habits, or an number of issues. These might include: Uncleanliness Fights, arguments, or disagreements Flirtatious behavior with other employees Attitude problems Dress code violations Here are some... [Read more]
5 Major Customer Service Mistakes
It’s an unfortunate part of life that poor customer service can cost an organization so much – lost customers, lost revenue, lost new business, and a lost opportunity to connect with someone for a lifetime relationship. Many organizations do not know how much poor customer service has cost them and do not have a plan to find out. We’ve experienced great customer service and terrible... [Read more]
Finding a Life Coach
A Life Coach is someone who will help you set goals for your life. A life coach helps you create a successful life – not as your therapist, friend, or a consultant – but as someone who can help you develop the goals you have and show you a plan to achieve them. A life coach is an expert and you should not just select a coach because they are a friend, family member, or someone you connected... [Read more]
Management Lessons from the Football Field
As another JV football season has come to a close, it’s a great time to look back and assess the season and my performance as the coach. This was my first year as head coach of the JV program with the Carolina Pride and was a tremendous learning experience. I’ve been the head ball coach before – but only at the middle school level. High school JV football brings a new level of intensity,... [Read more]
Lots of Responsibility and No Authority?
Jim Tanner received the promotion he had spent six years working hard for. He managed a team of eight people in a magazine publishing house and had responsibility over one magazine title, it’s Web site, and all production efforts for it. His team worked hard to produce a quality magazine and Jim’s efforts to increase circulation and advertising over the years made the magazine one of the... [Read more]
3 Quick Steps to an Empty Email Inbox
1,750 messages. 2,627 messages. The first is the number of email messages I have in my inbox on my business account. The second is the number of email messages I have in my inbox on my personal account. I am a terrible email user. I do not actively manage the influx of daily messages and frequently finding myself investing a good deal of time cleaning out the inbox of unread junk email and mailing... [Read more]
