Growth & Leadership Insights

The Most Important Principle Revealed

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Your Brand Is Your Promise My father grew up in Minnesota during the Great Depression.  His father and mother had farmed in Montana, persevering through locusts, droughts and troubles with local Native Americans; they went bankrupt twice. Finally, with a wife and now five children to feed, my grandfather relocated to the iron range in northern Minnesota where he could earn a living cleaning out railroad locomotive boilers. In Minnesota, Dad’s family built their house, …

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The Treasure Of Thankfulness

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Take Time To Count Your Blessings What an inspiration it was to dedicate a whole day to thankfulness. As the world spins ever faster, on this one day, we stop to count our blessings.I’m thankful for my family and friends Who give meaning to my life. I’m thankful for you who entrust your business to me. Working with you brings joy and fulfillment with profound respect for your success. I’m thankful for this exceptional country …

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Programmed to Take the Easy Way?

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Demonstrating Commitment or Convenience The other day, we were standing in line to use the “up” escalator.  The queue was long, despite the fact that right next to the escalator was a flight of steps that no one was using.The staircase wasn’t too long…about half as long as you might see going to the next floor at a department store.  Yet, there we all were in line, most of us looking reasonably healthy and able …

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The Peace of Resolution

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What’s Next For Your Business? Well, it’s finally over!  After months of noise and drama, we’ve had our election and can now enjoy the “peace of resolution.”  We know the results and, with some reflection and analysis, we’ll plot our future path.  After achieving a major goal or accomplishing a key milestone, it’s an ideal time to pause and evaluate what’s working in your business, what needs improvement and what is constraining you. This week …

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The Power of “Syzygy”

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Lashing Together To Achieve Results During a meeting the other day, a group of us were discussing the leadership characteristics that have proven most successful in nurturing enduring customer relationships and generating sustained revenue growth. We reviewed how the more effective “growth-oriented” leaders are outward looking – they have a vision and a passion for their business.  They deeply value the customer relationships that have enabled their growth, and have a clear, comprehensive perspective of …

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Energy Drives Action

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Passion Produces Energy Remember that feeling of enthusiasm and anticipation you experienced on your first day at a new company or in a new position?   The exhilaration of those moments ignited your passion for your company and your career.  Over time, the routine & the constant stress of meeting challenges dampened your passion. Like all emotions, Passion will come and go, but it is an essential fuel for sustaining focus on goals. Passion generates energy, …

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Collaboration Is A Skill

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Strengthen Collaboration Or Be Commoditized Collaboration is a skill, a muscle to be developed and strengthened. When my client Brian asked me how he could improve his collaborative ability, I asked him how his business makes money.  He responded with a nicely scripted line that I remembered as being on his company’s website. I suggested that he go deeper.  “What are your company’s core competencies?  What is your company’s unique value and how does it …

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What Do You Value?

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Customers Evaluate Your Behavior In the book, “Built to Last,” authors Collins and Porras explore how successful visionary growth companies have built businesses by consistently operating in accordance with their core values and beliefs. They conclude that everything else about a business can change over time – its technology, financial resources, structure or timing – but sustained growth is achieved when the people in the company robustly believe in its basic principles and consistently demonstrate …

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Can We Collaborate Too Much With Customers?

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Evaluate Mutual Value Produced We had been discussing the various ways that increased collaboration with customers prevents commoditization when Ben asked, “Can we collaborate too much with customers?” The short answer is “yes,” but to delve more deeply into Ben’s point, we first revisited why customer-partnering has proven to be so effective in battling commoditization – it produces results for customers that fosters enduring relationships.  Sales productivity is increased, driving growth in revenue and profitability. …

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Selling Is Personal Business

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Win When Your Customer Does Selling is personal. The most successful sellers believe that they can make a difference. They take their business personally. They’re convinced that their solutions will produce value for their customers. They know their company’s competencies well, have invested time to learn their customers’ needs, and have aligned their competencies to achieve customer goals. Buyers have stated and unstated needs; the unstated ones are personal. Buyers want to believe that sellers …

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