Escape the 9-5 grind!

Would you answer this ad? –

Never work 9 am to 5 pm again!  Become an entrepreneur and work 5 am to 9 pm instead! 

Stop working for a paycheck – you’ll get no paycheck at all!

Funny?  For some of us, not funny – not yet at least.

To start your own business is to start from scratch – to take risks and assume great responsibilities.  It is to enter into unknowns for you, with some days full of frustration and desperation, peppered by a few that feel like temporary triumph.

You won’t be paid unless the collective output of your organization creates more value than it consumes to operate.  If you don’t figure it out before you run out of money, you go broke and let lots of people down – especially your family and yourself.

But if you DO figure it out before it destroys your life and you go broke, it can be a rewarding journey that makes you a better person.

Still interested?

Work Friendships

Work friendships help people (and you) to feel work-life balance. 

Employees are far more likely to stay for the people around them; friends that they work with.

At my house when I have a party, it looks a lot like a work party!

Are the people you lead or work with your friends?

If you expect high standards

If you expect high standards, you have to have high standards.

Walk the talk.

Prevent trouble BEFORE it arises

The leaders we remember best are ones who were thrust into great conflict and found a way to win.  We don’t remember leaders who prevented such great conflicts in the first place.  I suspect there are far more of the latter, and less of the former.

Ronald Reagan is my favorite president.  I wish he’d come back today.  He was like a father figure.  I was in high school when he was elected, and he served for the eight years after that.  Maybe it was his firmness in drawing a line where and when it had to be drawn.  Maybe it was his soothing voice speaking the words of optimism and the promise of America that I loved.  Like a good Dad, he could make you feel good about yourself and America, while at the same time not letting you forget the responsibilities and challenges that we had to meet to realize this unique and worthy goal of freedom.

Reagan was called “The Great Communicator”. (Listen to some of his speeches.)

I recall a story about how the cold war ended.  There was a time when we all worried about nuclear war with the USSR.  It was talked about and loomed over us as the one thing that could go wrong that would end all of us.  There seemed to be no solution, and millions of lives hung in the balance.

I’m not a perfect historian, but this is basically what happened.  Reagan called Gorbachev and met with him – face to face.  They visited. They talked, and they became friends.  Can you imagine -the leaders of the two superpowers with nuclear warheads pointing at each other, becoming friends?  

Reagan had Gorbachev over to the US for a visit.  This was unprecedented.  At some point, Reagan took his friend to a grocery store.  Gorbachev, it is said, wept for all the abundance and choice that was available in America, made possible by our system of free-market capitalism.

Ultimately, the cold war ended, and The USSR broke up into multiple smaller countries.

Was World War III avoided?  We don’t know what would have happened if Reagan handled it differently and perhaps threatened and provoked Gorbachev instead.

The point is, as leaders, we are stewards of our group, and it is our responsibility to not only meet the crises of the day, but to prevent them in the first place.

In my company, we have almost no debt, we have physical space to spare so we aren’t constrained by being overcrowded, we have 1300 happy employees (I think!), and happy customers.  We meet threats when they are small and prevent them from becoming large.

What are you doing, or must you do, to PREVENT crises and disasters for your organization?

There is no shortage of opportunities

Don’t let opportunity ruin you by chasing them all.

Pick the one that suits you and your organization best and say no to the rest.  

Then you can focus your people, talents, energy, focus, and time to be the best at it.

Leadership doesn't mean you DO everything

You can have authority over an area you are not good at.  That doesn’t mean you have to do the job or lead that department.

You should not do what you are not good at.

Get out of the way and let someone who is better at it than you do the job.

This does not diminish your authority.

Lead other people who are better at things than you, and let them do the job.

The Speed of Trust

When the people on your team trust each other, you can get more done faster with less problems.

When there is no trust, everything is a struggle.

How’s the trust in your organization?

Always be nice

“If I have said something to hurt a man once, I shall not get the better of this by saying many things to please him.” – Dr. Samuel Johnson

“Kindnesses are easily forgotten; but injuries!  What worthy man does not keep those in mind?” – William Makepeace Thackeray

You know this is true.  Be nice.

This is much easier if you learn to do your job well and feel good about yourself and what you are doing – and if you eat right and get enough sleep.

Be nice always.

Make today matter tomorrow

Get the feeling you did something GOOD today – something that will last.

What problem can you solve or improvement can you make today that will make tomorrow easier on your team/company/sales?

What is it?

Play to Win

Play to win.  

This is different than playing not to lose.

You can’t win with great defense alone.  You have to score some points.

Go on the offense.