When I was a teenager, my mother and stepfather got divorced and my mom and I moved to a mountain community and lived in a cabin that my aunt owned. We lived there while my mom ran a bakery that she had purchased with the proceeds from her divorce. The mountain cabin had no insulation,… Read More »
THE 10,000-HOUR RULE
In Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 book Outliers,he coined the term “the 10,000-Hour Rule” in which he explained that to become an expert in almost any field requires 10,000 hours of practice. Gladwell provided examples such as the Beetles, Bill Gates, Michael Jordan, and others whom after practicing for 10,000 hours became experts in their fields. The… Read More »
How Do You Value an Hour of Your Time?
BUSINESS BREAKTHROUGH #9 I often ask owners and executives what an hour of their time is worth. This exercise quickly clarifies priorities and helps them evaluate the time spent on work someone else can do. It also highlights the issue most people are grappling with in the workplace these days: distractions. Think about it…. Read More »
The Unemployment Crunch
We are facing one of the tightest labor markets in 50 years. Employers are not able to hire enough employees to meet demand. This Wall Street Journal article on May 13 explained that small companies are adding employees at the slowest rate in eight years, not because they do not have the work for… Read More »
ARE YOU ADDICTED TO DISTRACTION
BUSINESS BREAKTHROUGH #8 ARE YOU ADDICTED TO DISTRACTION The average person checks their cell phone 40 times per day—even when there has been no alert to indicate a message or an email. If you are like the average person, then these addictive distractions are getting in the way of your productivity. During graduate school I… Read More »
NARROW YOUR CONCENTRATION
BUSINESS BREAKTHROUGH #7 If 20 percent of your efforts will generate 80 percent of your results as I discussed in the last business breakthrough, what would 20 percent of the 20 percent produce? You can produce extraordinary results by narrowing your focus and attention even more. Many business owners are overwhelmed by… Read More »
ELIMINATE THE DISTRACTIONS
BUSINESS BREAKTHROUGH #6 In my last Business Breakthrough, I discussed the Pareto principle and how 80 percent of your results are being generated by 20 percent of your efforts. But that knowledge only helps you if you know what your 20 percent is—and you intensely focus on that 20 percent that is the… Read More »
The Power of Managers to Boost Your Organization’s Performance
A recent headline in the Wall Street Journal(March 23, 2019) read “One Fix for All That’s Wrong: Better Managers.” The report by author Sam Walker was based on research from the Gallup Organization. I read the article and was intrigued so I downloaded the Gallup research report and found that they had surveyed more… Read More »
CEO PROJECTIONS FOR 2019
As part of my Vistage worldwide membership I receive their updates on the economy, and the CEO Projections for 2019 caught my attention. It seems that CEO confidence in the economy has continued to decline into this year. Although CEOs expect revenues to rise and even profitability to improve for now, they see economic headwinds… Read More »
THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2019 IS ALMOST OVER
The First Quarter of 2019 We are almost through the first quarter of 2019. Are you planning to have your best year ever? If so, it will only happen if you are more intentional about it than you were in 2018. Best years do not just happen. You make them happen by backing up your… Read More »