#zenhabits, abundance, accountability, Employees, Engagement, Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts, goals, Growth, Happiness, Hiring, Management, Marketing, Mindset, Motivation, Success, Time management, values #zenhabits, abundance, accountability, Employees, Engagement, Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts, goals, Growth, Happiness, Hiring, Management, Marketing, Mindset, Motivation, Success, Time management, values

The Three Things Companies Need to Thrive

I've had a slew of podcast interviews over the last few weeks, and virtually all of the hosts have asked me what I think is the necessary ingredient for continued business growth. I speak from a place of making mistakes, and from getting things right over the last 20 years.The three things I believe companies need to survive are a market niche, relevancy, and a mindset of greatness. I've named them in order of difficulty.

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It's Not Personal; It's Our Values

Values dictate every major decision and action in an organization - from the clients that a company engages, to the people that a company hires, to seemingly simple behaviors such as leaving a door open or closed. Values determine our behavior when others are not around to watch us. They are the core of integrity - which manifests when values are integrated with our actions. Personally and professionally, they frame the most important aspects of who we are, and what matters to us.

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abundance, accountability, Employees, Engagement, Featured Posts, goal-setting, goals, Happiness, Hiring, Leadership, Learning, Management, sales, Successful Culture, Time management abundance, accountability, Employees, Engagement, Featured Posts, goal-setting, goals, Happiness, Hiring, Leadership, Learning, Management, sales, Successful Culture, Time management

Who Is the Best Sales Person in Your Company?

One of my coaching clients called me this week, asking for advice on where to find a great sales rep. She's launching a start-up that has been in the works for months, and is obviously anxious to get her product to the market. My advice to her was to look in the mirror. That's where she would find her best sales rep.

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abundance, accountability, Employees, Engagement, Featured Posts, Group, Growth, Happiness, Information Experts, Innovation, Leadership, Learning, Success, Time management abundance, accountability, Employees, Engagement, Featured Posts, Group, Growth, Happiness, Information Experts, Innovation, Leadership, Learning, Success, Time management

Increasing Productivity by Taming the Daily Calendar

When Sunday arrives and you take a peek at the work-week ahead, what physical reactions occur in your body? Does your heart race a bit faster from anxiety? Does your stomach tighten? Do you feel stress in your neck and shoulders? Have you ever thought about these reactions?

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A Higher-Level Leadership Framework & Inspiring Through Adversity

As one who sees leadership and spirituality as two sides of the same coin, I often refer to Deepak's 7-Step Framework for LEADERS. Deepak describes a leader as "the symbolic soul of a group of consciousness." He says that group consciousness could be a family, an organization, a community, a country or the whole world. He explains that the leader represents the longings, the aspirations, the deepest desires of the group, so in a sense, "the soul." This is exactly why the CEO owns the culture of an organization, which is the organizational DNA.

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accountability, Culture, Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts, goal-setting, goals, Growth, Leadership, Learning, Management, Motivation, Movement, partnership, Success, Successful Culture accountability, Culture, Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts, goal-setting, goals, Growth, Leadership, Learning, Management, Motivation, Movement, partnership, Success, Successful Culture

Why Am I Here? Finding Your Path to Authentic Leadership

How do we define our deepest desire? And if we don't know it, how can we get to where we are supposed to be? How do we reach our destiny? It's so easy to lose sight of the "why" behind our daily deeds. When we lose connection to the "why," weariness and hopelessness creeps in. We often work in a reactive mode, answering phone calls, emails, and the needs of others. We envelop ourselves in deadlines. Every day that we go to work, we are slaves to checklists. What is our larger purpose behind it all?

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accountability, Employees, Entrepreneurship, Failure, Featured Posts, Growth, Information Experts, Leadership, Learning, Management, partnership, risk, Success, Successful Culture accountability, Employees, Entrepreneurship, Failure, Featured Posts, Growth, Information Experts, Leadership, Learning, Management, partnership, risk, Success, Successful Culture

Making a Partnership Work

Businesses can't grow without strategic partnerships. When thoughtfully selected, the right partner can enhance a company's client base, capabilities, market presence, and overall brand. When selected poorly, the wrong partner can result in wasted time, energy, and resources, with nothing to show for your efforts, and can potentially harm your company or reputation.

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accountability, Culture, Employees, Entrepreneurship, Failure, Featured Posts, goal-setting, goals, Growth, Happiness, risk accountability, Culture, Employees, Entrepreneurship, Failure, Featured Posts, goal-setting, goals, Growth, Happiness, risk

Every Day is Independence Day for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship is as American as apple pie, baseball, and SpongeBob Squarepants. The essence behind entrepreneurship is the freedom to live a professional life that has the most meaning to you - to not be defined by someone else's value system, personal vision & goals, and decisions. But with that freedom comes tremendous accountability, responsibility, and risk.As SpongeBob and Patrick so eloquently discussed, entrepreneurship has unlimited possibilities. With entrepreneurship, we are limited only by our own vision (and money - but we can often find it if we look in the right places). However, entrepreneurship does bring its own pain and suffering with it, so to answer Patrick's question, yes entrepreneurship can hurt at times.

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Selecting your networking communities; Top DC 7, best learning community, favorite online spots, best events

As a follow-up to my March 10th Washington Business Report segment on strategic networking (http://bcove.me/xuc1biiy), I've compiled strategies on selecting the networking communities that are right for you. I've also listed the top 10 networking communities, along with information on the best learning community, the best events, and my favorite online spots.First, let's look at five ways that will help you decide where and with whom your should spend your valuable time.

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accountability, Culture, Employees, Engagement, Entrepreneurship, Failure, Featured Posts, Leadership, Learning, Management, Motivation, Success, Successful Culture accountability, Culture, Employees, Engagement, Entrepreneurship, Failure, Featured Posts, Leadership, Learning, Management, Motivation, Success, Successful Culture

Recognizing the Positive Leadership of Carnival Cruise Lines CEO Gerry Cahill

The disaster of the failed Carnival Triumph cruise ship has captivated all of us over the last week.As a frequent cruiser who has cruised Carnival and other lines, I cringed upon seeing the pictures and videos of the squalor and disgusting conditions aboard ship. I sympathized with the passengers who entrusted their safety to Carnival, yet found themselves living a week-long, potentially life-endangering nightmare. Throughout the course of the week, I kept asking myself how well I would cope with being trapped on board with my family.Fortunately, the nightmare has ended, now that the ship has docked in Mobile Alabama, with all passengers and crew members safe (albeit hungry and dirty).Throughout this disaster, I've been watching how CEO Gerry Cahill has conducted himself. Personally, I think he has done an exceptional job - especially compared to Former BP CEO Tony Hayward during the 2010 oil spill disaster that claimed 11 lives and has spewed 100 million gallons of toxic oil into the Gulf of Mexico. - and here's why:

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accountability, Cadre, Culture, Employees, Engagement, Entrepreneurship, Family, Growth, Happiness, Information Experts, Leadership, Learning, Management, Motivation, Success, Successful Culture, Time management accountability, Cadre, Culture, Employees, Engagement, Entrepreneurship, Family, Growth, Happiness, Information Experts, Leadership, Learning, Management, Motivation, Success, Successful Culture, Time management

When Your Bedroom Becomes Your Boardroom: (Happily) Working With Your Spouse

Spouses that choose to work together embark on a very unique journey. This arrangement is not a conventional marriage. Two of the hardest things a person can attempt is to build a successful business and a successful marriage. 90 percent of all businesses fail within the first 5 years. The divorce rate (in the U.S.) is now higher than 50 percent. Combine these two endeavors, and you face a lot of risk. There is a lot at stake at home and at work if things get rocky. The levels of expectations for one another are much higher than in a typical business partnership or typical marriage. Consideration must extend much further than, "I have this great business idea, can you help me?"As a follow up to my January 10, 2013 segment on Washington Business Report (http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/02/washington-business-report-feb-10-2013-85006.html) on working with your spouse, I've interviewed several other business owners who have braved this model to learn what makes it work, and how to avoid trouble in paradise. Rather than giving a simple bulleted list of strategies such as "schedule a date night" or "agree not to talk about marriage at home," I'm sharing a more detailed behind-the-scenes glimpse of the complexities of this arrangement. If you are currently working with your spouse, or thinking about it, this is an important column for you.

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Accountability and Goal-Setting (Follow-up to WBR Segment 1/13/2013)

My January small business segment on ABC’s Washington Business Report with Rebecca Cooper-Dupin focused on accountability and goal-setting strategies to start 2013 strong. Accompanying me was my accountability partner and personal financial advisor, Anne McCabe Triana, owner of CAM Private Wealth (http://www.camprivatewealth.com). I've expanded on those strategies here, incorporating many great ideas from other small business owners.

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