What makes a great business? Personal services or pizza. What makes that business special? Is it the product or the people or both (feel free to answer by the way). Why? Our business (and some others) is based on the idea of intra-preneurship and collaborate self-employment. One does not work without the other. Neither can reach their potential without the relationship between the two. What does that mean to you? I believe that we must believe in and have faith in both the business and the process. The products will ALWAYS be there. But if the process is not followed, […]

Good morning from North Africa and Europe….. My first vacation I went on with my family was to Kauai. What makes the story interesting is not that is was Kauai. Many people go to Hawaii with their families all the time. I was a contestant on a game show called The Fun House. We won. We won BIG. My family couldn’t afford to go on vacation growing up. We visited Mammoth once. Skiing is expensive. My father was not around. My mother did the best she could. We were sitting in a shop and I was acting as I always […]

I read a pretty incredible thing on the plane…. Remember when you go into the world to keep your eyes and ears wide open and be kind. Love one another. Take care of each other. Tell the truth and always do your best. Listen to the big people and the little people. Explore new paths and have fun. Know that you are loved like crazy. Give thanks for all your blessings. Above all else, love and you will do wonderful things in this world. Last weekend I took my kids for the second week in row out for breakfast. I […]

Our daily life is full of unproductive habits and rituals that we execute –  – whether on a conscious or unconscious level. This makes us less efficient and productive than we could potentially be. Obviously, just listing some avoidable habits is not enough. Because of this, I encourage you to check out Donald’s article on how to break bad habits. It gives a good foundation on how to actually start changing your habits from bad to good. Here are 17 unproductive habits that you should let go: 1. Consuming the information you don’t need Unsubscribe from as many mailing lists […]

Just because something works, doesn’t mean it can’t be improved….. Success comes in so many different packages. Family. Financial. Professional. Health or athletic. But how do you improve upon something that you are sure does not need improvement? I believe that the way one improves is by taking that hard look in the mirror and identifying what feels like you CAN improve. You see, too often people try to fix something they are NOT good at. Why not focus on the things we ARE good at and work to go from GOOD to GREAT. I know, I have said this […]

Why is change so painful? What makes us need or want to change who we are or the situation we are in? What is it about extreme situations that bring the best OR worst out of us? Its 2002, and I am moving out of my apartment and into my first condo. I was going to pay $601,000 and have never owned a piece of property. I was comfortable in my apartment and in my life. But I felt it was time. So many people I knew were also taking the plunge so it just seemed like the right thing […]

What an incredible week! We spent some time in our nation’s capital at AALU this week and had the opportunity to meet with colleagues around the country and hear about best practices (and in some cases not so best practices), as well as where the industry is and is going. Making an investment in our knowledge and taking the me to look at how others choose to do business as well as reflect on how we conduct business is always a good decision regardless of the results. There are so many takeaways and observations. There are so many products, ideas […]

In the 60’s, there was this twelve year old boy who had tremendous curiosity and born with no fear (as are most children). He was very interested in technology and specifically this technology called repeaters that Hewlett Packard was building. He figured out who the CEO was and looked in the phone book. Back then people were still listed in the phone book. No Google or Internet. So, this young twelve year boy, called this 50 year old CEO and asked him for some parts for this brand new technology called repeaters so that he could work with it and […]

The carrot or the stick…. The carrot or the stick….. What a day yesterday was! Warren Buffett  said “if you believe it will work out, you’ll see opportunities. If you believe it wont you will see obstacles.” We started the day yesterday with some of us feeling angst about having to dial (in general) in front of each other and we ended the day with some of the best energy I have seen in our office, period! What I saw was a group of people come together, not necessarily wanting to (The Stick) and finishing the day with incredible results […]

This has been a very interesting week. I went to see two of my oldest relationships. One a client and one not a client (anymore). Jeff, has been a client and friend for 20 years. Over the years he has done more and done less. Earlier in the week, we recognized him by sending a framed copy of his most recent accolade via messenger to his office with a bole of champagne. Celebrating his “power”. You see I met Jeff in 1998 and as he likes to replay the me as me calling him every other day for a month […]