10Apr
It’s a fact of life not every decision you make is going to work out. At some point or another you are going to fail. Maybe you will even fail in a very spectacular fashion. The question is going to be whether you can get back on your feet or not? I for one have in the past failed in spectacular fashion. I often like to describe my failures as going down in flames. And I’ll tell you the first time I ever really thought I’d failed in business I thought the world had ended. At the time I also thought I would never want anything to do with business ever again. But I eventually realized that I wasn’t one to bow out of the game just because something didn’t work out.
Instead I went back to work with the intent of learning from my mistakes. For me business is in my blood. My father was someone that was never any good at holding a “REAL” job working for someone else. And neither am I. I haven’t worked a “REAL” job since I was 19 and I don’t intend to start now. Being an entrepreneur is about controlling ones destiny and I like to stay in charge of mine. So if you ever run into a point in your career that you think you’ve failed at something remember to try to learn from it but get the hell back up. Because crying over it won’t accomplish anything.
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Tags: Entrepreneurship, Failure, Freelance Work, Getting Back Up, Leadership, Motivational, Success
10Apr
Right off the bat let me be clear these rules come from Jack Welch. I mentioned I’m reading his book “Winning” which so far is an excellent read. Well in chapter 5 he talks about leadership. And these are the eight rules of leadership that he follows.
1. Leaders relentlessly upgrade their team, using every encounter as an opportunity to evaluate, coach, and build self-confidence.
2. Leaders make sure people not only see the vision, they live and breathe it.
3. Leader’s get into everyone’s skin, exuding positive energy and optimism.
4. Leaders establish trust with candor, transparency, and credit.
5. Leaders have the courage to make unpopular decisions and gut calls.
6. Leaders probe and push with a curiosity that borders on skepticism, making sure their questions are answered with action.
7. Leaders inspire risk taking and learning by setting the example.
8. Leaders celebrate.
These are the rules that Jack Welch says he lives by. For now I’ll let everyone mull them over for a bit. But I will be going over them one by one so as to add my own viewpoint to them.
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Tags: Entrepreneurship, Leaders, Leadership, Management, Motivational
10Apr
I am a very avid reader of books. I’ve got literally hundreds of books that I’ve read either in boxes or on my bookshelves. But recently I found myself in need of a new business book to read. So I gathered up my wife and son and we made our way down to the local Borders book store. And while browsing the business section I ran across the recently released book “Profits Aren’t Everything They’re the Only Thing” by American Management Services CEO George Cloutier. What a great book to read this is! I can’t say enough about how highly I recommend reading this book.
George Cloutier is a small business consultant who is great when it comes to telling the absolute truth about what you should do to run your business and make profits with it. Even when it’s not what you really want to hear. This is a no nonsense hardnosed book about how small businesses need to be run if they want to be successful. Basically George has his 15 profit rules and each chapter of the book breaks down one of these rules. for example George strongly advocates giving up your golf game. Which we all know is really nothing more than a distraction and waste of time. He also believes that small businesses need to be run like dictatorships because there can be only one leader. And he’s a strong advocate of pay for performance for employees.
Needless to say this is a book that I highly recommend every small business owner and entrepreneur read. It’s an eye openening wake up call that many people really need today.
Cash Miller
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Tags: Business Books, Business Coaches, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Ownership
10Apr
The beautiful thing about being an entrepreneur is the wealth of opportunity that exists for someone willing to go out and seize those opportunities. They’re there wthout a doubt. But there is a real difference in the individual person that is willing to take the bull by the horns and someone that would rather sit in the stands and watch the show. Most people are content to talk about what it is they would do if they had the opportunity. But entrepreneurs seize the opportunities they see and create opportunities when none are readily apparent.
Look around you and you’ll see that there are endless possibilities and ideas in which businesses can be built upon. They may be existing ideas and businesses that can be improved upon, they may also be totally new ideas that come about because of an existing business. And an opportunity may exist because of the next great invention. Again the key is to look around you with your eyes wide open and your mind open to new possibilities. The phrase “Thinking outside the box” is one that has without a doubt become fairly worn out and cliche but it still does and always will apply to what a successful entrepreneur has the ability to do. If you are looking for your next great idea be open and “Think outside the box.” More than likely you’ll find what you are seeking.
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Tags: Business Ideas, Business Opportunities, Business Ownership, Entrepreneurship
10Apr
On this day 100 years ago Management Guru Peter Drucker was born. And although he is no longer with us his teachings will be remembered and followed for as long as the practice of management exists. I can actually say it was my father that introduced me to Drucker’s teachings. It was actually after he had passed away and I inherited his collection of business books that it happened. In his collection there happened to be a number of business books written by Peter Drucker. I started by thumbing through a few of them as I was studying management in college at the time and was interested in what a book written 30 years ago might still be able to teach me. That led me to read “The Effective Executive” an all time best seller and later I read “Managing for Results”. I can say first hand his message is still relevent and more mangers today should be reading his books. So I just wanted to say “Happy Birthday Peter Drucker”
To learn more about Peter Drucker you can check out Steve Smith’s latest article “Peter Drucker – His Leadership Message Is Alive And Needed”
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Tags: Leadership, Management, Management Guru, Organizational Leadership, Peter Drucker
10Apr
Recently I ran across an article in Portfolio magazine that was done on Starbucks a couple of months back. In it they talked about the return of Howard Schultz has returned as CEO of the company and what his future plans are. And about some of the mistakes that have been made in recent years by the company. One of the themes that I have harped on recently is about the ability to stay focused as a company. Starbucks it seems has had a problem doing this in recent years.
They have gotten into breakfast foods, music and other stuff that has taken them away from what they do best which is coffee. I’m not a big coffee drinker myself and for years never touched the stuff. Starbucks managed to get me to try a few offerings and I have always liked their 3rd place concept. More than once I’ve taken a good book and gone to one of their stores and sat down with one of their coffee creations for an hour or two. For years this is what they have done best.
One of my articles actually talks about the need for a business to slow down its rate of growth. I believe Starbucks needs to do exactly that. Because they have opened so many stores they have started cannibalizing the sales of older stores when they open new stores because they are practically on top of each other.
A few years ago I read a book on Starbucks called “Pour Your Heart Into It”. The book is about 10 years old now I think but it still is a very good read. It’s too bad that the company seems to have turned into just another corporate behemoth. They need to recapture the spirit that they once had. But whether they can do that remains to be seen.
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Tags: Coffee, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Management, Motivational, Starbucks
10Apr
There is a definite difference between an entrepreneur and a would be entrepreneur and that is the willingness to take a chance. Starting a new business or launching a new product is about being willing to take such chances if you want to get over the top. There are a lot of people in the world that come up with some really good ideas but they never act on them. They often take the time to develop a product and a plan but they don’t have what it takes to act. The ability to take action is what separates true entrepreneurs from the wanna be’s. Even if you lack the resources initially there are always ways to push your product forward. Creativity can be a key to building a foundation of success. But if you aren’t willing to take a chance to make things work out you’ll always be a wanna be.
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Tags: Entrepreneurship, Entrepreurship, Freelance Work, Leadership, Motivational, Product Development, Taking Action
10Apr
In business the underdog can win, and often does. You just have to want it more. Try to think of business like you would a game. To get better you need to play somebody better. And eventually you should be able to level the playing field at least a little. I’ve played pickup games of basketball most of my life but when I was a teenager oh so long ago me and a buddy of mine would often play games of 21 just the two of us. We were of fairly equal build and height but that is where the similarities ended. Because he had one of the smoothest shots I’ve ever seen in person. And his free throws were a near guarantee.
Basically my buddy had all the skills I didn’t have. But when we played our games would usually go down to the wire. We would usually split our games pretty evenly down the middle in fact. Well if he had all the talent then what exactly did I have? Passion, drive and motivation that’s what. I hate to lose! Now don’t get me wrong I can handle losing just fine. What I won’t tolerate is letting someone run right over me. So every game I played I had to give my all. Every bit of intensity that I could muster I put into my game. And because I was willing to do that I could keep up with him. Of course I was exhausted when we were done but I always new at the end of the day that I had given him my best. And he new that even though he was better than me skill wise he could never slack off against me or I would beat his brains in. The same thing goes in business. Even the littlest guy can surprise you if you take him for granted. Often in sports and in business that is how the underdog pulls out the big upset victory.
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Tags: Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Management, Motivation, Motivational, Passion, Underdog, Upset Victory
10Apr
About a week ago I mentioned Jack Welch’s book “Winning” and how he talked about what leaders do. So lets talk about the first part of that statement. He said leaders constantly upgrade their team, coach, evaluate, motivate, and train. I personally think that the statement is somewhat innacurate. It needs to be titled “What Leaders Need To Do”. That’s because many leaders fail to do these things. There are of course some that do them all, and some that do a few of these things. But many leaders are sorely lacking in their ability to fulfiil this part of the role of being a leader. If they did these things they would of course have vastly better teams.
As a leader you have to do these things. You are responsible for training your employees and making sure they are prepared for the tasks that they will face. You have to be a driving force for your team. And if you feel you are not necessarily up to the job then you had better do something about it. Because it’s a part of your job whether you are a team leader, manager, or the big boss. Remember to a large degree leaders are mentors for those that work under them.
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Tags: Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Management, Motivational, Team Leadership, Training
10Apr
Having a great vision is a wonderful. But sometimes it can be hard to see clearly. If you really want that vision to become something you need to plan out how you are going to achieve and then you need to live and breath it. If you have employees then they need to know about it as well. You need to become a preacher and tell everyone all that you plan to achieve. I’m personally a big believer in preaching about what your vision is. It helps to bring it to life. It shouldn’t be stuck in your head. It needs to be allowed to get out. And you need to be able to get people on board with it. But more than anything you have to believe in it.
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Tags: Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Management, Motivational, Team Leadership, Vision
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