This October, I’m reminded of a company effort to battle breast cancer, started by a handful of passionate people in Canada.  We focus so much on the power of one person, super-woman, but forget that more often than not it takes a core group to really move the needle. This is why Margaret Mead once …

As an entrepreneur, author and professional speaker, time mangement is my most important practice.  I’ve spent a great deal of effort acquiring tools that make my work faster without sacraficing quality. From software to little life hacks, I’ve found ways to harness faster-better-cheaper in my worklife. At some point, though, the only way to become …

Twenty years ago, likely, you were desperate for more time.  Managing it was the key to success.  Time was the scarce resource of the uber successful and the harried executive.  Today, we have more time than ever, aided by myriad tools and software solutions.  We can move mountains in days, aided by digital devices and …

Whether you are a sales pro, marketing whiz or entrepreneur, business is a fierce compeition.  You’ll never win unless you understand the milestones that stand between the prospect stage and the finish line.   Even the most impulsive purchases follow the mental path I’ll reveal in this post.  In fact, done right, businesses can elicit …

“How can I keep up with social? Why should I care.”  I have this conversation weekly with very smart people, who are still stumped by the social media phenom in our culture.  They feel a strong sense of urgency if they aren’t fishing in the social stream, but at the same time, it feels like …

In our lives, we get feedback from others.  Positive, negative and befuddling.  It’s too easy to let that feedback become part of our self-image, personally or even as an organization. That’s a huge mistake, because often, feedback/criticism/stereotyping is just one glimpse into the fabric of who/what you are.  It’s just an opinion.  One of my …

Last week I was 10 minutes late for an important meeting across town.  Rather than offering up an explanation (LA traffic), I simply said, "I'm sorry for being late." Then, watching the time, I finished up the meeting on time.  While many might think that the explanation excuse is helpful, it's actually a waste of …

Yesterday, just before I took the stage at the CEMA annual conference, I got the news.  Dr. Stephen Covey Sr. had passed away at the age of 79.  It devastated me.  Over the last 15 years, he’s done so much for me, it’s hard to put my gratitude for him into words.  We shared the …

If you lose readership of your email, your influence wanes at work.  If you misuse it enough, you’ll turn partners into detractors.  If you mismanage it as a resource, you’ll force everyone to do more work and they’ll despise you for it.  To quote TechStars grad and Vanilla founder Mark Sullivan, “Don’t suck at email.” …