Coaching

Look In 'Little Ponds' The simplest way to exponentially grow inbound leads in later stages of a business is to adopt the "big fish, little pond" methodology. Secondary venues, or "little ponds," that are unlikely to be overcrowded by others will allow the business to...

Seek To Self-Fund First Though there are many tools and platforms that make fundraising more accessible, there is still a lot to be said about self-funding. A self-funded company tends to signal several positive attributes that are highly desirable, including...

Operate With Consistent Integrity Though communication is the obvious answer, there is more to it. Communication at its face is great; however, in order to have the proper impact on stakeholders, those communications have to be above board. That usually translates...

Enforce The Consequences Of Your Boundaries Boundaries are less about explicit expression than actions. For boundaries to be of any impact, there have to be consequences that are obvious enough. Those actions and consequences can be as simple as making sure the other...

Keep Family Issues Out Of The Business Though there are many different ways that may help avoid family pitfalls, one of the safest ways is a clean-cut separation of family and business. Creating a formal separation in which personal and family issues do not carry any...

Stick To The Facts Polite and factual statements are virtually always the best way of approaching most conversations, even the difficult ones. In this particular instance, it is just as important what is being said as how it is said—conveying that a relationship may...

Create A Complete Feedback Loop One of the rather easy ways to evaluate and improve onboarding, be it in a high- or low-stress environment, is having a complete feedback loop with all stakeholders. This would allow for feedback from all levels, including the new...

Accept And Become Aware Of Your Stress Stress, much like a task, has to be managed. It boils down to understanding and accepting that being stressed is part of the journey. That acceptance then leads to awareness, which should be turned into actionable tasks to manage...

Do you have a purpose besides earning money? Though the standard considerations such as viability, earning potential and other similar factors should be the main basis of the decision, a secondary factor is often overlooked: dual purpose. A side hustle can and should...

Test Your Doubts Against The Data Emotional decisions, both in personal and business lives, tend to have debatable outcomes at best. A better way is to formulate those doubts into tangible hypotheses that can be proven or disproved. Then it is rather simple: Consult...

Aim To Be Better Than You Were Yesterday Be better than you were yesterday. Personal and business lives are always evolving, and we encounter obstacles that we have to overcome. The goal is not to be perfect or to achieve something spectacular. Hence progress and...

They Exhibit Above-Average Performance When and if an employee asks about additional ways to contribute, it is a good sign that they are ready for more responsibility. Granted, said employee has to be above-average at the current job duties. Additional consideration...

Choose Your Language Carefully A promotion to a managerial role will inherently alter the dynamics between peers. However, the language used to express that can provide context and help; it is easy to contextually explain that the relationship is evolving. That...

Implement Reading Time I have had the pleasure to work with many entrepreneurs over my career. The single factor that all the successful ones had in common was their reading habits. It goes something along the lines of there being a time block set aside to catch up on...

Willingness To Sacrifice Entrepreneurship by nature requires sacrifices both in your personal and business life: be it sacrificing personal time to learn a new skill to help the business or the willingness to terminate a friend that was not a fit for said business....

Be Honest About Your Career Goals Looking for a new job is not something that needs or should be hidden. That is where the honesty part will help the pivot. If need be, inform your management of your career development goals. There is a real possibility that they may...

Revisit Your Data Nothing lets you see your progression or regression toward your goals better than data. Be it qualitative or quantitative, data should be your first stop. Now the interpretation of that data is the next step. Unbiased evaluation will add an...

Don't Try To Take Shortcuts The notion that there is a shortcut to being perceived as a leader is not realistic for most people and situations. There are some temporary and short-lived efforts that can elevate some exceptional young people into the spotlight, however,...