“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.” – Theodore M. Hesburgh I’ve had four nearly identical conversations in the past two weeks with people at four different businesses. All four conversations went something like this. An organization had recently undergone some significant change. The … Read more
“Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.” – Doug Larson I Googled “leadership” this morning and got 451 million hits. If you read any business publications or blogs or watch any TED talks you know people everywhere are talking about leadership. We spend endless hours … Read more
“There are two kinds of companies – those that change and those that disappear.” – Anonymous Most of the businesses and leaders I have the opportunity to work with agree on the importance of change. When I talk about chaos and volatility and the rapidly changing environment in which we live and work they all … Read more
“A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.” – Muhammad Ali We spend a lot of time in this space talking about change. How much & how fast the world changes, how technology changes, how markets change, etc. But what about … Read more
“When it’s obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” – Confucius It’s important in every business to have a few clear, concise goals or targets to shoot for. For that matter, it’s important in our personal lives as well. Something that pushes us, something that focuses our … Read more
“When bobbing for apples, an idealist endlessly reaches for the best apple, a pessimist settles for the first one within reach, while an optimist drains the barrel, fishes out all the apples and makes pie.” – Vera Nazarian There are far too many people in this world who aren’t happy with whatever situation they’re in, … Read more
“If you don’t drive your business, you will be driven out of business.” – B.C. Forbes I recently spent some time with a business owner in our area. He’s a nice guy, but it was exhausting. His view of the world is pretty simple: everyone else has resources I don’t have, I can’t possibly compete … Read more
“The world is full of people that have stopped listening to themselves or have listened only to their neighbors to learn what they ought to do, how they ought to behave, and what the values are that they should be living for.” – Joseph Campbell I like to give people credit for being fairly intelligent. … Read more
“You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.” – Alvin Toffler Quite often when people are inquiring about someone’s business, they’ll ask, “Are you keeping busy?” Usually the person will respond with some comment to the effect that yes, they’re … Read more
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” – Proverbs 29:18 At its most basic, the purpose of Growth & Profit Solutions (GPS) is to help business leaders – or people in general – dream up their future and then make it happen. Which is why it’s always frustrating to see those people settle for … Read more
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