There I sat hearing the same lame excuses I’ve heard for the past 12 months from the staff of a very large not for profit: “we can’t do it because IT told us it would take 5 years before we can have online registration and payments.”  Are you kidding me!? It’s been over 8 hours since our meeting and I’m still outraged at the ridiculous notion that a multi-million dollar organization cannot, let me rephrase, will not figure out how to make something as common as an online sign up forms work system wide. Sadly, in this case,  IT is killing the organization. I sound like a broken record on this issue, but marketing should drive your web strategy and not IT. Really.  Your online presence lives or dies on the end-user experience. If people can find what they’re looking for, if they can intuitive navigate the site and complete…

Somedays I walk into a new week with purpose, a long “to do” list and begin to knock it out. But then there are days like today. I’m sluggish, a bit unfocused, didn’t plan the week well, and I’m not sure what to tackle first. In these unplanned moments, my reaction is to find the busy work that will inevitably appear out of nowhere and fill my entire day and do that. But instead, I decided to stop and ask the one question I should ask myself most days: What should I do for my business that only I can do? I’ve been asking that questions for years now and because of it, I have stopped doing a lot of things, such as fixing copiers, designing brochures, writing checks, troubleshooting IT problems and a number of other important things that other people can do, often much better than me, and…

This weekend I found myself in the middle of a 32-hour technology ban with 20 people I’ve never met before. What was I thinking? Well, that was one of the “privileges” of being chosen for the Leadership Brentwood class of 2010. I had not heard of the program until my friend Bob Knestrick urged me to apply for this year’s class. My first reaction was the typical: “Oh, for the love, not another thing to do. Have you seen my schedule?” However, the more I though about it, the more I realized that I know very little about my own community, and due to my business’ broad, national scope, I’m not engaged much locally. On a whim, I delivered my application on afternoon of the cut off day. I heard from a friend who went through the program a couple of years back that there was a lot of interest…

If you’ve lived long enough, you’ve had to apologize multiple times and, if you’re a married man, you’ve done it countless times. But not all apologies are the same. Some people apologize because they get caught and now must find a way clean it up. Others manage to say sorry while shifting the blame to someone else like their employees or to the ever-so-nebulous “unforeseen circumstances.” Sunday I had to apologize to my youngest son for losing my patience with him and behaving in a matter that was inappropriate and frankly, wrong. He quickly forgave me and we ended up snuggling on the couch as we watched a movie together. As a leader, I have had to make my share of apologies as well. This week I was reminded of how powerful and effective an apology can be by Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com. Amazon “erased” several books from people’s…

What do you do when you’re not ready to make a move, or change your career or go out on your own, but, suddenly, you’re pushed out of your comfort zone? Do you free fall to the ground, or are you ready to fly? I was reminded of my own story today as I visited with my friend Joshua Phillips. I met Joshua years ago when he refinanced my home. Since then, he has put together three different mortgages for me and has become a good friend and client in the process. Besides being a businessman, Joshua has a heart for ministry and has spent a lot of his effort and money in helping people see themselves as God sees them through his involvement in Fully Alive Ministries. Three days after I closed on my new home at the end of January, Joshua emailed me to let me know that…

People often say they like change. But they lie. We really dislike it. Very few of us are truly “change agents,” as it has become of the battle cry of so many consultant wannabes. Most of us only seriously contemplate change when staying the same is more painful than the perceived cost of the path. But whether any of us like it or not, change is being thrown at us at an unbelievable pace. If you have problem with it in your life, watch the video below at your own risk. centerthis vidhttp://www.youtube.com/get_player So what does it mean to you? I’d love your input.