One of the most conservative men’s clothing brands is selling some of the most outrageous slacks in the marketplace. We all expect leather pants from Dolce and Gabbana or skinny jeans from Diesel, but these pants are coming from Brooks Brothers. Who knew?! What’s your take on the embroidered pants? Guys would you wear them? Ladies, would you buy them for your guy?

We all have stress in our work, but there is a big difference between what I call “corporate stress” and “entrepreneurial stress.” I have dealt with both and I have chosen the entrepreneurial stress. Here’s why. I hear often from friends who work in a corporate environment about the challenges they face daily. While the size of businesses vary, they all share some of the same dynamics, particularly the personnel, policy and culture dynamics that are beyond their control. While I know that control is elusive at best, entrepreneurs have a simple creed we all live by: we eat what we kill. While that might sound simplistic, it’s ultimate the bottom line for those of us who work for ourselves. As a business owner, I cannot blame anyone else for making bad business decisions, or for not moving forward fast enough to take advantage of opportunities. These are usually my…

Systems, not vision, determine the sustainability of your dream. This has been a difficult lesson for me to learn, but over the years, I have met many a visionary leader whose dreams grew to a fraction of their potential because of the lack of an environment where the vision could thrive. Vision must come first in any organization, otherwise systems tend to get a life of their own and become what we hate the most about government: bureaucracy, a means into itself, a self-preserving, self-entitled nothingness. However, vision without systems is like a train without tracks. In a growing organization, sustainability means understanding strengths, threats, opportunities, trends and how to design organizational culture and procedures to address them. I’ve heard someone put it this way: what determines your product is what happens down the hall and not what’s hanging on the wall. I’m saddened every time I run into a…

Research tells us that while the millennial generation wants to make a difference in their world, they are not willing to do the hard work it takes to get the job done: “I want to save the world, so I bought this cool bracelet.” This past week I experienced just the opposite. I have renewed my faith in a generation some have given up on. I spent the last seven days in Honduras with a mission team from my church,  Cross Point, in a ranch near San Marcos de Colon owned by Mission Lazarus. In the past decade, this work has been able to start 19 churches, 4 schools, 3 medical clinics, a sustainable life program, 4 vocational schools, an orphanage and employing over 140 Hondurans.  It’s one of the most dynamic young mission organizations I know.  Interestingly, while its founder and board of directors operate in the US, most…

Could my money be more useful than my non-medical skills? I had to reason with myself about the merits of going on a week-long mission trip. Rationally the answer was a resounding “yes,” but, as it turns out, the answer is a big “no.” At first thought, I have no business being on a medical mission trip. Since I haven’t been able to find a marketing or technology mission trip yet (hey, now that’s an idea!), I decided to join the Cross Point Honduras mission team and brought my 16-year old son, Marcus along. I’m glad I did. While my money can be used to buy supplies and hire more help, my presence here is more important than just my resources. Here are some thoughts: Looking into the eyes of the Honduran people, touching them and letting them know they matter is a deep personal experience no funding mechanism can…

A brand strategy exercise is a great tool, a map, a guide to make sure your product, message and promise are aligned and working together. A brand strategy helps you define and know your story, your language, your customer. However, it is a means and not an end. The plan must be executed in order for the strategy to have any value whatsoever. But without an internal brand champion, a brand strategy is seldom is implemented. At The A Group we do a lot of Brand exercises. These are usually a full day of distilling brand identity, promise, positioning and creating strategic next steps. Even though I’m usually exhausted by the end of them, I love these sessions because they help to define, guide and focus an entire brand, marketing and sometimes even a business plan. But a plan is just a map. Without implementation it does as much good…

I’m convinced you cannot use focus groups to describe a ground breaking idea. I’m usually a fan of research, but not when it comes to introducing a cutting-edge idea or new product into the market. Focus groups might be a valid way to improve on an idea, or a help on choosing new features or services but they fail when they’re are asked to envision something completely new. This morning I read a comment on a blog that drove the point home: “I remember reading an article about the first-generation iPod and thinking: I can’t imagine ever needing one of these. Within months I had purchased one and I never went anywhere without it.” Innovators don’t ask permission. They bet on their instincts and create the experience we cannot live without. Can you imagine if Steve Jobs had decided to get validation from a focus group before building the first…

I haven’t met anyone perfect yet. There are few people who want me to believe they have it all figured out, but I’m not buying it. Some struggles are easier to hide, others play out in the public eye,  and some are devastating. But part of the human condition means that we are fallen creatures and that we often sweat the small things, wrestle with  big questions, doubt was supposed to be certain. Some refer to these struggles as baggage. I don’t agree. Baggage is something you choose to carry around. Our struggles are too often tied in to the very core of who we are, to the human condition. As a Christian, I find myself wanting to judge people whose battle is different than mine more harshly and empathize with those whose struggles mirror my own. That’s very hypocritical. Today as I run into hurting people whose struggles are…

Some men think grooming is optional. Others feel it’s less masculine to be well groomed . But a well-groomed man always looks better than his frumpy, sloppier counterpart.  “Manscaping” has been a term used to describe the grooming/hygiene habits of human males. Even the most unattractive guy can look his very best by taking care of the basics.  Here’s how you can best present yourself without having to spend money on fancy, expensive clothing. Trim. Nose, ear, neck, hair is not attractive to most people in the western hemisphere. I don’t make any claims on some indigenous group of Papa New Guinea, but most people don’t want to see your nose, ear, or neck hair.  And while you’re at it, look on top of your nose, yes, on top. I’ve seen guys with long hairs growing out from the tip of their noses. Not attractive. At all. When you look…

No one like detours. If you’re an impatient type-A person like me, you really hate detours. I don’t build enough margins in my day for extra time to get somewhere.  By its own nature, a detour is a slower, longer, less convenient way to get anywhere. Who wants that? But it has been in the detours of my life that I have grown the most. As I take inventory of the times where I made the most progress in the professional, personal, as well spiritual parts of my life, I can point out to specific “detours” that forced me to get off the highway, take the slower more cumbersome path that would eventually lead me to a place a discomfort but growth at the same time. I remembering taking a detour in college when my parents called me on my 19th birthday to let me know that they couldn’t send…