Whether you are ready to launch a new website, program, software, retail store, new product or even a new church campus, you need to know when it’s ready–not halfway and not overdone, but ready. I have coined a term for what the perfect launch stage, I call it “critical mass.” When launching something new, our…
We purposely don’t have many sacred cows in the businesses that I run. We adapt and change fast and have become “platform agnostics” so we can server our clients better in a fast-changing business environment. Sacred cows only slow things down and are always self serving. There are three things, however, that we fight hard…
My teeth have recently taught me a management lesson I have known for years but had neglected. I have a love/hate relationship with my teeth. While most people start having tooth issues late in life, mine started early in my teenage years. I’ve had braces, root canals, crowns, oral surgeries and not because I refused…
A lot of bad decisions get blamed on God. In my years of consulting, I have run into poorly managed organizations with broken systems, ineffective workers, and bad strategies. All of them can be fixed. Well almost. There’s the spiritual trump card that stops any effort cold: “I feel God wants me to do it…
Christian industry businesses run by non Christians cannot succeed. I know that’s a bold statement, but after years of watching large conglomerates buying Christian music labels, publishing houses, retail stores and failing to make it work, I’m more convinced than ever that a non-believer cannot successfully lead a Christian businesses. Here’ s why. It’s all…
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…
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…
We can distill leadership in two of its basic foundations: positional and influential. Understanding them will dictate and help you successfully navigate through leadership waters. You can be given the position but unless you also have the influence, you are not really a leader. Positional leadership is given, while influential is earned. While they are…
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night I understand where Shakespeare is coming from even though I’m not sure anyone is truly born great. But the last part of that sentence has always caught my attention: some have greatness thrust upon them. Sometimes a…
There’s nothing worse than a lack of self awareness, special for a leader. If you’re a fan of the the sitcom, The Office, think of branch manager, Michael Scott and his apparently clueless existence. It’s more often sad and uncomfortable than it is funny. But not matter you role at work, school and in a…