Somewhere along the way, business forgot what leadership was really about. We replaced mentorship with metrics. We traded coaching for control. And we started calling people “resources” — as if they were parts on a shelf instead of human beings capable of learning, growing, and multiplying their own impact. The truth is, the best managers […]
Control Your Market with Your Actions
The market didn’t dry up — your story just got stale. That’s the truth most companies don’t want to admit. They blame the economy, their competitors, the election cycle, or “industry headwinds,” when what really happened is much simpler — and far more fixable. They stopped saying anything worth hearing. It’s not that customers stopped […]
The Power of Unreasonable Standards
Let’s be honest — most people think “reasonable” is a compliment. They say things like, “Be reasonable,” or “Set achievable goals.” But if you study the history of every major breakthrough — in business, in innovation, in leadership — you’ll find that “reasonable” was never part of the story. Progress has always come from people […]
Stop Calling It “Work-Life Balance” — You Don’t Want Balance, You Want Meaning
We’ve turned “work-life balance” into a kind of modern religion — complete with gurus, rituals, and guilt. Everyone’s chasing it, preaching it, or posting about it. “I finally learned to balance work and life,” they say, as if that’s the ultimate goal. But here’s the problem: balance isn’t the goal. Meaning is. Because balance implies […]
We Have Met the Enemy — It’s Us
There’s a line I’ve always loved from the old comic strip Pogo: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” In business, truer words were never spoken. Most companies don’t get taken out by competition. They get taken out by themselves — by comfort, ego, and the quiet, creeping arrogance that follows success. The […]
Leadership Isn’t a Democracy — Stop Running Your Company by Committee
Let’s get something straight: leadership is not a group activity. It’s not a vote, it’s not a poll, and it sure as hell isn’t a popularity contest. Somewhere along the way, we started confusing collaboration with consensus—and in doing so, we started killing the very thing that makes great companies great: decisive leadership. When a […]
Stop Talking About Teamwork — Start Paying for It
Every company loves to talk about teamwork. They slap the word on posters, paint it on walls, and preach it in meetings. They say things like “We win together” and “There’s no ‘I’ in team.” But then, when it comes time to hand out bonuses, promotions, or praise—they reward individual numbers, not collective effort. And […]
Fire Your Favorite Customers — They’re Holding You Back
Let’s start with something nobody wants to say out loud: some of your “best” customers are your worst problem. You know the ones I’m talking about — the ones who have been with you forever, who “supported you from the beginning,” who “know how you work,” and who, if you’re honest, treat you like an […]
Stop Hiring for Experience — Hire for Hunger
Every company says they want “the best people.” They build job descriptions like shopping lists — five years of this, ten years of that, proficiency in these tools, prior experience in that market. Then they sit back and wait for someone who checks all the boxes. When they finally find that person, they celebrate — […]
Culture Will Eat Your Strategy for Breakfast
Peter Drucker is credited with the line, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” And after fifty years in this business, I can tell you—he wasn’t exaggerating. You can have the best plans, the slickest PowerPoint decks, the fanciest consultants, and the most ambitious revenue targets in the world. But if your culture is toxic? Forget it. […]