Taking Care of Your Business

The Value of One-to-Ones

I meet each month privately with my members where we really dig into the issues and opportunities specific to each member. In these sessions, I don't have all the answers. In fact, my philosophy in coaching is to ask the questions no one else is asking them. My role is to question their answers and help them get to the next level. 
 
This episode contains testimonials about the value of these one-to-one executive coaching sessions straight from my members themselves.

The Culture of the Peer Group

A friend of mine recently returned from a long weekend with friends she has known for decades. When I asked about the weekend, she smiled and said, "I was with my tribe again: it was wonderful!" There are tribes in the workplace too, and the wonderful book "Tribal Leadership" points out that there are various stages of tribal development in organizations. And each stage has its own culture. What's the culture of our Vistage tribe, otherwise known as a peer advisory group? This video describes that culture, in the words of several of its members.

How We Process Issues in Vistage

When I was a teenager my mother used to talk about the importance of "keeping good company." It was another way of telling me to stay out of trouble! One of the business books on my shelf is called the "Power of Peers," and the subtitle always brings my mother to mind: "How the Company You Keep Drives Leadership, Growth and Success." When executives "keep good company" it allows them to leverage the collective wisdom of diverse perspectives to better meet challenges and identify opportunities. My Vistage peer advisory groups leverage the power of peers through the way we process business issues and opportunities. In fact, one of my CEO members told me that issue processing is the "secret sauce" of Vistage. In this video you'll learn why.

How Vistage Members Manage the Time Commitment

One of the most common reasons I hear for not joining Vistage is, "I can't make the time." It's a great observation, because time is our most precious asset. And it's non-renewable. We all have the same number of hours each week: 168. The key question is how we spend the time we have. Vistage members don't join because they're looking for something to do. In fact, they are among the most productive leaders anywhere. As a colleague of mine is fond of saying, "Vistage doesn't take time, it nets time." How? By putting a stop to doing other people's jobs, by practicing how to delegate effectively, by getting home earlier, and by devoting more time to the most important relationships in their lives. In this podcast you'll hear how they manage the time commitment.

True Grit

One of the qualities I often see in small business owners is grit. Angela Duckworth is a leading authority on the science of grit, which she describes in her popular book by the same title. Duckworth did her research on grit among cadets at West Point, all of whom endure a 7 week summer initiation program called "The Beast," 'which is engineered to test the limits of new cadets. In this podcast you'll get some insights into Duckworth's "grit scale" that may surprise you. You'll also learn about the applicability of true grit to running a business from a husband and wife team who runs a Greek market. You'll enjoy hearing how they took on their landlord to launch a small--and highly successful--business.

Learning Lab: Mergers and Acquisitions

There are so many things about my CEO peer advisory boards that I love. What I focus on in this podcast is providing a glimpse into how these meetings are like learning labs. When we gather leaders open up, they share successes and failures, challenges and opportunities, things they've learned and things they're still trying to figure out! That's why it's like a laboratory: everybody learns from each other. At a recent meeting I opened the floor and invited people to share what they've learned from their experience with mergers and acquisitions. On this podcast you'll take home some nuggets of wisdom born from the group's hard won experience. You're in for a treat!

Minders, Finders and Grinders

Building a team is a lot harder than it looks! I recently came across an article in Forbes about the importance of getting the right balance among three very different kinds of employees: "minders, finders and grinders." In this podcast you'll learn about each one, not only the assets they bring to an organization, but also the liabilities when you have too much of any one good thing.

How Teams Evolve: Part 2

The best leaders understand that business teams are not static, they don't stand still. Teams change: sometimes they progress forward, other times they go backward. This is the second in a two part series, where you'll learn about the five stages of development for teams. It's called COG's ladder and it was developed 50 years ago by a manager at Proctor and Gamble. And the premise is that teams have to step up, they have to collectively climb up a developmental ladder to become high performing. And it's up to the leader to help them get there.

How Teams Evolve: Part 1

Organizational teams are like organisms: they are constantly evolving. Fifty years ago a manager at Proctor and Gamble published an article in the company's newsletter to help other people in his company to more effectively manage their teams as they evolve. The ideas in that article spread like wildfire to companies all over the world. The basic idea is that there are five steps in the ladder toward peak performance. And teams have to climb up that ladder in order to become high performing. In this two part series you'll learn about the five steps and how to leverage them, to help your team become the best of itself.

Becoming the Person You Always Wanted to Be

Last week I came across one of the best definitions I've heard of the impact that an executive coach can have. "It's the coach's job to tell you what you don't want to hear, and show you what you don't want to see, so you can become the person you always wanted to be." Being a CEO or business owner is a tough job. It can be frustrating. It can be exhausting. And it can be lonely. A recent Vistage white paper called "The Seven Biggest Mistakes CEOs Can Make" is a treasure trove of wisdom to help leaders stay out of trouble. One common mistake is not finding a good guide. People don't think twice about getting a personal coach or guide for golf or tennis, for cooking or planning a vacation, even for raising their kids,. Why not a coach for something as important as your business? It's a game changer. In this podcast you'll discover five ways that coaches bring value.