Category Archives: Leadership

See Spot Run- A simple approach to up and downsizing

In a TAB Board meeting yesterday we were discussing how you know when it’s time to add an employee. I recalled an old method I’ve used, and it occurs to me that it can also work in reverse if you … Continue Reading

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Through the Eyes of a Reporter

We had David Hendricks of the San Antonio Express News at one of our Board meetings last week. It’s always interesting to see yourself through someone else’s eyes, David’s column is fair. It accurately describes what actually went on in … Continue Reading

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Is It Time for Courage?

A friend of mine occasionally shares his copy of EcoTrends®. This research newsletter tracks 41 different economic indicators. Since I’m not actually a subscriber, I refer you to their site if you’re interested in the details of their analysis. The … Continue Reading

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Changes in Attitude

I imagine that anyone who works with small business owners has noticed an attitude shift since the beginning of this year. Where formerly they were happy to have mediocre employees, now they are looking for something more. Where they overlooked … Continue Reading

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The Criminalization of Integrity

Yesterday Congress passed the credit card reform act. The cynical part of me doesn’t like another law that is designed to protect the stupid from themselves, but that’s not what I’m really upset about. The New York Times published an … Continue Reading

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All for one…me

Continuing the discussion on employee incentives. We have four possible combinations for incentives, monetary/group, monetary/individual, non-monetary/group and non-monetary/individual. How can we determine which incentives will work best? Sometimes the answer is trial and error. There are many good reasons to … Continue Reading

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All for One…

Most small business owners approach employee incentives with mixed emotions.They want to provide some system that creates a sense of urgency and responsibility in their employees, but they don’t want to give up too much of an already thin bottom … Continue Reading

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It’s Not Adoption

I spent some time this week with a client who was implementing his first-ever layoff. He has been in business for over 17 years, and has become very close with many of his employees. Some were friends before they were … Continue Reading

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Incentives, John's Opinions, Leadership, Managing Employees | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Who’s to Blame?

A story on the radio yesterday described the three families of 9/11 victims who continue to wage a legal battle with the airlines. Most of the bereaved accepted payment from the victims’ fund. Some 90 others settled out of court … Continue Reading

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Planning for the Strategic Triple Threat

1. The new need for multi-level strategy Over the last 4 months, I’ve been devouring information on the recession and economic crisis. I have come to the conclusion that small-business owners are faced with unprecedented complexity in their planning process. … Continue Reading

Posted in Business Perspectives, Customer Relations, Economic Trends, Entrepreneurship, John's Opinions, Leadership, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments