Week Three–and The Three Wheels of Speed
It’s now three weeks since we hired Chandra to be a member of the Heart of Business team. I’ve taken a lot of the advice we received to heart. Plus I’ve been re-reading my Patrick Lencioni library- specifically Death by Meeting, and the Five Dysfunctions of a Team. I think things are going swimmingly. And […]
The Three "Yets"
Our new employee started last week, Chandra, and we’re mighty pleased to have her. I’ll be introducing you to her soon, and no doubt putting her up on the website as well. The problem with having a new employee is that they don’t yet know anything. The ‘yet’ part means that Holly and I get […]
Help Wanted! Update
Back in February I wrote about how we were starting the hiring process again. We bought an ad on Craigslist for $25, wrote up a description of who we were looking for, and then watched about 15 applications come in within a week. It was really, really tough. First we had to make the hard […]
Yesterday I Was in Yakima
Okay, quick update on my trip to Yakima. And no, it’s not like watching home movies. I want to share some big learnings I had from the trip. First of all, the motivations for going to Yakima were 1) I was invited, and they offered to pay me a modest amount to cover travel expenses, […]
Today I'm in Yakima, Washington
And any place named “Yakima” deserves it’s own blog post. In the fall of last year I was invited to go speak for the Yakima Advertising Federation by Brett Lamb (and here’s his website), who was evidently struck by what I was writing in my articles. Similar to how I felt when I was on […]
Help Wanted!
Two weeks ago, our assistant Catherine gave notice. This was after about five months of her being with our company. Let me say at the outset that she’s great, smart, intelligent, creative, and while she was here she added a lot. That said, she discovered that she needed to move on. And, from our perspective, […]
How to Punish Assistants for Catastrophic Mistakes
You finally did it. You decided to hire an assistant, or a virtual assistant, or even a full-on employee, with payroll and everything. Yahooey! You’ve hit the big time now. You’re business is sure to take off. And then your new assistant sends you an email, or leaves a voicemail, or comes to your office. […]
How to Get Feedback from Colleagues That Makes Sense
Okay, you’ve just written a new website, or a new sales page. Or maybe you’ve just created a new product or offer. Or even just tried on a new suit. And you turn to your friend and ask: “Can I get some feedback from you? What do you think?” So they tell you what they […]
What Moses Knew About Getting Ready to Teach
There’s a class you’ve been thinking about offering for some time now. But you’re not quite ready. A little more research, a little more thinking, and you’re sure you’ll finally be ready. But, despite your passion, it’s flat. Even when practicing it in front of a friend or colleague, it still feels flat. Oh no! […]
Learning on Someone Else's Dime
Ilise Benum has a discussion going on over at The Marketing Mix on how to say “No” to work that isn’t right. But, what interested me was a comment from one of her readers, David Bresler, VP of The Breakfast Network who wrote: I would add this: An offer of a lucrative project that is […]