Here’s the takeaway: Start on time, end on time, and turn off your phones. Football coach Vince Lombardi said “If you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late.” Why is it so important to begin your meetings on time, and why is it important to stop on time? It comes down to…
Here’s the takeaway: An Accountability Chart simplifies delegation. When business owners first launch their business, it’s just them. For many solopreneurs, they are the company. This means that delegating can be nearly impossible or they have to go to an outside contractor. How can they find other people who can carry things on just as…
Here’s the takeaway: Each department needs to own their structure. The first question is always, “Is it the right structure?” Without thinking about people or titles, are each of the seats on your leadership team responsible for 3-5 critical functions in the organization? Remember, people need to know what they’re really expected to do, so…
Here’s the takeaway: Each role should be accountable for three to five responsibilities, not 87. As leaders, it’s our obligation to make sure that everybody knows what they’re supposed to do. If two people are accountable for an organization’s function, nobody’s accountable. Only one person can be accountable at any one time for a task….
Here’s the takeaway of this post: An Integrator is a great filter between a Visionary and the team. As we build an efficient structure for this company, the general intention is that we go through and start with structure, what it is that people want. Then, we build the right structure of what it should…
Here’s the takeaway: Design your company structure with clear roles in mind. In my last post, we outlined how visualization is the key to creating an efficient structure. First, your leadership team should imagine that they’re high-paid consultants for another company in any distant but similar city (for Omaha, I often use Austin, Texas). This…
In most cases, we as entrepreneurs are our own biggest obstacle to growth. As a business owner, your ability to break through these ceilings is fundamentally reliant upon your ability to master these 5 tools. Let’s take a look at how delegation can elevate your business beyond those challenging 5-year ceilings, one step at a…
As you navigate the ups and downs of owning and running your business, you’ll find that though almost nothing is certain, many things do emerge as patterns we can recognize and improve upon. One of those things is the 5-year ceiling: it’s this idea that after 5 years, an obstacle emerges that challenges your ability…
If you want to start a business today (and be successful at it), you better learn how to communicate with millennials. Whether you think you like them or not, you’re going to have to work with them, and great work is borne out of mutual respect and understanding. In my years at the helm of…
Originally posted in October 2015 by Social Media Contractors Recently I was asked to give a talk at Creighton University about business to business content marketing. Before the lecture, I was talking with a professor and we were comparing notes about teaching and working with millennials. We agreed that we “old guys” have a huge opportunity to…