Today I had an occasion to really explore something about myself that I already knew. I knew it, but I didn’t know what to do about it. You see I am nothing if not up front about what I like and don’t like, but I often skip conversations that are not productive. The end result is that the irritation builds and then you have a blow up. I learned that this is really passive … [Read more...]
The Big Dream of a Small Company
I had an interesting conversation today about strategy and growth. What was different about this conversation was that the tone of it just made sense. As my firm has grown and matured, things have changed. The stakes have become bigger, the rewards better and the disappointments more bitter. As I wondered aloud ‘am I dreaming too large’ these are the nuggets the conversation … [Read more...]
Ch..Ch..Changes
I know that I’ve spoken of this before and I hate that I am writing about it again, but if I just had this situation chances are that many of my readers are struggling with something similar as well. I have a colleague that I worked with and the relationship crashed and burned. To me it was a part of business, while we did not work well together I didn’t see it as anything … [Read more...]
The Knicks and Your Business
Reorganization is a part of business, it’s as common as copy machines and coffee cups. What else is common? How often they fail at creating anything different in an organization. The Knicks seem to be on to something, so here is what you need to know. Get back to basics The Knicks are bringing back Steve Mills and with over 26 years’ experience, but the genius thing? They are … [Read more...]
The Small Business Owner Blues
In the silence of the night when everyone else has shut down and you are left with your decisions, that’s when you become an entrepreneur. Someone said to me once that to be an entrepreneur you have to have a spouse with a full-time job and while that anecdote is funny it’s also a bit sad. The very essence of an entrepreneur is a risk-taker, however unfair that risk is to the … [Read more...]
Buy and Get Out!
As entrepreneurs sometimes we get so preoccupied with making sales that we forget to take care of the customer. Sadly enough that seems to be the rule rather than the exception the bigger the company. I had one such experience with the vendor Verizon Wireless chose to insure their devices. My company moved to Verizon less than a month ago and as a consultant I get paid by the … [Read more...]
The Tone of Business
I recently got some feedback that I have to say, took me aback a bit. The feedback came from two very different source with very different interest. And while the feedback certainly has merit, I have to say it took me a few days to process it. ‘Leona, you are animated and that’s great. It’s why people love you, but some people don’t know how to take it. It can come off as … [Read more...]
Business Advice for Dummies
As a business owner particularly when you are starting out, ‘constructive criticism’ is something that you get in spades. Some of the criticism is great, it tells you things about yourself and your company that you didn’t know. Other times it can feel like a direct attack, so how do you know the difference and how do you find the silver lining? Consider the source Sometimes … [Read more...]
The Ties That Bind
In the past year I have found myself talking about partnership an awful lot. As one partnership crashed and burned this week and several other began, here is some advice I have learned. Understand your value When you are starting out I don’t care how much you think you know, you don’t know as much as someone with 10 years of experience on you. If you don’t have all of the … [Read more...]
The Business of Deceit
We all know that a sweet lie feels better than a hard truth, but in business it’s supposed to be all about the facts. In a world where perception can be skewed as quickly as a tweet is posted, how can you make sure that your business is telling you the hard truth all of the time? The truth is that you can’t. You can’t make sure that everything that reaches your eyes is beyond … [Read more...]