MentorWords

In preparation to sell our house, our real estate agent made us thin out our bookshelves. This was no small feat. We have 20’ ceilings in our living room, with built-in book shelves that require a ladder to reach the top. After packing up only half the books we had nearly 40 boxes to take to storage. [...]

At some point we all end up either writing our own marketing or working with someone who is writing our marketing. It’s hard work. If you have a talented copywriter already, you’re probably done reading. For the rest of us, here are some tricks for putting what we want on paper. First, the steps of [...]

One of the most important things any business must do is create stability. And one of the other most important things any business must do is always be prepared to change. So it’s no wonder that many business leaders find themselves caught in a conundrum. If stability is most important, then how can they be [...]

Ford is making advertising headlines this week as they launch their “Swap My Ride” campaign. Consumers who just bought new cars – but not Fords – were asked by a seemingly independent 3rd party researcher (in actuality, Ford marketing staff) to trade their new car for a comparable Ford for one week. The ad campaign [...]

My in-box is a Petri dish of engaged workforce issues. I see inquiries ranging from business owners wanting advice on how to cultivate engaged workforces to employees wanting to know how they can influence their bosses to include them, and everything in between. At some level, even the most autocratic boss recognizes that employees who [...]

I received lots of email on yesterday’s post, mostly breaking down into two camps – Camp A says it’s impossible to have a management team that develops trust and open communication, because politics will always get in the way, and Camp B says management teams aren’t the problem – indecisive and/or authoritative leadership is. Of [...]

Business theorists love to argue about the difference between management and leadership. I agree with Jim Collins’ assessment that one of the steps on the way to becoming a strong leader is to first have command of excellent management skills. Some people never go beyond manager to leader, and that’s fine, because being a manager is worthy [...]

Buying or making one product and selling it at a good margin does not a business make. Well, that’s not entirely true. If you’re George Steinbrenner and you can sell the Yankees for $1.5 billion after buying it for $10 million – even if it was some 35 years ago – that’s not a bad [...]

We bought a new used car for our son the other day, his first. I set the lowest budget I could set while still finding something safe, and started prowling the newspapers and Craigslist looking for my ideal buy. After weeks of distraction, escalating distrust of other humans, and a really scary fully armed guy [...]

First of all, this blog maintenance thing requires a lot of discipline. I don’t know how people do it every day, and sometimes I manage to forget all about it until I get an email telling me there’s a comment posted. Some days have themes to them. It doesn’t matter who you talk to, the [...]