Business Lessons
The River
Franchisors and franchisees stand on opposite banks — but they share the same river.
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Business Lessons
Lessons learned from decades of leading businesses, franchises, and teams.
20 posts
Business Lessons
Imperfect Information
The executive decision-making goal is not to eliminate uncertainty — it is to make a sound decision in the throes of uncertainty.
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Business Lessons
Create Margins
To think deeply, be creative, set personal goals, and reflect—you need to create margins in your life.
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Business Lessons
Admonish in Private
Praise in public and admonish in private is a great mantra for performance feedback.
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Business Lessons
Franchising 101
Franchising combines entrepreneurship with proven processes and systems—here are the basics from someone who has led four franchise companies.
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Business Lessons
Business Valuation
Some 12 million businesses will sell in the next decade. Understanding what drives value is important even if you aren't selling.
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Business Lessons
Staying Calm Under Pressure
My super-power is staying calm under pressure. The secret is perspective, and a few tools like breathing.
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Business Lessons
Start With Why
Companies can be infused with greater energy and add tremendous value when they understand their deeper why.
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Business Lessons
Operating on 2 Planes
A whole other plane of life exists in the workplace—one of coaching, camaraderie, fun, insight and an art of leading.
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Business Lessons
Being One Person
I realized I was living a duplicitous life—being one person in one setting and another in a different setting.
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Business Lessons
Negotiation: Interests and Options
My favorite tool for getting to an agreement: the Interests Table. It works for business deals, buying a car, even parenting teenagers.
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Business Lessons
Leading Through Uncertainty
I lead a team of 40, coach eight CEOs, and have spoken with hundreds of small business owners through the COVID-19 crisis. Here are actions I've taken as a leader during times of great uncertainty.
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Business Lessons
Running Meetings 101
American workers attend 35–50 million meetings each day. Most are ineffective because no one follows a rule book.
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Business Lessons
eMails are Forever
Just because you press delete doesn't mean your email is gone. Most large companies save emails for years.
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Business Lessons
Punchlist vs Email
Start your day with setting priorities, not reading email. Checking emails allows others to set your priorities versus you setting them.
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Business Lessons
Key Point Communication
Corporate workers receive over 122 emails daily, with two-thirds being unnecessary. Here's a simple trick to ensure your emails are clear and crisp.
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Business Lessons
Negotiation 101
Nine core principles from approximately 50 negotiated deals across mergers, acquisitions, exits, and license agreements.
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Business Lessons
Exit Well
There is a right (and wrong) way to exit an employee from a business—and to exit yourself.
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Business Lessons
Leading Through COVID
Leadership lessons from pandemic experience with teams and small business owners: six strategies for leading into the unknown.
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Business Lessons
Endurance
As a young business leader I operated as if speed was the key to success; with age and experience I now believe endurance and excellence in execution are more important.
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