Organic is a buzzword these days. Everything from paper products, produce, beer, and textiles can be labeled organic. But what does organic really mean? Organic refers to the “methods that produce or involve production without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or other artificial agents.” Why does this matter? Because organic products are thought to be healthier than conventional products. So, should you make your business organic?

Culture is the average of every individual’s values in your organization. This means that if the majority of individuals in your company desire to make a name for themselves, the culture will reflect that “dog eat dog” mentality. Likewise, if your employees value unity, conflict resolution is a skill many of them use on a daily basis. No matter what, culture exists. And though cultures vary, two broad types of culture separate every organization: transactional or relational.

It is easy for business owners to fall into the trap of thinking they need to be the one in charge. In a recent planning session a large ownership group had to decide which roles various shareholders would fill. With seven owners this $5 million business did not have enough C suites for everyone to have a corner office. More important, they were keenly aware that their long-term strategic plan required current employees to move into leadership roles as soon as possible.

The role of customer satisfaction in business is undisputed. Businesses exist because they satisfy a customers wants and needs by delivering products and services for a profit. Without satisfied customers, businesses fail. Yet, despite its importance, predicting customer satisfaction is surprisingly hard to do. There has got to be a better, less dynamic, variable that accounts for satisfaction and that is standard across businesses.

What if I could show you a way to instantly recognize trends in your business, trends spanning anywhere from years to months to days? If you are like most business owners, this newfound ability would forever change the way you manage the financial reporting coming out of your company. It will reduce the time it takes to understand major financial and operational indicators and allow you to communicate that information to key managers and employees without having to explain the first debit or credit.

A few weeks ago I had lunch with the owner of a creative agency. We talked about the difficulties of work related to managing customer expectations. He shared the story of a customer who came to him wanting a complete re-brand for a community district. The project required designing unique street signs, facilities signs, park benches, trash cans, etc. All to create a distinct atmosphere for the district.

Can you believe we are already in July? It seems hard to believe half the year is in the rear view mirror.

Since your second quarter is over let me ask: how are you doing? Did you hit your quarterly goals or are you still catching up from the first quarter? Have you even thought about your goals for Q3? Are you on track for your year? If you’re like most of us, my guess is that you’ve still got some work to do.

Do you ever get frustrated that your people just aren’t performing? No matter how many times you explain, no matter what kind of training resources you supply, no matter what threats you make…they just don’t follow through. My tendency in these situations, especially when listening to clients talk about the same struggles over and over again, is to ask “should this person even be on the bus?”

Weekly check-ins are one of the main tools we use with clients to make sure that the strategic plans we build with the team actually get executed by the team.

That planning process starts with identifying the vision that leadership wants to pursue, and then identifying the one or two strategies that the team can work on over the next 2-3 years that will move us closer to the realization of that vision. Strategic planning is a lot fun, but it doesn’t actually make anything happen. For that we need to focus on execution.

We are smack dab in the middle of tax season with only a couple of weeks left before the individual filing deadline. That means S corporation business owners all over the country are wringing their hands, hoping for a great March and April to pay their tax bill. This annual ritual of scrounging for cash to pay last year’s taxes is a huge distraction for businesses. And it leads to all kinds of shenanigans.

There is a famous quote ascribed to Henry Ford.

"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason so few engage in it."

I was curious so I went looking for the source. The quote is from an article Ford wrote for the April 1928 issue of The Forum. I would encourage you to read it. Apart from his thoughts on "thinking" it is worth the read to see how closely the issues and debates of his day match our own. You can view page images of the original periodical here. But back to the quote.

Last week I talked about the difference between mission, vision and values. Of the three, we always start with vision. And we do so for purely practical purposes. If a business doesn’t know what it wants to accomplish it is impossible to be intentional about achieving it.

But vision statements can be tricky things to write. Everyone seems to have a different opinion about what they should cover or how inspiring their prose should be.

I was in a meeting the other day and the guy next to me, who runs a very successful company, said "you know, I've just never taken the time to do the mission statement. I know I should, but I don't quite know what to do."

Mission, vision and values are great tools for communicating what you are about and helping other people understand what you are trying to accomplish. Any business that struggles with communication should start here. It will make a big difference in how you talk with employees, customers, contractors and everyone else you do business with.

In today's video I share some of my thoughts on todo lists and why I think shared lists are a bad idea. I want to cover that topic here and address what is sure to be an often raise objection to my point of view.

Shared todo lists are a bad idea because as a rule they allow those delegating tasks to abdicate two primary responsibilities of management.

I had been working with this client for over six months. Our relationship was solid. Appointments were upbeat and fun. By the end of a morning together we always accomplished a lot and went our separate ways feeling energized.

But as I sat at the conference table this morning all was not well. Over the preceding 13 weeks several major projects had failed to get done.

It was the middle of the day, and I was on another marathon conference call. These had become routine with this client. Two, three, four times a week, sometimes several times a day I was in the middle of strategizing and crisis management sessions. We were pitted against an adversary that would clearly do or say anything to tear us down. It was incredibly stressful.

When I was growing up there were few things worse than being called a sissy. Guys who complained about hard track workout were labeled sissies. Buddies who hesitated on the edge of the high dive were prodded over the edge with jeers of “don’t be a sissy.” Today I tell clients to stop being sissies when I can see they are just avoiding the hard work.

When managers complain about an employee's performance there are usually two possibilities. Either the employee is letting the manager down or the manager is letting the employee down. Everyone identifies with employees being the problem. Our tendency is to chalk up poor performance to incompetency or laziness. But knowledge workers need the right tools for the job just like everyone else.

There was a time when I turned my nose up at personal trainers and fitness coaches. After all, I was a standout athlete in high school. I went to college on a [very small] athletic scholarship. I had discipline and fortitude and know how in spades. Why in the world would I spend money on a personal trainer? But after turning forty I started to understand something. Discipline and know how don't count for much when weeks turn into months and months turn into years and your goals aren't any closer.

Working for my dad was, how shall I put this... challenging. And as "challenging" as it was for me I can imagine it was even more difficult for him. I was a bull headed 23 year old with definite ideas about how he should run his business. Nearly twenty years later my dad has grown six feet taller and immeasurably wiser. We no longer work together, but I recognize some of our struggles in the clients I work with today. Given my past working relationship with dad family businesses have a special place in my heart. And I see them struggle in ways unique to family businesses. Unless they deal with these issues the jobs of both family and non-family members are at risk.