GROW GREAT - It's About Building A Great Business

A group of business owners is gathered. They’re from different industries and different markets. But they’re all safe with one another because they share a common existence. They’re business owners. Each well acquainted with the strains, struggles, and joys of running their own enterprise. This isn’t some good ‘ol boys network club. Fact is, almost […]

Safety and encouragement. They’re vital to our ability to grow, overcome adversity and battle whatever life is tossing our way. Here’s a worthwhile daily admonishment… Help somebody feel safe today. The topic had a genesis over at my hobby podcast, LeaningTowardWisdom.com, which I’ve dubbed #CravingEncouragement. The idea took form out of the professional conversations I […]

Let’s start with a press release that came out on Tuesday, July 16, 2019. It could be found at Yahoo! Finance, among other places. Since this is a podcast permit me to share it with you. It’s not terribly long. Leo Bottary Announces the Launch of Peernovation July 16, 2019 New company will help business […]

When I was about 27 I uttered a statement one afternoon while my team was wrestling with some customer service challenges. “The quality of our questions determines the quality of our business.” The statement was provoked by our company’s inability to consistently deliver the experience I wanted. Dumb problems were frustrating me. Problems I felt […]

Small business owners. CEOs. Executives. Leaders. Whether you’re a #1 or a #2 or a team leader…surrounding yourself with others who are like you is one of THE most powerful learning, understanding and growing tools you can find. Business people in every role, up and down the authority chain, benefit from being around others who […]

Today I want to provoke you to take a quantum leap forward. It may be uncomfortable. Maybe it’ll be exciting. Let’s just give it our best to make it profitable. Learning. Understanding. Growing. Let’s start with a word. An important word. One that should remain at the forefront for you the rest of this year […]

Increasingly I’m convinced there is one factor that is far superior to all others in determining our success. Some of my favorite terms are… Tenacity Resilience Ferocity They speak to a person’s refusal to quit. And I’m not talking about quitting things that aren’t working. Or quitting things that we discover we don’t want to […]

Almost 30 years ago I had a conversation with an owner of a small business who was lamenting the smallness of his business (which wasn’t so small really since he was generating multi-millions in annual revenue). “I’m not a neighborhood store, ” he complained. “They want to make me a neighborhood store.” I reminded him […]

Growing up in the era where business was considered a zero-sum game – meaning, I win at your expense or you win at my expense – competition was fostered. Prized. You wanted to dominate and ruin the competition. The object, which never happened in my experience, was to have the market all to yourself. In […]

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”              —Viktor Frankl Speed is a crucial component when it comes to making meaningful change. The sooner we begin the […]

The Peer Advantage by Bula Network is now enrolling charter members. Today’s show is a brief outline of why you may want to consider applying today. This is a paid, professional peer advantage group (a mastermind group, if you please) where we collectively work to help each other grow our business, our leadership and our […]

Stewardship is the last of the 3 leadership shortages I’ve focused on this week. There are so many more, but it can be like grabbing a porcupine. You just don’t know where to start so you may as well start somewhere. Service was the first one. It’s a focus on doing what’s right by your […]

We continue our conversation about the 3 leadership shortages I see regularly. Today’s topic will seem identical to yesterday’s. SERVITUDE. the state of being a slave or completely subject to someone more powerful Yesterday we focused on serving your people. It’s about putting the needs of your people ahead of your own. Today it’s about […]

Starting today we’re going to get our toes in the water on the three shortages I regularly see in leadership: service, servitude, and stewardship. Honestly, there are MANY leadership shortages. I’m just looking at these 3 over the next three days. You should know my bias. Leadership isn’t about position. It’s about service. Let’s frame […]

Touchy feely fru fru alert! Forgiveness is a quality of the highest character. Something we should all aspire to incorporate into our lives, something we should elevate and increase as much as possible. I know revenge and getting even is deemed more fulfilling, but that’s a lie. They’re not. They damage us more deeply. Forgiveness […]

All of us learned the proverbial truth that what you reward gets done. And that what gets measured can be improved. The tougher lesson learned – and one I talked about a bit in the previous show – is that we sometimes get the rewards wrong. Which means we get the wrong outcomes. Who among […]

It’s comically effective. Very much so. “Is there anything you’ve tried that has worked better than anything else you’ve tried?” They answer, “Yes.” I respond with, “Then do more of that and stop doing all that other stuff.” At which point I’ll smile and say, “Good night, everybody!” If it goes well (and it always […]

Listening is learning. Choosing to learn is superior to choosing to be the smartest person in every room you enter. It’s born of our curiosity. How curious are you? To learn and understand things you don’t yet know…or understand? Have you ever stumbled down a rabbit hole to learn something that suddenly jumped onto your […]

We can be a miserable lot. Humans. History has proven our capacity to treat one another poorly. The first children ever born demonstrate it. Cain killed his brother Abel. According to the FBI, 24.8% of homicides are committed by family members. Just imagine how horrific we can behave toward people we don’t even care about. […]

Recently I’ve been leveraging the power of character strengths to help leaders and business owners figure out improved team alignment. It begins with leaders having an enlightened awareness of their own character. This isn’t a talent or skill based strength. Rather, it’s character. It’s much more geared toward the essences of who you are at […]