How To Run A Strategy Retreat For Your Organization
It didn’t take long for the celebratory election smiles to fade to confusion and fear as we realized we didn’t know what we would do for the next 12 months. Six people, including myself, were elected into leadership positions in our local National Speaker’s Association chapter. We accepted our new task of running the chapter […]
Dirty Marketing: The Negative Impact of Mixing Marketing with Relationship Building in Business Communities
It felt like he had just dropped a dirty towel into our perfectly purified community, and it didn’t sit right with me or anyone else in the group. As a forum moderator for a community of business owners, I facilitate peer groups for members to learn and grow from each other. For example, one section […]
Three Effective Ways to Increase Productivity and Focus in Meetings
I felt naked without my cell phone next to me during the meeting. As I entered the room for our two-hour meeting, someone greeted me with a briefcase filled with cell phones. I was told that everyone was required to place their cell phone into the briefcase before entering the room. My first reaction was, […]
Growing a Community is Never Passive
What started as the magic ingredient needed to save their community became a logistical nightmare. Through a mutual connection, the head of a large community of e-commerce sellers invited me to lunch. The purpose of the meeting was to see if we could help them buck their negative member retention rates. The organization had steadily […]
The Importance of Metrics and Meetings in Your Organization
I looked at my watch impatiently and saw it was 12:23 pm. This meeting was supposed to finish at noon. We were already 23 minutes overtime because one conversation was running endlessly long. What should’ve been a simple discussion followed by a decision turned into people giving their opinions without any data to back it […]
When Your Members Meet Up Independent Of You
I knew when it was my turn I wanted to highlight my co-workers. They worked so hard on their projects, and for this company, they deserved recognition. So when the question was asked, I replied, “I’d like to shout out to Jay for always rocking his projects and continuously helping with side tasks without hesitation. […]
Why Core Values Matter
Akia’s palms were sweaty, and her nerves were out of control! She felt like whatever decision she made at this moment would have a major impact on the company for the next several months. But what should she do? Her manager, Eric, was on vacation, and no one ever trained her on what to do […]
The Wheel Of Life
It was hard not to get emotional as I looked at the ten pieces of paper in front of me that represented the past ten years of my life. One year I was super depressed; another year, my health was way out of whack, then I noticed one year I was deeply in love, but […]
Creating a Level-5 Team
My day began at 5 am to the sound of Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day; I had a nice hot cup of pumpkin spice latte and a lovely two-hour drive towards the Poconos. Though the early morning commute made me tired, that quickly changed once I walked into the room where we were doing […]
Lessons Learned Through Our New Thriving Community
Recently, I was introduced to the StartUp Podcast. Alex Blumberg decided to start a podcast series about what happens when someone who knows nothing about a business starts one. It’s very interesting to listen along to Alex’s journey on how he created his business; he discusses his thoughts and records his conversations during his journey […]