A New Direction

Why can’t we all just get along? As the generations work in the same space, the differences seem to be magnified. The lines have been drawn. Everything seems to be black and white with no gray area. If you are a “baby boomer” chances are you find the millennials and Gen Z generations frustrating, perhaps seeing them as entitled, lazy, or arrogant. If you are Gen X like me, it&#82...

Are you as successful as you want to be in your life? How about your business? How about your career? Research has demonstrated that how you think determines the level of success regardless of how you define it, that you can achieve. Researcher and Best Selling Author Dr. Ryan Gottfredson joins us again on this episode of A New Direction to dig deeper into the four mindets that can create success...

So often we wonder why we do not get the results we are looking for. We will typically blame a person or group of people for our failures and mistakes. If you are leading a team you will frequently be tempted to follow the addage of “fire fast and hire slow”. But are these really problems that are beyond your control or problems that you could control if your mindset was different? The...

Did you know that according to Gallup only 36% of employees are actually engaged in their work? That means basically 2 out 3 employees just do a job without having a purpose. We currently live in an era of “Quiet Quitting”…just doing enough to not get fired. Why? Becaue they cannot find a purpose in their work.  What does that mean to you and your business? What lack of employee...

It has been said, “there are no business problems, but only personal problems that show up in your business.” As one who coaches business professionals at every level, I have found this to be 100% true. When our lives lack purpose, meaning, or we feel have not impact, we are living a life that is unfulfilling. The external rewards only take us so far. The accumulation of things and mon...

Whether you are an Owner, CEO, Manager, or an Employee. One thing is absolutely true that when we trust each other it is easier for us to together as a team work be more productive, impactful, and certainly more profitable. Then why do we have such a difficult time getting our team of people to trust and “play nice” with each other so that we can experience the benefits. Often times we...

To say that we are living in some turbulent times is an understatment. It is during turbulent times like these that we are all tested, but it is where we see great leadership emerge, and at the same time weak leadership to fail. One trait that is for sure in great leadership is reslience. The ab ility to keep going when we keep getting hit. When circumstances and economies surround and attack our...

Have you ever seen a “Barnstormer”? Those women and men who fly the planes at amazing speeds doing amazing stunts. Some of you may shake your head and say, “not me”. Others of you get excited about it and can understand the thrill. The truth is Barnstorming is like like owning your own business. Your business moves at aafast pace,  it experiences the twists and turns, and a...

Who doesn’t like a really great underdog story? We all do! And former CEO of PRC-Desoto Ted Clark inspires us with his story on this episode of A New Direction . No MBA.  In fact, Ted did not have a degree.  As his story goes at 19 he started as a “shipping clerk”…and in 22 years he worked his way up to becoming the CEO and President of a major corporation.  Then he did it...

They say, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Isn’t it true? Psychologically our brain is wired to remember pictures easier and with much more clarity than listening to words or reading them from a page. Then why do spend so much time carving out the right message with words when we could be enhancing our leadership and lives by creating pictures that can be seen in our mind....

When we hear the word “Data” the first thing we think of naturally is numbers. And so often we think that the “numbers” make the decision for us.  The fact is the analytics and statistics only tell us part of the story and if the “input” is wrong up front, the resulting “data” will mislead us into making bad decisions. Kevin Hanegan author of “...

Most of us use Amazon.com services.  It is estimated that 65% of the U.S. population uses Amazon at least once a month.  The leadership of Amazon fell on Jeff Bezos and he led and created something that most people use and even if they don’t use it, we all are aware of it’s success.  What does it take to lead and be a leader at Amazon?  Well this week’s guest on A New Direction i...

Nearly all of us have either tried or dreamed about starting our own business and become entrepreneurs.  Why don’t more people become entrepreneurs?  The number one reason is, that it is filled with so much risk, that people cannot take it.  The other reason is because it is a constant rollercoaster sometimes from day to day.  Those that are successful entrepreneurs are far fewer than those...

Whether you are a recent graduate or a have been working in your career for decades we all come face to face with a couple of questions:  “Am I really doing the work in my career that has meaning and purpose? And is this the career I really want to spend my life doing?”  Why is it that the world looks badly at us when we say “But this is not the career I want?” or “Th...

Let me ask you do love your job?  Okay, do find that when you go to work it has meaning?  Do you feel like the work you do serves a bigger purpose?  Well if you are like most people when the go to work they do not feel like their work has meaning or purpose.  What if I told you that you could find work that was both meaningful and had purpose?  Maybe you would say something like, “I don&#821...

Perhaps you are not much of a dancer.  And it is probably even more likely that those of you reading this have never done the Tango.  However, when you watch the Tango it is perhaps the most complicated and intricate of all the dances.  And yet on the outside it is as if the two people are one…but to learn the Tango correctly and be successful to the point that it looks effortless that takes...

If you are like me you remember watching the Wizard of Oz and young Judy Garland playing the heroine Dorothy from a small time in Kansas.  But what if the story was slightly rewritten.  The setting is a small Kansas town and it is a couple of businesses that wondering if they should do a merger and a young HR Director by the name of Dora T. Gayle because of a bizarre “twister” of circu...

The late great women’s basketball coach Pat Summit once was reported being asked about her secret to winning championships, she said, “recruit great players”.  Jim Collins in his book “Good to Great” alludes to recruiting great employees in his quote, “If I were running a company today I would have one priority above all others: to acquire as many of the best pe...

It has been said that “all work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy”.  In today’s society it seems that we just want people to work.  But maybe the real truth is we need balance in our work.  Not just play, but the idea that the workplace is a fun place to work.  Study after study has demonstrated that workplaces that have fun are more productive, more creative, and create employe...

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges we all have is presenting in front of others.  So often when it comes to presenting we major on the minors and minor on the majors.  The major of course making sure you are presenting you authentically.  You can have all the presentation skills down pat, but until you realize that YOU ARE THE PRESENTATION it will not make any difference, because nothing subst...

As a coach I am often called because the owner, founder, or CEO wants to change their business.  There is this belief system that the business is it’s own entity and that you magically can change the business.  However, the truth is if you want your business to truly change then the owner, founder, or CEO is the one who must change first…and that is not always easy.  On this episode of...

How many of you dream of being your own boss?  You know owning your own company.  It all sounds pretty cool until you look at the lives of those who build it from the ground up and all the struggles it takes to get to financial success.  How do you stay resilient when life throws you a curve?  Like your parents dying.  No money.  Feeling Lost and alone.  So what you do you?  Well if you are Elliot...

No doubt about it, obtaining new customers will cost you more than retaining your current clients.  But what happens if your customers do not return?  Or worse yet what happens if your clients leave?  We all know the answer…you are going to spend more money on customer acquisition.  More expensive marketing dollars to try to convert “tire kickers” into customers and then try to c...

We have all heard of democracy,  The problem is we only think of it as a government entity.  The problem is as democracy is outlined most governments that say they practice democracy do not practice the principles.  Founder and CEO of Worldblu Traci Fenton joins us on this episode of A New Direction to enlighten us to understand what a true democracy is and how when applied to the workplace has de...

Everyday we are in a negotiation…in fact we are in negotiations throughout our day.  You are negotiating with your self if you want to continue to read this post.  You may be in negotiation with your spouse, child, boss, co-worker, or friend.  You may be in an industry as an attorney or real estate professional where negotiation is the key to your business.  The fact is negotiation is what w...