A New Direction

Did you that more than 17,000,000 employees this year will experience some sort of loss that will lead to their grief?  Meaning that 47,000 employees today are walking into work in grief having experienced some tragic loss in their life.  Did you also know that grief costs companies around $75 Billion in productivity loss a year.  The fact is friends our leadership is failing those who grieve in o...

There are so many theories on Leadership it can get quite exhausting.  In fact Leadership theory is wide and so vast you may find yourself throwing your arms up in the air and saying, “I’m just going to do leadership my way”.  Well it is confusing.  And it causes us to ask more questions, such as: “Is leadership the same as leading?”, “Is managing the same as le...

Are you leading from your current job?  Why not?  Have you discovered what you are purpose in  your current job?  What?  Why?  Are you thinking to yourself well I am just a (fill in the blank).  You are NOT a “just a”.  You are and can be a leader from your current job.  Being a leader does not require a title.  Being a leader is a change of attitude.  It is also a change in action.  A...

In today’s world more people than ever have a home office.  And as nice as that sounds and can be, it is not always conducive to productivity.  As a matter of fact you home office may be more home than office.  And the idea of trying to “balance” your work and your life from your home office?  Well, there is no such thing as balance.  In fact, it is really more of a blend and com...

As an entrepreneur we typically are idea people.  Some of us are sales people, but it seems like the more entrepreneurs I interview the more I see their creative side than their sales side.  Sometimes it appears to be an attitude of, “if I build it, they will come”.  The truth is many entrepreneur types not only have a problem with selling they have a problem with sales people in gener...

It is no surprise that men and women are different.  Not just our physiology, but how we communicate, handle stress, deal with conflict, the differences we see in relaxing, romancing, sex and more.  So often we can go so frustrated with these differences we can live in misery, or eventually we may get to the point where we feel like we made a mistake.  And the next thing you know we are ready to c...

Here are the facts we are in a revolution where artificial intelligence (AI), digital spaces, and technology are speedily influencing our world.  So much so that even a seemingly sound career is being affected dramatically.  In many cases jobs and careers that were done by humans have been replaced by computers.  We are also seeing that many positions salaries have decreased as machines replace hu...

When you hear the word ethics and sales they really don’t sound like they go together.  It is kind of an oil and water thing for most people.  As a matter of fact when it comes to business our colleges and universities don’t even teach ethics of sales.  It is a topic that is rarely if ever discussed and when it is, it’s because someone got into trouble over an ethics violation. W...

We all have dreams of our future.  What happens when we put all of our energy, dedication, mind, body and soul are put into it and then you get there and something outside of your control takes your dream away?  What do you do?  Especially if you have no plan B.  Well in this episode of A New Direction Podcast – Jay Izso meet former NFL kicker Sean Conley  From the time he was 8 years old he...

Relationships.  It really is what makes our life…life.  Where would we be without them?  Well, first of all you and I would not have been born so there’s that.  But, our relationships do add spice to life, and in fact we relate to not just people, but animals, places and things.  If you are married or have a significant other then you know how our relationships can affect us on the oth...

“Build me a website, that’s what we need to have a successful business”.  Then what happens?  They continue to spend money on website design, SEO,  and other IT initiatives only to do one thing…run out of money.  That marketing philosophy is the “if we build it, they will come”.  Like something out of the movie “Field of Dreams”.  The only thing you...

Success we all want it, but we often do not want to pay the price for it, or hear the answers on how to ultimately achieve it.  So often we think that success is a by product of getting the right breaks in life or business.  Some believe that success is just given to people.  Others believe that if you focus on success you will become successful.  However, when you start talking to combat veterans...

We need to be honest with ourselves our world has changed.  It moves at an incredible pace, and as technology continues to move our problems become more complex and challenging.  How we choose to think about and solve those problems must also change.  Here is the problem:  We live in a world that has a bias of binary thinking, eliminating the gray are of possibilities, and only wants to rely on ru...

Conflict is something we all face.  It comes in many different forms, and the truth is it makes us all uncomfortable.  At the heart of conflict is the fact that one party is not getting what they want and the other party is not getting what they want.  We basically turn our backs to each other, we talk about the other party behind their back, we gather allies to support our position and the confli...

You may or may no be acquainted with “Lean Transformation” or “Lean Management”, but the truth is you more than likely employ some of the principles.  Lean management is a business wide thought process that starts with what you customer really wants and needs, then engages the employees and leadership to find ways to make that happen, by cutting waste whether that be time o...

Let’s say you are in the middle of a war.  You have an enemy that wants to destroy you.  Not only do they not care about you they want to take everything from you.  How do you go about your mission to defeat the enemy?  Do you just wake up one morning and figure it out as you go?  Do you find a bunch of people you think can help you and go and attack?  What do you need?  What does the enemy...

No one wants to admit it.  In fact we get defensive when accused of it.  In most cases we go into denial and rationalize it.  What am I talking about: Bias.  The fact of the matter is bias comes with being human.  Every single person in the world has bias.  You in fact are biased!  Did you notice how you felt as you read that?  You are biased.  It may have made you mad.  It may have had a “k...

We all want to achieve success.  And success can mean different things to each one of us.  But, I would venture to say that to the vast majority of you reading this right now, that at least on some level success has something to do with your financial situation.  For example, if success is being able to retire on a beach, well, that is going to take money.  If success is having a boat and travel,...

Everyone wants to be happy.  As humans we will avoid pain at all costs for our own happiness.  But for most people happiness is an elusive mistress.  We try to define our happiness with things, stuff, fame, fortune, money, relationships, but at the core of it all those are all externals.  Real happiness comes from with in ourselves.  When we start filling something internal with something external...

Our work life has changed.  Most all of us are working remotely.  That means most all of us are now using a technology called Zoom.  As cool, convenient, and amazing as Zoom is, it does present some occasional challenges.  Such as making sure it is reliable.  And as Zoom continues to add features are you in fact getting the most out of it?  That is are you doing what is necessary to eliminate dist...

Drs. Tara Peters & Cathy Bush (The Leadership Doctors ) & Authors of The Demotivated Employee Often as a executive coach I am asked the question, “How do I improve employee motivation?” or “How do I motivate this employee?”.  In fact, it is really the wrong question, because your employees are motivated, but there are things in your business environment that have &#...

You may be reading this right now and your performance at your job is slacking.  Why?  You may be thinking because you are bored?  Maybe you did not get enough sleep.  But what if I told you that there are things in your environment that are influencing your performance or a lack there of.  The problem could be a lack of natural light.  Or it could be that your phone is sitting on your desk.  Or t...

Whether you are in business, a consultant, coach, teacher, or speaker, our world has changed when it comes to doing presentations.  Whether it is a seminar, workshop, company training, education, or public speaking we are all using some sort of online platform to convey our message.  Let’s be honest it is all completely different feel when it comes to teaching, speaking, or training online. ...

The easiest thing for us to do as leaders is rely on what worked in the past.  But let’s be honest there is not guarantee what we have done in the past will produce success in the future.  We also need to face the reality that as businesses change, younger generations, enter our businesses, our leadership needs to be more fluid, adaptable and innovative.  As a leader you cannot expect your b...

Are you someone in leadership?  Well the truth is we all are leaders in some way.  So much has been written about leadership.  How to be a good leader.  How to be a more effective leader.  It seems however, when it comes to leadership and philosophies of leadership so many say very similar things.  As leaders we often are looking for the “golden carrot”.  You know that thing that we ca...