Why Business Teams Fail & How to Avoid It : Strong Leadership Skills For Employee Engagement & High Performance

Are You Regularly and Consistently Getting Customer Feedback? Our topic today is one that many people have differing opinions about – GETTING CUSTOMER FEEDBACK. Here’s a very interesting statistic – when consumers were asked WHY they would stop doing business with one company in favor of another, the overwhelming answer was that the company they were using today didn’t really CARE whether they sta...

Are Your Compensation & Rewards Programs Aligned with Your Values and Desired Behaviors? In this episode I want to discuss a topic that I’m pretty sure will ruffle a few feathers – THE ALIGNMENT OF YOUR COMPENSATION AND REWARDS PROGRAMS. Some might suggest this is a topic that I should avoid. But I think it’s a topic that has the opportunity to give you a HUGE advantage over your competition – par...

Are You Solving Your Customers’ Biggest Challenges? This week I want to discuss a topic that I would argue is the essence of why you’re in business today – UNDERSTANDING AND SOLVING YOUR CUSTOMERS’ BIGGEST CHALLENGES. Just imagine your business getting stronger, better, faster and your promise becoming more “iron-clad”.  Customers and prospects will see you as someone who “gets them” because you’v...

Are You Setting Up Your Team Members for Success? Our topic this week is one of the most impactful things you can do to make your business grow – SETTING YOUR TEAM MEMBERS UP FOR SUCCESS. What we do to help make our employees more successful will be returned to us as they make our customers more satisfied and as a result, our business will be more successful.  It’s a win/win/win scenario!  This we...

Does Your Team Know What You Consider to be Non-Negotiable? This week our topic is perhaps one that most of us know without question, but have probably never said out loud or written down – YOUR TEAM PERFORMANCE STANDARDS. How cool would it be if everyone on your team knew without question the 6 or 8 things that you ABSOLUTELY will not tolerate?  And, if they not only knew what they were, but they...

What are Your Customer Engagement Standards? This week our topic is one that I would venture to guess you’ve never given any serious thought – YOUR CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT STANDARDS. Imagine what your business would look like if you adopted the 7 fairly simple and straight-forward customer engagement standards I outline in this episode. Listen in and find out what's possible.

How do you welcome New Employees to your team? This week our topic is one that will have a long-lasting impact on your team and your culture – ON-BOARDING NEW EMPLOYEES. This is an area of our business where most ALL businesses have significant room for improvement. Another way to say this is – most businesses have a pathetic on-boarding process for new employees. The opportunity to do better is E...

What Cause of Purpose do you support with your business? This week our topic is one that is often an after-thought, but should be part of the “fabric” of who you are – YOUR PURPOSE. How good would you feel if every day you woke up and knew that what you were doing with your business was truly making a difference and changing the world in the area that you were most passionate about? THAT’S what kn...

How Well Do You TRULY Know Your Ideal Customer? Knowing your ideal customer is important for two very specific reasons. The first is because when we’re communicating and sharing what we do and who we do it for (some call this our value proposition) we want to be sure we are speaking directly and clearly to those who we want to buy our products or services. The second reason this topic is important...

This week our topic is one of the most challenging issues facing business owners today – FINDING AND HIRING GREAT TEAM MEMBERS. Imagine what that would look like – to have a team of people who are 100% in alignment in these critical areas – mission, vision, beliefs, values, principles and standards. You’d be UNSTOPPABLE!  That’s what we’re shooting for!  Not just finding a few “good” people, but c...

What do you want your business to look like in 5 years? This week our topic is arguably one of the most important assignments for every business owner – STEERING YOUR BUSINESS.  You may ask – how do I "steer my business"? Well, I believe you steer your business by having a compelling vision and by providing strong leadership. Today, we're going to dive into this critical topic and give you a few t...

These past couple of years have been difficult for many - especially those who are small business owners.  We've all had to make adjustments and "pivots" in our daily routines and our business models. After pausing this podcast for a couple of years, we're back and stronger than ever!  Welcome to the NEW Ultimate Business Tune Up Podcast! Each week we're going to be sharing topic-specific insights...

  Most of us hate to admit it, but in order for anyone to be successful in virtually any aspect of life, business or otherwise, they must be disciplined.  Think about the guy or gal who you see at the gym who is sporting a six-pack.  How did they get that way?  By being disciplined.  How about the country western singer who just released a best-selling hit?  They were disciplined.  How about the s...

Your Legacy Several events have happened recently that make me realize we are only “in the game” for a defined amount of time – and we don’t know when we’re going to get “benched”. A City of Richardson SWAT team member was killed recently but never imagined his duty call would be his last call. My father-in-law passed away exactly 1 year to the day that he had his first stroke. And I’m sure you ha...

Insane Productivity Have you ever wondered how the uber-successful people can accomplish so much while you are always feeling stressed out and over-committed? I sure know I have! So recently I decided to enroll in a course called Insane Productivity by Darren Hardy. The goal was to learn the principles and techniques used by the ultra-successful to achieve so much more than the average person. I’m...

Your Wildly Important Goal for 2019 Earlier this year I introduced you to a very powerful book – The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Sean Covey. It has proven to be a game-changer for many of my clients over these past years. The premise of the book is that if you want to make significant change in your business, you need to FOCUS your attention on the One Thing that you truly want to improve. This...

Be a GREAT Shepherd As we close in on the end of another year, I want you to take time to think about how you can become a GREAT Shepherd! We live in a place where your team members have MANY options when it comes to earning a living – why should they stay with you rather than looking for “greener pastures”? The answer should be - because you are a GREAT Shepherd! Here’s Your Net Worth Tip of the...

Work Hard to Retain Good Customers! My wife and I recently spent time updating our vision for our future – where to live, where to travel, what to accomplish, and how to manage our finances. It’s an exercise I would HIGHLY recommend to any married couple. As part of this discussion, we agreed to stop spending money on several subscriptions and services that we had been paying for but not fully uti...

5 Keys to Working Your Genius I want to share a great lesson I got from one of my mentors, Taki Moore. He hit me in the nose with two realities that I think you may relate to you as well. He told me, #1 – You are Wearing Too Many Hats, and #2 – You Spend Time Doing Stuff You SUCK At! Ouch, that hurts! But then he shared with me some wisdom that I thought you could use as well… Here’s Your Net Wort...

Set the Bar High My wife is excellent at relationships. She seems to be the go-to person when someone is in a difficult relationship or needs someone to help them process their feelings. I often hear her say “don’t settle” to our young adult kids and I’m sure those she talks with hear it time and time again. I think her advice is solid. So why is it that when we get into business and we have folks...

The Challenger Sale Whether we want to admit it or not, we are ALL in sales! Some are very comfortable with the idea of being in sales while others wish they NEVER had to “sell”. But since it is a critical part of each of our roles, then why not be GREAT at it, rather than just try to get by with whatever skills we have (or don’t have). I’m a big fan of always learning when it comes to the game of...

Priority Determines Capacity What would you do if you knew just how much time you had left in your life? Would you change the things you focus on if you knew there was a specific and defined amount of time you had left to get done what you felt was important? It is a reality that none of us know how much time we have left being able to do what we’re doing today. We don’t know what tomorrow will br...

The Art of Digging Deep What do you think about when I mention the word “selling”? Do you immediately envision a used car salesman, or a pushy phone caller? Or do you think of someone professionally helping you solve your most difficult problem? How you think about selling and your beliefs about sales have a big impact on whether or not you will be good at the art of selling. And one thing is cert...

The Most Powerful Question Often times we find ourselves in situations where we just don’t know what we should do. It may appear that there are a few options we could take – some perhaps easier than others. But the right choice is difficult to see from where we stand. I have found that there is one question that we can ask that will clear away any confusion or fog. I consider it to be the most pow...

Knowledge vs. Wisdom Let me ask you: What is the difference between Knowledge and Wisdom? Aren’t they pretty much the same thing? Actually, no – they are VERY different! Here’s the equation I use: Knowledge + Experience = Wisdom If you need help in any part of your life, wouldn’t you rather get it from someone with Wisdom, not someone who simply has Knowledge? For your bad back, for your tooth ach...