Several years ago, as CEO of a rapidly growing company, I faced the dilemma we've all faced (or will face) -- the employee that's straddling the fence. They're really not good enough to keep, but on the other hand, they haven't done anything so bad that you would fire them. I don't think there's anything worse in an organization. They sap your energy and enthusiasm, they drag down productivity, and they just generally hurt morale. This type of employee is characterized by

Can I just start by saying right up front that I hate the term "coach." Coach implies that I'm going to teach you how to play the game. I'm Not. It implies that I'm going to call the plays. I'm not. It implies that I'm going to get the credit when things go well. I'm not. So why do we call it coaching? I guess for lack of a better term. We could call it mentoring, but even seasoned leaders can benefit from a coach (depending on how you define the term.) They certainl

Betting on you may well be the best thing you can do in these economic times. Betting on someone else to make your money grow (vis a vis the stock market) may be a thing of the past (at least for the foreseeable future.) This is the age of the small business. Entrepreneurs will flourish in this economy. I think the problem many of us run into, is we think if we start a business, we have to ride that horse until we (or it) die of old age. Nothing could be further from the

As we face the prospects of another new year, we lament with Dickens, “It is the best of times and it is the worst of times.” In many ways, things have never been better in the entire history of the world. When you look at the explosion in technology and the tremendous opportunities that brings with it, you have to wonder how people did business even just a few decades ago. I mean, seriously, can you imagine doing business without a cell phone and email? I still remember t

I got a call from a young friend the other day. He indicated he’d finished his education, been certified as a CPA and had worked in public accounting for 2 – 3 years. He felt like he was ready to start his own business. Did I have any advice for him? I indicated I’d be happy to help, and he began to ask questions. Should I buy a business or start a new one? What industry is going to be best in the long term? Should I go it alone or have partners? Are there any pitfalls

When I was in high school, burnout was something you did in your dad’s big old Oldsmobile with the 455 rocket engine that left two big black marks for hundreds of feet down the road. Today it’s used to describe the state of many employees and many managers in most businesses. We work harder and harder and get less and less satisfaction out of our work, until one day we wake up and realize, “I’m burned out.” As far as I’m concerned, burnout comes from only two things: not m

Over the last several years I have found I derive much more satisfaction out of mentoring others than I do from building a business myself. As part of that self-discovery I did a stint at Brigham Young University in Rexburg Idaho as a professor of entrepreneurship. Teaching others about entrepreneurship was gratifying in some ways, but it was really quite frustrating in others. The problem with teaching in a setting like that is two fold. First, almost everyone is more int