Achieving Business Excellence

Just a few weeks ago I had the great honor of presenting a program at the Apple Specialist Marketing Conference. My talk was entitled “The New Normal” and focused on how these folks, who sold such incredible Apple products, could continue to be successful as the realities of business and economics remained in constant fluctuation. The talk was even more poignant given the fact that Steve Jobs had passed away just a week earlier. Here is a very brief excerpt of some of the ideas I shared on how I feel companies can survive and thrive in… The New Normal.

PS – Do not forget that I am participating in this fantastic event…

During this week alone I will meet with eight different entrepreneurs who are all looking to start businesses. Some are building mobile apps, some are starting publications, some are going into manufacturing, and one is creating a TV show. Yet even though they’re all over the place with what they are focusing on as a business, my advice about how to be successful as an entrepreneur was just about the same to all of them. Here are some of the key ideas I shared with them for what I feel it takes to successfully create and grow an entrepreneurial business. Continue reading “How To Be a Successful Entrepreneur” »

As summer officially comes to a close I wanted to squeeze in this great guest post from Tom Asacker which I saw on his fantastic blog Opportunity Screams. I think it absolutely hits the nail on the head: We need more LOVE in business…  Continue reading “The Summer of LOVE” »

Last week I delivered a workshop on the “Leader of the Future” to a group of Directors at the Florida Recreation and Parks Association annual meeting (The FRPA is my longest standing client – 17 years – wow!). Most of these folks have 20 to 30 years in their careers and I told them at the end of the workshop that there was probably very little “new” information that I taught them… but my goal was simply to remind them of the core fundamentals of business excellence and challenge them to take a long hard look in the mirror and see if they were actually living these things every single day in their organizations. Continue reading “The Knowing-Doing Gap” »

In just the past week I have received more than a dozen emails from people who promise to teach me the “Secret To Success“… for ONLY $499  I Googled one of the people who sent me such a note and could not find him anywhere on the internet? No career history, no connection to any company, no awards, no charity work – as far as I could tell he has never accomplished anything.  Yet I still have a spam folder full of people who can make me “mega-rich working just four hours a week!” 

The “Secret to Success” is NOT for sale — it is free to anyone who wants to learn it – and these bogus emails upset me so much that I decided to put together this video to outline the very best ideas I have ever learned (so far) about what it TRULY takes to build an incredibly successful life. Whether you are a high school or college student, work in an office or factory, run or own a company – no matter how much education you have… I honestly believe that the ideas I share in this video (for FREE) can make a dramatic positive impact on your life and the lives of those you love… IF… you take these amazingly powerful ideas and apply them in your life every day. Continue reading “The REAL Secrets to Success – for FREE!!!” »

As I look around the world today I see a lot of very courageous leaders. They have the courage of their convictions. They have the courage to stand their ground in support of their positions, even in the face of great resistance. They have the courage to take enormous risks, with truly global ramifications, on behalf of their beliefs. Yes, it takes an enormous amount of courage to do these sorts of things, but I would argue it is actually a weaker version of courage…a false courage. Continue reading “False Courage” »

There is a lot of fear and uncertainty in the world right now. Turn on the TV, listen to the radio, look at the news on the Internet – it can be overwhelming, scary, and downright frightening. As a result, it seems to me that an awful lot of people today are living with a high level of stress and anxiety because they are truly uncertain about how their future might unfold. So in this blog I’d like to give you some advice for how to handle the current situation in a bit more proactive and focused manner. Continue reading “How to Turn Stress… Into Success!” »

“You become what you focus on… and similar to the people you surround yourself with.” This is the single most important lesson I’ve learned in my life so far. How did I learn it? By understanding the power of: Mastermind Groups.

Nearly 28 years ago – I failed out of college. After my first year at the University of Miami, in Miami Florida, I had a stellar 1.6 GPA!! Unfortunately, all of the people I was hanging out with had lower GPA’s, so it did not seem like that big of a deal… until I was expelled. I then moved to Gainesville Florida to restart my college career and met an incredibly wise professor (Roger Strickland) who strongly recommended that I start a “study group” – a.k.a. — a mastermind group. So I stood up at the front of the class and invited anyone that wanted to join me in creating a study group – but the catch was that you had to have a 3.6 GPA or higher to be in the group! Forming that study group changed EVERYTHING. My college career completely turned around because now I was surrounded by bright, sharp, talented students who were focused on getting good grades, staying healthy, having fun and preparing themselves for their dream lives and dream careers. How well did it work? I graduated in the top three students in the United States in my major from the University of Florida (Go Gators!). Continue reading “One Of The “Master Keys” To Success” »

My dear friend, Linda Coles, an absolutely superb speaker, author and social media expert from New Zealand, sent me a note the other day asking if I had read any really good books on how to be an expert at facilitation of meetings. I thought it was a great question, and one that I’ve gotten several times in the past, so I decided I would post my response to her – in hopes that it might be helpful to you. Here is exactly what I wrote to Linda:  Continue reading “How To Be An Expert Facilitator” »

For the past year or so I have been contributing articles to a wonderful local business newspaper called the North Central Florida Business Report.  The editor, Kevin Ireland, has become a good friend and as I was reading his “Letter from the Publisher” this month I thought to myself, “Kevin nailed it on this one,” so I asked him if I could please post it on my blog.  Here is a really good article with some great advice on how to be successful in business during these challenging times. Continue reading “Some VERY Good Business Advice” »