Make Room for the Whole Commitment Hey Reader, A friend invited me to a networking lunch recently. She was one of the sponsors, and I wanted to support her. Making connections was a good reason to attend, too. The event was 90 minutes long. But there was also a 30-minute drive each way. Arriving early to mingle. Staying afterward to continue conversations. Following up with people by text or email. The extra time easily added up to two or more hours. The invitation was for 90 minutes. My yes...
9 days ago • 4 min read
Give One Meaningful Priority a Place to Grow Hey Reader, For about 10 years, I’ve had a small boysenberry patch tucked beside our backyard garden. These berries came from starts brought over from my grandparents’ vines. Grandma and Grandpa had three or four long rows, and I have VERY fond memories of Grandma’s berry pies and boysenberry jam. My little patch has kept that connection growing. We’ve enjoyed a modest crop each year. Recently, though, we removed a diseased loquat tree, and our...
15 days ago • 4 min read
Your Business Is Something You Run. YOU, Inc. Is Something You Lead. Hey Reader, When you own a business, it can become surprisingly easy to organize your entire life around what the business needs. What do my clients need? What does this project need? What does revenue need? What needs to happen before Friday? Those are important questions. You're the CEO. Paying attention to the business is part of the job. But there's another question I've been thinking about as we wrap up this quarter:...
22 days ago • 4 min read
You Already Created a Workplace. Now Choose What It’s Like to Work There. Hey Reader, Think about the places you’ve worked at over the years. Chances are, you can remember how some of them felt almost immediately. There were workplaces where people were trusted. Where mistakes became learning opportunities. Where good work was noticed. And perhaps there were others where everything was urgent, nobody really unplugged, or the official company values bore very little resemblance to what...
30 days ago • 5 min read
A Policy Is a Decision You Don’t Have to Keep Making Hey Reader, Recently, I took two actual sick days. Not “I’ll answer email from the couch” sick days. Not “I’ll rest after these three things” sick days. Actual sick days. Sinus pain. Headache. Congestion. And a brain apparently operating on dial-up internet. So I gave myself permission to stop working, retreated to a darkened room with some over-the-counter medicine, and watched mindless reality TV for two days. It was absolutely the right...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Don’t Let the Season Decide for You Hey Reader, September does something funny to me. Maybe it’s all those years of back-to-school conditioning, but put me near fresh notebooks and a good package of pens this time of year, and apparently my inner 12-year-old still has purchasing authority. There’s something irresistible about that fresh-start feeling. But as entrepreneurs, fresh-start energy can quickly turn into fresh-goal energy. Launch this. Finish that. Fix the website. Post more. Start...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Now You Know More Than You Did Before Hey Reader, I think harvest has a way of settling arguments. For months, a vineyard can be studied, tested, watched, and discussed. Everyone can make their best predictions about what a particular block will produce. Then the grapes come in. And now you know. Not whether the season was officially a "Success" or "Failure." You simply have information you didn’t have before. Our businesses give us that information, too. The problem is that when you're both...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Your Best Resources Need a Better Assignment Hey Reader, There are only so many hours in the day when your brain is doing its best work. Only so much creative energy. Only so much emotional bandwidth. Only so many people, projects, opportunities, and ideas you can care deeply about at the same time. We know this. And yet, as entrepreneurs, we can behave as though the goal is to somehow manufacture enough of ourselves for everything. Maybe if we get more organized. Find the right app. Wake up...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Would Your Best Employee Want to Work for You? Hey Reader, Imagine you’ve hired the best employee you’ve ever had. She’s smart. Dependable. Creative. Resourceful. Clients trust her. She knows the business inside and out. Frankly, you’d be in trouble if she left. Now let’s examine her working conditions. Lunch? Sometimes — although eating at the kitchen counter while answering email apparently counts. Vacation? Absolutely! As long as she keeps an eye on her inbox. Working hours? Very flexible....
2 months ago • 4 min read