The long-term outcome of the prolonged lockdown is positive for many businesses, leaders and families
As summer comes to a close, with the call of September and school and work bearing down on us, the reality that the effects of COVID-19 linger is indisputable. Businesses, workplaces, schools and universities are all searching for ways to balance risk with service levels. The novelty of working remotely is wearing thin for many…
Taking a real holiday allows you to recharge your batteries, empowers staff and lets you evaluate how effectively systems work in your absence
Rachael and Carmel were a little surprised, and perhaps a little nervous, when I told them I was taking a six-month vacation and that they would be in charge. The business had been open for five years, but the truth was I was making more money renovating and flipping houses than I was from the business.…
If you give lip service to treating people well and then treat your team poorly, don’t expect your clients to receive anything different
Like most people (at least 62 per cent, according to a 2019 study by Hello Products), I don’t like going to the dentist. However, this was my week for getting a cavity checked and I headed to the dentist’s office. You know the routine: you get questioned and prodded by the dental assistant as she…
If your business has survived or even thrived during the past few months, you deserve congratulations. According to a recent poll by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, only 58 per cent of businesses have fully opened, with just 23 per cent experiencing the same or better revenue than the same time last year. If…
Implementing systems in a business lets you guide how, when and why things get done. Rules cut costs, reduce waste and minimize injury
Parents have rules for a reason and my daughter Isabel learned the hard way. Jumping up and down on the couch, after she’d been told not to, resulted in a trip to the hospital. Not only was she bleeding but, at the age of three, she lost four of her baby teeth when her face hit…
The ability to fail, to think critically and to learn from one’s mistakes aren’t generally taught in school
A wise person recently told me, “People don’t care what type of degree I have. They care what mistakes I have made and what I learned from them.” There’s typically a correlation between rising unemployment and increased enrolment in colleges and universities. But this year, due to the move towards closed campuses and increased online…
Some industries have seen a spike in sales because they seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Others need a new plan
At the beginning of each year, I challenge my clients and readers to name the upcoming year. I get a huge response with people naming their year and sharing what they would like to manifest and work on. This year, for example, was named variously the year of vision, clarity, wealth, systems, growth and change.…
If your staff don’t have clarity about what’s expected, they will imagine what you’re looking for. That may not turn out well
A professional came from the big city to a small town to build a cabin so he could escape the hustle and bustle of life, and set down roots where he could revive his spirits. His plan was to build a tiny house from the ground up. He asked around for help building his dream…
If we fail to implement best practices, the results are going to be predictably unhappy
There’s a certain adrenaline rush you get when you go over the handlebars of your bike and are flying through the air, as I did recently. That thrill (and pain) is hard to replicate except maybe by riding bulls or broncos at a rodeo. The result, however, is certainty predictable: you’re going to hit the…
Change is the only certainty for businesses and their employees. Preparing for that change may be a matter of survival
I recently heard a wise man say, “What makes life precious is that it ends.” It got me thinking about some of the things in my life that have ended that I could have appreciated more. For 28 years I ran my retail business. There were people and features about that business that, in hindsight,…