Leadership

Change Will Happen, With Or Without Your Input Or Guidance

April 25, 2022 by Jim Blasingame

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every purpose under heaven.”

On its face, this well-known King Solomon wisdom from the 3rd chapter of Ecclesiastes delivers hopeful encouragement. But implicit in this passage is a somewhat hidden, and often troublesome, paradox: A time for everything also implies nothing can be forever, and therefore, change is inevitable.

In the abstract, we accept the reality of change, but in practice, we regard it as the medicine we know we need but don’t want to take. And knowing change is inevitable doesn’t make the pill any sweeter.

In the marketplace, it was challenging enough to implement a change when we had the expectation of not having to do it again anytime soon. But in the post-pandemic 21st century, the bitter pill of change has acquired an unfortunate new characteristic: a frighteningly short duration.

Organizations that enjoy consistent success will make change an abiding element in their business model, rather than an intrusion into “the way we’ve always done things.” They’ll create a culture and environment where change occurs when necessary, without creating a casualty list.

Rick Maurer, my friend and author of Beyond the Wall of Resistance, surveyed organizations that have implemented change. He identified four things they did to create a culture compatible with change. Here are those findings, followed by my thoughts. [Continue Reading]

Beware The High Price Of Free Information

April 12, 2022 by Jim Blasingame

Stone Age humans had about 2.5 million years to prepare for the Bronze Age, followed by 2,000 years to transition to the Iron Age, which lasted about 800 years. Meanwhile, modern humans, barely in the third decade of the 21st century, are dealing with the 50-something Digital Age transmogrifying into the Information Age at the speed of light, literally in front of our eyes.

No other human generation in history has ever had to make this kind of shift.

A wise person once said that the most powerful force in civilization is information. Well, today, humans are awash in that power in the form of digital records of everything from “Breaking News!” to virtually everything that’s ever been said, written, or happened since Og and Gog invented the wheel in the Stone Age. And the following points represent the two sides of the Information Age Paradox: [Continue Reading]

You’re A CEO, But Do You Really Know How To Do The Job?

February 22, 2022 by Jim Blasingame

The hardest job in the marketplace is the Chief Executive Officer of a small business.

So, how could it be harder to be the CEO of Excel Supply, LLC than the CEO of Exxon? Let’s look at the definition.

Investopedia says a CEO is “the highest-ranking executive in a company whose main responsibilities include developing and implementing high-level strategies, making major decisions, and managing overall operations and resources.”

For every element of that definition, Exxon’s CEO has a cadre of presidents reporting to him about how they’re managing battalions of VPs, brigades of managers, and armies of employees. Exxon’s CEO manages that handful of presidents who bring him performance updates.

The CEO of Excel Supply may have managers reporting to her, but she’s never more than one degree of separation from the work, and likely the alpha member of any given task, especially things like capitalization, cash flow, business development, etc.

There is one thing that sets all CEOs apart from every other position and it’s the first item in the definition: high-level strategy. A CEO’s primary job, which can be supported but never delegated, is to determine the long-term direction of the company. Every business, large or small, must have someone doing this CEO job, whether they use the title or not. [Continue Reading]

Think You Have It Tough? Meet Abraham Lincoln

February 8, 2022 by Jim Blasingame

It’s that time of year when we’re reminded of the life of one of the most famous people in the history of modern civilization. What follows is a little history and a lot of inspiration.

Earthlings in every country on the planet have heard of the American who was born dirt-poor in a log cabin on the frontier, 2013 years ago this week. Even if they don’t know why, people know the name Abraham Lincoln. And for good reason. Besides almost three dozen Lincoln monuments (including internationally), there are over 600 schools, dozens of cities and counties, and no less than a gazillion streets, parks, buildings, and sculptures celebrating this great man’s iconic name and countenance.

As the 16th president of the United States of America, it’s generally accepted that Lincoln’s leadership during one of the greatest conflicts in human history was a profile in courageous genius. Even though the American Civil War was horrendous and the post-war era harsh, prolonged and contentious, both resulted in the successful reassembly of the United States – sans slavery. When you consider the blessing that the re-United States became to the world for the past century and a half, it’s no leap of logic that Lincoln is recognized as one of the most important individuals in the history of Western Civilization.

As an unlikely leader, Lincoln was a risk-taker, which makes his story especially poignant for a special group of contemporary risk-takers – small business owners. At every waypoint along the ownership continuum, from startup to locking up for the last time, Main Street business owners can draw strength and inspiration from the uncomplicated witness of Lincoln’s inscrutable character and fierce leadership. [Continue Reading]

Spring Cleaning For Small Business, In December, During A Pandemic

December 7, 2021 by Jim Blasingame

Whether it’s a year where something we once knew as “normal” was part of our reality, or during an unprecedented and unimaginable year of a global pandemic, the abiding management question for all small business owners is always valid: “What’s the best use of my time right now?” And at no other time of the year are we more time-management challenged than in December.

The twelfth calendar month is the only one where two powerful imperatives converge against a hard stop, each demanding a full measure of your time, attention, and resources: The perennial push to close out the sales year as strongly as possible, while simultaneously taking steps to set the business up for a fast and clean start when the New Year dawns on January 1.

Pardon the football metaphor, but in the marketplace game your business plays all year, December is the two-minute drill of your fourth quarter. And in this tight transition period, that fierce competition for precious time and resources requires discipline and devotion to fundamentals.

Our grandmothers practiced the fundamental of spring cleaning when the weather broke warm. In the marketplace, in order to kick off the New Year right, your spring cleaning should happen before then. There are many targets of a business’s December cleaning, but here are five important ones to get you started. [Continue Reading]

Avoid Scurvy And The Kraken With Professional Vitamins

April 17, 2021 by Jim Blasingame

For centuries, prolonged service at sea resulted in ancient mariners contracting a malady called scurvy. Those so afflicted bruised easily, had joint pain, gum disease, tooth loss – you get the picture.

By the 18th-century, researchers discovered that eating citrus fruit, like lemons and limes, would prevent scurvy. Of course, you already know the active ingredient in this “remedy” is vitamin C, found in the ascorbic acid delivered by eating those fruits. But I betcha didn’t know ascorbic is Latin for “no scurvy.”

An unfortunate reality that small business mariners experience on their marketplace voyage is a condition I’ve named professional scurvy. This malady doesn’t cause your teeth to fall out, but it does produce symptoms like high levels of negative energy, low levels of performance, and an easily bruised ego resulting in an unfortunately high rate of professional shipwrecks.

The good news is, similar to the clinical kind, professional scurvy can be cured with a supplement I call Professional Vitamin C. You shouldn’t be surprised to learn that I’ve identified four of these. And you should be pleased to learn that, like limes and lemons, these marketplace nutrients are low-hanging fruit. Here are the four Professional Vitamin Cs, followed by a bonus nutrient.

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