One of my favorite small business finance books* is Greg Crabtree’s “Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits.” He takes what is typically viewed as a dry, painful topic and makes it compelling — and, more importantly, he cuts through a lot of noise and shares some excellent, practical advice on how to create a profitable business. (*Note: To be fair, my list of favorite small business finance books is pretty…

From ancient cities to cutting-edge companies, gatekeepers have controlled access, permissions and message flow for centuries. If you’re developing sales for your company, working successfully with gatekeepers isn’t just good to know – it’s a competitive necessity.  Here are three tips for shifting your attitude about gatekeepers and how to approach them.    Bypassing the Gatekeeper Should you bypass a gatekeeper? A more important question is, are you cold-calling? The…

You might not know this, but companies that place in the top 100 Best Places to Work substantially outperform other companies – in productivity, stock price, retention … pretty much across the board. Why is that? Because typically those companies have a great team culture and that makes a huge difference. Old-school thinking would tell you that culture doesn’t matter that much – but the difference between a great team…

I recently witnessed one of the best examples of leading with empathy from a pilot at Chicago’s O’Hare airport….

I recently witnessed one of the best examples of leading with empathy from a pilot at Chicago’s O’Hare airport….