Are you feeling stuck in a rut, and you're wanting to grow, but you don’t know where to start? With all the craziness going on in the world, it’s perfectly understandable if you’re in this place!

That’s why I put together the following three tips in hopes that they will help you thrive and grow in the midst of uncertainty:

1. Utilize a Mentor or Coach

I can't emphasize the importance of good mentors or coaches. I have three, and it's been game-changing for me. I can genuinely say that I'm not the same person I was before working with them, and I'm so grateful for their investment in my life.

A great mentor or coach can help you sort through challenges and give you an invaluable outside perspective. They're also great for helping you push through barriers in your mind to more effectively achieve your goals.

Steps You Can Take: If you don't have a mentor or coach, I recommend finding one! Your connections can be an excellent source for referrals to outstanding individuals. And if you are already working with one, fully engaging in the relationship to help ensure accountability is a perfect thing to do.

2. Seek Out and Surround Yourself with Rock Stars

My reach into companies is exponential because of the rock star-caliber relationships I have in my life. They make me better at what I do.

A great example is my partnership with Michael Cantu, my process automation strategic partner. Before working with him, I did solo gigs as a process improvement consultant, and they are a dime a dozen in Kansas City. Now I have a steady pipeline of work due to this one relationship.

Steps You Can Take: If you're a business owner or gig worker, your connections can also introduce you to rock stars in your community that can supplement the value you can provide companies. If you're an employee, seek out people in your company with whom you can provide support for each other. If you're a manager or business leader, your employees can be a great source of recommendations for new hires.

3. Push Through Hard Times to Reach Your Goals

In light of the craziness in our world, I've written several blogs on this topic. Here's one about my terrible stint as a wedding singer.

Steps You Can Take: It all comes down to having a don't-give-up attitude, a decision to persevere. Just decide not to give up and go after your goals no matter what comes your way!


I hope these three tips gave you some food for thought. They’ve worked for me. I hope they help you!

And if you'd like more suggestions, I'd love to hop on a phone or Zoom call with you! I love helping individuals and companies achieve improvement in their lives and businesses.

If that sounds good, click the button below to set up a time to chat!

As I look back on my career, I see several missed opportunities to step into leadership roles. There are several reasons for this, number one being that I didn't envision myself as a leader.

Now I know differently; experience has taught me otherwise. I've learned since then that I'm a leader and everyone is a leader. We lead our families, frequently our friends, to name a few. And some of us need a little more guidance and encouragement than others.

If you're in this boat or have been actively leading others for quite some time, here are six things you can do to increase your leadership skills and your capacity to influence others positively:

1. Expand Your Knowledge Base

It’s easy to get lackadaisical when it comes to learning. Some leaders may feel complacent and don't feel the need to grow anymore. This scenario can be the case if leaders have been in their roles for a long time. If this is the case, the best thing to do is decide to keep learning, push through the resistance, and get growing!

2. Take a Genuine Interest in Others

Great leaders show care for others and their needs, which builds emotional equity amongst their peers and those they lead.  Who doesn’t love to follow leaders who genuinely care about them?

3. Be Generous

People remember leaders for their generosity, especially when their giving isn't required. And it doesn't even have to be money--gifts of time are invaluable as well.

4. Be Authentic

People can spot a fake a mile away, yet so many are afraid to be themselves, thinking people won’t accept them if they show their true selves. They’d rather put on a mask instead. The best thing we can do is be ourselves, and if the true-you has rough edges, that’s okay. We all have them. To be imperfect is perfectly human.

5. Thrive During Tough Times

We do have a choice on how we deal with hardship. It comes down to two things: either we choose to face challenges head-on, or by default, we allow adversity to eat away at our resilience and our ability to overcome. My advice? Choose wisely!

6. Embrace Servant Leadership

Have the mindset that life isn't about us. It's about serving others, bringing value to everyone we meet, and leaving a legacy.

In the end, if we can embrace these six qualities such that they become a part of who we are, our influence as a leader will grow, and who doesn’t want that?


Speaking of influence, does your organization have the resources to grow your impact in the market, but you're not sure where to start? Often, the best way to do that is through improving the way your business runs.

A great way to do that is through the FIRM Fitness Assessment, a 100% virtual tool that gauges your organization's fitness and then pinpoints precisely where to start to make improvements.

Interested? Then take my FREE business assessment! It will give you a high-level feel for what the assessment covers, yet it can give you actionable intelligence to get started on making your business better.

Click the button below to get started!

With everything that is going on right now in the world—the war in the Ukraine, inflation, and high levels of uncertainty—staying positive and finding solutions to challenges can be a difficult at times; however, it is possible. If you or your team is in a tough spot, this possibility may seem highly unlikely.

However, there are things you can do to overcome what appear to be insurmountable challenges. Here are three steps to get you headed in the right direction:

1. Accept Your Current Situation

I like to call this “relinquishing your right to a different current state.” This idea may sound strange, but it's an effective way to approach difficult situations creatively. We often waste precious brain capacity on wishing for a different result. Whenever we can clear out the mental clutter, this frees up our mind to see the challenge for what it is, not for what we want it to be.

Here’s a little exercise you can try out to help with this:

• Think back to a time you faced a challenging situation in your work. What were your reactions in the beginning? Did you worry too much about it? Did you place blame on yourself or others for any outcomes? Did you waste too much mental energy and perhaps time wishing for a different present tense? In short, review your mental process and actions early on in the process.

 

• Next, think through what it would have looked like if you relinquished your right to a different current state, accepted the current situation, and then started on finding a solution. Would your timeline have been shorter? Would your amount of wasted mental energy be reduced?

Once you’ve tried this, you’re ready for the next step.

2. Brainstorm Solutions

This tip is self-explanatory; however, if this challenging situation involves your team, get them involved to help with finding solutions. You can even do a reverse brainstorming exercise. This approach is where you work backward from the end state that you DON’T want to happen.

3. Pick Your Best Solution and Put it into Play

Again, include your team to help choose the best solution that will solve the problem. If you’re having a challenging time picking the best approach, I’ve included a free Prioritization Tool below.

Once you have selected your best option, implement your new game plan.

I hope these steps help you! In the meantime, if you have any questions about the best ways to optimize your organization, I'd love to hear from you! I'm all about helping organizations become profitable beyond their imagination.

P.S. Don’t forget to download your FREE Prioritization Tool by clicking the button below.

Is your company trying to chart a path forward with your innovation efforts, but you’re feeling stuck?

Or, have your product innovation efforts gone the way of the telephone pictured above?

If you’re in this boat, here are five tips you can use to get back on track, all centered around the idea of thinking outside the box:

1. Transform Products through New Additions

Try combining your product with something different to make something new, e.g., a cell phone with a flashlight, a watch with linked cell phone technology, to name a few.

2. Examine Existing Patents for New Ideas

Search patents in your field. What ideas can you put into practice from active patents that could achieve the same end goal? Are any expiring that you could use that method? Are there some that you could license?

3. Eliminate to Innovate

Is there a way to remove something that can make your product better? Amazon displaced the need to visit a bookstore, Dell eliminated the computer store, and the Sony Walkman eliminated speakers and record functions.

4. Find a New Way to Use Your Product

Think of different applications for an existing product. An excellent example of this is De Beers—they decided to focus on engagement rings when they had only produced industrial diamonds. Doing so was a game-changer for them.

5. Look to the Past

Are there any methods, products, or services that were in use years ago in your market space that could inspire developing something new? For instance, speed dating is a relaunch of a Victorian dance format where ladies had cards marked with appointments.

And just because you’ve read through all five, here’s a bonus tip:

6. Bring in Experts

If your company lacks bandwidth, contract with someone for identified projects, or if you’re not sure where to start, think about bringing someone in who’s skilled in innovation consulting.


Speaking of outside help, if you're feeling stuck and could use some assistance, I would love to brainstorm some ideas with you!  We can help point out some areas where you could improve your profitability and increase innovation.

Interested? If so, click the button below to schedule a time, and we'll get something on the calendar!

This week I am excited to feature Tony Moroney as a guest writer. He is the Managing Partner of Beta Digital in Dublin, Ireland. He will share information on a topic that is of great interest to me and many business leaders—Digital Transformation.

# # #

Forward-thinking organisations constantly search for innovative ways to remain relevant and competitive in a hyper-connected world.

While most organisations are focused on Digital Transformation, many are now starting to adopt Citizen Development to achieve their transformation objectives. Citizen Development puts Low-Code and No-Code tools into the hands of relatively non-technical people.

The driving force behind this trend is the growing need for responsiveness, agility, and improved productivity. But why is this important, and what do business leaders need to consider?

Let’s Start by Defining Digital Transformation

In my experience, there is much confusion in organisations about digital transformation. A definition is, therefore, essential. For me, Digital Transformation is about strategically repositioning the organisation to compete and thrive in a digitalised world. In essence, it is redefining the future of the organisation.  

Why Citizen Development?

While the pandemic accelerated the need for digital transformation, it has also highlighted a global shortage of skilled software developers. According to research from Forrester, there will be a deficit of 500,000 software developers in the U.S.A. alone by 2024.

Against this backdrop, finding ways to empower non-IT employees to solve day-to-day challenges makes sense. Citizen Development puts the technology to automate processes and design applications directly into the hands of those who know the processes best, the business users.

Critically, it empowers subject matter experts to design, develop, and deploy applications into production as experienced coders. Doing so reduces the demands on IT departments, but it can help the organisation in terms of mindset, culture, alignment, and collaboration--all critical components of digital transformation.

There are challenges, however, and I would like to address four in particular:
​
1. IT Overload

Organisations face a growing number of demands from external and internal customers and must also respond to market developments and regulatory expectations. Citizen Development can help, but organisations must be wary of complexity, extensive customisation, and integration issues.

It is important to recognise that Citizen Development is not a means to circumvent skilled staff or enterprise infrastructure.

2. The Human Factor

While technology provides the means for digital transformation, success is ultimately in the hands of the people who have to work with it. All too often, organisations select too complicated tools to implement intuitively.

By comparison, Citizen Development can empower non-tech employees with a deep understanding of customers to explore new solutions as part of digital transformation.

3. Culture & Collaboration

Creating great customer experiences and good outcomes is everyone's job. Doing so requires eliminating silo thinking; developing a partnership between IT, the business, and Citizen Developers can enable organisations to become more informed and responsive to customer needs.

4. Shadow IT

Organisations must have a robust governance and collaboration model for Citizen Development informed and guided by IT best practices. The organisation can amplify best practices and specific accomplishments to encourage greater adoption.

Your People are Key

Digital transformation has become a global priority, as organisations require hyper-agile approaches to keep up with the pace of change. Citizen Development provides business leaders with an opportunity to drive change without relying on scarce and expensive core technology, IT, and engineering talent. Training and governance are critical.

Equally important, as organisations progress with their digital transformation efforts, they should never forget to put their people at the centre of it.

# # #

I agree wholeheartedly, Tony! Putting people at the center of your Digital Transformation efforts is so important.

Michael Cantu and I talk about this in our best-selling book, No-Nonsense Digital Transformation. We address mindset, culture, and properly planning your transformation efforts, among other topics.

Speaking of our book, we are excited to announce the launch of the paperback version sometime next month! To learn more, click the button below.

Many business leaders who are new in their roles and are responsible for improving their organization's profitability may not know where to start to achieve profitable growth. With so many options on the table, knowing which path to take can be challenging.

If that's you, check out the following five things an organization can do to improve its bottom line:

1. Establish a Culture Employees Love

According to McKinsey, companies with cultures ranking in the top quartile of the Organizational Health Index post a 60% higher return to shareholders and 200% higher than those in the bottom quartile.

There’s no easy formula for creating a great culture, and I certainly can’t do this subject justice in a 500-word blog. The foundation starts with valuing each individual, giving them a voice in everyday matters, and creating an environment where employees love to come to work. Then, build from there.

2. Establish Goals Everyone Can Buy Into

When business leaders establish top-level goals and all levels of the organization establish their goals in support of them, that's an excellent place to start. However, the employees have to buy into their plans. Executives must cast a vision of where the organization is heading and the employee’s role in getting there. If employees don’t connect to the big picture, productivity can suffer, and the organization’s profitability could follow suit.

3. Emphasize the Use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Successful organizations use KPIs to measure progress towards their goals, Even if you're currently using KPIs, it’s important to tie them directly to your most critical operations. That way, you can stay on top of progress towards your goals. By monitoring your KPIs, you’ll be alerted when measures are trending downward, so you can intervene more quickly with solutions.

4. Streamline Your Processes

Organizations with streamlined business processes experience a reduction in costs, increased revenue, and improved profitability. Take Merchants InsuranceGroup. After streamlining their Portfolio Management area operations, they improved on-time project delivery to 80% and achieved a 758% revenue growth in the first two months.

For your operations, focus first on improving your processes that are the most significant cost drivers and have the most time-consuming tasks. By doing so, you're likely to experience more significant gains on a shorter timetable.

5. Automate Your Processes

When organizations automate their business processes, it’s a powerful tool for reducing costs, improving productivity, and increasing profitability. It's not uncommon for productivity to increase by over 300% with workflow automation over previous processes.

A great plan is to automate recently improved processes. By doing so, you can achieve even more significant cost reductions and productivity increases than through process improvement alone.


Speaking of process automation, I had the privilege of talking about this as a recent guest on the ThriveRadio podcast. I also shared my beginnings as a consultant, what keeps me inspired on my entrepreneurial path, and a little bit about No-Nonsense Digital Transformation.

​​I'd love for you to check it out! Click the below to access the pod.

One challenge facing businesses these days is how to provide top-tier customer service.

This reality is especially true due to the current labor shortage of qualified customer service agents. In light of this fact, what steps can companies take to elevate their customer service capabilities?

One shining example is the pet care company, Chewy. I recently had one of the best customer journeys I've had in a long time, and my experience with them serves as the inspiration and case study for today's blog.

Here are three things that Chewy does with excellence that if all businesses would do, they'd reap incredible benefits:

1. Notify Customers of Actions You Plan to Take

When I ordered some dog food several months ago from Chewy, I forgot to cancel my auto-ship feature with them. I realized this when I received an email letting me know Chewy planned to auto-ship a bag of dog food the next day.

Now, this would have been a simple fix if I had read that email the day I received it, but I didn't. So, the next day, I received a notification that Chewy had shipped my order.

If I hadn't seen the notifications, I would have never known there was a problem in the first place until the box showed up on my front doorstep.

2. Make it Easy and Enjoyable for Your Customers to Get Help

After discovering this news, I pulled up their app on my phone. I was happy to find Chewy's phone number displayed right at the top, making contacting Chewy simple.

After I clicked on the number, their phone system immediately connected me with a super personable and fun-to-talk-to agent.

3. Fix the Problem Until Your Customer is Satisfied

Within a matter of minutes, the rep had cheerfully canceled my auto-ship, refunded my money, and told me that if he didn't catch the auto-ship in time and I didn't need it, to donate the $43 bag of dog food to a shelter. There was no need to return it nor pay for it. He did a great job solving my problem quickly and to my satisfaction, and it was all accomplished in 5 - 10 minutes. I was delighted with the result!

One More Bonus Point…

A common thread throughout my positive experience with Chewy made it possible: their current workflow automation platform. It fuels their ability to satisfy their customers highly. The right tool can certainly do that! But, the right workflow automation platform can also help offset the challenge associated with labor shortages of qualified agents or other employees.

How is this possible? I'm glad you asked!

When a company can consistently help customers more quickly (like Chewy does), productivity can increase significantly, decreasing the need for more representatives. This capability can allow organizations to provide more amazing customer experiences through their current staff.

And who wouldn't want that?

# # #

Are you intrigued?

If so, Michael Cantu and I would love to chat with you! Michael's automation platform, Accelerate, has consistently achieved over a 300% increase in productivity for his clients.

If you’re interested in learning more, click the button below.

Today I was eating lunch near my lovebird's cage. He was excitedly pacing the floor, letting me know he wanted out! Sassy is tame and loves to spend time with me, so I opened his cage so he could exit. What happened next gave me an idea for today’s blog.

Since he's a young bird, he initially didn't know how to get out of his cage when I first got him; however, he eventually figured it out.

Today was different. Sassy was scurrying back and forth so frantically he didn’t notice that the opportunity to leave the cage, the open door, was right in front of his face.

How many of us often miss opportunities in front of us, like my bird Sassy, because we’re anxiously searching high and low to find them? I know I’ve been guilty of that before.

Whether you’re looking for a new job, or your next client, there is one thing you can do to recognize and seize those opportunities that are often right under your noses.

Go Slow So You Can Go Fast

So, what does that mean? Here’s an illustration.

I started my business in 2014, and like most entrepreneurs starting out, there were quite a few lean years. I remember feverously going to endless coffees and networking events. I was meeting many great people, but I wasn't getting anywhere.

That's when I decided to slow down enough to learn how to more effectively prospect for opportunities. In Breandan Filbert’s Productive Prospecting Forum, I learned the value of finding great referral partners, nurturing relationships, and creating more impactful social media and blog posts. She’s a great resource!

I also learned through trial and error how to operate out of a center of calm instead of hurriedness. Now I'm much more able to see and capitalize on exceptional opportunities that would have never surfaced otherwise! Believe me, I still have some days of feverous activity, but they are decreasing in number.

Here’s a great example of that. Several years ago, I started regularly blogging. One day I posted a blog about digital transformation on LinkedIn. Someone I hadn't talked to in years commented on my blog post. We connected, and now I have this AMAZING, potentially life-changing digital transformation opportunity in my sales pipeline which looks like it's going to happen. This potential gig would have never happened if I hadn’t slowed down to:

• Take training
• Start blogging
• Respond to LinkedIn comments
• Learned the power of creating invaluable referral partnerships

I have many other examples I could share that has already resulted in business, just because I slowed down so I could go fast. I've learned that I don't need to work frantically each day to uncover new opportunities.

And you don’t have to either!
                                                                                                       # # #

Speaking of opportunities, have you been so busy running the business that you’re not grabbing hold of them to improve your operations? If that’s the case, I’d love to have a chat with you!

If that sounds good, click the button below to get started!