Government reports are saying that unemployment is still very low. However, I'm starting to see more and more layoffs from really big companies. In fact, Business News Daily reported that layoffs are continuing to pile up at a rate that is approaching the way they were in the early days of the pandemic.

So, this week, I'm going to cover a few ideas on how to update your resume just in case you are one of these fo...

A couple of weeks ago, I covered a few ways to communicate more effectively to build more teamwork. This week, I'm going to go into more detail about a specific type of communication -- constructive criticism. Just last week, I had one of my team members ask me to give her specific feedback about how she could improve.

The moment she asked for this, I had the quote from Somerset Maugham playing in my head. He said, &q...

Make Yourself Indispensable as a Leader in a Crisis

Knowledge is vital to getting ahead, but it’s just the ticket to get into the game.  What you DO WITH the knowledge is much more important to your success.  The most highly sought after skill in business is not accounting, or engineering, or computer skills – it’s public speaking.   Folks who reach the highest level of every institution typically know less about the d...

“What is effective communication?”

If you’ve ever worked on a team that had a crazy amount of chemistry, you already know the answer. Everything they touched was gold, they produced more than any other team combined, and they had fun doing it.
Unfortunately, you know that that is not the norm. Most teams have people you don’t like, that one person that doesn’t do anything, one person who shows up always talking about t...

My topic this week is Christmas Team Building Activities to Build Morale and Fun at Work... And I know what some of you are thinking... Doug, it's August. My kids just went back to school. Football season hasn't even started yet. Why on Earth are you covering Christmas stuff right now?

I used to agree with you, by the way. I'm the guy walking around department stores in October saying, "Halloween isn&ap...

Last week, I covered a few meeting tips to help you run more efficient and effective meetings.

So on this episode, I'm going cover a very cool group problem-solving technique that will help you and your team solve really challenging problems very quickly and with a consensus from the group. What we've found using this process over the years is that once the group comes up with a perfect solution to the problem a...

For the next couple of weeks, I will cover a few meeting tips. This week, I'm going to start with a few tips that will make your meetings more interesting (basically less boring,) help you and your team be more productive in your team meetings, and how to make the whole process more efficient.

Next week, I will give you a few tips on how to run problem-solving meetings. That specific type of meeting has the highest po...

If you are like most people, you probably believe you are a great listener. The problem is that everyone else that you have to deal with needs to improve their listening skills, right? The truth is that this often-used term has two parts — “Listening” and “Skills.” We often overlook the second part. Skills are those strengths that we develop through consistent focus over time.

When I was a kid, our little town had a community center...

In this week's episode, I'm going to re-cover a topic that has become the second most downloaded episode we've ever released. The topic was on impromptu speaking or speaking off the cuff. And this episode has two parts, although I think I'll be able to cover the entire content in one episode.

So, for the first half, I'm going to give a few of my best tips on how to reduce nervousness and panic whe...

In this week's episode, I interview Amy Maybury, who is a senior instructor for The Leaders Institute. She has been doing a lot of custom workshops about how to empower your team and keep from falling into the trap where we try to micromanage.

So if you manage people or want to someday manage a team of people, she has four really simple steps that will help you help your team to grow. The steps also help you keep mora...

Small business lead generation can be tough, time-consuming, and expensive. But it doesn’t have to be. Once you identify who your top target audience is and what problems they have, you can get potential clients to contact you when they need help.

Every small business is the proverbial “Needle in the Haystack,” so small business lead generation is critical to an entrepreneur’s survival. And the better your sales team gets at lead ge...

On this week's episode, I interview Joe Rare, who is the CEO of Level 9 Virtual. Joe is a fascinating guy who created multiple multimillion-dollar companies during the pandemic. And the focus of the interview is on how business owners need to focus only on the parts of their companies that generate revenue. And they should outsource everything else.

Joe tells about how he created his first company before most young p...

This week is part 2 of the two-part series on how to find new customers at business networking events. Word-of-mouth advertising is one of the best ways to build customers. And, if nothing else, it is, by far, the cheapest way to find new customers.

Last week, I covered a few networking skills to show you how to increase your sphere of influence. We talked about how networking is NOT selling. Instead, it is helping the peo...

This week I start a new series on how to find new customers at business networking events. Word-of-mouth advertising is one of the best ways to build customers. And, if nothing else, it is, by far, the cheapest way to find new customers.

So in this series, I start with how to network to increase your sphere of influence. I give you a very simple process that works every single time. Then in the next couple of episodes, I&a...