There was a book written about entrepreneurial success by Bo Peabody called Lucky or Smart? that springs to mind whenever I read books by "successful" CEOs and entrepreneurs. Peter Thiel obviously has some pretty good credentials, and it's easy to conflate that success with wisdom. Too often celebrity professionals don't back up their ideas because they don't have to - we just assume that because they are successful they must be right. I think Zero to One skirts this nebulous zone. I wouldn't read this as a "how-to" book, but rather as a way to meditate on what it means to create in the business world. Big Thought Building a start-up … [Read more...]
Networking in the 21st Century…For Solopreneurs and Freelancers Is Now Available!
Networking in the 21st Century... For Solopreneurs and Freelancers: Why Your Network Sucks and What to Do About It is out now! It will be available FREE on Amazon Kindle between 12:01 am November 17th and 11:59 pm November 19th If any of my work has helped you in the past, here’s an easy way to return the favor. Every single mention or download of the book on the launch day helps this new book find its way in the world. How to help TODAY: Get the book for free on launch day :) on Kindle Post on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn with the link: http://amzn.to/1N9dzmd Email your friends and family who might find it valuable Post an Amazon.com … [Read more...]
The Unbreakable Marriage of Freedom and Responsibility
I hope that you enjoyed the July 4th holiday with friends and family (and with grilling and parades)! As usual, people spent a lot of time celebrating our "freedom". Even though it's one of the things I love most about this country, I think there's something we need to talk about just as much: The responsibility that must accompany freedom. I have a relatively uncommon professional perspective on those two topics because I've had a relatively nontraditional career. I figured out once that I've only been a salaried "employee" for 11 months of my adult life. From my start in business selling Cutco Cutlery as an independent … [Read more...]
How to Fix the 3 Delegation Leaks That are Costing You
Ask any plumber and they'll tell you: leaky pipes are bad news. They lead to decreased intensity, wasted resources, and slower delivery. And there's a good chance that if you are leading a team, there are a lot of leaks in your delegation "pipes". In my work with small business owners and entrepreneurs, I've found that one of their biggest hurdles comes when they have to start delegating tasks to their team. They've moved past the point where they can do all of the work themselves, and they need to spread activities around. Leaky Delegation Creates More Work But often, instead of taking responsibilities off of the leader's shoulders, … [Read more...]
The Story of my Success (So Far)
June 6, 1997. There's a common thought that the most important moments in your life happen without you realizing their meaning at the time. That's certainly tue with one of the turning points in my career. I didn't know it, but that day would go on to influence the direction of my entire professional life. Because that's the day I walked out of a non-descript office on the north side of Chicago and became a knife salesman. Yep, I sold knives. I sat down in people's kitchens and sold Cutco Cutlery. These days the company has grown to be a common brand name; but back then, few people had heard of it, much less thought about selling them. … [Read more...]
The Magic Closet for Entrepreneurs … That Unfortunately Doesn’t Exist
If you grew up watching Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, you'll remember his daily ritual at the beginning of each show. He'd walk into his house, sing a song, go into his closest, change his sweater and shoes, and then go about his day. Of course, at the end of the day he'd go back to that closest to change back into his street shoes and sweater. And then off he went. (Though, come to think of it, no one really knows where he went...or why he had a second home that he stayed at during the day...) That outfit change while he was singing held a lot of significance. It's like he was changing into his work uniform. He went to his closest and … [Read more...]
Rock n’ Roll Bands and the New Entrepreneurial World
I remember reading Daniel Pink's Free Agent Nation a few years ago back and thinking, "This guy is on to something." Its description of an economy driven by the short-term partnerships of solopreneurs and freelancers turned out to be prescient. It's hard to define and a quickly-moving target. But the number of professionals working for themselves is trending up in a significant way. (here are some statistics for you). For many professionals, this new arrangement for business is overwhelming and a little scary. There's a lot of coming together and breaking apart and reforming into something new. It's conceivable to work with someone … [Read more...]