I had 9 minutes before my next call, so here you go! If you’re a visionary, here’s a play by play on how to ruin vision for the folks around you…. 1. Hang onto unresolved trauma and insecurity. Let it guide your decisions. – Look outside of yourself for the latest shiny object. – Whenever someone…

“I don’t know what my vision is, and the word ‘vision’ has been ruined by past experienced.” Fair enough… And while you’re sorting through that, consider this… All that you’re really after is an ideal world. What is noticeably present? What is noticeably absent? Some folks will pressure you to spell out all kinds of…

With a little plot twist to my UNQUALIFIED series… Last Wednesday, I got to grab a photo with a man whose name, perhaps more than any other, is synonymous with ‘leadership’. This may be more honest than I care to be, but… Years ago, I binged on John Maxwell’s content. Between moving away from those…

When people first start working with me, they often make general statements like, “This isn’t working.” OK sure, but: – what’s not working? – what is happening? – what should be happening? – (if appropriate) why do you think it’s happening? Not trying to be rude.. Just managing bandwidth.. Just triaging priorities.. If you can’t give…

I’ve been in a few sales conversations over the past few months that have been misleading at best, manipulative at worst. EXAMPLE 1 I got a message from someone I sorta know saying, “Hey, I want to show you how to get your content in front of a lot more people for free.” Because I kinda…

do your customers thank you for marketing to them? I helped a client build out an email marketing sequence. Here’s how we did it: – break down sales conversations into logical sequences – craft engaging 800-1000 word ‘reading from their diary’ stories – use a headline + intro + “here’s where you’re at on the…

putting constraints on your business (on purpose) On a recent client call, my client and I dug into their sales process. They had just finished putting a lot of time, money, and energy into overhauling their marketing. Yet, they still weren’t seeing the results they were hoping for in new business. Just as we were…

Burnout comes in different ways for different reasons. Some practical examples: – It can be physical. It can be as simple as consistently getting too little sleep. – It can be emotional. It can be as simple as forcing yourself to chase an outcome you don’t care about. – It can be mental. It can…

For quite a few years, I had a Makoto Fujimura painting as my desktop background. I can’t remember specifically which painting it was. It was something similar to Charis (pictured below). I didn’t know what drew me to his art. I just knew it resonated with me. When I recently picked up his book on…

When I sat down to write last Monday, I hadn’t intended to share all of these stories. Looking back over them, I’m incredibly grateful for each of these experiences… Not because of the pain… Not because of the challenge… But because of the outcome. I don’t hold ill will against anyone… Increasingly, I’ve found compassion…