Change management is a hot buzzword in business circles today. Everywhere you turn, experts espouse ways to deal with change in the workplace, in the world, and even in your home. CEOs and executives want to learn how to manage change; implore change; beg for change; and even get exact change. Well, I’m here to tell you that you can stop. You don’t need no stinking change.

You read that right. You don’t have to change. You don’t have to know how to manage it or teach it. You can go on forever doing just what you’ve been doing all these years. It’s your life and your business. No change! read more »

The nightmare in Happy Valley last November involving the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State cost legendary football coach Joe Paterno and the University president their jobs. It has severely tarnished reputations; incited riots on campus; will cost others their jobs; initiate civil lawsuits; and most likely hurt the university in recruiting students (both academic and athletic) to its campus. The collateral damage may be devastating to that institution and take years to overcome. read more »

Last month, I collaborated with a fellow consultant based out of Pittsburgh on a teleconference. Rich is an expert on stress management and resiliency in the workplace. I talk about resilience in mitigating and responding to risk. It seemed like a good opportunity to see what kind of synergy we could create. The result was a very well attended and dynamic teleconference; a new piece of intellectual property with an MP3 audio download; and potential for more with booklets and speaking.

In the past year, I’ve collaborated with colleagues to conduct marketing events; speak at conferences and seminars together; host executive breakfasts; and co-publish articles and blogs. read more »

The game of golf presents excellent life lessons.

In last month’s PGA Championship, a young man by the name of Keegan Bradley made history. He became the third player to ever win a major championship in his very first attempt. The bigger news to me however, was his admirable example of resiliency.

The 25-year old rookie was one-stroke back on the 15th hole when he committed the cardinal sin. He chipped his ball in the water and carded a triple-bogey, essentially eliminating him from contention (Note that this is a cardinal sin for the pros, just another day on the course for me). With only three holes to play, he found himself down by 5 strokes. read more »

Decisions made in real time more often than not… are really bad.

When crisis occurs, and it will every year, how you respond to it will ultimately determine your survival. If you’re a small business, you don’t get the cash flow, cash reserves, resources, or human assets that your larger brethren in the corporate world do. A sudden loss of cash flow, ability to operate, or reputation damage can literally kill your business regardless of how much insurance you have. read more »

I like to run. Well, actually that’s not entirely true. I run because it seems to be the best and easiest way for me to get cardio-vascular exercise now that I’ve hit an age where getting hurt playing sports becomes increasingly feasible!

If you’ve ever run any distance, you know that just like a car guzzling fuel, your body guzzles energy. I’ve found that if you keep a pretty steady pace, it’s easy to get into a good rhythm and you’re able to manage your energy level and even increase it, as you get better. read more »

I don’t get up on my roof anymore. I’m in my mid-40’s and all I see by attempting this nonsense is “bad juju (this is the technical term for stuff).” Here are my three reasons for not attempting this folly…

• I don’t want to fall off the roof. The consequences of this are pain and death; neither of which are high on my priority list.
• I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. I’m liable to damage the roof, the gutters, or some other piece of building material I don’t even know exists.
• I’ve got better things to do with my time. Specifically, help others and make money.

I hired a very capable contractor to come and clean my roof. His guy spent 5 ? hours on my roof making it look beautiful and charged me $495. For $495, I kept my health, I didn’t do damage to anything, and I made more than that in less than an hour. read more »

I regularly take my canine pals Captain Jack and Bella out for a walk during the days I’m working from home. They get very excited when I utter the word “walk.” That changes momentarily when I pull their harnesses out. They hate being manacled in this unsavory fashion (I think they’re afraid of what the other dogs are saying). Once harnessed and leashed, they fly out the door with great vigor to stretch out their legs. Captain Jack seems to just enjoy taking a stroll. Bella on the other hand is constantly on the lookout. Any smell, sight, or inkling of another dog throws her into a high level of perspicacity. read more »

As I wrote this column, Super Bowl XLV just concluded between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers. You can learn a great deal about business and life viewing sports, especially when you’re watching champions. In fact, this game and all its pageantry are ripe with examples of what to do (and what NOT to do) in your business “game.” Let’s scrutinize three that come to my mind…

In the end, it’s all about blocking and tackling. Football may seem like a highly complex game with players scrambling, audibles being called, and coaches whispering secretly into a gigantic play cards. However, when it’s all said and done, generally the team that does the best job blocking and tackling wins the game. read more »