10 Payroll Mistakes Every Business Should Avoid

Payroll affects every aspect of business: anticipating and avoiding common payroll mistakes is preferable to dealing with their consequences… Every good business relies on an effective payroll department. Beyond the crucial matter of delivering salaries accurately and on time, payroll is a foundation on which all other departments and processes are built—and sends an important…

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8 Big Company Habits That Don’t Work in a New Venture

When I hear executives and professionals in larger businesses talking about their dream of going out on their own to start a new company, I always cringe. I have been there and done that. They and I never realized how hard it is to break the big-company habits and conventions. If you are going to…

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When Thought Leadership Won’t Work

Nobody becomes a thought leader overnight. To rise and become a part of your industry’s “cream of the crop” you gotta have more than just the desire, the passion, or the strategy — you have to put yourself to work and embark on a journey to the top. Thought leadership works wonders for any business,…

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6 Crippling Customer Service Non-Calls

The most devastating customer service calls are the ones you don’t get. They are far more damaging to your business that the ones you get a chance to answer and respond to. When you have an irate, disappointed, or troubled customer on the line or in front of you, you have the opportunity to turn…

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8 Leadership Lapses Every Business Owner Must Avoid

Even entrepreneurs who have built many startups, or sold their last one for millions of dollars, know they make occasional people leadership mistakes. They know leadership is all about managing their own complicated, illogical, and fallible human foibles, as well as the people they depend on. These can trip up even the best, often at…

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Are We Getting Prospecting Wrong?

Today, most of what I hear from sales people and executives is they are opportunity starved. They are all desperate to find more qualified opportunities. Prospecting and lead gen have become the dominant issues in many sales organizations. There are, of course, the ongoing challenges of making sales people understand they must prospect! Clearly, lead…

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10 Things Entrepreneurs Get Wrong About Success

Success is what happens when you’ve survived all your mistakes; success doesn’t happen until you have stumbled and fallen, only to get back up again. Entrepreneurs make the same mistakes all the time but it has only made them stronger and smarter in the end. Here are the 10 things entrepreneurs get wrong about success:…

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Getting Feedback Wrong

We know feedback is important to our own personal development. It’s how we learn and grow, it’s how we improve. All high performers (or aspiring high performers) are constantly looking for feedback. Our people need feedback as well. But too often we get feedback wrong! Here are some major ways we miss the opportunity to…

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How to Expand Your Brand: Don’t Do These 4 Things

“Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” We’ve seen and heard this saying countless times in our history books, and rightfully so. Entrepreneurs have long been doing business. Some have succeeded in the process, while quite a few have failed. Why do startup businesses fail? Surprisingly, there are failures because…

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