I’m generally not a great fan of business plan competitions, for two reasons. First, they can consume huge amounts of time often with little benefit to those who don’t win. And, unfortunately, lately they have become more about the “pitch” and less about quality research and business competitiveness. Actual success in the marketplace won’t be …

Rina has asked for your advice. She is a long standing director of a holding company for a large group of companies. The holding company Chairman, Quentin, has been a friend and mentor to her over many years. Recently the holding company bought a stake in a small listed company and Rina was appointed to …

There are many reasons why one social enterprise grows fast, while another one doesn’t. Frankly, I think luck has a lot to do with it, but there are many other factors as well. A recent article in the Guardian suggests that the attitude of the leader is the most critical ingredient, and that’s hard to …

What needs to be removed, and how to do it without creating a crisis We often espouse the importance of allowing stakeholders to share their opinions and experiences, whether positive or negative, on your social media pages. Overprotective admins seeking to guard their company’s online image have sent more than one organization rushing into crisis …

The drive to create a business plan in the least amount of time has reached a new high … or low. Last week, Inc. 5000 published an article suggesting you can and should be able to present your entire business model on paper in (gulp) just 20 minutes. The idea is from a recent book, …

I’ve always liked the poem by Lao Tsu on creating world peace. It helps me remember to focus on creating peace within me in order to create more peace elsewhere. If there is to be peace in the world, There must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, …

One of the most precious stories happened recently with my two-year-old son Garrett. We were playing at the park with a favorite neighborhood family one evening. This other family’s mom was talking to another couple in the neighborhood so wasn’t at the park yet. Her two children were missing her, especially her two-year-old daughter, Milan. …

The Big Lie There’s a big lie you’re telling yourself. Not to worry, you’re not alone. Many of us are telling ourselves the same lie. The lie is that you want to be successful. But the vast majority of us don’t want to be successful. Not really. What we do want is to be fulfilled. …

I would have never thought that I would be interested in finding out what is the spiritual significance of a bat. Here’s how it happened. My mastermind group, which we call ourselves WIG for both – Wildly Important Goals and Women Inspirational Group, was meeting at the beautiful arboretum a week ago. It was our …

I recently became aware of a great new tool that makes it possible to check your back links - in order to help ensure that you keep them over the long term.