Growing up in Porterville, California, basketball was more than just a game—it was a way of life. I learned the game from my dad, a dedicated high school varsity coach, who taught me that fundamentals, discipline, and heart mattered more than talent alone.
It begins with leadership. Melding a team of motivated employees into a high performance group that delivers fantastic service and helps grow the company is the ultimate goal.
Command and control. That was my introduction into the workplace back in the 1990s. It was a place with little flexibility and rigid managers. Working from home - are you kidding? It was the company way or the highway.
Here’s a few of my tips for entrepreneurs looking to build out their small business. The key is focus on results. Don’t buy into the hype and look for areas where you can really make a positive impact in your company.
For those of you thinking of starting a business and dreaming of success, you might be asking yourself, “How can I do this and not become the ruthless “jerk” stereotype some think business leaders are?”
In my opinion the CEO has to be the inspirational and defining leader of the company. They have to embody what the core of the company is and bring the vision to life. Here’s 6 things on a basic level that you have to be able to do.
The role of the CEO has always been split between management and leadership. In the past, however, the emphasis tended to be on management. The CEO set the goals, developed the strategies, and kept an eye on the competition while serving as the public face of the company.
Many might think it's life on the beach? Wrong! With that title though comes immense responsibility. I am speaking from the mindset of a bootstrap entrepreneur who built a company from the ground up with not a penny of outside investment.
As a business owner or executive, it’s far better to screen job applicants for the following five leadership traits than to hire and then fire managers who prove to be incompetent at leading others.
Here’s the deal. As a CEO you need a general working knowledge of sales, strategy, finance, marketing, etc. but you don’t have to know it all. You have to be able to put great teams together that can execute your vision.
Here's the reality, leadership is one of the toughest jobs you'll have because you have to be able to unite people who often have varying levels of commitment and get them to work as a team to achieve a common goal. Some say leaders are born, others say they can be made.
True innovators are never satisfied with status quo. Technology moves fast, and to stay ahead of the competition and to deliver increasing value to our clients, we are looking to continually improve our solutions.
The biggest keys to energizing people and being charismatic is to bring energy, enthusiasm and authenticity. It’s that simple. It’s hard not to get excited about something when the person who is talking to you is upbeat, positive and enthusiastic.
Celebrity entrepreneurs are nothing new. We hear about them all the time, especially in the tech world with names like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Each inspires awe and emulation (in part) because of the news they generate and the exciting lifestyles they lead.
Business is dog-eat-dog. It’s about the pursuit of profits above everything else — a pitiless Darwinian exercise in which the strong survive by treating their workers like medieval serfs.
Are leaders born or made? I’m not going to debate the topic, but one thing I have learned through my years is that true leaders never stop learning. When it comes to leadership, everyone has his or her own notion of what leadership looks like.
One of the most important things to remember is, you never know enough. The moment you think you know it all is the moment you fail because you’re frozen. You stop growing, stop learning and you become stagnant.
As a former collegiate basketball player and amateur triathlete, much of what I learned in athletics has had a direct impact on how I conduct business.
