Burnout is a serious threat to any organization, and 2020-2021 was a doozy. The consequences of burnout are both individual and organizational. For the individual, there is risk for physical illness or mental breakdowns that can lead to unemployment or disability. For organizations, it leads to decreased productivity, increased absenteeism and turnover rates, declining morale among employees and other negative outcomes. Let’s challenge the stories you have around fatigue and give you a place to get started in managing it in your organization. Many of the CEOs, business owners and founders I have been working with recently have expressed some level of fatigue in their organization, if not in themselves, in their leadership team at the least. Fatigue can happen …

    Creating the Ecosystem of a Purpose-Driven Organization Late last year a survey was conducted that showed a strong percentage of individuals in corporate America shared the intentions of pursuing new work once the pandemic settled down.  Even before the pandemic, Gallup had done surveys that showed us two-thirds of the workforce, according to their own admission, were disengaged.  Additionally, according to a recent Forbes article,  we are entering the throes of a Turnover Tsunami.  Even if you replace lost personnel, turnover is costly to an organization.  Not only in the changes in team mechanics, culture, learning curve, but also they hit the bottom-line.  In my 25 + years of experience working in Corporate America in Sales, Leadership, and …

  This summer, most people are reentering models of work that closer resemble pre-pandemic schedules with the accompanying stress and strain. While the pandemic allowed many of us to pause and hopefully reflect and take personal inventory…not everyone did. For many, the pandemic was a period of time of simple survival as we waited for science to catch up and aide our recovery. Alcohol and marijiuana consumption increased, people soothed themselves with food and Netflix, neglected physical activities, and buried fears around our uncertainty. Now, we are taking these non-optimal versions of ourselves back into the workplace headfirst. If you follow social media, you probably have seen articles from The New York Times and The Atlantic on this very topic. …

The big question that many people ask themselves when they start thinking about retirement or family business succession is “What do I want to do with my life next?” The reality is, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer for everyone. Some people know exactly what they want to do and some might not have a clue. Either way, it’s important to go back to the basics of what you truly value in life and figure out how that can impact your future. For folks in a family business facing succession, this has a significant impact on the whole family. Depending on your history, you might be an experienced entrepreneur or business owner like Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg and want to continue …

This is the first Father’s Day I will not be able to call my Dad and wish him a Happy Father’s Day. He passed away 9 months ago at the age of 75. For those of you who have lost a parent, you also feel the void. There is an emptiness in your life, a new permanent “normal. ” No more calling to catch up, pointing out something we both would think is comical, or just reminiscing. The passing of both my father and Jolie’s last year, as well as COVID, provided some additional fuel for me to make changes in my life and business. Death will do that to you. Death is a reminder, you are mortal. Life is …