The Four C’s of Leadership

“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of…

The Secrets of Morning People Revealed

  For most of my life, I couldn’t stand morning people. They seemed so annoyingly happy. They got up early, they planned their day,…

Fail Fast & Fix It Faster

As a leader and entrepreneur, there is nothing I hate more than to see a leader who can’t make a decision. In my career,…

10 Culture-Changing Ways to Honor Employees

My Dad is awesome. As a retired high voltage electrician, he loves the fact that I run a business producing medium and high voltage…

Barnevik on Decisiveness

My first CEO was hardcore. And it was awesome. In 1994, I left the U.S. Navy to work for the global engineering company, ABB, as…

Don’t Ever Start a Band: Six Things to Consider Before Becoming an Entrepreneur

Jimmy Buffett’s hit song, The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful, starts off with his band members demanding things from him. “Where’s my…

Simon Sinek on Loving your Company

Do you want to be a better leader?  Sign up for my free newsletter. Simon Sinek is an author, speaker, and marketing consultant.  He has…

Stop Talking and Start Doing: 5 Ways to Become a Person of Action

People with good intentions make terrible employees. Don’t get me wrong, good intentions are fine but I prefer working with people who get things…

Why Entrepreneurs Love when Big Companies Don’t Care

The world was shocked to see a viral video of a paying customer being dragged from a United Airlines flight. It was unthinkable to…

The Man in the Arena – 107 Years Later

107 years ago today, Theodore Roosevelt delivered a speech called “Citizenship In A Republic” at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France. In that speech, he included…

Six Reasons You Need to Hire a Veteran Today

Hiring is tough. Finding the right person who will make a great employee is one of the hardest jobs we do as leaders. We…

The Joy of Middle Management

So, you’ve finally made it to middle management. You’ve arrived at that magical place where you are responsible and accountable for the performance of…

A leader is best when people barely know he exists

  This is one of my favorite leadership quotes. The idea that a team would be so intrinsically motivated to complete a goal they…

3 Questions You Should Ask Before Taking a Leadership Job

  There is a crisis in America. There is a shortage of good leaders and it seems to be getting worse. The problem, as…

The One Job Nobody Wants (And Why You Should Take It)

Everybody wants to be the boss. They want to be in charge. They want the corner office, the assistant, the parking spot, the title,…

The Secret to Building an Unstoppable Team

Have you ever noticed that there are some teams who just know how to win? Companies that outpace their rivals, sports teams that dominate…

The One Trait Your CEO Wants You to Have

I’ve received many compliments over the years in my work life, but the one I have the hardest time accepting is when someone says…

Starting a Business

10 Signs your Boss is a Jerk (and what to do about it)

In 30 years of work, I wish I could say I have never had a bad boss. The truth is, I have had a few…

When Small Company Thinking Beats Big Company Thinking

I love being the CEO of a small company. It’s the best job I’ve ever had. One of the biggest reason is the speed…

Do Something Memorable for your Employees

The company I recently co-founded, Peak Demand Inc., celebrated its first-anniversary last week. As you can imagine, the first year of any new company is…

3 Lessons in Customer Service from a Captain Who Cared

Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong. ~ Donald Porter If you’re looking…

Five Ways a New Leader Sets the Tone

  “As a leader you set the tone for your entire team.” ~ Colin Powell You did it. You got the big promotion. You now have…

Should I Stay or Should I Go? What to do when you Disagree with Management

  “If I go there will be trouble, An’ if I stay it will be double” ~ The Clash The new year is a…