"Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients."  - Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin empire of companies As a manager, this is an important message to remember. How you treat those you work with determines how your team, your department, and your company fare.  ...

Did you see the news this week? No, not that trial, not the bill, not the sportsball draft, not the war...okay, actually there's too much news to follow. I wouldn't blame anyone for tuning it all out. But there was some news that matters to managers; the FTC ended non-competes across the United States. For some of you that's a pretty...

“Do you know what our company’s strategy is?”  <Blank stares> If you’ve ever gotten this response from your team, you know how damaging it can be when your team doesn’t actually understand where you’re trying to go.  It can lead to everyone trying to go in different directions, people not understanding why their work matters,...

What helps you find your zen? How do you get "in the zone"? For me, it's sitting on my balcony on a warm, sunny day doing some writing or getting through a backlog of emails. The contrast of nature and technology relaxes me in a way that's hard to explain. But the important thing is that I know it helps, which is why when I'm not on Zoom...

“People leave managers, not companies.” You’ve probably heard that phrase over the years, and if you’ve managed for long, you’ve probably felt it.  Whether you’ve quit a manager, or you lost someone on your team due to your actions or inaction, it hurts to lose good people.  Becoming a leader is a major career change No matter...

Ever make a mistake you really wish you could take back? Ever been really tempted to make a compromise that deep down you know you shouldn't? In today’s edition, we look at a key lesson from our Book of the Month about compromising on your principles, explore how you can rebuild trust after a betrayal with your team, learn a helpful communication...