The Private Business Owner

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6 Business Lessons from Netflix Series House of Cards

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House of Cards business lessonsFrank Underwood lies, steals, and blackmails. He pushes people into oncoming trains, destroys reputations that threaten his own, builds up when it’s in his self interest and tears down when it isn’t. Yet he’s on the fast track to reach the most powerful job in the land: the U. S. Presidency.

As the popular protagonist of the wildly popular Netflix series House of Cards, actor Kevin Spacey’s vainglorious political character is astonishingly fruitful while displaying the sort of deliciously Machiavellian scheming where ruthlessness and cunning always – not some of the time, not just a few times, but always – wins out over integrity and civility.

Still, don’t try this at home.

Yet. . . there are some read-between-the-lines lessons on business one can take from our favorite bad boy politician to improve leadership in business and not be tossed in prison for life. Especially Underwood’s finely tuned skill of relationship building. [Read more…]

Your Company’s Purpose Matters More Than What You Sell

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A while back we shared a TED Talk named “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” given by Simon Sinek. Sinek’s 18-minute message can be boiled down to one sentence: People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. In essence, your purpose is more important than the products or services you offer when selling to a client.

Sinek is not alone in his thinking, as other leaders have echoed this sentiment. Most recently was Bill Taylor in an article, “It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Believe,” for the Harvard Business Review Blog. [Read more…]

Defining “Strategic Leadership” For Business Owners

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“Strategic leadership” is a phrase that is often difficult for most private business owners to define. It’s vague and has different definitions depending upon whom you ask; yet it is crucial to the success of your business. Without strategic leadership, your company will lack vision and focus and could become a thing of the past, instead a leader in the industry. [Read more…]

How Great Leaders And Companies Inspire Action [Video]

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A colleague recently sent me a link to a TED talk by Simon Sinek named “How Great Leaders Inspire Action.” In less than 20 minutes, Simon succinctly conveys how great leaders inspire those around them and how companies’ marketing departments can do the same.

In a nutshell, inspirational leaders all start with why.

I’ve crafted a summary of his presentation below, but if you have 18 minutes, I encourage you to listen, as Simon is a great storyteller and teacher. [Read more…]

The Honey Badger’s Guide To Being a Fearless Leader

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Maybe you’ve heard the tales of the infamous honey badger—the world’s most fearless creature—who surfaced on the Internet earlier this year. Its conquests have become so popular that they’ve landed the weasel-looking animal in a commercial for pistachios and LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu has adopted the nickname “Honey Badger.”

For those unfamiliar with the African creature, it is capable of attacking and eating snakes, fighting jackals, and invading beehives to eat the larvae. To see the honey badger in action, watch the clip below. [Read more…]