If every problem presents an opportunity, then 2009 is sure to present opportunities for all of us. Wall Street will continue to be a roller coaster. Untried leaders (whether it be the president or vice president) will be in the White House. Prices will be up. Employment will be down. And consumer confidence will be as low as the balances...
Last month, I had the misfortune of having to fire an employee. She’d been working less than eight weeks, but it was clear she wasn’t right for the position. In the words of “Good to Great,” she was not one of “the right people on the bus.” In his book, Jim Collins equates a company with a bus. His premise is...
I’ve been traveling a lot the last month. I’ve racked up some serious air miles and even more hours of therapy along the way. Not long ago, I was flying through LAX wearing cropped sweatpants and a zip-up hoodie. As I went through security, the guard told me I had to remove my hoodie and put it on the conveyer. I...
For two years, I’ve been looking for ways to improve our skill set in the interactive arena at WilsonMcGuire Creative. The web has become increasingly important, making up 20% of our business last year. When an interactive friend and his colleagues expressed an interest in a partnership, I jumped at the opportunity. It was a catastrophe. I invested in computer equipment,...
I just attended a conference on Resort Marketing. We heard a lot about emerging markets. It comes as no surprise that those markets are (1) women traveling with other women (either girl’s weekends, adventure or educational trips); (2) multi-generational travel (kids, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles); (3) Small social groups like foursomes or weddings, birthday and/or reunion celebrations; and (4)...
One minute, my teenage son was going to have to wear a brace for a year. The next minute, he was fine. I’ve been working on living in the moment. Not thinking about what’s about to happen, what just happened or even what could happen, but simply living fully in the moment I’m in. This has come in handy. Last week,...
Politics. It’s on the airwaves 24/7. And there are nine more months till the Presidential election. McCain. Huckabee. Clinton. Obama. All vying for the nation’s top job. A speaker I heard at a recent branding retreat said Obama would win the democratic nomination because he “owns” a word. Barak Obama says the word “change” almost as often as Emeril Lagasse...
In 2007, I managed to write approximately one Right Brain column. This was far from my goal of one per month. I’ve been so busy working to manage and grow this business – and my kids – that something had to give. And, month after month, the Right Brain column “gave.” That’s how it is for most of us. We get...
