How do you know when it’s time to add new members to your board? Tony Schroeder, CEO of Choice One Engineering, says it really comes down to how much value a board member is providing you, the business owner. (Tony is also a Business Coach at Aileron.) “When I can predict what the board member is going to say, [ Read More ]
“A good plan today is better than a perfect one tomorrow.” – General George Patton Many entrepreneurs start their company wanting to build the perfect product or service for their customer. This is a big mistake and here's why. Perfect can take too long to develop. Most entrepreneurs have a limited amount of development funds before they need to [ Read More ]
Planning and setting direction for the future of your business is integral to professional management. As a result, succession planning and sustainability are a natural part of implementing the DOC model.Even though many business owners/founders produce a forward-looking vision for their company, fears or uncertainties can hold back the process of planning for a successful exit. If you don't figure [ Read More ]
“How can you not invest in people?” asks Mark Thompson, a former Business Coach at Aileron. “It’s your only difference,” he says in this video also featured on Forbes. Ed Eppley, Course for Presidents Facilitator at Aileron, agrees that high-performing companies are those that invest in their people. Ed says that it’s in a business owner’s best interest [ Read More ]
Although commonly used, sports are a weak analogy for thinking and talking about business. Mark Thompson, an Aileron Business Coach, explains why a symphony is a better analogy for how we develop and support people in an organization. It’s More Than High Performers Sports analogies often glamorize motivation coming from a coach or a team leader. But high-performing organizations [ Read More ]
When Beth Savage became the owner of PQ Systems, the first thing she did was put together an outside board, she says in this video. “Why not have a board that is there for the sole reason of helping you and your team succeed?” says Beth. Many business owners are reluctant to create an outside board. Some believe that [ Read More ]
“Vision is a lot more than putting a plaque on the wall. A real vision is lived, not framed,” says Jesse Lyn Stoner, when asked about how leaders can inspire a shared vision. Jesse is founder of Seapoint Center, a company that works closely with leaders, helping them create collaborative and engaged organizations. She is also a bestselling author, coach, [ Read More ]
Leaders need to prepare for the future of their company. “If that company is part of your identity, why not do succession planning?”, asks Beth Savage, President of PQ Systems, in this video featured on Forbes. Beth was part of a team that built a plan for succession that was implemented when the founder of PQ Systems unexpectedly passed. The [ Read More ]
Wes Gipe, Founder of Agil IT, knows that rather than get upset or frustrated when failure occurs, it’s a chance to step back and get curious. In the video shown here, he tells the story of one of the first times he applied this way of thinking while at the company he founded. It was right after the company [ Read More ]
Anthony Robbins once said, "Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions and as a result, they get better answers.” These kind of questions make sure that thoughts and ideas are visible in your organization, explains Joni Fedders, Aileron’s President and a certified Leadership Coach. “Empowering questions generate deeper conversations and clarity because you discover what [ Read More ]
In this post, Aileron Founder, Clay Mathile, shares what you need to know before your first board meeting. Involve Your Team As the CEO/owner of your business, you most likely don’t have the time to plan every detail of every meeting. After you have selected your outside board of directors, rely on your team to schedule, collect data, notify [ Read More ]
In looking to create great results, we have to balance getting results in the near-term with building our organization’s capability to maximize results in the long-term.But what are the methods and ways in which we can help encourage this kind of continual improvement within our organization? And how can anyone, no matter their role or authority level, create value and [ Read More ]
