When presented with a difficult conversation, have that conversation. That’s it. Then have another. And another. Again and again, and again. In the near decade of my business, I’ve had to end three major business relationships for business to move forward. The one thing I wasn’t prepared for when I signed up to be an…
Taking a breath allows us to be more resilient when chaos looms
The circle on the screen kept spinning. I stared, slowly feeling my heart rate rise as my mind raced with anxious thoughts: “How do I undo this update? What if I’ve been hacked? I’m not a tech genius!” With deadlines looming in the morning, 9:30 p.m. was not the time for my laptop to stop…
Businesses that adapted during the pandemic while allowing their people to be people are now better equipped to respond rather than react
In conversation recently with women business leaders, authors, mental health advocates and corporate management leaders across Canada, there was a common thread: 2020 was a hard year. It was also a year of innovation. A year of seeing business being done differently. From transitioning from already-booked in-person galas to online events to learning how to…
It started by registering for a “build your confidence course.” The very first assignment was to list 100 things I liked about myself. Corny? Yes. Insightful? You bet. It was a simple exercise, yet it showed where real business opportunity could be found. What 2020 gave business owners was a gift. This isn’t to ignore…
Networking is crucial in business these days. But what happens when we break rapport before we even start?
Networking in business has spawned books, articles, podcasts and videos. You name it, there’s content out there for a business owner looking to rock their networking. The best advice I’ve been given is to simply be curious. Go in, look to have one or two conversations and just ask questions. Then listen. But what happens…
Is it disrespect, miscommunication or misaligned values that are harming your business relationships?
“My client doesn’t respect me!” my colleague vented through the phone. It’s a feeling every entrepreneur has felt at one point or another in their career. It’s one I certainly empathize with. As I listened, it became clear that the client wasn’t being disrespectful. The two parties simply had disconnection in their communication styles, coupled…
Discover why value is more than cost in sales conversations
“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” My colleague, a strategic adviser who helps reduce business costs, shared this nugget of wisdom as we talked about difficult money conversations. As the world continues to transition out of the cost-cutting corporate strategy of the 1980s and 1990s, 2020 has forced businesses to look…
Businesses are more than a place where we work. A business is a whole, live entity. How can you fuel it as such?
Is a business a person? It’s a question I’ve asked companies for the last decade when supporting their brand development. After all, a defined brand includes adjectives to describe a company’s personality. Think fun, bright, and engaging with Google. Or professional, communicative and articulate for LinkedIn. Diving deeper into the actual definition of a corporation…
Our guide to ensuring your brand captures who you are and who your customers believe you to be
Branding is an extremely overused word – quickly followed by sentences that include “we need a vision,” “we need a mission” and “we need our values, ASAP!” Of course, businesses need those things. The challenge with these branding pieces happens when leaders don’t understand what they are by definition, over and above inspirational sentences, what…
Think again. Why showing up with an honest, open mind is where real success lies
“Fake it until you make it.” This is an entrepreneur motto that gets some people motivated, up and out the door (so to speak – COVID-19 protocols and all), and committed until they’ve become the person, business or thing they set out to be. But this sentence makes me cringe every time I hear it.…