Every year, I press pause for the last few weeks in December to create space for reflection and to connect with the people who are important to me, always encouraging you as my readers to do so, too. In any other year, I would ask you these two questions to open a space for that reflection: “On a scale of 1 to 10,...
Reflective Questions to Contemplate as You Turn the Page
REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS TO CONTEMPLATE AS YOU TURN THE PAGE *** CLOSING THE BOOK ON 2020 What did I embrace in 2020? What did I let go of in 2020? What changed for me in 2020? What did I discover about myself in 2020? What was I most grateful for in 2020? When did fear hold me back in 2020? Where did I demonstrate...
Is Dying at Your Desk Noble or Tragic?
Earlier this year, I facilitated a retreat for a group of business owners to talk about how to know when it’s time to sell their business and retire and how to navigate that transition without regrets. One of them I’ll call “Brian” announced he had no plans to retire – “Not me,” he said. “I’m planning to...
It’s a Transition, Not a Transaction: Selling Your Business Without Regret (Podcast)
Listen: Your Life, Simplified, Podcast with Mariner Wealth Advisors: Transcript: George Fernandez: Thank you for downloading this episode of "Your Life Simplified". My name is George Fernandez, and I'll be your host for this episode. Here at "Your Life Simplified", we strive to bring you relevant and timely topics...
Slaying the Emotional Dragons Lurking Inside Every Family Business
Once Upon A Time … there was a handsome young prince who married a lovely brunette actress … *** It sounds like the beginning to a beautiful story. Yet, when Prince Harry announced that he was stepping down from royal life, the world seemed shocked. So did the Royal family and their advisors. But, should...
Will You Know When It’s Time?
“Now just feels like the right time,” said Steve Croft (age 73) on Sunday as he announced his retirement after 30 years at the CBS News show 60 Minutes. He said he’d been considering when to retire at the end of each of the past four seasons and knew it was finally time. Hearing him say that he wanted to leave...
The Unexpected Danger of Putting a Call on Hold
“Denise, there’s a call on line 1 for you. He wouldn’t give me his name and said ‘you’d know what he was calling about’.” “Can’t you see I have my Do Not Disturb light on?” I replied. “Tell whoever it is I’m busy and I’ll call him back later.” My assistant responded that the caller said he would hold until I was...
Integrity at Work
INTEGRITY AT WORK … Do Your People Care? No, REALLY, Care? For two days, I’ve been trying to catch a little stray dog in my neighborhood without success. I’ve enlisted neighbors and tried to engage passing motorists to help as this scraggly little brown dog would dart away from me toward the traffic on a busy main...
Can This Deal Be Saved? The Art of Asking “What Matters?”
Last week I was talking with a banker about how to save a deal of his that was spiraling out of control. It seemed the Seller had become less and less responsive over the past several weeks and then, suddenly, threw up a wacky deal term out of nowhere that threatened to kill the deal. The entire deal team was left...
The Power of Revealing Who You Are and What You Want
“Finally. At least now I don’t have to go on pretending anymore that it’s really what I wanted to be doing. Now I can finally do what I WANT to do.” That’s what my client Lon said after his business sold. I wasn’t surprised that, after the initial shock of the transition wore off, what he felt was relief....