As the 4th of July holiday weekend approaches, think about the last vacation you took – a real vacation, unplugged, away from the computer, phone, and chaos. If you're like most of the clients I work with, you probably haven't taken a real vacation in a long time, right? Taking time to decompress and reflect can be...
It crossed my LinkedIn feed like a perfectly aimed cannonball, fired right at my chest. “Don’t let them know you are selling.” I’m paraphrasing the actual post to keep the advisor anonymous, but the advice hit me in the stomach, and made me think back to my own exit. It was a crazy time, and I just needed advisors...
Adapted from my post “What Harvey Can Teach Us About ROI…” The callous use of a common phrase in someone else’s blog post shocked me. The writer used the common acronym “ROI”. But he couched it as “Relief on Investment” in describing how to choose a charity to support victims of Tropical Storm Harvey, which at the...
March 13th begins March Madness, the NCAA men’s basketball championship tournament. From then until the final game is played on April 4, film crews will be capturing the most memorable moments – from the joyous to the heartbreaking – to craft into a video montage played at the end of the tournament over one of the...
Previously, I was a guest of Katie Mulligan on ACG's Middle Market Growth Conversations podcast. The following is an excerpt from our discussion. I highly recommend giving it a listen! Who will your 60 be? Margaret Mead, the renowned anthropologist, was one to ask, “What were the first signs of civilization?” Was it...
Fifteen years ago, my parents were running three businesses and, within a three-month period, each of them was diagnosed with cancer. Dad with late-stage colon cancer, mom with mid-stage breast cancer. They were suddenly in over their heads, and everything began to unravel. I lived in another state and, like many of...
When I meet a new advisor and tell them that I speak about the psychology of business owners and how to make it easier for them to let go when the time comes to exit their business, they usually groan and say something like “Good grief, I spend half my time in every deal playing a part-time psychologist for my...
I was at a networking cocktail party two weeks ago and the investment banker I was talking to kept checking his phone. He apologized at one point, explaining that his wife was driving to another state with his daughter who was starting college the following week. He was, understandably, nervous about them being on...
This week begins March Madness, the NCAA men’s basketball championship tournament. From now until the final game is played on April 5, film crews will be capturing the most memorable moments – from the joyous to the heartbreaking - to craft into a video montage played at the end of the tournament over one of the...
Today is Groundhog Day and millions of folks all over the country will be looking to see if there will be 6 more weeks of winter by watching the antics of a groundhog named Punxatawney Phil. You know, if he sees his shadow, we get six more weeks of winter. If not, then spring is right around the corner. In many a...
