It’s a Jeep thing…
It’s a Jeep thing… I don't know what it is, but I know so many guys (and its almost always guys) in their 50's who get Jeeps. I am sure there is a...
New Year’s Resolution
New Year’s ResolutionWhat a crazy ride 2020 has been! There is not a person on the planet who has not been affected in one way or another from this...
Rules: In the eye of the beholder
Black and white vs shades of grayIt occurred to me this morning while I was driving home from the gym in the rainy, early morning darkness, that the...
What a difference six months makes…
What a difference six months makes…It has been quite some time since I last published a blog. So much has happened since the last one went out. It...
I can’t believe it has been 6 years…
Today, April 7, 2020, marks the six year anniversary of the selling of our company and the slow, steady progression to my next career. In one sense...
Suck It Up Buttercup!
Suck It Up, Buttercup!This blog is in memory of our dear friend Doris Ann Allison, she was one of the most caring and compassionate people in our...
Word of the Month: ANTICIPATE
Anticipate My word of the month is ANTICIPATE. As I work with business leaders and owners, it occurs to me how underutilized this word is. It is...
I wish I could take out the garbage
Gosh, I wish I could take out the garbage… I am mending from a rough two weeks with a back ailment. For most of my life I have been fortunate to...
Never Say Never
Never say never! I have been an Apple guy for a long time. In the beginning I was all Microsoft: first DOS and then moving to Windows...
Uber 5 Star Rating System
Uber Rating – The 5 Star System Last week I had the privilege to attend Schnizzfest 2018 ( www.schnizzfest.com ). This is my favorite event of the...
Work – Organize, Manage, Reuse – Part 2
Organize, Manage, Reuse Work In the last article we discussed the concepts around reusing work. In this article we will discuss some basics around...
Work – Organize, Manage, Reuse
Organize, Manage, REUSE Over the past few months I have been pondering a theme about how IT service providers think about work. As I have been...
You never forget how to ride a bike
Guest Post by Kathy Briden There is something special about biking when on vacation and our trips south always include a fair amount of pushing the...
The Angry Ocean
The Angry Ocean: A leadership lesson. I would be remiss if I didn’t write at least once about the beach while on vacation. This morning I took my...
Go jump in a lake (pool in this case) – Guest Post
When Jumping in the Pool Can Help You as a Leader Recently, Peter and I made our annual March trip to South Carolina. Peter had begun researching...
Is your sales narrative a fairytale??
Is your sales narrative a fairytale?? I have just finished up a busy stretch in my schedule and have had some time to collect my thoughts. For the...
They beat me into submission…
They beat me into submission, a customer success failure. I travel a lot and spend many a night in hotels. Many times I don’t have a choice of the...
Make a hard right or easy wrong
Never wish life were easier, wish you were better. Jim Rohn This past weekend I was fortunate to attend a family gathering. We were gathering for...
Upside Down Day
When my kids were young, their teachers would occasionally shake things up in their routines in class, they would call these upside down days...
I have been kicked out of better places than this
I’ve been kicked out of better places than this (actually not)… but never as nicely. The Friday before Christmas I was having breakfast with a...
Customer Success & Chutes and Ladders
Trust and goodwill. The foundation of a healthy relationship. In the IT services business, we strive to find, build and maintain Long Term...
Making the trains run on time.
In my work with IT service provider business owners, when discussing how IT operations should work, I commonly use the phase “making the trains run...
I’m OK – You’re OK
I’m OK – You’re OK was the title of a popular self-help book in the late 60’s, I remember it as a kid, but have no idea of what it was about. I just...
Can you really have your cake and eat it too?
Can you really have your cake and eat it too? I had the good fortune to recently spend time with 80 IT services business owners at a peer group...
What the heck?!?
I had a breakfast scheduled this morning with a business associate. Those of you who know me know I am always early for my appointments and I got...
Seizing the Opportunity
While at dinner one night, a colleague and I were talking about our careers. He made a comment that although he loved his job, he really doesn’t...
It’s all about them…
We ran a successful IT services company. After selling the company 3+ years ago, I have had the opportunity to step back and look at what the...
Focus and Success
Last week I had the good fortune to spend the week fly fishing in Colorado. This is an annual trip I have been taking for 15 years with 3 very good...
When life gives you lemons…
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Things don’t always go as planned. It’s not whether or not things go wrong, it’s how you deal with them...
Better results with fewer resources, an oxymoron?
Early one morning last weekend I went walking with a good friend and vacation house neighbor, his name is Jack and he is one of the best business...
Over Promise, Under Deliver
A good friend of mine’s father has a saying. “Don’t tell me how great you are, let me catch you at it.” This saying came to mind to me recently...
What is the point?
A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine and fellow Pittsburgh MSP recommended a book to me called the Go Giver. Like many book recommendations, when...
A Silver Bullet – Psst: and it’s free
The IT Managed Services business, like many businesses, is simple in concepts, however, extremely difficult to deliver, especially as it scales....
All I ever wanted in life was to be mediocre.
All I ever wanted to in life was to be mediocre… Nailing Fundamentals is the Foundation for Greatness I was watching the Pittsburgh Pirates play the...