Most people dread meetings. Stuffy conference rooms, bored people, and they usually seem to drag on forever. Over the years I have learned that walking meetings are a great format for one-on-one meetings, and are great for groups of three people as well. Not only are they far more engaging and fun, they also offer clear benefits related to physical health, relationship building, efficiency and creativity.
Topics: Mental and Physical Health, Managing People, Communicating, Being an Entrepreneur
“Wait, what? It’s a silent retreat?!”
I finally signed up for a three day introduction to meditation retreat, with plans to build a regular meditation practice. I had convinced myself that it would be a little meditation, some learning, and some hiking in the beautiful Santa Cruz mountains. Upon arrival, I learned that this “partially silent” retreat meant total silence for about 22 hours per day. We could only talk on an afternoon break and at dinner. Uhh... crap.
I might not be the biggest talker in the world, but sitting still AND being quiet is really not my cup of tea.
But I learned a lot.
Topics: Focus
Welcome to the Awesome guest blog series! Our first guest post is by Avital Ungar, owner of the incredibly popular Avital Food Tours in San Francisco, California.
I started my company to be able to do what I love full time: eat and travel. Yet I had become a slave to my business.
Topics: Being an Entrepreneur, Travel
Scaling, or growing rapidly, is a high priority for many startups and established companies. Every element of scale can be tricky, but today we're going to focus on the human element of scale.
Humans can be pesky, inconsistent, confusing, and often baffling creatures. As entrepreneurs, we at times love them, fear them, and occasionally wish we could ignore them. But no company can exist without them (sorry, robot armies) and no company can scale without focusing on them.
Topics: Managing People, Being an Entrepreneur
“We screwed up my biggest account. What should I do?!”
Sarah, one of my younger employees came to me early one Thursday morning in a panic. I had to quickly decide how to react. Should I micromanage, decide for her, or risk losing everything?
Big picture, how can you train your team to handle the infinite number of problems that can emerge every day? The answer is simple: You can’t.
Topics: Managing People, Communicating, Being an Entrepreneur
Bzzzzz. The alarm. You hit snooze and roll over. You went to sleep too late again, but you were working on something really important. A few more minutes of sleep sounds amazing, but your mind is already racing, wondering, worrying. Just thinking about your huge to-do list is making your blood pressure rise. You open your email before your feet hit the floor and dive in.
