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Shiny Object Syndrome, or SOS, is the disease of distraction that has derailed many a business.  As owners, especially in tech companies, we all tend to crave bleeding edge technology.  There’s something to be said for that new gadget, software, or service that feeds the entrepreneurial hunger in us all.  And nowhere does this exhibit itself more profoundly than at the numerous IT events and trade shows. While the influx of ideas can be an admirable trait in a visionary, this

One of the many hats I wear is that of a youth soccer referee. While I had done this for the money when I was younger, today I do it for the love of the game. That, and to shield my recently-patched daughter from a number of coaches and parents who are, frankly, ruining the experience for their children. When renewing my training, the instructor informed us of a staggering statistic: fewer than 50% of new referees return after their first season. With this being one of the hi

If you run a business or any semblance of a team, buy and read The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. Today. Now if possible. Trust is the foundation of all highly functional teams. In his book, Lencioni takes a reverse approach to show how an absence of any aspects of his pyramid, starting with an absence of trust, leads to an inattention to results. The football quarterback must trust that his receiver is running the right route, since he must often release th

Being a valuable resource for your direct reports can be critical to successfully managing your team. It can also be a time waster of epic proportions. I was recently working with a company on a major time management issue. We discovered the root cause of the problem was not only the abuse of the “open door” policy of the leadership team, but the fact that, in many cases, they would simply “take the monkey” from their direct reports and assume the burden of the task because t