the climb up

I’ve been fortunate to be able to climb mountains since I was small. Exposed early to the steep Eastern Sierra trails out of Tom’s Cabin and Mammoth and the more gradual western side out of Yosemite and Mineral King, I loved the yearly summer trips. We slept on the ground or in a rustic cabin, […]

Incoming from all sides

Are you feeling a little overwhelmed trying to stay grounded in a world that is changing way faster than even a year ago?  Understanding AI and applying it as it morphs would be enough of a challenge. Conversations are flowing in Vistage groups and in all our companies about how to implement, what to implement, […]

Choose one thing you will stop doing in 2026

What is the one thing you will stop doing in 2026? What could free time, make you happier, healthier, smarter, more financially secure? Here are some “to-don’t’s” I have read lately that sounded genius to me: Don’t place an order on line for 24 hours. If you still want/need it then, order it. No blue […]

Stay Flexible

It is hard to argue with logical time-tested advice. Stay flexible. It sounds good. However, the volatility in our business conditions has been exhausting. Business owners have been living like cats on a hot tin roof. They may not be able to stay flexible much longer. Profits are down, sales are down. They are laying […]

Spooky and getting spookier

The trick or treat economy continues to be extremely tricky and getting trickier. Darth Vader is the costume of choice for our 5 year old Grandson and it seems right in line with the shut down of the federal government.  Should we be handing out gift cards for the parents or candy to the kids […]

Balancing on a beach ball

Many in the Vistage community are familiar with the story told in Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott, a former Vistage Chair, about 2 people describing a beach ball from opposite sides. One person is adamant that the ball is red, and the other says it is green, or blue or white. It appears to them […]

Stay balanced on the high wire

Tariffs are on, tariffs are off. Now they are back on. Before January and for a long time, the average tariff was about 2%. Trump raised them to 10% and repeatedly threatens to raise them much, much higher. But if the tariff target country agrees to give many millions or billions to causes Trump chooses  […]

Don’t quit on a bad day!

Have you ever watched a TED talk with a colleague or a movie with a friend and walked away with a completely different take-away than they did? How we interpret data is of course filtered through our own experiences and our mood, ability to focus and a bunch of other factors including how tired we […]

Short term actions for long term survival

Shipping has almost stopped out of China. The port of Long Beach predicts that by next week container traffic will have fallen by 38% and will continue to fall. Truckers who were working 6 days with overtime are looking at 2-3 runs a week. Freight forwarders are demanding that tariffs be paid in advance instead […]

Just one small step

Do you have those days when you are just stuck? You don’t have any energy, or no creativity, or the kids were up half the night? Do you bail and call in sick? I felt that way about writing a post today. I’ve been doing this every Sunday for over 10 years and except for […]