Category Archives: Powerful Founder Qualities

You may want to consider leveraging this summer differently this time. I was recently kayaking with my husband and noticed that I truly had a different vantage point. I was close to the surface of the lake and we used fins, not oars, so we didn’t scare away wildlife. The fish and birds just thought we were big fish or gars. I must admit that it was powerful.

As a business coach one of my roles is to stimulate a different perspective through questioning. I also encourage clients to step away from their businesses from time to time. Our brains do well when we change the scene and activities enough to provide a significant contrast to our day-to-day. You can create a different vantage point to view your biggest challenges just by getting away.

Take a vacation…and let me know what happened!

Years ago I was visiting with a former business owner who had more money than God and as I was listening to him, it struck me that we can always get more money. Even a homeless person can get more money. We can’t get more time, so I realized that return-on-time was critical to me. I am quite intentional about it. I am diligent about only engaging ideal clients, not anyone who can fog a mirror. I am careful about who joins my team. I am protective of time spent meeting people for coffee, lunch or networking events.  I actually coded my business and personal contacts based on return-on-time. It is not about quality of people. We are all equal. No better. No less. However, there are 7 billion of us. We can mindlessly give much of our time away with no return or value. We each have the opportunity to define what that means. For me, return-on-time is about investing in my clients, listening to prospective ones, supporting my business advocates, engaging reciprocal, inspiring friendships and most importantly having fun with my family. Time is our most precious asset. Relish it. Enjoy it. Protect it with all you’ve got!