Look in your inbox for your download.
We’re looking forward to helping you grow and and thrive in business, and in life.
People Power
In the last of our four-part series of blogs about the growth of CDN Controls, CEO/co-founder Dean…
The Shared Experience of a One-Page Strategic Plan & Scaling Up
At a certain point, companies need better tools to manage their growth and adopt some sort of…
Heart and Hustle
Many people just cruise by in life. But if you want to rise to the top and outperform everyone…
Growth through a “Yes, we Can Do That” Philosophy
Over the next few weeks, we’ll bring you stories about what contributed to the growth of CDN…
The Emotional Bank Account: Strengthening Leadership and Team Relationships
In the fast-paced world of business leadership, staying focused on execution, results, and strategy…
Navigating Turbulent Times: The Power of Micro Awareness and Macro Management
In times of turbulence—whether in business, leadership or life—the key to staying on course…
Leading Through Challenging Times: Lessons from the Frontlines
This time, we continue the conversation from my last blog, when we talked about having a…
The Power of a Fortress Balance Sheet: Lessons from Jim Collins
I recently spent time in Boulder, Colorado, with a group of CEOs on a study tour led by the…
Advice to Entrepreneurial Leaders
In this last of a six-part series of blogs about the growth and leadership of The Little Potato…
Treasure Boxes of Mistakes
In the fifth of a six-part series of blogs about the growth of The Little Potato Company (LPC), and…
The Benefits of an Advisory Board
In the fourth of a six-part series of blogs about the growth of The Little Potato Company (LPC),…
Building a Team of A-Players
In the third of a six-part series of blogs about the growth of The Little Potato Company (LPC), and…
Leaving Room to Learn
In the second of a six-part series of blogs about the growth of The Little Potato Company (LPC),…
The Overlooked Building Blocks of Growth
We recently sat down with one of our long-term clients Angela Santiago, CEO/co-founder of The…
Building a Powerful Advisory Board
When it comes to accelerating the growth of a business, a well-chosen advisory or governance board…
4 Fixes to Common Strategic Planning Mistakes
In my conversation with a CEO I've worked with for years, we dove into a pressing issue: why do…
Ground Future Celebrations in Today’s Plan
As you take stock of this year’s accomplishments and think about your plan for the next year,…
A Time to Remember Successes of the Head and the Heart
Hopefully, over the holidays, you’ll have quality time with people you care about – even with…
Planning for the Next Year and Quarter Century
Over the holidays, at the end of every year, I have a tradition to get together with friends to…
Succession: Planning & Ensuring the Future of a Business
Every CEO has a responsibility to ensure the success and longevity of a business. This is…
Family Matters: Navigating the Human Side of Business
Many of our clients want to start involving the next generation of their family in their business…
Seven Years On, Reflections on Your Oxygen Mask First: Manage Your Mental Health
“It’s not the heavy load that breaks you down. It’s the way you carry it.” Lena…
Seven Years On, Reflections on Your Oxygen Mask First: Stop Being Chief Problem Solver
“Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime.”……
Seven Years On, Reflections on Your Oxygen Mask First: Make Yourself Useless
“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.” Harvey…
Seven Years On, Reflections on Your Oxygen Mask First: Invest in Your Sweet Spots
“Success is achieved by developing our strengths, not by eliminating our weaknesses.”…
Seven Years On, Reflections on Your Oxygen Mask First: Double Your Resilience
“A good half of the art of living is resilience.” Alain de Botton, author……
Seven Years On, Reflections on Your Oxygen Mask First: Plan, Plan and Plan Again
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Mike Tyson, prize…
A Behind-the-Scenes Conversation About ‘Your Oxygen Mask First’
On the seventh anniversary of the publishing of Your Oxygen Mask First, Dean Ritchey – long-time…
Seven Years On, Reflections on Your Oxygen Mask First: How to Live an Amazing Life
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and…
Winning in a Challenging, More Competitive Economy
Greg and I have seen companies, like one of our clients, in some really struggling segments of the…
Podcast Ep 166 | Necessary Endings
"Necessary Endings" is a self-help book written by Dr. Henry Cloud. It explores the concept of…
0 Comments45 Minutes
Podcast Ep 165 | The top 5 reasons people regret selling their business
There is an entire industry and philosophy surrounding why you should sell your business, but it…
0 Comments53 Minutes
Podcast Ep 164 | Using the sandbox to stop dumb decisions in the leadership team
Without effective discipline around decision making we can end up making decisions we later might…
0 Comments41 Minutes
Podcast Ep 163 | Executive burnout: Building your resilience (Part 2 of 2)
Executives are often more driven than the average person. We run hard all the time, and it usually…
0 Comments45 Minutes
Podcast Ep 162 | Executive Burnout: How do you know when you need to get some help? (part 1 of 2)
Executives are often more driven than the average person. We run hard all the time, and it usually…
0 Comments53 Minutes
Podcast Ep 161 | Rating your firm on Jim Collins’ 7 Good to Great principles (2/2)
Jim Collins book Good to Great is one of the all-time business classics due to the size and…
0 Comments47 Minutes
Podcast Ep 160 | Rating your firm on Jim Collins’ 7 Good to Great principles (1/2)
Jim Collins book Good to Great is one of the all-time business classics due to the size and…
0 Comments57 Minutes
Podcast Ep 158 | Living and working in your Sustainable Sweet Spot as a leader
Some parts of your role give you energy, and some parts drain your energy. Often, the parts that…
0 Comments45 Minutes
Podcast Ep 157 | Jim Collins 6 characteristics of right people in the right seats
We’ve all heard of the phrase ‘get the right people in the right seats on the bus’. It talks about…
0 Comments44 Minutes
Podcast Ep 156 | 5 Expensive Hiring Mistakes to Avoid
Hiring can be expensive. It's expensive in terms of time for leaders to commit to an effective…
0 Comments41 Minutes
Podcast Ep 155 | The 9 books every CEO must read
Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers. - Harry S. Truman. As leaders, we are…
0 Comments33 Minutes
Podcast Ep 154 | The 7 mistakes leaders make at annual strategy meetings
Annual strategy meetings are a necessary part of every organisation. And they can be very…
0 Comments45 Minutes
People Power
In the last of our four-part series of blogs about the growth of CDN Controls, CEO/co-founder Dean…
0 Comments5 Minutes
The Shared Experience of a One-Page Strategic Plan & Scaling Up
At a certain point, companies need better tools to manage their growth and adopt some sort of…
0 Comments5 Minutes
Heart and Hustle
Many people just cruise by in life. But if you want to rise to the top and outperform everyone…
0 Comments4 Minutes
Growth through a “Yes, we Can Do That” Philosophy
Over the next few weeks, we’ll bring you stories about what contributed to the growth of CDN…
0 Comments3 Minutes
The Emotional Bank Account: Strengthening Leadership and Team Relationships
In the fast-paced world of business leadership, staying focused on execution, results, and strategy…
0 Comments5 Minutes
Navigating Turbulent Times: The Power of Micro Awareness and Macro Management
In times of turbulence—whether in business, leadership or life—the key to staying on course…
0 Comments6 Minutes
Leading Through Challenging Times: Lessons from the Frontlines
This time, we continue the conversation from my last blog, when we talked about having a…
0 Comments6 Minutes
The Power of a Fortress Balance Sheet: Lessons from Jim Collins
I recently spent time in Boulder, Colorado, with a group of CEOs on a study tour led by the…
0 Comments5 Minutes
[Video] 5 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Creating a COVID-19 Employee Vaccination Policy
I recently had a conversation with Laurie Ballantyne, one of our awesome new advisors (with a deep…
Do What You Love and Invest in Your Sweet Spots
If you want to be a high-performing leader, invest 80% of your time and energy to do what you love,…
Managing Emotions and Dealing with Your Emotional Junk
Is your emotional junk causing bad decisions or regrettable behaviour? Past traumas leave emotional…
World Suicide Prevention Day
Today is World Suicide Prevention Day and I wanted to share a few ideas that I’m hoping will help…
Mastering Your Monkey Mind
A calm mind can find better solutions, make better decisions and be more creative. Great. But how…
Gratitude for The Change Thrust Upon Us
My colleague Tim Schokking recently sat down to speak with one of his clients, Tim Dumas, COO of…
Ignore Conventional Wisdom
What if I told you to completely ignore all the best practices and conventional wisdom that’s been…
Put On Your Oxygen Mask First
One major point of my book Your Oxygen Mask First - is that the missing part of the equation is…
A Victim of Your Own Success
What I’ve learned working with high-performing CEOs and leaders, around the world, is that they…
Work Life Planning: Plan, Plan & Plan Again
We have goals of where we want to get to, and great plans. But of course, that's not how it…
Push Yourself – Keep Going For It
This post is inspired by my grandmother, Betty Howett. At 81 years of age, she went back to…
Overcoming Negative Thinking by Learning to Love the Lessons
How good are you at seeing the benefit in your biggest challenges, at work and in life? The key to…
Tackle Difficult Conversations
We've all faced difficult conversations in our lives. The best leaders find effective ways to deal…
Clear Expectations Help People Meet Your Standards
How skilled are you at setting clear expectations and graciously getting people to meet your high…
Stress Performance Curve – How Stress Makes High Performers Better
Although it sounds counter-intuitive, high performing CEOs and managers actually need stress to be…
Day 1 Amazon Thinking
The essence of Day 1 Amazon Thinking - described in Bezos’ 2017 shareholder letter - is how the…
Get Your Team Making Decisions on Their Own
How skilled are you at helping people become strong, independent leaders? Are you bombarded by…
Leverage Business Advisors to Quadruple Your IQ
How effective are you at gaining insights & opinions from true experts in business and in life…
Team Building: Developing an “A” Team That Delivers Better Results Than You, Without You
How good are you at team building - developing a team so strong there’s not much you need to do?…
Getting Tough Constructive Feedback
How do you rate at getting honest opinions about your performance as a leader? Learn how to get the…
Lifelong Learning – Learn Like Your Life Depends on It
How do you rate yourself when it comes to the practice of lifelong learning? If your ideas and…
How to Stop Procrastinating — Lick Your Toads.
How do you rate at making sure annoying little things get done before they pile up? Here’s how to…
Double Your Personal Resilience
You need personal resilience - the strength of your body, your mind, and your spirit - to help you…
Forget Work Life Balance
Video Transcript: Do you dedicate enough time and energy to everything that matters to you? In…
Enjoying Life in Tandem with Your Business Achievements
Video Transcript: Alright. We're going talk about habit number one of my book Your Oxygen Mask…
Micromanaging vs. Leading
One of the biggest challenges for a leader as he or she grows into the role is the process of…
The Power of Executive Coaching Triads
Magic happens during executive coaching triads because the sessions facilitate incredibly succinct,…
Will your team walk through walls for you?
Amazing things can happen for an organization when leaders have the ability to make a genuine,…
Creating Quarterly and Annual Motivational Themes
Today, we're going to talk about annual and quarterly motivational themes, and how effective that…
What are the Rockefeller Habits?
People, strategy, execution and cash: four pillars that have to be equally strong in your business…
Self-Assessment Tool
Self Assessment Tool We’ve…