Brian Schroller
Minutia

We strongly encourage all the entrepreneurs we work with to go through our LifePlan retreat. Getting clear on the life they are intended to live is a crucial first step in having the clarity and conviction it takes to get their business working for them. Once they have their ideal life in clear focus, doing the work it takes to re-engineer their business to support that life becomes a foregone conclusion…

Minutia
Brian Schroller
IKIGAI

The organizations you lead and the roles you play there, should support and fulfill the purpose for your life, not the other way around.  More often than not, we see leaders completely unaware of their calling or purpose other than what their vocational role might dictate.

It is our contention that you are not only created for a particular purpose, but that your Creator desperately wants you to know what it is.  The clues are written on your heart, have been evident throughout your life, and are fully embodied in the things that bring you greatest joy, deepest pain, and get you out of bed in the morning.

IKIGAI
Wise Counsel
Brian Schroller
Become

When I look at the life of Jesus, for instance, He seemed to only do and say what the Father told him.  In fact, He routinely walked past the opportunity to do good, because He seemed to be called to other places and things.  Often that thing was simply spending more time alone with the Father.

As a Christian, it is hard to look past the opportunity to do good.  As a Type-A person who has spent a lot of time trying to do good things for God, I’ve had to come to the sobering reality that God would rather have me do a few things with Him than do a lot of good things apart from Him.

Become
Wise Counsel
Brian Schroller
Time

This is the time of year, when hope springs eternal.  With 365 days (minus about 25 now), we can accomplish almost anything.  But in the chaos of the tyranny of the urgent, even the best laid plans we’ve made begin to fade.  Like sets of endless waves crashing on the beach, the day to day issues we face in our lives and enterprise, can begin to wear us down.

Time
Wise Counsel
Brian Schroller
Strategy

It is the beginning of a new year and every intentional leader I talk to is hoping that 2016 will be different than 2015. They’re seeing the new year as a grand opportunity to chart a course toward a different future.  Believing that maybe this is the year where a sense of team emerges, their biggest challenges and frustrations get addressed, and they have a huge celebration at the end of the year to celebrate all they’ve accomplished.

Strategy

Top Reads

December Top 10 Reads

1. 6 Things Really Thoughtful Leaders Do

Thoughtful leaders are truly respected. Here are six traits that make them so admired.

 

2. Go Ahead: Ask Your Employees If They’re Happy

Taken as a whole, many small actions can strengthen someone’s foundation or they can tear them down. The Gallup survey suggests that there is more erosion than building of the human spirit happening in the American workplace. Be someone who builds others up rather than tears them down.  Little things matter in a big way.

 

3. Can Intergenerational Mentorship Solve Your Company's Engagement Problems?

Mentorship isn't a one-way street. And it doesn't happen only from the top down. Learn this and you could see greater employee engagement and less turnover.

 

4. It’s What You Get, Not What You See

You need to be intentional about your brand. Your brand statement is a means for you to communicate within your company the core of what your customers will feel about your company.

 

5. Strategy Is Change

This year, use your strategic planning process the way the Lords of Strategy intended: To change the things you do so that you can change the results you achieve.

6. What Not To Do When Growing Your Company, From A CEO Who's Done Just That

Don't rush the hiring process, and four other top tips for growing the right way.

 

7. Why Taking Time Off Is Good for Your Brain

Research shows you'll do better work if you take more down time.

 

8. Accountability Means Never Having To Say “We’re Sorry”

"We're sorry" is a terrible thing to say to a frustrated customer. That is, unless you've already fixed the problem. Apologizing before you've fixed the problem, as we all know first hand, can get things going downhill fast. This is rapidly approaching common knowledge in the business world, so why do so many businesses still miss the mark in the moments that count?

 

9. Dealing with Team Members Who Derail Meetings

When someone derails a meeting, it’s easy to assume that they’re the problem and the solution is to rein them in—but your assumptions may also be off-track. For smoother meetings, try these techniques.

 

10. Looking For Growth In 2014? Here’s Step 1

You want to grow your business. You survived those first few harrowing years that most don’t, but you find yourself stuck in a rut. You did what ‘had to be done’ to survive and maybe grow a bit, but you start to see that your business has picked up some bad habits along the way.

Click Here to view SummitTrek's 2014 Top Reads digital magazine (articles added monthly) via Flipboard on your computer, tablet or smartphone (iOS or Android).  Don't forget to hit Subscribe (upper left corner) once you open the magazine on your tablet or smartphone.

November Top 10 Reads

1. 3 Ways to Supercharge Online Marketing Returns

Online marketing is becoming increasingly complex. By following these three steps, you can boost your returns considerably.

 

2. 8 Things Really Efficient People Do

Everyone wants more time. Efficiency is one way of adding minutes or hours to your day. Here are eight tips effectively used by the most efficient.

 

3. 8 Ways to Energize Each Morning

To have a truly wonderful day, getting it started with your best foot forward.

 

4. 80% Of Companies Don't Care About Company Culture - Do You?

Design Executive Officers certainly do. And the authors of the new book, Rise of the DEO: Leadership by Design, believe they're the future of business.

 

5. 99 Problems But Resources Ain’t One

At the end of the day, it’s not the things that you have that define your business or career. It’s the things you do. It’s not really the lack of resources that hold us back. It’s the poor choices we make about how to invest those resources.

6. Breaking 5 Bad Content Marketing Habits That Need To Be Stopped

Because marketers have more in common with Walter White than they might realize.

 

7. Get the Most Bang for Your Marketing Buck: 3 Ways

Marketing dollars are a terrible thing to waste. Here are three powerful tips for getting the most from what you spend.

 

8. How To Ask Questions That Uncover Your Company's Values

Are your personal values engrained in the identity of your entire organization? Let's find out.

 

9. Trying To Reach Your Ideal Customer? They Might Be Closer Than You Think

“Product development” and “customer/user-experience design” can sound cold and calculating, but done right, it will take you right to the heart of your company’s reason-for-being. It’s a place to ask the deep questions that probably don’t get enough of your attention in the day-to-day.

 

10. The Power of Listening

Every employee needs to be noticed. Sure, you're busy, but taking the time for a conversation can pay off.

Click Here to view SummitTrek's 2013 Top Reads digital magazine (articles added monthly) via Flipboard on your computer, tablet or smartphone (iOS or Android).  Don't forget to hit Subscribe (upper left corner) once you open the magazine on your tablet or smartphone.