Position PapersSome Thoughts on Work/Life BalanceI have had the privilege of working with hundreds of professional service firms over the years, spending at least one full day and countless hours with each principal, and also interacting with thousands of the employees who make things happen at these firms. I say “privilege” because it’s stimulating to be around their energy, creativity, independence, humor, and “otherness.” I love my work. Because I’ve been successful in that work, many people informally ask me questions about starting businesses, fixing businesses, and even buying/selling businesses. This might happen over a drink or a meal. One of the concepts that frequently surfaces is this idea that people ought to pursue what they love and success will follow. “Just follow your passion and the success will take care of itself.” More > |
BlogManaging People is Counter-IntuitiveI was sitting down last week, thinking about how much difference it makes when you have a good boss. I realized, though, that much of good management is counter-intuitive. So I thought I'd take a few minutes to record a few observations while they were top of mind. Before I do, though, remember the survey on the last email? It asked whether you were better or worse than average as a manager. A full 68% of you said better! You can interpret that one. Here are the things I've learned interviewing nearly 14,000 people for the book I reference at the end:
Why You Don't Publish PricingYou'll have to look long and hard before you find a marketing firm that publishes much, if anything at all, on their pricing. That's been true for years, and only recently are firms experimenting with a little more transparency around the financial aspect of what qualifies a prospect as an appropriate fit. And if they are feeling particularly bold, they might even publish some pricing for a few services that they've packaged up so that they have fairly similar deliverables from project to project. Reasons You Don't Publish Pricing I'd like to think outloud with you about why that is. I think there are five primary reasons why this is the case. See if any of them resonate with you. First, most principals don't really believe that the main purpose of their corporation is to make money. They know that it's probably the right reason the company exists, but underneath it all is the truth: the business is an extension of what they want to do personally. The money is nice, but the work is more important. More > |
Speaking EventsRecent Changes in Marketing Your Firm for AIGA's GAIN ConferenceFor the last four decades, the marketing process has merely been tweaked (other than the entry of search firms and the power hungry procurement departments). As a result, we've fallen back on silly things like chemistry, empty "full service" promises, faux process, elaborate cold-calling programs, and just responding to as many RFPs as we can, accepting referrals from people who still have us in a box, and lowering the bar just to keep busy and feed the machine. No more. Marketing has moved from push to pull, but only if you use the right methods. We'll leave these two hours with a short-term and a long-term marketing plan for each of you, developed specifically for your situation. AIGA's GAIN conference. San Francisco. Various Presentations at HOW's MYOB ConferenceA conference co-founded by ReCourses and HOW, this concentrates exclusively on the business issues that keep you thriving as a firm. Do you know any firms that fail on the basis of the lack of creaivity? Me either. It's because they make bad business decisions. Read all about this year's conference on the dedicated site. Nashville, TN, at the Loews Vanderbilt hotel. Books
|