Peer Power Blog

This past week I was in Orlando and shared at the IT Nation event hosted by ConnectWise. The topic was “10 Things I Accidentally Learned Along the Path to Growth”. Since I am one of the older folks in the industry, experience is on my side, and there have been some fairly painful learning experiences over the past 25 years. Ten of them stood out as significant – so that is what I shared. I will be writing in much more detail about these on this blog over the next few weeks – but here is the list and highlights for now:1. Strategy Matters – we have to understand the "why" so we can set our sights on where we are going and know the outcome we pursue.2. Planning is Key – we need... Continue reading

Good friend David Russell of ManagetoWin wrote some great content in his weekly newsletter this week. The focus is on the often neglected power of involving your spouse in the decision making process. He calls it “Spouse Advantage”. He gives examples of Jim Collins, Ray Johnston and Jim Burns and how they are connected with their wives when it comes to making decisions. This is a topic that needs some focus for many of us leading companies.For many years I fell into the trap believing that I was the one who needed to make all the decisions. After all, I was the bread winner, out in the workplace, making things happen day after day. So not only did I fail to involve my bride in the process, I... Continue reading

This week there was a great post in Harvard Business Review by Robert Sutton entitled “True Leaders Are Also Managers”. This is an age old discussion – what the role is of a CEO vs. President or manager vs. leader. The article includes these comments:“In my reviews of the writings and research, I kept bumping into an old and popular distinction that has always bugged me: leading versus managing. The brilliant and charming Warren Bennis has likely done more to popularize this distinction than anyone else. He wrote in "Learning to Lead: A Workbook on Becoming a Leader" that "There is a profound difference between management and leadership, and both are important. To manage means to bring about... Continue reading