Resources to run a better business.

I bet you know who McKinsey is. Deloitte, too. Probably Accenture, Gartner, and BCG as well. That’s brand recognition. A funny thing about a brand—once the brand becomes familiar enough, the brand itself becomes more important than the product.

Did you know…AI is an expense? Many companies seem to have forgotten that in the race to be first in AI adoption. But the bill is coming due, as the big frontier AI companies are reducing subsidies and raising rates on their most popular products.

You know the saying, “nature abhors a vacuum?” It’s true in business as well. When there are gaps, something will come along to fill them. The problem is that too often, that something is me, or you. A leader who is committed, who has a lot of skin in the game, and who (maybe) thrives on anxiety. They don’t let the vacuum exist long enough for anyone else to come fill it. That’s called over functioning, and it’s a problem. Not just for you but also for your team.

If you missed last week’s post, I was on a boat. For 23 days. 2,500 miles up the Atlantic coast. It was either as incredible or as dangerous as you’re imagining. Now that I’ve had some time to process, there are tons of takeaways. Lessons I learned about myself. Lessons that are applicable to business. Lessons that I hope will be of benefit to you. Or at the very least, provide some entertaining anecdotes.

I’ve worked with hundreds of companies, and almost every single one shares this problem.‍ (Can you guess? If you’ve been around a while, I bet you can guess what it is.)‍ Leads.

As a business leader, it’s important that you can tell the difference between a challenge and a problem. In many cases, they aren’t problems at all, just circumstances that the business has to deal with. It’s simply a time when we need to acknowledge: things will be hectic, maybe a little chaotic, for a while, and then they’ll get better.

You know how you learned about delegation way back when you were becoming an entrepreneur?‍ When you hold onto too much in your company, you run out of time. You start operating beyond your skill level.‍ And when you do that, you inadvertently stifle your own growth.‍ The solution is to bring in great leaders, senior leaders, who can take your vision and help you execute it.

You know how, over time, you naturally accumulate more stuff? This inevitable accumulation is probably why spring cleaning was invented, and it happens in your business, too. Your budget may have been decided month ago. But if you’re missing your financial targets, take advantage of the spring cleaning energy. Revisit your expenses in a new light and plan for what you need for the business you’re running now.

business leaders often limit themselves with “either/or” thinking, believing they must choose between growth, profitability, or stability. Instead, it promotes “and” thinking—the ability to hold seemingly conflicting goals at once—as a more effective leadership mindset. Embracing this approach helps avoid scarcity thinking and opens the door to more balanced, sustainable decision-making.