Resources to run a better business.

“Morale is down.” No business owner wants to hear those three words. When employees have low morale, it affects customers and the overall growth of the business. In a toxic workplace, the reason for low morale is obvious. But if you’re a leader who tries to be kind (not necessarily nice) and generally has a good culture, you might be stumped about why morale is down. In my experience, there are three main reasons for low morale in an organization.

When companies are disciplined, they grow—provided they’re disciplined about the right things. In the commercial painting company I own, our sales team and project managers are extremely disciplined about three things: beer, lunch, and dinner. Yep, going out to eat is our primary marketing strategy. We track it as one of the top metrics on our senior level scorecard. It’s called the BDL.

People are 90% of your success. You know it. I know it. Every business coach, advisor, mentor, and guru knows it. So, question for you: Why aren’t you bringing in top talent?

I write a lot about making decisions. It’s one of the most important roles a business leader has. It’s a skill, too. You don’t have to be naturally gifted at decision-making; with practice, you can get better. In general, having more information—at least, more relevant information—leads to better decisions. The more you know, the smarter your choices. But there’s another aspect to making decisions we don’t always consider. Who’s delivering that information.

The biggest difference I’ve found between winners and losers: Winners want to win more than they fear losing. Their benchmarks are higher than everybody else’s. They don’t let head trash get in their way. I recently rediscovered my will to win—out on the open water.

I spend a lot of time talking about senior leadership in companies. And when someone isn’t a senior leader, I often default to referring to them as “middle managers.” It may seem like middle managers are simply aspiring leaders who can’t quite hack it. The reality couldn’t be further from the truth. So let me clarify, and show some love for the all-important management function in your company.

Is one of your biggest reasons for running a business to make a lot of money? You’ll get no judgment from me if so. I’m a self-proclaimed capitalist, and entrepreneurship is a great way to do well financially. (Not a guaranteed way, mind you. It has a low floor but also a very high ceiling.) But the universe does not care about your bank balance.

Many entrepreneurs I know are what I call sales-driven CEOs. But there’s another group of entrepreneurs who come from a different place entirely. Those are delivery-driven CEOs, and they’re usually the business owners who started as technicians. They tend to have experience delivering the thing they’re selling. There

Tell me if this has happened to you.‍You’re in a meeting with your team, discussing an important question.‍The path forward isn’t obvious, and you, like the rest of your team, aren’t quite sure what to do next.‍So you pose the question. “How should we proceed?”‍You’re greeted by silence.‍All eyes are either looking away…or looking right at you.