Resources to run a better business.

The stock market is on sale.‍ For many, the instinctive reaction is fear. Fear about your portfolio, your retirement, your future slipping through your fingers.‍ Those who feel afraid are more likely to be paralyzed. To watch and wait. And worry.‍ But there is another way to respond to this kind of moment—with action.‍ Historically, the people who are able to overcome the fear and take action are the ones who see tremendous upside.

Ask any entrepreneur how many hours they spend working each week. We’re a hard-working crew. My numbers are similar, even today. And when I’m feeling overwhelmed, I can also feel a little sorry for myself about the amount of time I spent working. But here’s the truth—something a colleague shared with me a long time ago. Not all of those hours are actually spent on my business. They’re spent worrying about my business.

By the time I meet a candidate, I really need to know just one thing. “How badly do they want to work here?”

This article is the first in a two-part series on alignment. In my experience, many companies that have problems don’t realize alignment is their core issue. They get so focused on this challenge or that obstacle that they fail to see the forest for the trees. So today is all about helping you self-identify: Do you have an alignment problem?

We spend thousands of dollars a year on what we call “Help First” Zoom/phone calls. It wasn’t an expense we ever thought we would be budgeting for. But we do it gladly. Here’s the deal. In our consulting company, one of our Core Values is Help First. What does that mean exactly?

My son, Max, has been playing soccer since he was 5 years old. Over the years, I’ve watched him and half a dozen buddies grow up, playing together on rec teams, club teams and school teams. Their teams have generally been pretty good. Part of their success, I’m convinced, is how long they’ve been playing together. They know each other so well, and that makes them tough to beat. And this year—Max’s senior year—they took it all the way.

“That’s just our culture: Sink or swim.” I hear similar sentiments from many of the entrepreneurs I work with. I get where they’re coming from. They’re smaller companies, and smaller companies are still building out their processes, training, and management structures.

Are you connecting the dots between what you do and why you do it? And who you do it for? Many of us are motivated not just by the feeling of accomplishment, but by a desire to take care of the ones we love. There’s always another thing you could do for your business. There’s always something more your business needs. It will take as much time and energy as you are willing to give it.