Xtra Mile Resources

Did you know that, depending on where you are standing in the United States, the difference between true north and magnetic north can be up to 20 degrees apart? If you walk 10 miles without programming that difference (angle of declination) into your route, you will miss your target by almost 4 miles. Like the telescope for […]

New Toolbox Series: Episode 2(Check out The Telescope Video) The tactical side of planning is easy for most leaders: Goals Plans Actions Delegation Communication Meeting routines We already know how to focus ourselves and our teammates on the work. This is the Old Toolbox. VISION is a leadership tool/skill that is more strategic. It is […]

New Toolbox Series: Episode 1(Check out Ditch the Old Toolbox Video) We were working with a General Contractor in Arizona. One of the young superstars on their team was being prepared for a director-level position and was struggling to understand the complexities of his new role. As we were wrestling with his evolution, we discovered […]

Hidden Treasures Series: Episode 3(Check out The Time Audit) In our video this week I shared the story of one of our favorite clients – Jessica Riggs from Angels of Care. When we first started working with her team, she was a 29-year-old second-generation president running a $40 million-a-year home health business. I asked her, “Jessica, […]

Hidden Treasures Series: Episode 2(Check out Undiscovered Leaders) There is a famous scene in The Notebook – an exasperated poor boy Noah (Ryan Gosling) asks the love of his life: “What do you want? What do you want?! What! Do! You! Want!” Business owners and leaders should be asking their teams the same question. Instead […]

So, I had a dream (for clarity, we are talking about a dream that I experienced while I was sleeping, not a life vision). What do you think about dreams? I have friends on the other side of the world who believe that God speaks to us through our dreams. In this crazy dream, I […]

E2X = Elevation * Evolution * Xceleration We have worked with hundreds of business owners and executive leaders in the SMB space this year. Their next breakthrough (and your next breakthrough) is waiting for the next E2X (Elevation * Evolution * Xceleration) in performance from leaders. This transformation requires mastering a new set of skills (New Toolbox) […]

We have been working with several fast-growing companies this year. Their business development is working, their reputations in their markets are dialed in. The pain for these teams are overworked and overwhelmed teammates. XM Truth: You can’t microwave leadership capacity. When an organization outgrows its humans, we get caught in the ultimate SMB dilemma. Should we take our […]

Know/Like/Trust When we hear this phrase in the business world, it is usually associated with sales. We all prefer to do business with people we Know/Like/Trust. XM Truth: We also do our best work for leaders we Know/Like/Trust. Through November to January, we are frequently engaged in the Strategic Planning process with our clients. We begin each session […]

The Texas Rangers won the World Series for the first time in franchise history last night. Their superstars, a homerun hitter and a pitching sage, were out with injuries for the last two games. The team leveraged a theme they have been working on all year: be ready when we call the ‘Next Man Up.’ […]

Three calls last week with large, multi-state clients; they all have the same challenge for 2024: Growth Acceleration! One said, ‘We have a real problem with communication among leaders.’ Another, ‘Our leaders are technical. They lack the soft skills our people need.’ The third is struggling with role/responsibility clarity of their growing executive team. To […]

Leadership Matters, FOCUS MATTERS, Offense Matters. “Discipline is the voluntary regulating of behavior that drives repetitive excellence. Successful performers develop strong personal and institutional habits that are like clockwork.” The Right Call, Sally Jenkins We have been digging into “The Right Call” with our clients this month; a great resource for understanding the psychology of performance for humans and for teams. If […]

Cut rope, open wine, saw limbs, file fingernails, drive screws, open cans, open bottles, trim beards, remove splinters, pick teeth, punch leather, etc. The Swiss Army Knife is the ultimate tool for a week in the woods, or your desk at the office. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a versatile, effective, and simple tool […]

We had 20 business owners in our training room last week for a Business Xcelerator Breakfast. Most of these leaders are in a critical growth transition, expanding their foundations after a successful startup. To gain traction at this time, we must let go of identities that served us well in the startup stage and embrace […]

“Hope alone is wishful thinking. Pair hope with a sound strategy, a detailed plan, and a lot of hard work and nothing is out of reach” Admiral William McRaven, Wisdom of the Bullfrog. One thing that will accelerate your SMB team forward faster than any other activity – getting all the amazing (but unfiltered) ideas […]

The topic of dinner tables was causing a buzz in our Advanced Leadership Forum last week. A dozen business owners gathered to help one of their peers solve a growth and turnover dilemma. The analogy this seasoned entrepreneur used to explain his dilemma was: once you get more than 12 people at a table, it […]

The third of a four-part series on the Remote/Hybrid/Return-To-Office dilemma. Click here to catch up on the last one. Does the demand for remote/hybrid work seem out of balance to you? Healthy, thriving business teams seem to be rare. I wonder if post-pandemic remote work has remained in demand because working alone is better than working in a cesspool […]

The 4th and final blog in our “Not Enough” series. Let me tell you a story about Not Enough Progress. A few years ago, we got a call from a family business making a generational transition. The founder was tired and ready to step back, so an outside CEO was hired to take over. He […]

Accountability Series part 4 of 4 So far in this series, we have covered Tangibles, Intangibles, and Mindsets that create effective delegation and accountability for results. In our final contribution, we want to share some of our experience with leadership evolution in a fast-growing SMB. During our small business’s startup and foundation building, we use a set of frontline […]

My grandfather traveled back and forth between San Francisco and China as a fireman on a steamship. He was on a team that stoked the fires that kept the steam engines running. Stokers also worked on steam locomotives. The rider on the back of a tandem bicycle is called the stoker. The sole focus of this role is to add power […]