Xtra Mile Resources

“One More Thing…” These are the words made famous by Steve Jobs, right before he introduced new products at his Apple events. Words are powerful, small changes to what we say can make a big difference in the human response. Ace Hardware stores are independently owned. At the store in my neighborhood, I am […]

When we achieve massive growth in our small business, the owner’s leadership role must evolve quickly. The team needs to be dynamic as well. Technology has eliminated the role of the 1960s “secretary”. The more modern title of Executive Assistant (EA) is also too stagnant for what most of our #XtraMiler clients need in […]

I wonder if the first chapter in every SMB owner’s book sounds like this: “I don’t know how we made it through the first two years.” When I left to get my first small business started, my partner and I took our amazing team administrator, Diana White, out for lunch. After thanking her for her […]

Re-Onboarding: Is that even a word? The Texas Governor announced the reopening of Texas businesses starting March 10th. Even before that announcement, our team has been noticing increasing traffic inside Dallas/Fort Worth. We are bumping up against 4 million vaccinated and nearly 3 million recovered, which means almost 25% of the 29 million Texans now have […]

I snuck out of the snowpocalypse last week in Texas to work with clients in Phoenix. (It was for work, not a sunny vacation in Cancun). As a business performance hacker, it was motivating to catch up with a dozen leaders we trained back in 2018-19 and hear their pandemic stories: “The leadership training we […]

#Snowmageddon2021 in Texas is in full force. For the first time in history, the entire state of Texas was under winter storm warnings at one time. With a -2°F on the thermometer Wednesday morning, we tied a 1949 record for the coldest recorded temperature in Dallas/Fort Worth. The stress of having too much cold, for […]

We were working with a Father-Son duo last week who has the energizing problem of rapid growth on multiple fronts in their businesses. This family has built an amazing service company over the last two decades. Their client-focused approach has led them to build an internal program to train their own technicians. After a few years in the […]

We have clients that are leading their business through their first $1.0mm year. We also have clients that are leading their businesses through their first $300mm year. The most critical resource for each breakthrough is the owner/leader’s time and attention. Our two-part prescription for these business owners is fundamentally the same. But first, a question for the […]

A little brag on our XM team; record Q1 and it’s only January. That feels good after 2020. One of the benefits of our diverse client base is we get to see a wide sample of the SMB market. We did work with three of our long-term clients this week. One landed a record-breaking deal that […]

Our latest blog on the power of planning has started many conversations. Some business owners approach the chaos of the pandemic hangover with an attitude of, ‘why even plan?’ If you think that is true, you probably have a small, safe, and/or foggy vision for 2021. Leaders who want a breakthrough or a radical recovery, need clarity and a […]

Performance data and human psychology have proved over and over again the positive impact of planning for any organization. In last week’s blog, we shared a few ideas for the Small/Medium Business (SMB) community about planning for the unique challenges of 2021. In the age of ‘Prime Now’ one thing won’t change, the need for speed. Fast […]

Did you see the Christmas Star last night? No one will remember us, but 400 years from now Jupiter and Saturn will line up again. I hope 2420 is a better year than in 2020. Christmas, like everything else, looks a little different this year. Christmas is about light coming in the darkness. Hope, […]

I had a little time to study this week while I was quarantined. I have been digging into Leaders: Myth and Reality, by Stan McChrystal and his team of researchers. The overarching theme of the book is that leaders and organizations have to be cautious about the following three myths of leadership: The formulaic myth: Leadership is not […]

“I can’t afford to hire administrative help,” said the frazzled business owner, as he ran to UPS to ship a client gift and drove to the store because the office is out of coffee and toilet paper. True story. We had a math lesson in last week’s blog that showed the impact of 8 hours a week, […]

Optimism and Thankfulness I have been listening to The Ride of a Lifetime by Bob Iger (Disney CEO); as you can imagine he is a great storyteller. He declares one of the most crucial characteristics of a leader is optimism. Storms come, struggles are real, the world fights through a global pandemic. In the midst of every battle, […]

Saturday night, our very own Fanni Gambero won the Rookie of the Year honors at the 2020 DFW Admin Awards Ceremony. As her teammates, consultants, and our XtraMiler clients already knew, she is a winner. Over the past 10 years, XM Performance has radically evolved in our approach to guiding small and medium businesses […]

I have been involved in international development work for almost 20 years. We have helped build schools, community medical centers, leadership academies, chartered Rotary clubs, and even started a few small businesses. 90% of our work has been in closed Muslim countries. How have these projects happened? How do radically different cultures collaborate for the greater good? Drink […]

Conquest-War-Famine-Plague Recognize these names? These are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the Christian New Testament. Their arrival signals the end of times. There are also four horsemen in our SMBs that are keeping our teams from breaking through. The Technical Genius: He/she was critical to the startup. But now we are […]

Redeem I just re-read our blog from last week. As a 52-year-old Dad, recently promoted to Granddad, my bad dad joke game is strong. Just ask my children, employees, or bride for an eye-rolling confirmation. I hope this final blog of our October fog-cutting series REDEEMS me. Redeem = Compensate for the faults […]

When it is time to break through the fog, structure matters. In the era of wooden ships, there was a BEAM called the keel that ran down the center of the hull. The rest of the ship was built on and supported by this structure. Building on our previous fog-cutting blogs on TEAM and […]