Xtra Mile Resources

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.’ […]

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 […]

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 […]

America has been working on this FREEDOM experiment for 247 years. Flawed from the beginning, imperfect in our evolutions, and yet, there is still no place like America. I am amazed by the gritty determination of close immigrant/refugee friends who believe in the potential of ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness’ more than most Americans. Many […]

The 2nd of four blogs in our “Not Enough” series. Not Enough Time In our first encounters with business owners, we frequently find a smart, talented entrepreneur that is working really hard, and really long, on mostly the wrong things. Xtra Mile Truth: Your business’s most valuable resource is your time and attention. You cannot […]

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 […]

We worked with two high-potential businesses this week; reaching for their $5MM breakthroughs. Strong foundations are built and the potential for growth in their markets is very high in 2023. Their major obstacles for next-level performance are leadership capacity, leadership capability, and caring too deeply. Obstacle 1: Technical mastery ≠ Leadership ability. To get to the next level, these owners need leaders […]

I had an up close and personal look at a high-performing team last month. I observed them working together almost non-stop for 18 days, 24 hours a day. You see, a fluke crash on a mountain bike nearly took me out and I watched this all from my hospital bed. In spite of the painful […]

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 1960’s era secretary. The more modern title of Executive Administrator (EA) is also too stagnant for the needs of our fast-growing, small business, clients. […]

‘I am going to grow this business and change the world.’ (Confidence overshadowing doubt) ‘Look at that we are actually growing…’ (Confidence shines, doubt removed) ‘Oh s^*! This is getting hard!’ (Overwhelmed, doubt moves back in) Over the past month, we have been working on midyear evaluation and planning with our clients. Several of our […]

Eight skills SMB owners and leaders need to master to make their businesses one of the best places to work in America. Story Telling (Vision, Sales, Inspiration, Recognition). Building Relationship Capital => Influence. Focusing time and attention on results that matter. Effective DELEGATION of work. FEEDBACK: Accelerating team performance and human potential. Conflict Resolution. Instigating […]

‘Culture is coded wisdom.’ Wangari Maathai The most intangible of our advanced leadership levers seems to be the idea and practice of building strong culture. The teams we have worked with that got this right, SIGNIFICANTLY outperform the ones that can’t clearly articulate and reproduce their ‘coded wisdom.’ Many SMB owners mistakenly believe the whole conversation is […]

What Is Vision? VISION is one of the most diluted words in the business/strategic planning conversation. For example, we have a BIG WHY (Purpose): To make small/medium businesses the best places to work in America Some organizations call this a MISSION STATEMENT. We refer to this statement frequently as our aspirational vision. […]

“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 […]

It is difficult working with a bunch of Millennials and Gen Zs. Our team is talented, gritty, and works hard, so none of the stereotypical Millennial slander applies. I just can’t say things like, “We’re putting the band back together” and make a meaningful connection with any of them. (This is a reference to the […]