Xtra Mile Resources

Click here to check out our video this week – describing two types of Bad Apples that bring sour dysfunction to our SMBs. Our full prescription if you’re considering letting an employee go is outlined below in four steps: Step #1: Love Them. Care about the humans in your business enough to be present and make sure they are okay. […]

“I can’t find people up to my standards, and then they don’t stay.” A real conversation with a frustrated business owner this week. If you are a seasoned SMB business owner in the DFW market, here are a few things that might help you be more successful in hiring and keeping talent: Inflation is real […]

Check out our video Not Another YOU for a 1-minute paradigm shift on building your bench for maximum impact. In a scene from Bill Watterson’s classic comic Calvin & Hobbes, the anti-hero, Calvin, decides to build a duplicator. His theory: if he can create another Calvin, the duplicate can be responsible for the chores, homework and other […]

“In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” – Eric Hoffer (Author, Philosopher, Presidential Medal of Freedom 1983) We train hundreds of leaders every year. Business owners, CEOs, executives, frontline, and first-time leaders. One of the final sessions we […]

Let’s talk about the lost opportunity dilemma. A SMB owner spends 3-5 years laying a strong foundation. The team has mastered marketing and sales and finally experiences Xcelerated growth. Suddenly, the systems, processes, and people are overwhelmed, and the temptation is to take our foot off the gas. We can’t find good people fast enough. […]

Are you familiar with that uncomfortable/uneasy feeling of being counted on to deliver results that are bigger than your training and experience? SMB owners may never be comfortable with these challenges, but we get very familiar with this feeling when our businesses are Xcelerating and growing fast. Nothing requires more growth from the owner than moving […]

(Part 2 of our 4 part series on leadership in the SMB space) Lie #1: It’s just easier if I do it myself. Lie #2: I am the only one who can do it. Lie #3: My people don’t care as much as I do. XM Truth: Most of us suck at basic delegation; these […]

It has been the windiest April in 30 years in Texas. The constant, nagging pull is wearing us out (especially road cyclists). We feel that same constant pressure as business owners, and right now that burden is heavy. The market is hot Customers are demanding Supply lines are disrupted Inflation is eroding our profit The competition for […]

Almost all of our clients are rebels to some extent. They have a better idea, a more compelling vision, an insatiable desire to disrupt the status quo. If they followed our #XtraMile guidance in January they put a plan together for an economy that came back faster than expected. As we hit 2021’s midway […]

We have a twenty-year-old tradition with our extended family vacations: After the event, Ross (aka Dad, Uncle Ross, and now Grandpa) makes a highlight video. (Click here for a sample). The beauty is, all you remember when you watch the video is the fun stuff. Not the conflict, drama, and frustration that occurs when 8 […]

#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 have been on calls and video chats with nearly one hundred business owners, managers, and leaders over the last 2 weeks. I don’t know how you are feeling, but Q1 didn’t exactly wrap up as we expected in the beginning of March. The government mandated closures and stay home orders are saving lives and reducing the […]

Still not the Christmas Blog… We have been writing this month about tactical planning that creates breakthroughs in small business (Marketing, Lineup). We want to close the year out with three gifts. If you open these up, I can almost guarantee a breakthrough for you and your business in 2020. 1) Focus on the MIGHTY […]

Conflict can’t be avoided, and it can’t be won (see our previous blog). Arguably the most complex of human interactions, we have all experienced poor conflict skills in our families, neighborhoods, and at work. Here are a few simple rules to follow that will lower conflict and drama in your teams. #1 Make sure they […]

Small Business Owners, what does your HR department look like? For a lot of us, it looks like the person we see while we brush our teeth. With no HR professional, no budget to pay for pricey recruiting, and hard pressed for time as we grow our business, how can we recruit great talent and […]

Over the past two weeks I have dealt with a harried realtor who wasn’t keeping up with his commitments, a busy executive who has convinced herself she is the only one who can manage an out of state project, and a chiropractor with big ideas for new services, but no time or finances to expand. […]

My parents were raised in a culture of “children should be seen, not heard.” I was from the latchkey generation and had a lot of autonomy with my time from a young age. My wife and I made intentional decisions to invest in our kids, teaching them to speak up, think for themselves, and ask […]

Do the girls like your hair like that? Grandfathers have been saying this to grandsons for centuries. In the 80’s it was my party-in-the-back mullet that stirred this comment out of my Grandy. Now I look at my own son’s haircut and clothes and he says, ‘It’s called fashion dad, look it up.’ Some of […]

“Sometimes we mistake the edge of our rut for the horizon.” – Unknown I had lunch last week with the 2nd generation owner of a decades old business. He was feeling stuck. Early this week I had coffee with a woman in her 30’s, who leads a three-year-old start up with her husband. Very […]

At our last BXH2 Happy Hour, Chuck Inman shared some interesting statistics on why business executives get fired. 31% can’t manage change 28% ignored the customer 27% tolerated low performance Chuck is an expert on leadership and emotional intelligence and had an exceptional career leading international sales teams in the pharmaceutical industry. Check out […]