The primary desire of family business advisors, like myself, is to see family-owned businesses live on for many generations. But some family businesses are beyond saving and want to die peacefully. Those businesses need hospice. Hospice is a service and philosophy of care for terminally ill patients. Hospice has four primary goals: Relieve the pain...

  We can chuckle at the cartoon, but its message is profound. During my recent speech to the Dallas-Fort Worth Institute of Management Accountants, I alerted them that their career competitors are no longer accountants that you can outrun or outwork. Robots, Siri-type Artificial Intelligence (AI) devices and computer algorithms have entered the accounting profession....

Who is responsible for strategic planning? Most people agree the answer is “the leader”. But most leaders … especially those of companies of less than 200 employees … don’t have a written strategic plan.
Written strategic plans provide numerous benefits. A written plan serves as a GPS for employees to use to arrive at the leader’s...

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings uses 20 rings for power. Your 1-page strategic “Plan of the Rings” needs only 5 rings for defining a simple way to grow your company’s sales and profits in 90-days. To purchase the template click here. The BullsEye 1-Page Strategic Plan is formed by asking questions. Questions open doors....

I was pulled over by a policeman while driving to a client’s site in Cleveland, Mississippi. “What did I do officer?” He replied, “You passed a car illegally.” “What was illegal about passing a stopped car?” I asked. “You used the shoulder of the road. That’s illegal,” he replied. “Officer, I’m from Texas. I didn’t...

The month my brother got his pilot’s license, I politely declined his invitations to go flying. Being a new pilot, Dick was trained to take off and land visually. He was not instrument certified. If unexpected fog, clouds or a storm should arise, he could easily become disoriented and crash. And as much as I...

“No company ever shrank to greatness.” (1) That quote caught my eye as I scanned the shelves of my local used bookstore. As I thumbed through the book’s first chapter discussion of the diminishing value of downsizing, I wondered, “Since this is such a relevant topic for 2003, why haven’t I seen this book promoted at Barnes...

When flying to Europe I experience jet lag… fatigue, insomnia, disorientation, irregularity and headaches. If you’re experiencing those symptoms without taking a jet trip, welcome to the “New Normal”. Have you heard the phrase “New Normal”? If not, chances are good you will be read about it more frequently in coming months. What is “New Normal”? Here...

Alan Vercio, strategic cost manager for Bank of America, recently asked me, “If you’re a Christian, would you ever join a church that has a pastor who does not read the Bible?” “Absolutely not.” “Then why would you ever work for a manager who does not read Peter Drucker?” “If leaders don’t refer to their instruction...

“We have taller buildings but shorter tempers; we spend more but have less; we buy more but enjoy it less; we have bigger houses but smaller families; more conveniences, yet less time; we have more degrees but less sense; more knowledge but less judgment; more experts, yet more problems. These are the days of two...