Resources

Core Values? Who Gives A Crap?

March 27, 2025 No comments yet
Pop quiz: When did you last think about your company's vision and core values? Can you repeat any of them? Are they something your employees joke about with fellow new hires when they are stuck in the boredom of training? When they watch that video and hear the lecture from leaders about your company's core values, do they believe in them?  Or let's look at it from another perspective: do you, as a leader, feel cheesy giving the speech about your core values? Do you cringe at the thought that you have become the human equivalent of just another motivational [...]
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Building a Scalable Sales Organization

February 12, 2025 No comments yet
Like many of our clients, our firm is at a size where we have to nail down the revenue production of our firm. That is, at our size, we have to have a machine that is now producing our revenue to support our team of 15, as well as the growth we anticipate over the next few years.  Like many things in scaling a service organization, we’re finding that what got us here won’t get us there. We have always been an ORG (“Owner Revenue Generated”) company. As the owner and founder, I’ve always sat in the seat of sales [...]
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Growth Mindset Wisdom from the Next Generation

January 24, 2025 No comments yet
Our firm focus for 2025 is Mindset.  So imagine what a surprise it was to be asked to proofread an essay my 9th grader, Michael, had to write for his Honors English class…and find it written about that very thing!  His writing prompt was: “How should intelligence be measured?” And his entire essay is below. Intelligence is like being a turtle; dedicated to learn on its own, being patient with itself, and able to apply knowledge. Having the ability to apply your knowledge is the key to being intellectually smart. There are studies that show how you can work to [...]
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Leaning into Crucial Conversations

December 23, 2024 No comments yet
How you have conversations in your organization, and the intention with which you speak, matters. “Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can’t, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.” – Robert Frost Overspeaking, looping with no point, and speech riddled with generalities or exaggerations do no good to move your organization and your team forward. But transforming speech turns out to be a difficult challenge.  Your speech patterns are habitual, and likely have been allowed by those around you for years and years. So if you [...]
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You May Need to Stay Put in Your Business

August 15, 2024 No comments yet
We coach and consult with many service-based organizations and we are finding some patterns after the pandemic. Many entrepreneurs are struggling with what it is like to now lead a company considering the remembrance of where they were before the pandemic, what the pandemic has done to their companies, and how they have been affected personally as leaders.  We’ve all been struggling personally after the impact of the pandemic on our lives and those around us. And now an unstable economy is bringing a lot of discouragement to service entrepreneurs. You are not alone if you feel this too. Many [...]
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Shoshin, a Beginner’s Mind

July 17, 2024 No comments yet
With experience comes a lot of value and power in business. You can typically raise your price or hourly rate as you learn more and hold yourself out as an expert. We teach entrepreneurs how to narrow into a market just so they can do this - become experts. But with experience and knowledge comes the belief that you ‘know enough.’ You prove this to yourself every day as you solve complex problems and you become the person that people go to for answers. You begin to believe that you know enough. This belief can sneak up on us as [...]
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A Closer Look at Remote Work

June 14, 2024 No comments yet
Remote jobs are a big draw these days to job seekers.  They are like a shiny new car…great in theory, with no maintenance for a while, better gas mileage than a similar used car, and the technology is top notch.  Sounds like a dream, right?  The only thing is, once you get that new car, a lot of times it’s more work than you expected.  You want to keep it looking nice, so you take it to the car wash once a week.  That remote work technology is great…when it works.  You can get out of bed whenever you want [...]
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Reading Habits, Benefits, and Suggestions

June 11, 2024 No comments yet
This year, the Blumer team has made a commitment to read more.  We are currently reading Atomic Habits as a team to benefit the Blumer community as well as to benefit ourselves as individuals.  One thing we are learning is that habits are made by repetition and consistency.  We also tend to keep those habits (good or bad) by focusing on what we want to accomplish, not just setting a goal.  Once you set a goal to “read a book”, you’ve met that goal when you reach the end, but if you focus on “reading a chapter a day” or [...]
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Case Study: Guiding 3MW Through Leadership Transition

May 20, 2024 No comments yet
Overview Meet 3 Media Web, a digital marketing and website development agency that provides services and support to B2B companies in a wide range of industries.  Over the past five years, company leaders Mary Novick and Jess Hennessey found themselves more and more engaged in working “on the business” rather than in it, and eventually moved into C-suite roles. When the former CEO decided to step down from ownership, it felt right for them to pursue purchasing the company themselves. The Problem Buying a company is a big deal: it’s not something many of us do every day, and when [...]
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Case Study: Stoked Gets Legally Creative

May 20, 2024 No comments yet
Overview Stoked is a global design company based out of Nashville, renowned for its expertise in fostering healthy work cultures, guiding teams through transitions, and providing organizations with tools for sustained positive impact. At the head of the company stands CEO Anna Love–a sort of accidental business leader.  The Problem Anna and her cofounder found themselves starting a business without really meaning to. In her words: "Neither of us had the business prowess that is probably needed to be wise business leaders." And a big part of leading a successful business is having a firm grasp on accounting and finances. [...]
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