Do your clients trust you explicitly or do they often say, "We'll have to think it over" when you propose a solution or plan of action? Do your prospects trust you the very first time they meet you, or do you often hear "We want to check with some other..." before they are willing to commit to engaging your services?

When employees productivity, morale, and motivation fall - for no reason at all, it's not for no reason at all. The first step toward ridding your organization of profit draining behavior is to recognize it for what it is.

Effective leadership is the only competitive advantage you'll ever have that will endure against all others. Are you then an effective, 21st Century leader? What would your people say about your leadership? Would they say that your leadership is the one key element that insures their long term success? And how much of your energy is being spent helping your subordinates become effective leaders?

You can blame whoever you want but that won't change the fact that it is your responsibility. Will the future be the time you'll be happy with the decisions you make today, or not? Who's in charge of your business succession process? Who is going to have to live with the outcome? You know the answer, now it's time for you to do something about it.

If you are a the owner of a small business it's not hard to imagine yourself all alone in a tiny boat, rowing steadily across a calm lake. Everything seems fine - and yet you keep looking over your shoulder, when you know you should be focusing on the future, wondering if there is something you haven't thought of.

Most coaches I've met and whose web sites I've visited seem to be of the "coaches who coach coaches so that they can coach coaches" variety. No one seems to be coaching regular traditional mainstream businesses. Most coaches just seem to be coaching each other.

About three thousand years ago a group of Chinese business owners were sitting around after their local businessman's group meeting. Their guest speaker that day was a very ancient and widely respected management consultant. It had been raining for days and the roads were a mess, so the ox cart that was picking him up to take him to the next village was running late.

I know you don't have a strategic marketing team. I know everybody in your organization is too busy doing what must be done today to attend one more meeting or be happy about being put on another committee.

The first step toward dominating your marketplace, your industry in fact, is understanding your business and then establishing clearly defined strategic objectives. These strategic objectives are a lot more than just vague goals that you mention on your web site, were part of your incorporation papers, or are in the never ever read by anybody since they were written corporate minutes.

Your success will be the result of your willingness to focus on the most profitable things your organization does, continually projecting a focused message to your market place, and a price that demonstrates value to your customers and prospects. Stay alert for changes inside and outside the company, find ways to adapt to take competitive advantage of tiny fluctuations in your market.