A thinking partner for business owners
You talk. I listen.
Helping owners of privately held companies think through what matters most.
What might become possible?01
What becomes possible when people grow?
There may be more ability in your company than you know.
Your employees see customers, problems, waste, and opportunities every day. Some of their best ideas never get heard. Your leadership team may be working hard while holding different ideas about where the company is going.
When people have room to think, a chance to contribute, and a better grasp of how the business works, things begin to change.
They take on more responsibility. They grow. And the company grows with them.
A company can be more
A business must produce results. It can also be a place where people grow.
When people know how the business works, see why their work matters, and can help make it better, they often take more responsibility for its success.
“A personal development company that just so happens to sell furniture.”
This is how Bill Fonti, a former client, now describes his business. What stays with me is the choice behind those words: to help people become more capable while building a stronger business. The work still has to get done. Customers still have to be served. But how people are led shapes what they can contribute.
Questions worth exploring
What might we see if we stopped to ask?
What do your employees see that never reaches you?
Where might your leadership team be assuming agreement that does not exist?
What are your people capable of that you haven't yet tapped?
What would become possible if more people understood how the business really works?
What kind of company do you hope you are building?
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Experience on both sides of the table
I've spent more than fifty years in and around privately held businesses.
For the first 25, I was inside a family business. I eventually became its owner and president. I experienced the responsibility of ownership, the pressure of making decisions, the mistakes, the difficult conversations, and the satisfaction when things came together.
For the next 25, I worked alongside other owners, leaders, and employees. Much of that time was spent trying to understand what I had learned—and helping others avoid some of the mistakes I had made.
I also saw what happened when leaders got it right. I had the privilege of working with many outstanding leaders who built successful businesses and made them great places to come to work. Their examples have stayed with me.
Today, I draw on all of that experience in conversations with owners about their businesses, their people, and what may be possible.
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Ideas for building a more capable company
Questions and practical ideas from my years as an owner and advisor.
Explore the ideas