All small businesses are affected by change. It could be something as simple as implementing a new payroll system or as monumental as switching to a new operating system or moving the office to a new location. Even if the change is warranted and the results are promising, change is rarely easy and a large percentage of change efforts fail. So how can leaders set themselves and their teams up for success when it comes to implementing change? It truly all begins with effective change leadership. Personality types of effective change leaders When you look at the Clifton StrengthsFinder personality types, effective change leaders can emerge from any of the four strength domains: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building or Strategic Thinking and any combination thereof. When

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10+ years after the Great Recession of 2006-2007, the U.S. economy is healthy. For the majority of small business owners, taking out loans to fund growth is relatively easy through conventional banking as well as alternative funding sources. Many small businesses sales are strong. But how long will this trend last? History teaches us that the economy ebbs and flows and on the heels of every boom there is an eventual downturn. Currently, there is a sense of uncertainty due to the political and economic climate here in the States and around the world. Additionally, as we come up on an election year in 2020, many people will sit tight and withhold spending. Let’s take a look at how an eventual economic downturn will affect

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21st century leadership is moving away from the traditional leadership hierarchy of the past and embracing a more approachable leadership style. Leaders are climbing down from their lofty positions of power and forging a more human-to-human connection with their team(s). This shift in leadership styles is largely fueled by research from thought leaders such as Pat Lencioni and Brené Brown who acknowledge the value of empathy in leadership and is driven by employees who, in this age of social media, equate transparency with trustworthiness. Vulnerability – the precursor to empathy Our ability to be daring leaders will never be greater than our capacity for vulnerability. – Brené Brown Empathy is putting ourselves in the shoes of another in order to truly understand their experience.  This

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We’ve acknowledged the employee engagement crisis and established the importance of engaging your employees. But how does an employer go about this? Would adding a soda machine and a ping pong table to your breakroom engage your employees and turn a bigger profit for your company? Most certainly not. Increasing employee engagement requires a clear employee engagement strategy. Here are some important components of an effective strategy: Be transparent: In order to engage employees, it’s crucial to gain their trust and be relatable. As opposed to the temptation to appear larger than life, foster open and honest communication with those you lead. Tell the truth, admit when you make a mistake and ask for input from employees when it’s appropriate. Your employees will respect your

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If employee engagement increases business profitability, why, according to 2016 Gallup statistics, is employee disengagement at an all-time high? In fact, 53% of U.S. workers are not engaged at their jobs and 17% of workers are actively disengaged. Employers must take the time to invest in formal employee engagement strategies to engage and retain their employees. Gallup also reports that, without an engagement strategy in place, teams are 21% less profitable, 17% less productive, have 10% lower customer ratings and increased employee turnover. What does an engaged employee look like? So what’s the goal? An engaged employee is energized by their work, passionate about their work and fulfilled in their work. They are driven by a desire to achieve excellence in all their tasks and

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Transcript: How to Attract Top Talent to Your Company I think you’ll agree that most business owners say they’re struggling to attract top talent to their company. Many of them tell me they’re struggling to attract ANY talent to their company. However, what if I share with you in this video what top-talented people are looking for in an employer? I’m going to share with you the four things that top-talented people are looking for when they go to join the company. Hi, this is Jody Ann Johnson with ActionCOACH – Team Sage, where we work with small business owners and their teams to help them grow their businesses, keep more of the money they make, be more profitable and free up their time. If

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In an all-too-familiar scenario, a well-known family business in our area recently suffered a significant breakdown in family dynamics and consequently, business operations. I often say and have lived it myself, “When the family dynamics are strained, it puts the lid on a business’s ability to grow,” not to mention the negative impact on family relationships. Sometimes children come straight into the family business from high school. Other times, they go off and pursue their own careers and dreams and come into the family business later in life. Owning and operating a family business requires a special kind of attention to detail. It also requires an immense amount of planning and strategizing to successfully integrate new family members into an existing set of family members

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Transcript: How To Attract & Retain Talented People I think most business owners would agree that one of the biggest challenges they face today is how to attract and retain the very best people. What if I told you that it’s possible to have a strong employer brand that not only attracts and retains talent but also engages and motivates them. In this video, I will share with you what you must do in order to create a strong employer brand that DOES actually retain and engage talent. Hi! This Is Jody Ann Johnson with ActionCOACH – Team Sage, where we help small business owners and their teams make more money, keep more of the money they make and free up their time so they

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Leslie’s Story… Shortly after I met Leslie Marenco, she decided to dissolve her law firm and start Trust Counsel. Leslie, a Miami estate and trust attorney, knew she needed a total realignment of every aspect of her new firm, Trust Counsel, and asked ActionCOACH Business Coaching Team Sage to help facilitate this process. She expressed frustration over problems on every front – the workflow, the people on her team and the systems she had in place. Things weren’t working as well as she needed them to in order to operate a successful firm and Leslie knew the firm couldn’t continue on as it was. Getting Back on Track We knew what we had to address to help Leslie’s firm get back on track. We cleaned

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Transcript: How to do Market Intelligence in Recruitment I think you would agree that most business leaders say they’re somewhat at a loss for how to get started in recruitment today. What if I told you that there’s a lot you can do in market intelligence on recruitment that can greatly improve your chances of success. In this video I will share with you the three things that I share with my business owners when they’re starting their recruitment process that help to improve their outcomes. Hi everybody! This is Jody Ann Johnson of ActionCOACH – Team Sage, where we work with small business owners and their teams to help them make more money, keep more of the money they make, be more profitable and

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