Finish Strong

It has no doubt been a very tough year for everyone. There’s been uncertainty around every corner. There have been obstacles in your path that you never thought possible. Many of you have lost family members and friends, saw relationships fall apart, or learned that your job was no longer available. Regardless of how challenging…

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Communicating in Tough Times

Leading in tough times requires effective communication. This week’s leadership tool outlines 3 communication behaviors that you should embrace when moving through uncertainty: 1. Be proactive; don’t allow the story to overtake your message. 2. Be appropriately serious; don’t come across flippant. 3. Be open to feedback; don’t create an environment where people won’t speak…

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Find Your Path

The vast majority of my career has been spent being developed to lead others, leading others, or developing others to lead. Throughout much of that time, we would be led down a fairly prescriptive path. To be a leader, you’d have to have this experience, go to this course, take this job, etc. There was…

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4 Reasons That You Should Start a Business Today

Every semester, I invite entrepreneurs into my classroom at Vanderbilt University to share their stories with my students, partner with student teams to address business challenges, and receive recommendations about how to improve their businesses, drive growth, and better position themselves in the marketplace. Using these experiences as a backdrop, coupled with my own business…

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3 Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

About 20 years ago, my wife, Jamie, and I started Wedgewood Consulting Group. We built the business from scratch, led it for over a decade, and then sold it. We learned mountains of lessons, many of which I’ve discussed on LinkedIn over the years, including some of the stories which form the basis of the 5…

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Are You Promoting the Right People?

Imagine for a moment that you just got promoted. Your first order of business? Help choose your replacement. To you, there’s really no need to interview anyone. You already know that you’ll be choosing your hotshot lead analyst who has been performing at a high level for some time. Fast forward 6 months, and things…

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What Does a Leader Do, Anyway?

Leadership is incredibly hard to define. Instead of trying to figure out what a Leader is, I find it easier at times to discern what a Leader does. I’ve whittled it down to three key jobs of a Leader. No matter what organization or industry you’re in, or what job title you have, or what…

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How COVID-19 Barriers Remind Us that Great Leaders are Barrier Busters

In recent weeks, I’ve watched as neighborhood businesses began to come back to life amid COVID-19. After last week’s article, I’ve been making an effort to (safely) get back into my old routine. In addition to asking customers to wear masks and comply to social distancing standards, restaurants and stores are installing plexiglass barriers at…

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