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What Return-to-Office Mandates Really Test

Nearly a third of U.S. companies now require a full return to the office, five days a week, and new research on what that mandate costs doesn't match the case most executives make for it in public.…

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What Return-to-Office Mandates Really Test
Work Culture
What Return-to-Office Mandates Really Test

Nearly a third of U.S. companies now require a full return to the office, five days a week, and new…

Why Capable Leaders Still Won't Let Go of the Work
Leadership Development
Why Capable Leaders Still Won't Let Go of the Work

Ask a small business owner whether they should delegate more and nearly all of them agree without…

Your Sleep Tracker Might Be Costing You Sleep
Personal Development
Your Sleep Tracker Might Be Costing You Sleep

Sleep tracking has turned rest into something people keep score on. Rings, watches and bedside…

Most Teams Use AI for One or Two Tasks and Stop There
AI in the Workplace
Most Teams Use AI for One or Two Tasks and Stop There

Half of American workers now use artificial intelligence in their jobs, and most of them use it for…

Dr. Josh Maddox, "The Map Is Not the Territory"
Leadership Development
The Map Is Not the Territory

Every founder eventually discovers that the organization they imagined and the organization they…

When Avoiding Conflict Stops Being Kind
Christian Business
When Avoiding Conflict Stops Being Kind

There is a form of conflict avoidance that wears a Christian face. You don't want to embarrass…

Who: The A Method for Hiring by Geoff Smart & Randy Street
Must Reads
Who: The A Method for Hiring by Geoff Smart & Randy Street

A bad hire is usually a failure of the hiring process, not bad luck with people, and that claim is…

Dr. Josh Maddox, "The Human Compass"
Personal Development
The Human Compass

We often imagine that if we could solve enough problems, we would finally arrive at peace.

Low Quit Rates Are Hiding a Retention Problem
People and Performance
Low Quit Rates Are Hiding a Retention Problem

The most recent federal labor data reads like good news for any owner who spent 2022 replacing…

Dr. Josh Maddox, "Why Not?"
Personal Development
Why Not?

A few weeks ago, I published an essay called The Freedom to Ask Why. It was a reflection on a…

Writing Company Commitments Employees Will Remember
Tools and Templates
Writing Company Commitments Employees Will Remember

A Gallup study released in November 2025 puts a number on something most business owners never…

Dr. Josh Maddox, "The Freedom to Ask Why"
Personal Development
The Freedom to Ask Why

I have been asking “why” for as long as I can remember.

Why Hybrid Schedules Work Better When Teams Set Them
Work Culture
Why Hybrid Schedules Work Better When Teams Set Them

Hybrid work stopped being a pandemic-era experiment years ago. Gallup's most recent workforce data…

Span of Control Is Growing. Leadership Hasn't Caught Up.
Leadership Development
Span of Control Is Growing. Leadership Hasn't Caught Up.

The average manager in the United States is now responsible for more people than at any point since…

What Faith-Forward CEOs Prioritize Over Profit
Christian Business
What Faith-Forward CEOs Prioritize Over Profit

A new Barna Group study, produced in partnership with C12 Business Forums, surveyed 356 U.S. CEOs…

The Job Description Template That Prevents Role Confusion
Tools and Templates
The Job Description Template That Prevents Role Confusion

Most owners think about job clarity as something one person needs: does this employee understand…

The Widening Employee Satisfaction Gap Between Employers
Work Culture
The Widening Employee Satisfaction Gap Between Employers

SHRM's newest read on the American workplace, released in January 2026, describes something more…

Why It's Important to Measure What Matters
Business Strategy
Why It's Important to Measure What Matters

Most businesses already track more numbers than anyone uses. Revenue, retention, output, whatever…

The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle
Must Reads
The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle

"The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups," by journalist Daniel Coyle, opens with…

What Honest Scales Mean for a Modern Business
Christian Business
What Honest Scales Mean for a Modern Business

PwC's Trust in US Business Survey found a gap most business owners never see, because it's…

Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick
Must Reads
Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick

"Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI," by Wharton professor Ethan Mollick, opens from an…

The Exit Interview Form Most Small Businesses Get Wrong
Tools and Templates
The Exit Interview Form Most Small Businesses Get Wrong

Most small business owners either skip the exit interview altogether or treat it as a formality: a…

Quiet Cracking Is a Culture Problem, Not Burnout
Work Culture
Quiet Cracking Is a Culture Problem, Not Burnout

A little over a year after "quiet quitting" entered the business vocabulary, workplace researchers…

The One Habit That Predicts Whether Employees Stay
People and Performance
The One Habit That Predicts Whether Employees Stay

Ask most owners what keeps an employee from quitting and the answer defaults to pay. The research…

How to Tell When It's Actually Burnout
Personal Development
How to Tell When It's Actually Burnout

Most owners assume they'd know if they were burned out. In practice, the signal is easy to miss,…

Why the Business That Never Closes Needs Boundaries Anyway
Personal Development
Why the Business That Never Closes Needs Boundaries Anyway

Owning a business that operates from home erases a boundary employees still have by default: the…

The Real Reason So Many First-Time Managers Struggle
Leadership Development
The Real Reason So Many First-Time Managers Struggle

The employee who gets promoted into management is usually the one who was best at the job before…

Building Leaders Who Don't Need You in the Room
Leadership Development
Building Leaders Who Don't Need You in the Room

Most owners can name their most trusted employee without hesitation. Far fewer can say what happens…

Why Relationships, Not Achievement, Predict Long-Term Happiness
Personal Development
Why Relationships, Not Achievement, Predict Long-Term Happiness

Most people, asked what would make them happier, reach for some version of more: more money, more…

The Six Things Researchers Say Add Up to a Life Well Lived
Personal Development
The Six Things Researchers Say Add Up to a Life Well Lived

Fulfillment is easy to treat as a single feeling, the sense that life is going well, but the…

The Customer Service Tasks AI Is Already Handling Well
AI in the Workplace
The Customer Service Tasks AI Is Already Handling Well

The customer service tasks AI already handles well are more specific than the marketing around "AI…

Why Competing on Price Is a Losing Strategy for Most Small Businesses
Business Strategy
Why Competing on Price Is a Losing Strategy for Most Small Businesses

Most owners assume raising prices means losing customers to a competitor who won't. The data from…

The 90-Day Window That Decides Whether a New Hire Stays
People and Performance
The 90-Day Window That Decides Whether a New Hire Stays

New hires don't wait long to decide whether they made the right call. Onboarding research compiled…

The Tasks Small Business Owners Shouldn't Hand to AI Yet
AI in the Workplace
The Tasks Small Business Owners Shouldn't Hand to AI Yet

The riskiest tasks to hand to AI right now aren't the obviously sensitive ones; they're the…

Why the Best Leaders Ask More Questions Than They Answer
Leadership Development
Why the Best Leaders Ask More Questions Than They Answer

The instinct to lead by having the answer ready is understandable, and it's also usually backward.…

Why You Must Read 'Extreme Ownership' for Every Level of Leadership
Must Reads
Why You Must Read 'Extreme Ownership' for Every Level of Leadership

"Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win," by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, opens with…

Why You Must Read 'Traction' for Growing Businesses
Must Reads
Why You Must Read 'Traction' for Growing Businesses

"Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business," by Gino Wickman, introduced what's become one of the most…

Why You Must Read 'This Is Marketing' by Seth Godin
Must Reads
Why You Must Read 'This Is Marketing' by Seth Godin

"This Is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn to See," by Seth Godin, reframes marketing…

From Family Standoff to Succession Plan: An Auto Shop's Turnaround
Case Studies
From Family Standoff to Succession Plan: An Auto Shop's Turnaround

A high-volume auto repair, tire, and custom wheel dealer, fifty employees strong under the same…

The Refrigeration Company That Found Its Best Year in a Decade
Case Studies
The Refrigeration Company That Found Its Best Year in a Decade

A commercial refrigeration company, under the same ownership for two decades, had a strong…

Why a Thriving Therapy Practice Still Needed an Outside Perspective
Case Studies
Why a Thriving Therapy Practice Still Needed an Outside Perspective

A well-established counseling and therapy organization, more than 25 employees deep and profitable…

Where AI Actually Saves Owners Time Right Now
AI in the Workplace
Where AI Actually Saves Owners Time Right Now

Most of what gets marketed as AI transformation for small businesses is noise dressed up as…

A $25 Million Distribution Company Running Without a Playbook
Case Studies
A $25 Million Distribution Company Running Without a Playbook

A ten-year-old product fulfillment and warehousing company, five locations across the Nashville…

Why Most Owners Never Actually Step Away
Organizational Effectiveness
Why Most Owners Never Actually Step Away

Most owners who say they want to step back from their business never actually do it. The gap…

The Weekly Scorecard Template Behind Better Decisions
Tools and Templates
The Weekly Scorecard Template Behind Better Decisions

Most owners can describe how the business is doing in a sentence: "pretty good," "busy," "tight…

The Three Systems Every Business Needs Before It Scales
Business Strategy
The Three Systems Every Business Needs Before It Scales

Deciding to scale is a strategic decision as much as an operational one, and plenty of owners make…

Five Meeting Habits That Actually Stick
People and Performance
Five Meeting Habits That Actually Stick

Most meeting advice doesn't survive contact with a real week. The habits that hold up under…

What Radical Candor Actually Looks Like in Practice
Work Culture
What Radical Candor Actually Looks Like in Practice

Radical candor gets thrown around as a leadership buzzword, usually stripped down to "just be more…

What the Research Actually Says About Reading and Leadership
Must Reads
What the Research Actually Says About Reading and Leadership

The claim that the average CEO reads sixty books a year gets repeated often enough in business…

How to Know If Your Business Is Founder-Dependent
Organizational Effectiveness
How to Know If Your Business Is Founder-Dependent

Founder-dependency is easy to miss from the inside, because it usually feels like being needed…

Answers to the Questions We Get Asked Most
Uncategorized
Answers to the Questions We Get Asked Most

A running list of the questions prospective clients ask most often, answered plainly. Coaching that…

Preparing to Sell: What Buyers Actually Look For
Business Strategy
Preparing to Sell: What Buyers Actually Look For

Owners who start thinking about a sale usually start in the wrong place: revenue, margins, growth…

Leading With Faith Without Losing the Business
Christian Business
Leading With Faith Without Losing the Business

If you're a Christian running a business, you've probably felt this tension before you ever read a…

The Meeting Schedule That Fixes Accountability Problems
Organizational Effectiveness
The Meeting Schedule That Fixes Accountability Problems

Accountability problems rarely come from people not caring. More often they come from nobody having…