Have you ever considered how your energy affects everyone around you? This is something I've noticed in my years as a boss, that my attitude affects my team and their interactions with each other and with me. When it comes down to attitude and motivation in the workplace, I can't be just a coach - I have to suit up and play on the team too.

If the hustle and bustle of the holidays has you feeling more frantic than festive, consider starting a new family tradition this year. My family loves having holiday traditions and looks forward to them each year. Having something to look forward to can help you feel more grounded during this busy time of year--plus, the whole family can get involved.

As business owners, one of our most important assets is our team members.

There are many motivational tools out there, but I have found none more effective than praise, recognition, and positive reinforcement. As a leader, you can only benefit by rewarding behaviors that you want to see repeated by your team members.

Santa is coming early this year! Here’s an early present — a simple, tasty recipe for peppermint fudge that can’t be beat! It’s the perfect treat for the holidays!

Ingredients

2 (10 ounce) packages of vanilla baking chips
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 1/2 cups crushed candy canes
1 dash red or green food coloring

Directions

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, and grease the foil.

To be successful, you don’t necessarily have to be the most intelligent or talented person in the room.

It’s your habits that will take you in the direction of either learning more or becoming stagnant, better skilled or lacking in skills, and more prepared or unprepared.

"If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier." ~ John Wooden

We are in the middle of the busiest holiday season of the year. We just celebrated Thanksgiving, and Christmas is right around the corner.

Our lives as small business owners are chaotic, plain and simple. If you’re anything like me, on any given day you’ve got a slew of tasks to complete and distractions pulling you in a million different directions.

For us as small business owners, staying focused can be one of our biggest daily challenges.

You know that fear, not money, is the root of all evil, right? Yes, fear, that evil and corroding thread that infiltrates your mind into thinking

Right now, after the World Series and seeing the Braves win for the first time in 26 years (sorry Astros fans), I’m thinking of winners. I’ve always been a sports fan, and I know I’ve talked about that before in my messages to you like this one.

In most sports, no matter how the game goes, there are great plays and poor ones, and there’s always a loser and a winner, even if it takes overtime and each team giving it every scrap of energy they’ve got.

As we recently celebrated Halloween, I wanted to take a minute to point out a scary fact. Even though every business knows they should have a disaster plan, very few do.

A disaster could strike your business at any time, in any form. Without a good disaster recovery plan, it could take so long to get going again that your business wouldn't stand a chance.