ARTICLES BY DR. ANDY NEILLIE, CSP

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In the past seven years, we’ve built a sustainable multi-million-dollar franchise business. But not really. In the first two years, we made no money. (That’s not exactly true; I think our bookkeeper told me we made $17,000 our first 24 months in business.  Net. Total. Two highly motivated and relatively competent people hard at work and we weren’t making it. Definitely not enough to cover a mortgage. And car payments. And groceries.  You get the point.  

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As a leader, do you struggle with flexibility?

Check out this Leadership Minute Video on

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There is a continuum of communication: inform, persuade, manipulate, coerce. Effective leaders spend most of their communication efforts persuading. Managers inform, Leaders persuade, autocrats manipulate, dictators coerce.

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I recently heard a futurist talk about nine trends for the future.  The first four trends he discussed were challenging, the last five trends offered optimism.

1. Consumers in the US lack confidence. They are “bullish-but-squeamish.”
2. Baby boomers are aging and anxious.  The “young-old” are doing well, but the “old-old” are struggling.
3. Climate change is happening. Weather will impact markets and travel more and more.
4. Water scarcity is impacting millions and will grow.

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Leaders lead by instinct and anecdotes. The best leaders add data to support what they suspect.

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Leaders simply “clear the clutter” for their teams.

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If you don’t like change, you better love irrelevance

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I’ve been a member of Recreational Equipment Incorporated for more than 20 years.  REI started out as a small mountain-climbing buyer co-op, and I was into mountain climbing in high school and college.  REI has grown to become an international member co-op with retail locations across the US and around the world, and their gear has gone far beyond ropes, carabiners and pitons.

Their equipment now even includes headlamps – incredibly bright LED lights mounted on elastic –

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