Kevin W. McCarthy

The Professor of On-Purpose

Blog

Business Building: A “ME” or a “WE” Business?

By

Business building is exciting.

Don’t let the excitement get the better of you. There’s a fork in the road in your business design that is too easily missed or goes unrecognized. The strategic and performance implications are profound.

If you are planning to start up a small business or are already running one, then you have a deep leadership decision about the orientation and attitude of your business as a “ME” business or a “WE” business. This orientation will play a major role in defining your corporate culture as well as the long-term sustainability of your organization—even its viability to be sold.

Here are two basic ways to go about business building:

M.E. = My Ego

or

W.E. = Winning for Everyone

Many professionals’ offices and mom and pop businesses are “ME” businesses simply by default or lack of knowing any better. “ME” businesses may provide adequate customer service, but they are more likely a source of periodic customer service nightmare stories.

Being a business advisor for over three decades, I’ve observed that most ME businesses do not have happy endings for the business owners who are unaware of the “ME or WE” business model. Either the business success is so dependent on the person that there isn’t a viable exit strategy, or the reputation of the business is so poor there’s no goodwill worth buying.

  • The employees are workers doing the owner’s bidding, so in the boss’s absence they’re lost or unable to act independently.
  • Sale of the business is next to impossible, or it will be bought for pennies on the dollar.
  • Family members capable who would be a logical part of the succession planning have long since departed the scene to carve their own way. Or worse, they’re still around as dependents. This latter situation can get ugly fast.

Generally, these ME enterprises close when the dominant or alpha personality departs by either retirement or death. If by chance, the business is sold, the valuations are almost always discounted or only asset-valuations based because the business is so revenue and operationally dependent upon the owner.

However, if you’re unwilling, unable, or just don’t care about the long-term sustainability or saleability of the business, and if you’ve made an informed decision about having a “ME” business, then press into it all the way.

As long as you’re building a ME business by design and you understand the downside and can accept it, then there’s nothing inherently wrong with just shutting the doors when you’re done.

“WE” businesses are looking for win-win outcomes for everyone involved.

Candidly, the “Everyone Profits” mindset is a challenge to design, create, and execute, but done well is far easier to sustain and manage. (Here’s a huge tip: use The On-Purpose Business Plan as a guide.) When the people thrive, the business is more likely to follow suit.

An owner who cares about people infuses that attitude to the employees, who pass it along to the customers, who in turn send their referrals.

The spirit of customer service begins with a decision about whom the business serves. If you’ve never thought about your business orientation as “ME” or “WE,” then invest a few minutes to take a hard look in the mirror. I promise you that you can improve your lifestyle, position, and business performance if you will make a TOPBPerson coverdecision regarding your business orientation and then take it deeply one way or the other.

Don’t stay in the mushy middle. Pick a direction and run to it.

The On-Purpose® Approach is a service concept with “WE” checks and balances. Yes, it is more difficult to design and develop, but it brings a sustainable and durable dimension to the business. If you need help forming or transforming your “WE” business, let us know. We have business advisors who can guide you regardless of the size of your business.

What If You Knew You Would Live to Be A Healthy 100 Year Old?

By

Too many middle-aged people have succumbed to the popular notion that age defines attitude.

When your decades number close to five or more, who says you can’t start a new business, begin to learn new things, or be adventurous?

Don’t be down just because you’re up in age. Longevity lives in your spirit, not your chronology.

Resist the fractured logic that 65, the retirement age, is the end of your useful life. Retirement from a job doesn’t mean your life is over. It is simply a time for a new beginning. Let purpose—not your age—define your life, and you’re alive with the truth.

Who is the oldest person you know or have ever known? What did he or she tell you about the ups and downs of longevity?

Marie McCarthy, my Grandmother McCarthy, lived to age 97. She lived to 97. She didn’t die at 97. Do you see the difference? Sure, other people lived longer than Grandma, but few have had such a quick soft laugh and sense of humor that stayed even after her death.

A funny discovery came out at Grandma’s funeral. She lied about her age. It all began when she met my grandfather. She was born on November 2, 1900. He was born on February 20, 1901. Being older than him by three months didn’t sit well with her. She wanted him to think he was older. She was the eldest of eleven Kuhn children. Her whole family was in on the scam. Her youngest brothers and sisters (my father’s aunts and uncles) were actually younger than my father. They’re the ones who told my father at her funeral that her date of birth had the wrong year—she was born in 1900, not 1901.

Family secrets are sometimes funny things. At her 95th (actually her 96th!) birthday celebration, she was quite put off by all the attention. Now we know why. There, however, I remember her telling me, “If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have done things differently.” She never did tell me what things she would have done differently, but I sense she had some regrets and some insights.

Along these lines, here is a quote on aging sure to get your crow’s feet showing!

“If you live to the age of a hundred you have it made … because very few people die past the age of a hundred.” George Burns

One the great benefits of grey hair is that the older I get the more I see the hand of God at work in and around me. Of course, I’m asking for help regularly and am, therefore, expectant.

How On-Purpose Can You Be With Ill Health?

Dr. Wayne Andersen, Medical Director of Take Shape For Life, helped me learn new Habits of Health to not just prevent disease, but to move away from disease and toward health. Being at a healthy weight is essential to longevity.

My mother, who is 87, lives in an independent living situation. As I walk the halls on visits and greet people, I don’t see many overweight or obese residents. The thin ones are the lively ones.

If you need help (at any age) getting to a healthier place in your life, get a health coach and learn to develop a thin healthy mind and lifestyle. If you have a health coach, press him or her for more. If you need a health coach, email Judith, my wife. She’s a Certified Health Coach and works with clients across the U.S.

You, too, can live a longer and healthier life. It begins with a decision to be healthy.

I’ve found messages and the means to support my decision to live to be 100 years of age and healthy. Join me?

Are You Thinking of Starting a Business?

By

 

Economic tough times, job loss, greater expression, or the chance to be your own boss are just some of the reasons people start a business. The barriers to entry are relatively low and the opportunities for success often appear high.

The hurdles to success, however, are hidden at the start but invariably emerge. Be aware of what lies ahead and you increase your odds of winning.

Looking for some help with either starting or running your business?

On-Purpose Partners provides business advisory services. Our clients and customers have spanned from Founders and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies to wannabe entrepreneurs.

If your business is less than $2 million in sales, you can hire me to help you with our On-Purpose Executive Coaching.

Can’t afford much?

  • The On-Purpose Business Person is available in softcover or Kindle e-book.
  • The Service Model is an inexpensive tool to help you plan your business, anticipate what’s coming, and understand the relationships of one level of the business to the next. Order one, just one, because you can print more from the PDF.

Here’s the bottom line for your business start-up (or ongoing venture): invest the time to articulate your purpose, vision, missions, and values.

Until you know

  • who you are
  • why you are here
  • where you are going
  • and what’s important

you’re really at a major and costly strategic disadvantage.

When it comes to your small business start-up or ongoing enterprise, give yourself every advantage by being on-purpose.

 

Do You Want to Grow into Maturity?

By

What does it mean to be a grownup, to mature, or to assume adult behavior?

Sadly, far too many adult women and men haven’t a clue what it means to act, live, and be an adult. The process of growing into maturity eludes them.

We men, in particular, seem slow to grow into the responsibilities of manhood. It has less to do with the physiology of aging and more to do with psychology and social norms. Matters like avoidance of responsibilities and lack of clarity around modern male roles complicate it and make it that much easier to put off being a man.maturity is

Perhaps the story of Peter Pan is too taken to heart and we’ve decided to “Never Grow Up.”

Women suffer from lack of maturity as well. My mother is in a retirement living situation where the women outnumber the men probably 3 to 1. When I speak with the female staff about many of the senior women, they tell tales of a new man arriving on the scene and it is like junior high girls bickering and posturing.

What a loss!

We can’t really be a very fully engaged on-purpose player when we’re living below our maturity level.

When our identity is tied to something other than our purpose, we’re subject to the whims of the world or the mercurial nature of other people’s opinions about us.

Maturity, like anything worthwhile, begins with a decision to grow up.

Yes, it takes practice, often a mentor or coach, and the desire to keep at it. And work and emotional management! Practice does pay off. The rewards of maturity are to live into the life designed for us and to make a greater contribution with our life.

Seek out a mentor, life coach, or counselor with whom you can create a structured relationship for personal leadership growth and development. This intentional approach and relationship provide the benefits of accountability, fresh perspective, and experience.

On-Purpose Partners can help with On-Purpose Peace through Do-It-Yourself (DIY) or Do-It-Right (DIR) with one of our coaches.

If you want to learn something new, then invest in becoming a more mature and capable person.

Take one step toward being more responsible for yourself. Then another step, then another. Soon you’ll discover that growing up isn’t such a big deal if you take care of the small deals along the way.

On-Purpose Tip: The process within The On-Purpose Person provides a methodology to better answer some of Life’s Great Questions about our identity and place in the world. If you don’t know who you are, then you’ll likely overcompensate by living life either too small or too large. The posing can become a preoccupation instead of being about your true occupation.

Stop wasting your years! Decide to grow up.

Is Your Business Running You Ragged?

By

If your business is running you ragged, then it means you’re using old strategies in the new economy.

Is it time for an update? Perhaps this holiday season is a time to contemplate and reconsider your priorities.

In the 20th Century’s Industrial Age, much of the prevailing “wisdom” of the day was along this line of thinking: “Keep your personal life separated from your business life.” This compartmentalized approach to life provided clear lines between work and family. By and large, it worked to preserve a certain measure of sanity for much of the industrialized population that was engaged in routine, mindless work.

The downside of separation, however, is the dehumanizing of workers and poor business ethics.

When people are human resources then they are assets—commodities bought and sold by management. When we act one way on Sunday and another way on Monday, our decisions are easier and expedient but not necessarily morally sound or even best business practices.

The 21st Century, however, is in full swing into the Knowledge Age and the knowledge worker.

Separation of one’s work and life isn’t so easy because we carry our work in our heads.

It was easy to walk away from a milling machine, but keyboards surround us at work, at home, and on our smartphones and tablets. The lines between home and work are blurred beyond recognition.

The situation is so severe that many service companies offer “Work–Life Balance” programs to address the growing problem of employee workaholism, health, and burnout. Time management is nearly a joke anymore in this 24/7 society where our noses are glued to our apps.

Now as we stand on the edge of the Age of Purpose and Meaning where separation is a liability, just what are we supposed to do?

Do we separate? Do we balance?

The On-Purpose® Approach provides answers for the New Age. Balance in your life is a false ideal. (See: Do You Want A Balanced Life?) The 21st Century way of doing life and work is integration with healthy boundaries.

An integrated life has a point of integration—your purpose.

The more we are pushed upon, the more we need to know who we are and what is our purpose in life so we can resist, rest, and rebound. A solid core to our life enables us to establish appropriate boundaries so “Our yes can be yes, and our no can be no.” The risks of not knowing who we are is unhealthy to our body, mind, and spirit.

Gain Health! Gain Your Life!

When your business is running you, then you’re not running your life. Use the On-Purpose® Approach to run ahead and find the margin you need. The On-Purpose Peace and The On-Purpose Person set is an amazing coaching or small group experience to help you get ahead of your life so you’re in charge and on-purpose.

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

Is An Unhealthy Relationship Killing You?

By

Unhealthy relationship

This On-Purpose Minute is designed to save lives. Perhaps it is you or someone you know who is caught in a cycle (yo-yo) of unhealthy weight gain and loss.

Why do we stay in unhealthy relationships? I’ve watched the reality crime shows on TV of domestic abuse and often wondered why people stay. It is easier to see the predicament of others than that of oneself.

I am recovering from an unhealthy relationship with chocolate, sugar, and ice cream—especially chocolate chip cookies. Watch today’s On-Purpose® Minute and see if you relate to my issue and what I’ve done to gain health in my life for the rest of my life.

Obesity in adults is highly avoidable.

Figuring out how not to eat or choosing “the best diet” for yourself or deciding what exercise program to start or having gastric bypass surgery are delaying tactics for too often avoiding the underlying and very real issues of weight gain.

A revised nutritional lifestyle is essential.

Before I had my health coach, you can’t imagine how many weight loss mythologies and misunderstandings I had about eating, dieting, and exercise. It is no wonder I was adding 2 to 4 pounds of weight per year and yo-yoing my weight throughout the year.

I have to thank Lori and Dr. Wayne Scott Andersen for helping me better understand and approach my unhealthy relationship. Any health advice I have to offer herein can be traced to what I’ve learned from Lori and Dr. A. They’ve saved the quality of my life and now I’m paying it forward.

First, take care of you. Then, like me, you’ll have something to give to others. You, too, can save people’s lives from the self-inflicted diseases brought on by being overweight or obese. You, too, can learn to better manage your type 2 diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure, and more that is brought on by your choices and habits.

There is a better way. Dr. A calls it “Optimal Health.”

Please let our health coaches help you get to a healthy weight and learn how to stay there. The quality of your life depends on it.

  • If a doctor or health coach is forwarding this blog posting to you, then follow up with him or her to help you redefine your unhealthy relationship with food.
  • If you need an introduction to a health coach like the one who helped me, then contact me and I’ll set it up for you. Reach me at info@on-purpose.com. Add “Health Coach Request” to the subject line.
  • If you need to talk with a counselor or therapist to help you overcome what’s eating you, then let me make an introduction for you. Reach me at info@on-purpose.com. Add “Counselor Request” to the subject line.

Be On-Purpose!
Kevin

P.S. Have you read FIT 4 Leading? In this book I address the top four obstacles to success. As you FIT 4 LEADINGmight have guessed, one of the four is health. Learn what you can do to become a better leader of your life.

Will My Life Make A Difference?

By

One of Life’s Great Questions is “Will My Life Make A Difference?”

It is an important question because it generally reflects an early mile-marker on the road toward a life of meaning, significance, and purpose. Realistically, it is a road filled with character-building potholes and detours for all but the fortunate.

Asking the question is an indicator of getting beyond oneself and thinking about the well-being of others. Here’s the beginning of maturity.

Age is irrelevant because the desire to make a difference is an attitude of the heart.

The decision to make a difference with one’s life is a choice toward becoming a leader.

While a heroic act may have a defining element of difference-making and reveal strength of character in a moment, true difference-making is a way of life being lived in service.

2-Word Purpose Statements begin with a generic set-up of “I exist to serve by …” in order to help us realize that the flow and development of our “difference-making” capability and delivery matters as much over time as it does in a single act.

In fact, failing to act or to be the hero can be devastating to our psyche. Playing games of “what if” and “if only I had” are inevitable but ultimately counterproductive. Instead of being riddled with guilt or despair, prepare for the next moment, the next and the next to be difference-making in the best sense of the concept.

Over the years, many a person has told me, “At some point in my life, I figured I needed to make a change in my life. I’ve discovered that my purpose is to make a difference.” And they’re incompletely right.

While celebrating this important statement, I’ll ever so gently press and ask, “Have you considered how you are uniquely called to be a difference maker?” My hope is to move them toward a more specific understanding and depth of seeing their greater contribution in more precise terms.

Of course, the next logical question is, “How will I make a difference?”

When it comes to answering the question, here are three morsels of advice:

1. “Don’t should on yourself!”

2. Visit ONPURPOSE.me. Thanks to ONPURPOSE.me, within minutes of starting you can discover your purpose in just 2 words. Knowing your purpose is life changing!

3. Your 2-word purpose provides the specifics to and uniqueness of your difference-making endeavor. Without it, you’re at a strategic and practical disadvantage.

———-

Bonus Resource: Here’s an added resource to today’s topic. This is written by my friend and colleague, Tana Greene, CEO–CLO of Blue Bloodhound. Read her remarkable story in Inc. Magazine. Click the cover to purchase the book.Tana Greene Creating a World of Difference book image

What Kind of Business Owner Are You?

By

Business owners are anyone with a job to do.

In The On-Purpose Business Person I write about the Think Inc! mindset and the importance of taking on responsibility. Blame is the easily spread dung of cowards. They avoid consequences, but will revel in results.

responsibility To put oneself on the line along with the ensuing consequences (good or bad) takes guts.

If you’ll simply get started with assuming responsibilities, you’ll be amazed at how it feeds your confidence and fuels your growth. Rarely will you blow it. Always will you learn from it. The more you attempt, improve, and succeed, then the more opportunity and increasing responsibility will come your way.

Hopefully, you have an executive coach or mentor who helps you sort and think through your responses and lessons when you miss. Your confidant can give you perspective when you miss or hit the mark plus help you raise the bar of what’s possible for you next.

One of the most important roles of a business owner is to set and create a culture or an environment.

How well are you doing with those around you? We can be slack about it or intentional. We can encourage the taking of responsibility or we can crush it. The same holds true at home. It reflects an approach to life, marriage, rearing children, or volunteering for a committee at a not-for-profit.

As a result of this On-Purpose Business Minute, please challenge yourself to truly reflect on this important aspect of leading by taking responsibility for yourself, your actions, and your choices.

Just what kind of business owner are you?