In 2003, three friends started a retail chain. Business was great—until the 2008 recession. After the downturn, many of their stores sales decreased at an alarming rate, and some even had to close their doors. Within a year, the company’s net income had been reduced by half, forcing the founders to adopt drastic cost-cutting measures
Anxiety was ever-present in my home growing up, but it always escalated each afternoon before my dad came home from work. This was the time when my mom, brother, and I made sure everything was perfect—house and rooms clean, dinner prepared, etc.—and tried to become small targets to avoid his anger and punishment. We never
Shaun Tabatt and I recently spent an hour discussing The Business of Honor on his podcast, The Shaun Tabatt Show. We tackled most of the big topics in the book, including: What is honor and why do we need it in business? Why is the topic of identity so important to understanding and living out
Most of my professional life has been devoted to “behind the scenes” work. When people ask me what I do, I usually say, “I’m a painter.” If they ask for more details, I might describe some of the projects our company has completed. But even if they’ve heard of or been to an airport, hospital,
I think of business as an ecosystem of relationships. Honor in business is all about stewarding these relationships well—both the internal relationships between leaders and team members, and external relationships between businesses and vendors, competitors, regulators, and customers. The goal in every relationship, whether personal or professional, is the same: forming, sustaining, and protecting a
On several occasions, I’ve heard Danny tell a story about a meeting he attended with a group of leaders in Redding, CA. The meeting was focused on identifying issues that were currently troubling the city and discussing strategies for improvement. As the leaders examined the problems in various areas, from public safety to social services,