One day when I was still at 1-800-GOT-JUNK? we were adding to the ‘Can You Imagine?’ wall, and I tossed out the idea of being studied by Harvard Business School for a future case study.

I offered it up almost as a joke, but I really could see Harvard studying 1-800-GOT-JUNK? because we wanted to build a world-class brand.

When Harvard did eventually do a case study on what we’d built, it further proved that you could achieve what you conceived and believed.

‘Conceive, believe and achieve’ became a mantra for us, and when Harvard learned about 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, it wasn’t by accident—it was because of our renowned wall.

The front entrance wall was used to express our desire to be included in a Harvard case study.  Eventually someone visiting 1-800-GOT-JUNK? said, “Hey, I know someone at Harvard who approves the cases, would you like an introduction?”

If we didn’t commit to the vision by writing it on the wall, it wouldn’t have happened. Either way, what we conceived and believed—getting into a Harvard case study—was actually achieved.

I’d love to hear what you’re visions are for your company.  Share them here…

For more information on this topic, check out: Building a World Class Culture.

Read the info on Huddle below – then watch the video

‘Huddle’ is a Verne Harnish concept based on his Rockefeller Habits program. When we ran it at 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, it was a seven minute, all company, stand-up meeting that started at 10:55 and ended at 11:02.

Implementing this will change your company.  Period.

Everyone I’ve taught this too has benefitted greatly from better internal communication and company morale.  It unites the team like nothing else can.

Here’s the format for a Huddle:

Good news. The first couple of minutes, anyone can share good news or praise other business areas, work with customers, fellow employees and so forth.

Numbers. Review and post the key metrics from your sales funnel so everyone has a window onto the key numbers for the business.  If Rockefeller looked at the numbers daily from his oil fields using the world’s first Telex, why wouldn’t we share the key numbers with our employees?

What Does it All Mean? Do a daily forecast on the monthly (and yearly) revenue versus budget.  It was awesome to show the team how we were doing on a daily basis versus waiting until the end of the month to add it all up.

Department Update. This is a glimpse into each business area.  It’s also a way to systematically ensure that business areas were always focused on their quarterly TOP 3 projects.

Missing Systems/Frustrations.  Anyone should share these and do it in a no-blame environment.  After each frustration, have someone take ownership of the problem to make sure it gets fixed.  No debate or discussion should happen at Huddle—issues are raised and someone offers to resolve them.

Cheer. This will be dorky at first, but everyone will grow to love it.  It works well at sporting events.  Try it and you’ll see your staff leave the Huddle pumped and on a positive note.

Lastly, Huddle is a great daily meeting to keep your team focused on your Quarterly Theme too.

Have you been doing huddle at your company yet ?  Comments ?

I dare you to try it.  Hell, I dare you not to.

For more information on this topic, check out: Leadership at 100MPH.

A business owner recently told me they couldn’t hire any great employees because there weren’t any to hire in his city.

I said, “It’s not a tight labor force, there’s just a whole bunch of crappy companies to work for.

There are a ton of great employees–they just don’t want to work for you. It’s an easy market to find great employees when you’re a great employer.  Get your vision out there so everybody knows what you’re building.”

That’s when it gets easy.

At the beginning of every interview give a copy of your Painted Picture to each prospective employee.

If they apply by email, have an auto-reply set up that responds, “Thanks for applying to work for us.  Please read our Painted Picture below.  It explains what our company will look and feel like three years from now.  If this sounds like the kind of company you want to help build, please reply to this email with ‘interview me’ in the subject line.”

Before you interview people, your Painted Picture will attract the right people and repel the wrong people.

For information on this topic, check out: Leadership at 100MPH.

I don’t need to push many Entrepreneurs to set goals.  We do that naturally.

I do, however, need to push them to see how far they’ve come.

A great way to feel good about yourself, and to relax a bit, is at the end of each week reviewing everything you got done.

Write down a list of the TOP 5 things you accomplished and let it sink in.  Allow yourself to feel good about what you got done before you set next week’s tasks.

If you’re always focused on the horizon you’ll never relax.  When was the last time you got to the horizon? It keeps moving.  Just like you keep setting new goals.

Look in the rear view mirror to see how far you’ve come.  Then celebrate.  Then & only then, should you set your new goals.

Don’t keep adding stuff to your to do list.  If anything, start crossing stuff off that doesn’t need to be done.

If it won’t have an impact on sales going up, profits going up, or costs going down – stop doing it.

Instead, each morning or the night before, write down the TOP 5 things you need to get done that day.

Then start working on number one until it’s done.

Then move on to number two.  If you can be diligent and stay focused using this age-old method, you and your team will grow during any upswing or downturn in the economy.

And about the good ol’ 80/20 rule: We all know and accept that eighty percent of the results come from twenty percent of the work.

I like to use that as a way to focus myself. For example, if you only had two hours a day to get work done, what would you want to get done right away? Do you know what that activity might be? OK, do that, and that alone.

Imagine if for eight hours a day you just worked on those crucial tasks versus focusing on the numerous other items that seem to spring from out of nowhere each day.

pic goddess spiral