AUGUST 2020

 Business Tips:

TRACTION (EOS – Entrepreneurial Operating System)

Our management is implementing a new system called “Traction”. It will provide direction over the next year through a wonderful system. We look forward to sharing it with you here. We hope you will take the journey with us.

~ Core Values and Core Focus~

• Excellence - cutting edge, best quality product and service, professional, consistent
• Do the right thing - respect yourself and others, accountable, character, honesty, integrity, compassion, loyalty, do what you say
• Help first / serve – flexible
• Competitive - whatever it takes, achieve, hit goals, work hard, self-improvement, growth-oriented, never satisfied, initiative, self-motivated

These are the core values that our leadership team has come to. In order to strive in our companies, these values direct our decisions, our daily efforts and attitudes, and how we live under service. These values define what success looks like for us.

They are a small set of vital and timeless guiding principles for your company.

These core values define your culture and who you truly are as people. When they are clear, you’ll find they attract like-minded people to your organization. You will also find that when they are applied in your organization, they will weed out the people that don’t fit. Once they’re defined, you must hire, fire, review, reward, and recognize people based on these core values. This is how to build a thriving culture around them.

Wickman, Gino. Traction (p. 35). BenBella Books, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The central concept of a core focus has been given many different names over time, including “mission statement,” “vision statement,” “core business,” “sweet spot,” “the zone,” and “the ball” (as in “keep your eye on the”). In his book The 8th Habit, Stephen Covey calls it “voice.” Dan Sullivan calls it Unique Ability®. And in Good to Great, Jim Collins calls it “the hedgehog concept.” I call it core focus because it should come from your company’s core and you must stay laser-focused on it.

Wickman, Gino. Traction (p. 46). BenBella Books, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Our Core focus is different for every company, but rest assured we have one and we follow it.

Personal Tips:

~Play hooky with loved ones”

I did my best to lead by example on this one. Our immediate family took off for an extra week to chase the west. From South Dakota, through Yellowstone, to Idaho, down through Cali, back through the south creating memories that we will never forget. I found myself taking pictures and then immediately recognizing that I couldn’t capture the art of painting, sculpture, and creation that only God can author. Breathtaking landscapes, shades on a palette of colors only the Creator holds, and time with my family to create the sacred time we needed so much. We decided to spend more time than usual, but upon reflection, it really is the one thing that truly matters. Stop, reflect, and take stock of what you have and where it comes from. I think if you really ask yourself the tough questions, you will find as I, it's really too big for us to have orchestrated it. - Josh

 

Tools & Tech I am using:

~Mastering a to-do list”

              This has always been a question I get. I would have to refer you too a large list of books I have read over the years, but most effectively has been the “Full Focus Planner” that I use today. The planner effectively combines a yearly, quarterly, weekly, and daily plan to help me keep on task with the “to do” list. Frankly, there are a few things that I recommend for you as tips to help with your list.

Write down your list, categorize your list, schedule it to be done on a certain day and time like an appointment, and give it a deadline.

Next, check your progress daily and weekly. Delegate the list if you cannot seem to get to it. Most likely there is someone better and more interested in the task.

Make faith, family, fun, and other habits a part of your to-do list. It creates a sacred place in your heart and calendar when you prioritize it in your life.

In the end, a to-do list is really the way that on a daily basis you are attacking a long-term vision for your life. It is the way in which you inch forward to the dreams and goals that God has for you.

Life Skills:

~Strong relationships with partner, family, and kids~

Quality time vs time in the same room – it’s different.  Intimacy.  It requires work to deepen relationships and maintain powerful connections.  It does not happen automatically – we are not genetically prepared to establish deep intimate relationships. It takes study, experience, and in the end…..the want to. Sometimes you may not want to. Sometimes it seems too hard or near impossible. My prayer is that effort is extended at least along with the order in which God loves you. Tall order……to love. It's worth it. It may be the only thing that matters to you in the end. God's example of love in order to live by in your relationships.

 

 Notable quotes: They are italicized above.

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

John 15:5

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Colossians 3:3

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Something I want you to know:

Know our core values and focus, play hooky, master a to-do list, and build strong relationships.