Doug's Blog Archives – Page 8 of 58

16 Oct 2014

The Big Chicken Strategy Will Grow Your Business

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-12T12:35:12-06:00October 16th, 2014|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership|

Chickens are much bigger today than they were 60 years ago.

At first you might think chicken farmers cheated with growth hormones or that they were genetically modified in a lab. That was my initial guess.

According to this study published in the Poultry Science Journal, even after adjusting for chemical cheating, chickens got this this way mostly through selective breeding, a fast reproduction cycle, and genes that reinforce selective breeding.

Farmers only let the biggest hens and roosters produce chicks. When […]

5 Oct 2014

Sorry, I Prefer the Dishonest Feedback

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:19:17-06:00October 5th, 2014|Categories: Doug's Blog, Leadership, The Good Men Project|

Business Feedback with 2 People 25551919_s

"Be careful what you ask for. Some folks are way too happy to dish it out!"

Feedback is a funny thing. We want validation but some part of us keeps reaching for all of the feedback, good or bad. Does it really help?

My latest article on The Good Men Project.

"Most of us crave feedback and validation of ourselves, our work and our art. We seek it out either by overtly asking, or through self-deprecation, and we always hope […]

29 Sep 2014

5 Reasons You Need to Have a Red Ferrari To Sell

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:19:27-06:00September 29th, 2014|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales|

Man Looking at Small Red Sports Car 4569562_s "Because stereotypes and sloppy thinking can be the death of any salesman."

My latest post on The Good Men Project. Two very common sales mistakes are fed by the way our brains latch onto stereotypes.

Learn how to use it to your sales advantage instead.

5 Reasons You Need to Have a Red Ferrari To Sell

23 Sep 2014

Leading When You Really Just Want to Cry

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:19:39-06:00September 23rd, 2014|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership, Mindset and Motivation|

Leading When You Want to Cry - Alt 1
"Business owner Doug Wagner didn’t expect to learn 3 important lessons of leadership from grieving the loss of his best friend. But that’s exactly what happened."

My latest business article on the Good Men Project. Brought back some tough emotions but the leadership lessons are too important not to share.

Leading When You Really Just Want to Cry

9 Sep 2014

Free Agents: Creating Culture Consciously

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:19:55-06:00September 9th, 2014|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Dream Teams|

Last week I was presenting the first of our newly launched Manifast Now webinar series and the topic was “7 Reasons 90% of Strategic Plans Never Get Implemented (And What To Do About It)”.

A really good question was asked about getting people engaged in the business culture when they are not employees.

Real estate agents sold home with keys

Essentially, the question came from a person running a real estate brokerage where the agents are considered “independent”. She wants to build an […]

7 Sep 2014

You Can Run the Business, But You Can’t Hide

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:20:05-06:00September 7th, 2014|Categories: Doug's Blog, Leadership, Marketing, Sales|

Revolving door business woman and man leaving

"Is the moral fiber of corporate executives really on a rapid decline? Or are we just privy to more of the details, and therefore in a place of power to impact the outcomes?"

It is getting harder for companies to brush bad behavior under the carpet when their top executives mess up. This has both good and some dark implications on where things could go for businesses and society as a whole.

My latest article […]

8 Aug 2014

3 Key Business Lessons From DIY Projects

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:20:14-06:00August 8th, 2014|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership, Manifast|

The Home DIY Project

At our last house I built a big cedar pergola on our wooden (untreated spruce) 2×4 deck we inherited. I made the pergola only using screws and bolts (no nails) in case I ever needed to repair it. Just prior I had stained the deck with 5 year deck stain. I figured it would last at least 3 years.

The Finished Project

I was wrong.

It started […]

28 Jul 2014

Brilliant Leadership and the Tragic Song of a Sinking Ship

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:20:26-06:00July 28th, 2014|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog|

I happen to play fiddle and sing in a couple of Celtic bands. There is a strong maritime tradition in many of the songs and a lot of them seem to be about ships reaching a tragic end.

But ships didn’t just head out for fun back in those days. They were generally there for the purpose of commerce (or navy).

Leadership requirements are at their peak when the ship is in peril. This is no different for your business. Ancient galley fleet

So imagine back in […]

15 Jul 2014

Managing Business Risk in the Dark Ages of Social Media

By Doug Wagner|2018-01-03T19:20:18-07:00July 15th, 2014|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales|Tags: business, Business Culture, Business Risk, business strategy, Corporate Culture, entrepreneur, marketing, Marketing Strategy, small business, social media|

Back in the dark ages, villagers and townspeople would often react to a rumor and then take action swiftly to bring justice upon the presumed guilty party without waiting for the authorities to resolve it. The more emotionally attached people were to the crime, the less real or confirmed information they needed to follow the crowd and exact revenge.

Unfortunately two things were often true:

There was a […]

15 May 2014

Your Core Values: What Matters Here

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:21:29-06:00May 15th, 2014|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Go-Giver Coach, Manifast|

Core Values Business Strategy

Our company is in the process of further defining its core values. At times we have been the shoe makers children and put all our effort into our clients and not enough into ourselves; going barefoot.

This is a big mistake so we are making working on the business part of our business.

A lot of things may be important to you and your organization but certain things define you, say what you stand for, and what you won't tolerate.

Sometimes you […]

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The Home DIY Project