As a Minnesota resident, I often find myself dreaming of warm climates this time of year. The temperature hovers around freezing and I can picture the arid deserts of Arizona or the lush rainforests of Hawaii. Both climates offer respite from the Minnesota winter, but they are decidedly different from one another in flora and fauna. A cactus can’t survive…
What a joy to feature Helain Pesis, owner of Continental Diamond, in my “Inspiring Women” column for Minnesota Business magazine. Helain shared her journey from being an elementary school teacher to owning a business, and explained that the secret to her success has been “staying open to life’s opportunities.” Continental Diamond modestly opened its doors in 1981 with just a few…
My friend Amy Ronneberg, CFO of Be the Match/National Marrow Donor Program, is a true inspiration. In addition to her roles as CFO, Board member, mom and marathoner, Amy also has added cancer survivor to her list. In this month’s “Inspiring Women” column Amy shares how cancer transformed the way she leads. “Amy has been driven to be the best…
Building Tomorrow’s Leaders With all that is currently going on in our world, I’ve been thinking about how the next generation will lead. What will they do in the business realm? The larger social realm? It’s up to us to be and build the leaders for our collective future. We must expose those we lead (including family, work and community)…
If you own a business or are on the leadership team of a business, you’re tasked with strategically defining what the future of your business will look like. Who will lead it into the future as you and your leadership team think of future transitions? How will you grow? What are you missing in terms of innovation, talent, information, processes…
Client Highlight: ThreeBridge’s Boom Lab As a division of ThreeBridge Solutions, Boom Lab “builds and supports the careers of high-performing consulting professionals while providing project delivery and SAP solutions to Fortune 500 and 100 clients in nearly every industry in the Midwest,” shares Managing Partner Charlie Anderson. In a world that is changing rapidly, Boom Lab is building the next…
For this month’s “Inspiring Women” column I reached out to Susan Denk, owner of White Crane Construction, because I’ve known her in many capacities over the years and have always been impressed by her leadership abilities. We are both WPO Chapter Chairs and have been clients of each other as well – Susan is a joy to work with and a…
How to Combine Feedback and FeedForward to Improve Performance When most of us hear the word “feedback,” our minds go to a place of discomfort, possibly even dread. Our palms may start to sweat as we mentally replay all the tasks we’ve worked on lately, just waiting to hear what we’ve done wrong. Sounds familiar, right? But feedback is really…
As we approach the new year, it’s common to set resolutions for what you want to change and improve. We get motivated and usually stay on track for a while. Then, a few weeks into the new year, you’re asked how those resolutions are going. “What resolutions!?,” you say. It seems inevitable when we create goals for ourselves that more often…
I was honored to feature my friend, Mahtab Rezai of Crux Collaborative, in my “Inspiring Women” column for Minnesota Business magazine. The fact that her feature appeared in the “Women Who Lead” issue was no accident; I admire Mahtab as a leader both personally and professionally. Collaboration is Mahtab’s leadership style and she works to bring people together around solutions.…