Focus on your strengths, but embrace your weaknesses, be honest and transparent as both your strengths and your weaknesses make you the woman or a man that you are today.

Don’t blame your circumstances, change them, do something about it! We are all dealing with challenges, ranging from time, quality, people, funding, strategy, leadership…the list is endless. Whoever you blame for your shortcomings is the wrong person and that approach will get you nowhere in the long term.

Do the best with what you have and demonstrate and earn the right to get more, make more, earn more. You are in control of your life, your actions and your attitude and as such reach for new opportunities and go beyond what you have done before, try new things and challenge yourself.

Complaining is not a business strategy. While we all complain at times (rightfully so if I might add), it is essential to focus on reducing complaints and focusing on positive contributions and collaborative work towards solutions. Complaints on their own provide no value and often result in further negative approach to whatever the environment might be at the moment.

Competition is a wonderful thing. I’m a fan of it! Market should determine who wins and who loses, not historical performance, not old versions of your products or services…keep innovating, keep evolving or go out of business.

Honesty is non-negotiable on top performing teams. There can be no secrets or back room deals between the members of the inner circle such as your top management team (aka. executive leadership team or C-suite).

Performance speaks for itself, every single time. Performance will say a lot more about you and your accomplishments over time than any marketing campaign ever could. Having said that, I see value in promotion, marketing and building awareness of your products and services and your own personal capabilities, but please don’t over do it and don’t make promises you can’t deliver on.

Share the spotlight and put others ahead of yourself and your own earned recognition will come in due time, it’s unavoidable.

Eliminate bottlenecks, beginning with yourself and empower people to get things done. While some items (major accounts and contracts, legal, IP,…) might require your involvement and approval, most daily responsibilities should not depend on your availability. It is essential to empower your teams and provide them with the authority they need to get their daily and weekly responsibilities accomplished. Trust your teams and empower them to succeed and take ownership of the strategy and direction you are all heading towards.

Business is a team sport. All top performing organizations have arrived there through a lot of work by a lot of people, never a single individual alone. Furthermore, on many teams, certain star players with particular functional (technical) skills have been know to take advantage of the environment they are in.

This behavior should not be tolerated and allowed as their attitude will negatively impact the overall organization and your business as a whole. Don’t be afraid to let some people go if they don’t meet your standards of performance and teamwork.

Talent alone doesn’t stand a chance without grit, work and determination. We all know someone who had an abundance of talent who never realized their potential as they didn’t have to work ethic needed to make that talent shine and provide value. When I speak about reaching full potential, I don’t mean money and financial gains (even thought they help), I speak about chllenging yourself and competing at the highest levels of your craft and your profession.