How many times have you sent in a proposal to a prospective client, only to get ghosted for the next few weeks? I’ve been there, and I can relate — it’s not a great feeling. The cost of all those meetings and the time spent on developing a proposal could…

Previous version of this article appeared in Fast Company. If all the decision-making power and responsibility rests in your hands, it’s time to reevaluate your business operations. As an agency leader, sometimes you have no choice but to be the lifeblood of business operations, but it shouldn’t become a habit. You can be involved in the high-level aspects of managing your agency while knowing when to get out…

Here’s a potentially unpopular opinion: I think meetings (especially face-to-face) should be valued more and held in a higher regard. As agency leaders, we find ourselves in a daily meeting whirlwind. We attend stand-up meetings, Zoom meetings, weekly team meetings, planning meetings, project retrospectives, sales meetings, cross-functional meetings, offsite meetings…

Recently, I’ve had several conversations where agency owners are brainstorming creative ways to reward members of their leadership team. Usually, this amounts to someone donning a new title — a manager becomes a director, or a director becomes a VP. Another option involves setting up a profit pool so people…

What is Open Book Management? — Lately, I’ve been talking to agency owners who are grappling with an important question: “Should I open my books to employees?” The financial transparency of open-book management (OBM) helps your employees not only do their jobs more effectively, but helps them understand how the company is doing. It is completely…