In his best-selling business strategy book “Good to Great,” Jim Collins introduces the bus metaphor. If you think of your business as a bus, the idea is to make sure the right people are in the right seats. Organizing that bus — defining what each person in each seat is responsible for — is a core part of shaping how your business functions.

Spring is almost upon us, and it’s normal to feel a sense of renewal as daylight hours increase, warm weather returns, and flowers bloom. How are you channeling some of this springtime energy into positive changes for your business?

There are huge opportunities to continue to improve efficiency in the way your business operates. Yet business owners are often unable to see past the way they’ve “always done things.”

The topic of most concern to our clients over the last few months has been finding and retaining labor. After one such conversation with a client, we went to a sandwich shop for lunch and noticed a full staff bustling about the food preparation area. And yet, another sandwich chain across the street had a HELP WANTED sign out front.

With the current business environment and lack of quality labor, the level to which your employees feel engaged is paramount to the success and growth of your business. How do you show appreciation to your staff?

It’s true that you can’t serve everyone, yet you can certainly still choose to positively impact many lives. That’s leadership – and it’s how to truly take care of your people. Some industries are having challenges finding talent. Owners need to know the best ways to identify highly skilled, competent employees.

In screening potential clients, one important characteristic that I require from owners is being humble and teachable. In order to improve and change for the better, all of us need to be interested in and open-minded about education and lifelong learning.

The 2019 Nevada Legislative session is in the books, leaving participants exhausted but hopefully with a feeling of accomplishment. As usual, many ideas and bills did not make it through the process. Yet, dozens of bills were approved and are waiting to be signed into law.