As an EOS Implementer, it is a continuous journey of learning and mastery. I often talk to my clients about how the Entrepreneurial Operating System helps bring balance to one's life. I emphasize how important it is to take a "Clarity Break." It's usually in the context of business chaos.

You know the feeling: there are 20 issues to solve and you have numerous deadlines in seemingly unreasonable time frames. Without realizing it, you lose focus and your ability to prioritize and make good decisions is compromised. You are ineffective. You need a timeout to regain your focus. We call that a "Clarity Break."

Something that is surprisingly difficult in business is having a true functioning team. In his book The Advantage, Patrick Lencioni articulates four disciplines that are necessary to achieve organizational health. Discipline 1 is to build a cohesive leadership team. He poses the question of whether a group of leaders is a "team" or a "working group."

You may ask, what's the difference?

The ability to hire and retain good people is the biggest challenge facing most companies today.  I often hear comments like the millennials don’t care, nobody has any loyalty anymore, the work ethic today is not what it used to be, etc. What that tells me is we have to be better at hiring the “Right People”.

Words like “Core Values” and “Culture” get so much press today that you can get numb to them. However, they are a key to solving the “People Problem” and enhancing your overall business.

As Stephan Covey once said, "Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out."

In today's hectic business world, it is easy to get caught up in everything and lose sight of what the priorities really are. Sometimes, the priorities are clear but the execution process is difficult.

It's hard to believe that the first quarter of 2015 is already history. By now the results should be in and hopefully you're seeing growth. Unfortunately, many companies won't see much difference from Q1 of 2014.