Some people are great at avoiding conflict in the workplace. All you need to do is keep your mouth shut or yield to the strongest voice in the room. If I am describing you, I want you to consider how damaging that behavior is for both you and your team. I also hope to give you some simple, practical suggestions for becoming a healthier fighter.

Great managers are hard to find. Great managers have a true gift and a passion for getting the most out of people. Great managers possess a unique ability that is not in everyone. Having worked with hundreds of managers over the years, I now see clearly the ones who truly want to be great managers and the ones who are doing it for other reasons, e.g., ego, advancement, having nowhere else to go.

It’s not unusual for an entrepreneur to consider “everyone” a potential customer. While the optimism can be exciting and contagious, the harsh reality is that most of “everyone” isn’t the RIGHT potential customer. Many won’t ever buy from you, and some who do become customers won’t be a great fit. They may be unhappy, and they may even hurt your business by damaging your reputation or mistreating your employees.

That’s the bad news. The good news? While it may sound counterintuitive, concentrating on a smaller number of potential customers can actually help you grow faster, make more money, and have more fun. Time and time again, I’ve seen that clients who focus 100% of their proactive sales and marketing efforts on their ideal prospect or customer get a bigger bang for every buck they spend on sales and marketing.

Success comes from making good choices about what to do and what NOT to do. Often our biggest breakthroughs occur when we decide to stop doing something. So here’s something we can all put on our Don’t Do List that will change our lives positively forever: STOP discussing the past!

It’s history. Its only value is in what you can learn to help you make better decisions in the present.

I’ve noticed a pattern this year across several good teams that have truly become great teams. Conversely, there are other teams that just remain mediocre. Why is that? It all comes down to having a great Integrator in place who owns their role.

In any entrepreneurial organization, two essential seats are the Visionary and the Integrator™. A great Visionary is driven by creativity and passion, which fuels his or her vision for the company. A great Integrator takes that vision and makes it happen throughout the organization. Without these two leaders working side by side, your company will never see the success it’s capable of achieving.