Have you ever seen the master score an orchestra conductor uses?  It is an overwhelming document that contains the music for every instrument in the orchestra and is usually covered in handwritten notes. It’s the conductor’s job to know the inner workings of every part being played and to fully understand how they interact as the piece unfolds. This is … Read More

A few years ago my dad and I built a shed on my property in the west hills of Fairbanks. I got a few quotes from contractors but decided it would be a fun project to tackle with my dad, and I could use the money I’d save to pick up some new tools that would serve me on dozens … Read More

A few years ago I took piano lessons for about 4 months. It changed my life. That might sound sarcastic given the abbreviated amount of time spent, but I’m being quite serious. I ended those lessons because of a scheduling conflict, not because I learned it all in 4 short months, but two simple instructions my teacher used have stuck … Read More

I was convinced for many years that good leaders needed to understand how to alleviate tension. I wasn’t wrong about that, just shortsighted. Turning down the tension IS an essential part of leading a team but, in the same way your car needs a brake pedal AND an accelerator pedal, it’s only half of the equation. Leaders must be conscious … Read More

I’ve been reading a lot of Calvin & Hobbes lately.  A child of the 80’s, I remember enjoying the comic strip as a kid, but reading it as an adult is a completely different experience. That rambunctious kid and his stuffed tiger have a lot of layers. In a strip I read recently, the pair are careening down a hill … Read More

I hope you aren’t waiting around for the day when someone with authority finally rewards you with the title of leader. This is my hope for two reasons: Waiting to finally be rewarded with a stamp of approval is a great way to miss the opportunity to lead today. It’s easy to think of leadership as a destination, but leadership … Read More

I just opened a Christmas present from someone I didn’t know when 2024 began. It may sound strange coming from a 48-year old, but 2024 was great because I made a couple new friends this year. I know some folks who can’t chart a path to their mailbox and back without making a new friend, but that is definitely not … Read More

Derek Jeter ended his career in pinstripes as an iconic Yankee, but it wasn’t because he was the most gifted athlete on the field. In fact, he was famous for arguing that talent wasn’t the true measure of a person’s potential: “There may be people who have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder … Read More

All growth is on the other side of incompetence. This means that the enemy of growth is an unwillingness to embrace incompetence. In order to do something you can’t currently do – like speak French, bench press 150 pounds, or make it through the day without feeling overwhelmed – you will have to enact behaviors you aren’t currently capable of … Read More

A long time ago some dude named Newton came up with some incredibly popular ideas called Newton’s Laws of Motion. One of these laws, basically, is that objects at rest stay at rest and objects in motion stay in motion unless something interacts with them. This law parallels neatly with Geoff’s Law of Clean Countertops which states that clean countertops … Read More

I don’t know a single small business owner who hasn’t felt overwhelmed and exasperated at one time or another because the demands on their time are out of control. It’s not uncommon to feel like there will never be time for OUR plans because we can barely keep up with all the stuff that gets thrown at us. Yeah, same. … Read More

Last week I hit you with a list of things you should stop doing and today I’m going to pull a tight 180 and offer three things you absolutely cannot delegate. Let’s dive in. The vision for your business. No one else can decide why your business exists and what you want from it. No one else can decide the … Read More

Stop doing these 7 things in 2025 and watch your stress decrease while your team levels up. STOP Keeping everything in your headIf you do it because no one else knows how, document it. No one can help you if you don’t have an instruction set for them to follow. Capture it while you do it and you’ve given yourself … Read More

Every year on the day before Thanksgiving I drag storage boxes containing our Christmas decorations from the shed into the house.  Unfortunately, after 11 months in storage, the contents of these boxes look completely foreign to me. I start to get my bearings after I sort through the boxes for a few minutes, but there are always questions like, “where … Read More

Taking effective action on YOUR priorities won’t happen by accident. In fact, without a bit of planning, and some focused effort, it won’t happen at all. I use three anchor activities in my week – the Workday Startup, the Workday Shutdown, and the Weekly Review – to keep me oriented in the right direction. This is part 3 of a 3-week … Read More