I just got back from the Inc 500 Conference in Washington D.C. Quite an amazing group of people, great speakers, inspiring stories, lots of new friends. Tom Peters and Seth Godin got into a lively conversation “in the entrepreneurial mind.” Tim Ferris talked about getting it done, all done, in 4 hours a week. Jim Collins talked about level 5 leadership and making sure that you have the “right people” filling the “key seats” (do YOU?) Marilyn Carlson Nelson discussed how “how we lead matters”, and Paul Bennett talked about happiness being essential in creating successful engaged organizations (true true true!) All great and all good food for thought (and implementation – hint hint…) Many others who I’ll be referencing in upcoming posts, and those are the ones on my mind this a.m.

A common theme I was thrilled to see over and over again, one you’ve heard me talk and write about for years: People….it’s all about the people. Whether I was listening to a speaker or engaging in a conversation with a successful exec on the list, most (and I do have some good stories here that live on the other side of “most”), pay great attention to the people element. There are other common factors that contribute to success, mindset being KEY, and people is a huge element of this. So how are you engaging your people today? How are you bringing them into the shared mission of your company? How are you supporting them? How are you helping to create a happy and healthy workforce? Are you a company that will be recognized for it’s fantastic business results AND for being a fantastic place to work? If you pause on the second part of that equation, it’s worth reconsidering.

People make the world go round. Your people are who will build and sustain your business. If you’re not engaging them, evoking more of their strengths, giving them opportunities to learn and shine, and acknowledging how important their contributions are to the bottom line…you might want to start. For if I’m good to my team and they feel valued, “seen” and engaged…they’ll be happier, they’ll be “nourished”, they’ll tap into that extra 5-10-15% effort and creativity in our work together, and they’ll be really nice and great with our customers. I’d say a super investment, wouldn’t you?

BTW, Tom Peters stated that blogging is one of the best things he’s ever done for his business and for inviting people into a lively conversation, let’s start those conversations here please! Have a super day…and go engage your people in an even richer way. I dare you to….