I'm currently 28,000 feet the air flying from Atlanta, Ga to Tulsa, Oklahoma. A good friend from college gets married on Saturday.  In fact, I'm going to see a lot of friends from college this weekend.  And as I listen to Alexi Murdoch while staring at the ground below, I can't help but reminisce about my four years in college at Oklahoma State University…Go Pokes!   I'll be honest; I had it together in college.  I excelled in school, developed life long friendships, learned to walk with the Lord. It was great. In addition, leadership...

What is an exit strategy?  Exit strategy is defined as a process through which a business owner plans on getting out of an investment that he or she made in the past.  After reading an article from Entrepreneur it gives two practical reasons why someone would need an exit strategy.  The first reason is that the outside investors desire their return on investment, which requires the company to be sold.  Secondly, many people that start companies thrive on “starting” things, therefore once a company takes off and starts to grow the thrill of starting quickly...

I recently celebrated my 28th birthday.  At the celebratory gathering I was asked what I learned during my 27th year.  On the spot, I didn't have very good answers.  But after taking some time to reflect, I now have a more thorough answer (just in case I get asked again).  Here are the top 27 things I learned during my 27th year: 1.  Get out of the way:  As a leader I can end up stifling growth unless I get out of the way.  Lead them onto the correct path and then trust them to run as far as they can.  Trip if necessary.   2.  Think...

In the past six months, I've gone through my very own accelerated MBA program.  I moved to Gainesville without knowing what I would actually do.  Three days later they told me, "One of our department heads is going overseas.  We need you to lead that department."   Welcome to the big leagues kid. Thankfully I'm surrounded by senior leadership that extends an immense amount of grace and encouragement.  And they don't stop there. I've been given fantastic coaching and resources the whole way.  The ELP stands foremost. ...

When we travel I would say that the majority of us pride ourselves on being very aware travelers.  It seems safe to say that we are aware of the culture around us depending on surroundings and the countries that we enter into.       When applying this to the business world it begs to ask the question, “are we as aware of the corporate culture that we operate and live in on a daily basis?  I would argue that many of us are not as cognizant of it as we ought to be.     Entrepreneur.com defines corporate culture as, “A blend of the...