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Post #6 – last in a series of 6 posts on balance: Balance Success with Giving Back

Giving, no matter the reason, is crucial to living a balanced, successful life. Further, I think the very approach taken in giving should be balanced as well. By this I mean, it is better to have a planned and systematic approach to philanthropy. And it’s important to give consistently, not just when believed affordable. It’s been said, “The best way to know you have enough of something is to give part of it away.” I agree.

In my book, Building a Winning Business, I devote chapter 69 to this topic (“Embrace Corporate Responsibility”). Intertech’s approach has been to create a separate organization that’s a company-sponsored foundation. The purpose of the foundation is giving financial support to cash-strapped families with terminally ill children. Intertech has donated $175,000 to the foundation.

As important as financial giving, we have focused volunteering. Every few months, we throw a birthday party for families staying at the local Ronald McDonald House. The parties start with cake and crafts and finish with a piñata. The piñata is the recipient of violence and source of smiles. Most of the kids at the party are family members of a sibling at the hospital… my hope is the parties provide a brief moment to return to just being kids.

We are more engaged, I believe, than ever. While not the goal, some new employees have shared that our company’s visible commitment to philanthropy is a point of difference as they weighed various employment options.

Turns out that getting some balance through giving back is highly valued – a real win-win for us and the community.

Paying It Forward: Please Help if You Can

Octane magazine published by the Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) ran an article I wrote of inspiration and determination.

First, if you’re not familiar with EO, it’s a great group. Nearly 9,000 entrepreneurs are active in EO chapters around the world. Average revenue for EO member companies is $18.4 million. You could say EO members are extraordinarily lucky and most of us realize we’re privileged to be members of a pretty exclusive group.

For those of you EO’ers visiting this blog as a result of the article, because of our respective fortune, I’m asking for help for someone who has not been quite as lucky – through no fault of his own. If you read my blog regularly, or if you’ve seen some of my articles, you’ve probably guessed that I’m referring to my best friend, Pete Quinn. The most recent article is The Power of Pete.

Pete worked hard and successfully in sales for 20 years before his life was horribly altered after being hit by a reckless driver. Even today, Pete continues to work as much as he can as he undergoes therapy to walk again. (I won’t recount all the details surrounding Pete’s situation now, but if you would like to know more, please see my earlier posts on Peter Quinn and his family).

Peter remains a strong individual and he refuses to be defined by this accident. He also is a husband (wife is Rita) and the father of three beautiful children: Katherine (age 12), Henry (9) and Andrew (6). The family has additional responsibilities and expenses because Andrew is autistic. His condition requires special care and the family is doing everything necessary to ensure that Andrew lives a normal and well-adjusted childhood.

This is a wonderful family that has been dealt a serious and life-altering blow. With your donations, Peter will be able to continue receiving the necessary therapy sessions so he can realize his dream: running (he’s a marathoner) and playing soccer (he was a coach of his kid’s team prior to his injury).

For videos of Peter’s progress, check out the website: http://petersplace2011.blogspot.com/ If you want to help, please donate directly at Peter’s Place.

Thank you.

2013 Intro to Intertech Video

A job well done to Brianna at Intertech for her great work on the 2013 Introduction to Intertech video.

Post #5 in a series of 6 posts on balance: Creating a Culture of Balance

It’s one thing for the owner and CEO of a company to structure his work to accommodate his life, and quite another to consciously build a business culture that allows employees to do the same. But without being boastful, that is exactly what we have done at Intertech. Our efforts have been rewarded with an extraordinarily loyal group of employees, many satisfied customers and a growing number of “Best Places to Work” awards.

In my book, Building a Winning Business, I dedicate eight takeaways to building a people-centered business culture, as well as multiple leadership chapters dealing with this important topic. Some of our strategies include offering job sharing options, giving our employees a three-month sabbatical after seven years of consecutive service, work from home, and nine, nine-hour days.

We also strive to “think first to work smart.” In my book, I dedicate takeaway #47 to this concept, reminding readers: “Don’t get caught in a mindless activity trap. Instead, take time each day to think about the project and make decisions thoughtfully. Encourage your team to keep balance by working smart during the workday and saving “crunch time” for the real crunch periods. It’s consistency over time that makes the real difference in the end.”

Respecting employees as people who need work/life balance, we have created a productive, upbeat culture where people and business can thrive. Sadly, many organizations do not value work/life balance and they are paying a price. A Gallup poll taken two years ago said disengaged employees are costing industries $416 billion a year.

At Intertech, it’s just the opposite. We completed 2012 as our our best sales year ever. Helping employees find balance actually appears to be quite good for the balance sheet! Next and last post in this series will focus on finding balance between business and community.

Star Tribune interview “Business owners urge quick landing from cliff”

My thanks to Neal St. Anthony of the Star Tribune for featuring Intertech in the article Inside Track: Business owners urge quick landing from cliff.

As shared with Mr. St. Anthony, whether a person likes it or not, I haven’t talked to any fellow business owners who believe taxes are staying the same or going down next year. While revenue increases seem, to me, a forgone conclusion, I believe any solution requires addressing national debt, entitlement reform, and spending cuts.

As it relates to spending cuts and tax increases, I talked about something that surprised me when teaching at the University of St. Thomas Graduate School of Business Management Center. To illustrate the point of savings versus revenue increases, I asked the class a question:

“An organization with a 2% profit has the opportunity to save $.01 (one cent) or increase revenues by 30%. Which would you choose?”

Most students chose the wrong answer… a revenue increase. With a 2% profit, it takes a 50% increase in revenues to match a 1% cut in spending. Our government, with huge annual losses, would see a great impact through cost savings.

Finally, if there is an overhaul in tax policy, it would be ideal to address the handling of taxation for S corporations (where profits of a firm pass thru to personal 1040’s). In 2008, after Obama’s election win, the Star Tribune was good enough to print an op-ed I wrote on this issue Don’t tax small business out of picture.