To My Greatest Business and Life Partner

Sell Your Shares, See Your Clients, Stop Buying Stuff?

It’s another Bob’s Bites, where every couple of weeks, I share a handful of short stories and lessons…Today: 1. Sell Your Shares—separating your money from your mind 2. “Clients went feral after COVID”—is this why client success has gotten harder? 3. What Happens When People Don’t Want More Stuff?—a preview of life to come?   Relevant links: Netflix Co-founder on why to sell your shares: https://marcrandolph.substack.com/p/betting-everything-on-your-company [https://marcrandolph.substack.com/p/betting-everything-on-your-company] Why Japanese People Don't "Want" Things Anymore”: https://substack.com/@jameslucasit/note/c-202186114 [https://substack.com/@jameslucasit/note/c-202186114] Schedule Office Hours with Bob: https://calendly.com/bob-gilbreath/bob-gilbreath-office-hours [https://calendly.com/bob-gilbreath/bob-gilbreath-office-hours] Fleet: https://fleetholdingco.com/ [https://fleetholdingco.com/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theworkaround.substack.com [https://theworkaround.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

To My Greatest Business and Life Partner

I’ve got a list of hundreds of “true business stories with a life lesson” from my career. I think now’s a good time to tell a really special one. After all, it’s our 30th anniversary in a few days. Not long after I met Steph, I wanted her to be my life partner. I didn’t know I would be getting a priceless business partner in the process. This is the story of how her belief in me helped me believe in myself and go on to have the career of my dreams. Relevant links: Bob’s Substack: https://theworkaround.substack.com/ [https://theworkaround.substack.com/] Schedule Office Hours with Bob: https://calendly.com/bob-gilbreath/bob-gilbreath-office-hours [https://calendly.com/bob-gilbreath/bob-gilbreath-office-hours] Fleet: https://fleetholdingco.com/ [https://fleetholdingco.com/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theworkaround.substack.com [https://theworkaround.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Name the Change You're Making

Businesses spend nearly $1 trillion each year on advertising their brands, taglines, and other handfuls of words in hopes that their customers remember something pleasant about them when it’s time to buy. Words are portable thoughts, after all. And the more memorable the words, the more likely the thoughts are to spread and stick. While advertising has been a well-known tool for millennia, very few leaders similarly understand the power of their words within their businesses. By carefully crafting and promoting the words that communicate your strategic choices and areas of focus among employees, you can lead thousands of them to harmonize in ways that drive remarkable success. Relevant links: Schedule Office Hours with Bob: https://calendly.com/bob-gilbreath/bob-gilbreath-office-hours [https://calendly.com/bob-gilbreath/bob-gilbreath-office-hours] Fleet: https://fleetholdingco.com/ [https://fleetholdingco.com/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theworkaround.substack.com [https://theworkaround.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

You're (No Longer) Dead to Me

~Michael Prince was removed from the team. Alas, another sign of our times…^^^ Last week brought me two examples of someone leaving an organization and its leader pretending they never existed. No announcement. No clue what happened. Just a Teams message that they were removed. Of course, we all eventually figured it out by speaking with the person. Truth finds a way. This is one of the countless little tests—or tells [https://theworkaround.substack.com/p/spotting-the-tells-of-a-potential]—of how evolved a leader is, both on the outside and on the inside. I should know, because I failed this test several times. This is a story about finally passing, by getting past my own fears. Relevant links: How a Company Motto Affects Change (our story of turning culture into a competitive advantage): https://theworkaround.substack.com/p/how-a-company-motto-affects-change [https://theworkaround.substack.com/p/how-a-company-motto-affects-change] Schedule Office Hours with Bob: https://calendly.com/bob-gilbreath/bob-gilbreath-office-hours [https://calendly.com/bob-gilbreath/bob-gilbreath-office-hours] Fleet: https://fleetholdingco.com/ [https://fleetholdingco.com/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theworkaround.substack.com [https://theworkaround.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

We Need More "Augusta Rules"

Despite wars, inflation, and increasingly scarce jet fuel supplies, there will be another record year of travelers funneling into the world’s most wonderful places. These travelers are armed with their cell phones and determined to prove that they’ve been there, done that. If you insist on joining them, watch for sharp elbows and stay out of their selfie shot range. Oh, and expect the actual artwork to be a lot farther away than you imagined. This intro might sound like an old man revving up to b***h at a cloud. But read on, and you’ll find some real business advice: You have more freedom than you realize when you own a high-demand, limited-supply product. And by sacrificing short-term profit and customer griping, you may make it better for everyone. Relevant links: EconTalk -The Economics of Scarcity and the UNC-Duke Basketball Game https://www.econtalk.org/the-economics-of-scarcity-and-the-unc-duke-basketball-game-with-michael-munger/ [https://www.econtalk.org/the-economics-of-scarcity-and-the-unc-duke-basketball-game-with-michael-munger/] Photography in Museums and Social Transformations: Can Institutions Balance their Identity with Visitors’ Needs? https://medium.com/@theredstudio.blog_25703/photography-in-museums-and-social-transformations-can-institutions-balance-their-identity-with-bc91407ab8ba [https://medium.com/@theredstudio.blog_25703/photography-in-museums-and-social-transformations-can-institutions-balance-their-identity-with-bc91407ab8ba] Schedule Office Hours with Bob: https://calendly.com/bob-gilbreath/bob-gilbreath-office-hours [https://calendly.com/bob-gilbreath/bob-gilbreath-office-hours] Fleet: https://fleetholdingco.com/ [https://fleetholdingco.com/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theworkaround.substack.com [https://theworkaround.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]