Many leaders hire a new employee and instantly feel like they’ve gone from business leader to babysitter. When leaders describe what they mean by “babysitting” employees, what they’re really saying is they don’t want to spend any time at all with a new employee. The first day on the job they think they should be able to just show them their desk, give them a task, and the employee will know exactly what to do.

When Michael and I got married, we made a deal: I had to learn to like the drums, so that I could fully appreciate my husband’s percussive skills, and Michael had to learn to like football—specifically, the NFL. I fell in love with the NFL long before I fell in
love with Michael. I’m a 49ers fan first but root for Green Bay on the back end.

Michael thinks I got the easier part of the deal. Drumming seasons come and go, but the NFL is relentless.

One of the great stories of the NFL—especially for 49ers fans—is a story about how Coach Bill Walsh turned the struggling 49ers around with his leadership and management during the late ’70s and ’80s. Humor me for a second—I just have to geek out a little.

When I was twenty-seven years old, Kathryn and I had been married about a year and a half. One afternoon, I was walking across the parking lot from our car to our apartment, and I was feeling great. I had a skip in my step. Life was good. I thought to myself, "What can I be doing differently? What area do I need to grow in?" Almost immediately, I came to the happy conclusion: "Nothing. I'm good. There is nothing I need to improve!"

Celebrations, surprises, and random acts of kindness are key components of building a Passion and Provision company and creating a company culture employees look forward to coming to each day. When employees work at a place they enjoy and feel cared about, they'll find fulfillment in their contribution and do good work.

As a child, I (Michael) always knew I wanted to own a business one day. From standing in front of the local convenience store with my first shoe shining kit, to mowing neighbors’ lawns, I was always trying to make a buck. I even told my Sunday School teacher I wanted to become a ‘bachelor millionaire.'

Do you find yourself thinking “how is it 2022 already?” Time is relentless and the older we get, the faster it seems to tick along! We've been thinking a lot about how we frame up our reality. How we see and perceive the world we live in these days, and how we lead well with all that is swirling around us.

Social media can sometimes be a popularity contest. Everyone is screaming for attention and there is strength in numbers. The influence of a social media profile can be measured by its number of followers. A huge number of followers implies credibility and certain social media “Influencers” even make money from their popularity via product endorsements. There has been a race to build followers and some people have found a shortcut, but at what cost?

Facebook has over 2 billion users worldwide. It’s where you go to catch up on the latest news from your friends and family, but it has also been an integral place for businesses and advertisers to show relevant content to you. On January 11, 2018, Facebook announced that they plan to change their algorithm to focus more on friends and family interactions. Their goal is to increase the quality of your time spent on facebook, and reduce the quantity.

You may have seen the issue of ‘Net Neutrality’ back in the news this week. On Thursday, December 14, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) repealed the internet neutrality rules that were put in place in 2015. 

If you could be a fly on the wall in one of our Half a Bubble Out staff meetings over the past several months, you might hear phrases being thrown around the table like lean and classic survey results, or hyper-responsives, SMIQs and DDS. It might sound like we are speaking in code, but this fun new vocabulary all stems from learning a powerful marketing strategy known as the Ask Method®.  Are you scratching your head wondering what could be so revolutionary about ‘asking,’ or curious how it is growing businesses? In this interview, Michael Redman, Half a Bubble Out CEO, shares his personal journey of becoming a certified partner of the Ask Method^® and how it’s transforming the marketing industry.