Upsize Your Leadership

07/01/2025

We recently took a break to go to New York to watch our teenage grandson Daniel Ivey perform with the New York Pops Orchestra.

After the concert. as we were walking through Times Square, he snapped this photo of me standing beneath my billboard ad at 47th and Broadway.

06/02/2025

𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲.𝗰𝗼𝗺 has announce that for the ninth year in a row my company 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮l has been named one of the 15 best business consulting firms in Dallas.

This is not a "pay to play" award. It's an independent determination based on comparing firms against dozens of criteria. We are thrilled to have met that standard for nearly a decade now.

05/22/2025

Google AI just threw me a curve ball. Offer your thoughts on what I should do. I genuinely need your help!

Earlier this week, I did a search on my company name to see what pages on our website Google would show first.

Normally I would have only glanced at Google's AI summary above the search results. But something told me to expand the summary and read it thoroughly.

Wow! What a surprise was waiting for me. Overall, the summary was accurate, balanced, and presented the firm in a positive light.

However, it concluded by saying that we had some unfavorable reviews which described us as untrustworthy, Christian in name only, and never to be believed.

I immediately went to my Google reviews to determine the source of this devastating comment. But there was nothing remotely akin to what AI had said. In fact, the reviews were all quite favorable.

After some digging, I found the culprit. AI was quoting a review for an entirely different company half way across the country. And the review was posted on a third-party site, not the company's web page.

What confused AI is that the company's name differs from ours by only one word. Google AI failed to take this difference into account.

So far, I've been unsuccessful in getting this corrected. None of the help options on Google sites address a situation like this.

Any suggestions?

04/03/2025

In the latest episode of Upsize Your Leadership, Dr. Mike Armour dives into one of the most critical factors in business success—trust. Whether you’re running a business or a non-profit, customer and donor loyalty hinges on how much they trust you. Research shows that people are willing to pay more and stay loyal to companies they trust. But how do you build that trust?

Dr. Armour outlines five essential practices:

1️⃣ Truth – Always be honest, even when it costs you a sale. Long-term trust outweighs short-term gains.
2️⃣ Doing the Right Thing – Put customer needs first. Ethical businesses thrive because they genuinely care.
3️⃣ Honesty – Never cheat or take advantage of customers or employees. Integrity builds lasting loyalty.
4️⃣ Keeping Promises – If you say you’ll do something, do it. Broken promises erode confidence fast.
5️⃣ Respect – Treat both employees and customers with respect. A positive internal culture reflects in customer interactions.

Trust isn’t just a feel-good factor—it’s a business necessity. Companies that fail to build trust lose out to competitors who do. Want to learn more?

Check out the full podcast at https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes/2509-trust-and-loyalty.htm.

03/21/2025

With headway being made toward a peace settlement in Ukraine, my latest podcast deals with thorny challenges for postwar Ukraine that you don't hear discussed in the media. All of these challenges will take years and years to overcome. Some will take a generation or more. The postwar era will stretch the ingenuity and innovative spirit of the Ukrainians as much as the war has.

https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes/2508-postwar-ukraine.htm

02/14/2025

Advancing up the ladder of management demands critical mindset changes at successively higher levels. Failure to successfully navigate those changes derails many a career.

Here are five changes which are particularly important for someone who wants to make it to the top of the management ladder. And the changes start presenting themselves the moment you step into management.
https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes/2507-management-ladder.htm

02/05/2025

𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

To succeed in today's hyper-competitive business environment, companies need to be agile, fast, and innovative. That in turn puts a premium on having leaders who are able to build pacesetting organizations.

In my podcast this week, I examine four pillars which support pacesetting leadership. 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀, 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

This podcast therefore centers on how each of these contributes to sustained high performance: https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes/2506-pacesetting-leadership.htm.

01/29/2025

Last week's Supreme Court decision reimposed the Beneficial Ownership Information Report on tens of millions of small businesses. But the decision could not be implemented because of a ruling from a district court in Texas.

The result is a very confusing situation for business owners. Should they file the report? Or not? Here's an update of where things stand at present.
https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes/2505-boi-coming-back.htm

01/27/2025

01/24/2025

We have no mechanism for measuring the value of a company's workforce, its capabilities, and its dedication. Good managers, however, recognize that their people are their most valuable asset.

For that reason, astute managers give just as much thought and care to their people as they would a billion dollar piece of equipment in their inventory. In particular, they never forget the importance of seven specific realities about their relationship with their people.

Today's podcast examines those seven and offers a summary of each one.
https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes/2504-seven-things.htm

01/20/2025

A disproportionate number of organizational problems are rooted in distrust.

In this episode I review a recent survey which indicates that only a minority of American workers trust top-level management today. And I trace developments, tracing back four decades, which have steadily aggravated the problem of distrust in American business life. Then I conclude with five countermeasures to disarm distrust.

https://upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes/2503-workplace-distrust.htm

05/31/2024

56 years ago tonight, I watched a lovely young lady walk down a church aisle to join me and a bridal party eager to receive her. With that radiant smile of hers, she slipped alongside me. And minutes later, arm in arm, the two of us retraced that aisle, embarking on a life together filled with blessings beyond number.

Three children and ten grandchildren later, neither of us is young any more. But she remains absolutely lovely, still greeting me every morning with that radiant smile. And her commitment to her family, to our marriage, and to her faith are constant, unwavering, and inspiring. I marvel daily at what an ideal life companion she has been.

Thanks, hon! You've brought irreplaceable joy to my life, to our family, and to countless friends who have drawn strength from your graciousness.

My only regret is not having 56 more years to spend with you. Your "I do" all those many years ago remains the most cherished thing that anyone has ever said to me.