I had a conversation some time back with Caleb Brown of New Planner Recruiting on the frequent irony of the advisor who seeks to hire "A-Players," but only pays "B" or "C" wages or runs a B or C shop. The usual refrain is either, “There just aren’t any good candidates out there,” or “It’s got to be the low unemployment rate!” If you’ve had trouble hiring and retaining A-Players, or if you have smart, ambitious, and well-qualified team members, but they just aren’t quite an A-Team — it’s time to look in the mirror. We’ve talked about how you identify and hire A-Players in our High Impact Team series. Now we ask: Are You an 'A-Employer?' You are if you provide: Inspiration, Direction, and Alig

In a small group this week, we talked about the Qii mindset. Let’s take a quick step back and review: Qii is “Quadrant 2,” the second of four quadrants popularized by Steven Covey as a method for organizing one’s priorities. Quadrant 2 is the “Important, Not Urgent” category. Most of the time, many of us operate in "Quadrant 1," which represents the “Important and Urgent” tasks: reacting to email, speaking to someone standing in your office, or answering a phone call. But, if you shift your focus to Quadrant 2, you’re training someone else to manage your email or developing a process to require appointments for phone calls so that you are in control of your calendar. Or perhaps you’re develo