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Greg LeVine, an author, radio show host, and entrepreneur, wanted to know what millionaires and Olympians know and do. Our interview can be found here.
Today I'm sharing another interview from my book, 21 Questions for 21 Millionaires. Today's post is from one of my favorite people as I share with you the millionaire success story of Heidi Ganahl.
Tell me about you.
I grew up in southern California until I was about 13, then our family moved from Irvine to Monument, Colorado, a small town just north of the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs.
Today I'm sharing the interview with one of my favorite entrepreneurs, Lane Nemeth. Her story is so rich and full of amazing events, I hope you enjoy it almost half as much as I do.
You wanted to buy some great educational products for your daughter Tara and you couldn’t find them anywhere?
They were only available if you were a teacher and could go through a teacher supply house with a purchase order. I couldn’t do that so it became very complicated.
In the coming weeks I'll be posting interviews with the successful entrepreneurial millionaires featured in my book, 21 Questions for 21 Millionaires. Enjoy.
First, I’d love to get to know you and your background.
I was born and raised in Queens New York. I went to school in upstate New York and then got a job on Wall Street, but the market back then was awful. There was no volume, it was a different market; there was no money to be made.
Was it your dream to work on Wall Street?
Tuesday, Greg and I as Dynamic Duo Events, had a chance to conduct a team building event for the Erie Chamber of Commerce.
What a blast.
Samantha, Patty, Jim, Adam, Barrie, Augie, and the crew were in fine form. We played some minute to win it games, brushed up on our trivia, and had a great conversation about company culture and creating happy, loyal customers. It was a good conversation because they shared the good ideas.
It's a treat to participant in meaningful conversation with entrepreneurs, business owners, employees, and managers about what creates a good working environment. After all, we spent a majority of our life there. We may as well enjoy it.
In fact, 71% of Millennials want their coworkers to be a second family(1) and #3 of the top 6 reasons why employees leave jobs is the working environment/culture(2). Turns out team building is good for strengthening bonds and the bottom line.
I admit, when I used to think about team building activities I thought of kitschy, forced activities designed to get you to 'see things from the other person's perspective,' 'learn to give and take,' and 'be a team player,' all of which loosely translated to 'let the other person have their way,' and implies that all people are reasonable.
In the last several years, however, I've experienced and produced team building events that aren't like what I pictured. When they work, team building events emphasize each individual using their strengths to benefit the whole, mutual respect, and having fun without a commandeered outcome (lots of team building events seem designed to make you reach a certain, pre-programmed outcome to make a point that may or may not be accurate).
When done right, team building events allow people to get a little outside of themselves, to have fun, and to engage at a different level. This may be ropes courses, outdoor excursions, or just some time away from the office in a relaxed setting. Whatever it is, when you plan your team building events, be sure to account for the fact that people don't mind getting outside their comfort zone if they know it's safe and fun.
Safe: It's OK to keep score and it's OK that not everyone gets a prize. But if someone participants and gets shamed for doing something poorly or answering a question incorrectly, they will not only shut down during the event but also back at the office. Reward all participation with acknowledgement and thanks. See that teams are inspired to work together within themselves, rather than compete internally.
Fun: Active without being strenuous. Get people out of their comfort zone, reward people for going above and beyond, and for heaven's sake, create some excitement with prizes, trophies, recognition, etc. When you keep score at a team building event, teams rally around each other trying their best to win. There's a different level of enjoyment and engagement as you strive toward a goal with people when you're having fun.
Dynamic Duo Corporate Team Building Events
New Year's Resolutions - I hate 'em. I don't need to wait for the new year to make adjustments. I should be doing that the whole year through.
But here's the thing. I'm human. And even when I know the right thing to do I don't always do it (I'm on a journey toward self-improvement just like the rest of us). Therefore, the new year is a good time to refocus, to reprioritize, and recommit.
You need tools and insights to grow your small business, but you’re too swamped to even look up from your To Do list.
If you’re like many small business owners, you barely have time for yourself. You’ve got products to develop, sales to make, employees to tend to, customers to serve, bills to pay, and books to keep.
That doesn’t leave a lot of time to search out, much less find, valuable thoughts and ideas to help you do what you do even better.
That’s where I hope to help. I research successful individuals and companies and provide tools and insights about what they're doing so you can keep your eyes where they belong--your business.
