A Whole New Site

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost five years since I first built my personal website. Sure, I’ve updated it from time to time but not like this. It was uncomfortable for me to build the first site because it left me feeling overexposed, and the second new site is no different. I was overdue for a major refresh. The new site isn’t done completely. There are two more pages to come, but I need to think about their content a little more.

I originally created the site to both write about management, and entrepreneurship, and to also shorten the “get to know me” phase to move it slightly out of the way. My life is a little hard to explain anyway.

I wanted potential clients to get to a quick yes or no if they want to work with me. While I’d always love it to be yes, and I’ve had good luck so far, you never know. As I’ve said many times, I’d much rather fail early in a venture than drag something out a dozen years. The same goes for working relationships.

Periodically, I get calls to take on a project that is inconsistent with my core beliefs about successful companies. We’d be a bad fit. I wanted to make my point of view very clear from the onset. I wanted to state who I am and that I’d never expect to be all things to all people. I don’t mind if others disagree with me. I often love the debate anyway.

There isn’t one way to be successful in business, and as the years float by, I’m surprised by how many there are. Some prefer other ways of doing business and I can’t fault them if it works. But you have to stand for something in life. As they say on Letterkenny, “Stand for nothing, fall for everything.”

I prefer to work with core guiding principles. They are the foundation of great decisions. Many of my core guiding principals have been a part of this site since I began writing. Sure, like anyone open to learning, my views on business evolve as I learn more, because business is a never-ending journey of new ways of doing things. However, those principals still remain the same.

I tend to think more like a scientist anyway. I’m delighted when I learn something new, and when the evidence leads to my refinement of ideas. My constant reading and learning is an important part of my professional development. Besides, becoming a true subject matter expert in business is fleeting. It doesn’t matter who you are. Even some of the best business minds and professors at leading universities are often wrong about management and entrepreneurship. There is the big gap between theoretical and practical in business and I lean heavily on the practical. Political correctness is just one good example. I don’t buy into most of it. I’m not afraid to point out the slippy slope, so you won’t see a lot of virtue signaling here.

I’ve been striving for one thing my entire professional career, and that’s to build and influence those I work with to create the best possible company. Doing so, serves everyone. Yet people tend to project, and sometimes only see what they want to see when they meet me. I found it sometimes amusing, sometimes annoying as I tend to be someone who likes facts.

I couldn’t think of a great solution for misinformation, other than to just keep writing and expressing my point of view. It’s the advice I was give on Quora, and it’s led to a large following on the “Tom on Entrepreneurship” page. Just keep writing. So I do just that.