Tony Martignetti

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Apply these tips to foster improvement in your business products and services. It's important to keep your eye on the prize when you're running a business you want to see survive. But, it's not always easy to outdo your company's biggest achievements, or implement needed improvements, year after year—especially in a tight economy.  Despite reality, however, whether your company was able to move the needle forward by an inch or a mile to reach its bottom line this past year, it's essential to highlight each moment. By doing so, you'll be able to boost employee morale and heighten productivity among your loyal team members. Here, 15 members of Fast Company Executive Board share one new thing they've already implemented or are excited about doing in the coming year to enhance their business image, company core values, and work culture!

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Tension, when viewed through a lens of understanding and acceptance, can serve as a guidepost indicating that something needs to change.

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Here's what to do when the best-laid business plans of leadership and teams suddenly go awry.  For many business leaders and their teams, the month of August is an essential time for them to assess how the first half of the year went. Are the current strategies that they have in place really working? It's also a time to set (or reset) their goals and objectives for the upcoming year.  Keeping all that in mind, sometimes plans, unfortunately, fall by the wayside or may require some unexpected tweaking depending on external factors like market conditions, customer needs, or technological innovation. That's why it's important to remain flexible and have an open mind about how to pivot correctly when necessary, considering the current situation of your department or organization. Here, 16 Fast Company Executive Board members offer their solutions to help other business leaders and teams stay focused even when their initial plans begin to get sidetracked or fail altogether.

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If you want to promote authenticity, living your brand's truth starts from within. Becoming a standout business in the industry doesn't just happen overnight. It may take years to build the trust and loyalty that you've sought from potential clients and customers. But before you try to convince people on the outside why they should buy into your brand of products or services, it's also smart to get your internal team on board with the company's core values and mission you want them to embrace. Once you create a solid connection with the stakeholders on your team, they'll be empowered to promote your company as brand ambassadors.  Below, 13 Fast Company Executive Board members share their secrets to exhibiting brand authenticity and remaining true to your core values across the company—providing customers with a great first impression of what the organization truly stands for day to day.

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Entrepreneurship is demanding, the work is intense, and the hours can be long—but the rewards, for those willing to commit wholeheartedly, can be profoundly fulfilling.

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Changing your mindset will enable you to achieve more success. In the workplace (and in life), it's perfectly human to sometimes obsess over the three Cs—competing, comparing, and complaining—when it comes to dealing with others and reviewing how our own accomplishments or failures stack up. It becomes a much bigger problem when an individual chooses to stay stuck in that mindset because it can hinder them from moving forward in their career and personal life. Below, 19 members from Fast Company Executive Board share what lessons they've learned from their ability to overcome patterns of previous self-doubt, and how they were able to forge ahead to a better path of success. 

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Start with a few target items that align with the big picture. There are so many factors that go into building and maintaining a scalable business that has the potential to thrive—year after year. As a leader's to-do list continues to grow, where do you start when it comes to making important decisions that will impact the future of the business? Below,  10 experts from Fast Company Executive Board discuss how others can effectively balance the short- and long-term goals in their business decision-making process.

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True fulfillment can only be found by shifting our focus from doing to being.

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Does your company practice what it preaches, consistently? When you are trying to build or maintain a successful business, it's important to make sure that the company's core values are consistently being reflected in everything that it does.  As a leader, it's impossible to be everywhere at once. Refusing to delegate specific tasks to free up your time to focus on other priorities will lead to burnout. Ensuring your company's reputation is living up to its standards starts with hiring the right team of representatives. Below, 13 Fast Company Executive Board members share other methods that work for them.

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Industry experts weigh in on the tips that keep their companies (and mindsets) growing successfully.  As a business owner or manager, who is responsible for leading a team to successful bottom-line results, quarter over quarter, it's easy to get stuck in a silo mindset or let fear and anxiety take over—having you falsely assume that every other company or leader has the secret to business growth and high-performance teams all figured out. On the contrary, you are not alone in your ability to face and overcome various obstacles head-on. And you'll be grateful for it along the way. To prove the point, a panel of experts from Fast Company Executive Board admits to having their fair share of ups and downs throughout their career journey to leadership. In this topic of discussion, they share one personal life lesson and what it has taught them most about how to become a better leader for the staff members and companies that they represent.

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Business leaders weigh in on 15 steps to take before introducing your brand to new and growing markets. As the new economy and digital marketplace continue to evolve, some business leaders may feel like they are under pressure to upgrade their brand's image in an effort to remain relevant to the next generation of potential clients and customers. However, oftentimes, you may need to simply assess which areas of your business need some minor adjustments rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. So before you consider the redesign process, members from Fast Company Executive Board are here to discuss some steps that they recommend when contemplating a rebranding idea for your company's logo and image. 

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Play is not just for children—I believe it's vital to a healthy and fulfilling adult life, especially as a business leader. As the saying goes, sometimes we need to color outside the lines and see what happens.

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By following the lessons of Rick Rubin and Questlove, you can cultivate a practice for creativity that leads to breakthrough ideas and impactful work.

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Investors aren't the only path to getting the startup capital you need as a brand-new business. Funding is crucial for any new business. Without sufficient capital at the outset, your business may not have the means to market to a wider audience, produce enough product or expand its workforce. While there are many traditional ways to seek funding like taking a loan from a bank or finding an investor, there are unconventional ways you may not have thought of that could help get your business off the ground. Below, six Fast Company Executive Board members offered some funding options you may not have considered as a new business.

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Strive to offer your customers (and employees) the best, even with a lean workforce.  When department leaders focus on building better relationships and providing the best resources to support their front-line employee service workers, they may help reduce stress levels, boost morale, and improve a higher-performance level on the job.  Whether your company is thriving through a peak season or facing uncertain challenges, Fast Company Executive Board members have 15 tips to encourage team members to provide quality customer service, even if you're short on staff.

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Follow these side-hustle business success strategies prior to stepping out on your own. Turning a part-time passion into a full-time paying career is no easy feat, especially if you are responsible for keeping the lights on through a regular 9-to-5. But maintaining your balance does not have to result in around-the-clock burnout. Make the start-up life a little easier on your grind by scaling back in certain areas of the gig business that can be outsourced or even automated. This will free up your limited time, energy, and other possible resources to focus on reaching your future entrepreneurial goals and aspirations. Based on their personal experiences and objectives, experts from Fast Company Executive Board are here to discuss some practical guidelines for turning your side hustle into a thriving and independent hit.

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It takes a special leadership skill set to successfully motivate and inspire employees that you don't see in person every day. Managing a remote team comes with its own set of unique challenges, especially for companies with remote employees located in different time zones. Employees may struggle to feel like they are a part of a team when working alone from home all day. They may struggle to feel heard without the option of an in-person open-door policy. They may also feel burned out from merging their work and living spaces. Great leaders anticipate problems like these and know how to respond in a way that benefits all. To that end, 15 Fast Company Executive Board members share their best tips for supporting remote employees. 

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Try these techniques to foster open, productive, and positive conversations that benefit every stakeholder. Your ability and willingness to understand your client's wants and needs are essential if you want to remain in business and continue to build a solid foundation for your brand. But, remember that maintaining a reliable reputation in the industry has everything to do with human relationships and how you treat the people you interact with on a daily basis. So, the more your company is able to make the lives of its customers easier and meet their needs, you are more likely to win their trust and business for the long term, whether there is a challenge to help them overcome or a victory to be celebrated. Below, Fast Company Executive Board members share their most useful strategies to promote customer satisfaction and create a win for all.

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Prepare your team early so they'll be up to the task and expectations. Building a culture of adaptability, among leadership and staff, starts with clarity and transparency about the company's objectives if you want to get everyone on board from the top down.  As you train and encourage your team to be fearless about facing challenges, they will become much more resilient and willing to go the distance, implementing a new direction at the company that is positive and beneficial for all. Below, 15 members of Fast Company Executive Board present their best practices for introducing a new approach to the business process that makes employees feel confident about embracing a flexible mindset and becoming more involved as valuable company stakeholders in their role to move the organization forward.

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These crucial factors will contribute to the organization's ability to thrive and make the necessary improvements, year after year. Taking a mid-year stock of your company's latest goals, accomplishments and challenges in the industry is a typical process that every leader and their team must engage in to enable the establishment to survive.  But why wait until mid-year? Planning ahead of the assessment season to find innovative solutions that will push your company's growth—whether you're experiencing an economic downturn or the business is booming—is the best way to move forward!  Here are nine items that leaders from Fast Company Executive Board always like to consider in their efforts to help the company continue to meet its objectives. 

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Taking a creative approach to maintaining personable business relationships is just as important. If you want to instill an inviting corporate culture for everyone at your company, then it's necessary to not only model the ideal behavior but to get employees involved so they have a higher stake in the changes they want to see taking place. Enabling your staff members to help make real business decisions that impact the company's bottom line and the way people view themselves as individual and collaborative contributors will elevate morale and set a positive example for future employees to come. Below, experts from Fast Company Executive Board share 16 practical ideas that continue to foster inclusiveness and team building at work. 

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Here's how implementing good advice can improve your bottom line in the business world. The success of a well-run business is not determined by its financial performance levels alone, and that is why leaders need to take a holistic approach and consider how each area of the establishment and decisions made about specific contributions to the company can build it up or weigh it down.  As you work towards achieving your financial goals, it's also important to find the right balance and prioritize how to maintain a steady cash flow and make wise choices about how and where to invest your time and money to elevate the organization.  Below are 16 members of Fast Company Executive Board to share some of the best practices they've received about how to manage their company finances.