In business, when things get difficult (and that’s when, not if), you have to know where to focus to keep going. It might be your family, it might be the entrepreneurial drive that got you started in the first place—it might even be that you just really believe in what you’re offering, and think that everyone needs an opportunity to take advantage of it.

It can be really difficult to set aside the expectation of being completely self-sufficient as a professional. But I have to tell you, that’s just not how things work! There are two main types of people you need in your life if you want to be successful, outside of the support you get from family and friends: mentors and strategic partners.

Before working at Turner and Son, I was a sales manager at a Fortune 500 company. And honestly, it was a position that really stroked my ego. But I wasn’t really in control of my destiny, and I didn’t (yet) know how to create the strategy to do that.

At Round House Jeans’ factory here in Shawnee, Oklahoma we often have people ask “You do this by hand? Where are all the machines?” Today most of the products a person buys everyday (like toothpaste, pencils, books, etc.) are made in highly automated manufacturing plants where actually touching the product is a no-no.

When Jim Antosh spoke at our OKPSA luncheon, he shared the story of Round House Workwear, the oldest operating manufacturing company in Oklahoma. Round House has been Oklahoma-owned since it started in 1903 and is currently headquartered in Shawnee.

As a leader, you’ve got a lot on your plate. And you’re probably great at what you do, or else you wouldn’t be where you are today. But if you want to really get better as a leader and a professional, you need to gain from the wisdom of other people who have been in your shoes.

Too often, we don’t see the changes and growth we want to see in our lives. How often do people you know create New Year’s resolutions that don’t stick? That’s normal, but if you’re really looking to grow, you’ll need to move past normal and stretch yourself.

There are 35 million more cellphones than there are people in the US. You might even have two cell phones with you right now—a work cell and a personal cell. Every prospect of yours has a cellphone in their pocket. And as soon as you realize the scope of that reach, you can make money by making good use of that reach.

Here’s a spoiler for you: you’ll have challenges in your career. You will have trouble in your life. And you’ve probably overcome a lot of both already because of the way you approach work.

At some companies, it can be easy—and dangerous—to let the division of labor fall into two camps: the doers and the thinkers. We found at HSI Sensing that moving away from that model increased the buy-in from our employees and even reduced some of the limitations and stress at our upper levels of management. When my grandfather…