Joe Mechlinski

When The SEED School of Maryland asked me to give a speech to 308 middle-school students, my reaction was one part flattered, one part nervous. I’ve spoken to high-schoolers, sharing my experiences as a Baltimore City kid and my path toward business ownership. But a gymnasium full... (more)

Ensuring your employees feel valued is a major key to your company’s success. When employees feel valued, or important, they are much happier. And we all know people perform better when they’re happier. A recent Gallup study quantified the link between employee feelings and corpo... (more)

Usually, I try to avoid making assumptions, but I’m going to go out on a limb and make a couple here. I think it’s safe to assume that for every time you’ve read an advice book, attended a seminar, or made a New Year’s resolution with the goal of improving some aspect of your lif... (more)

Imagine you’ve just spent the last 18 months preparing for a big meeting with a new prospect. Ever since your team was selected as a finalist, everyone’s energy has been focused on the big presentation and now: The agenda is finished. The last slide in the PowerPoint deck is compl... (more)

Goal setting is helpful for managers and employees. Managers have multiple opportunities to provide employees with feedback during this process, and they are able to identify their employees’ strengths and weaknesses. Employees can see how their individual contributions affect an... (more)

An interview with Doug Beigel, CEO of COLA, a nonprofit organization in Columbia, Maryland that offers training, accreditation, and consultation to medical labs, regarding his pattern for successfully instituting change. Joe: Harvard Business School professor Dr. John Kotter says ... (more)

We can all agree there are good meetings and there are bad meetings, and there are even meetings about meetings… All joking aside, in order for your business to be successful it is critical that team meetings are meaningful and productive for all members of the team. And the res... (more)

The best way to maintain a steady business course under constantly changing conditions is to keep your eye on the big picture. But the stream of dramatic headlines over the last three years has made the big picture a little blurry for entrepreneurs like us. “The world is falling!... (more)

In January, we shared data from five of our more recent surveys; and how that data led us to what we believe are the five internal factors critical to a company’s growth and success over time: performance reviews, team meetings, goal setting, goal accountability, and value within... (more)

“What keeps you going isn’t some fine destination but just the road you’re on, and the fact that you know how to drive.” ~ Barbara Kingsolver Of course we Ravens fans are disappointed. We wanted a trip to Super Bowl XLVI so badly we could taste it, and the way in which we lost th... (more)

It’s the dawn of 2012 – the year we’ve all been waiting for, thanks to the Mayans and their spooky calendar forecasting the end of the world in December. Some of my friends have jokingly threatened to max out their credit cards, take up smoking, stop exercising, move to a beach h... (more)

First things first: we at eQ want to thank every one of you reading this message. We are continually grateful for the knowledge and experiences gained through our work together. It is an honor to know you, and it has been an absolute privilege working alongside you this past year... (more)

Isn’t it strange that even with an unemployment rate of nine percent, people still feel uncomfortable saying that they are looking for work? It seems to me that people hesitate sharing this information because they think the only way to tell someone they are looking for new emplo... (more)

Thanksgiving evokes images of football, family reunions, roasted turkey with stuffing, and pumpkin pie; but all too often the true meaning of Thanksgiving is lost in the shuffle of the festivities. This year, as we think about the true meaning of Thanksgiving, the entreQuest team... (more)

Our move to the cloud, guided by LiftOff, is discussed in an article in the Wall Street Journal. Our part of the article explains how we continue to find new and innovative ways to leverage the collaboration components of the Microsoft cloud. ... (more)

At the core of every company is a promise to improve its clients’ lifestyles in some way.  Oftentimes, this promise is articulated in a mission statement or story.  It is practiced through corporate values and behaviors.  It is delivered through the employee and client experience... (more)

With all that has been written in the days following the death of one of America’s greatest corporate leaders, it would not be of the Apple kind of creativity if we just repeated what is already out there.  In honor of Steve Jobs, we’ll try to “think different.” Though his body p... (more)

It occurred to me the other day while sitting at my son’s soccer game (or more correctly cheering hysterically when anyone of his teammates touched the ball)  that you can learn a lot from 6-year old soccer – lessons that can even help you in business.  I’ll even venture to say t... (more)

Twenty years ago, there was one model that every America could reference for healthy eating – the USDA Food Pyramid.  Taped up to the walls of public school cafeterias or illustrated on the back of cereal boxes, everyone from expert to everyday citizen seemed to agree on the defi... (more)

In November, a group of researchers will be publishing a study titled ”Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes” to prove that in the working environment – the higher the power, the less likely the collaboration effort. To put it more bluntly, individuals in manager... (more)