My Obsession with Creativity and Innovation
Several years ago I sat in on presentation about innovation and creativity. The presenter talked about the importance of creativity in the strategic process. The most memorable aspect of that presentation was how she leveraged the power of humor as a starting point in the creative strategy process. According to this presenter, humor is a [...]
The Language of Your Strategy
Introducing a strategy to your team is tricky, especially if the language you are speaking doesn’t resonate with them. Many leaders and managers excitedly declare a new company strategy or a new company plan with the expectations that the team will embrace, engage and celebrate. Then, those same leaders find themselves frustrated with the response [...]
Business Growth and The Engaged Employee
Too many businesses are obsessed with this desire to grow sales instead of an obsession to improve revenues. The favorite investment of choice for this growth strategy is sales, marketing, and social media. Invest in new customers. Invest in new relationships. Invest in replacing the customers and employees lost because the company did not know how [...]
Revenue Growth: Understanding the ACRE Principle
The ACRE Principle focuses on the critical components necessary for revenue stabilization while encouraging intelligent investment in the resources that most profitably enable a business to establish profitable, long-term business relationships. In today’s business environment there is a tremendous emphasis on and investment in revenue acquisition activities through sales and marketing. When revenues drop, this [...]
Change in today’s risk-averse, fear-filled environment
Today’s risk-averse, fear-filled environment makes change extremely difficult and uncomfortable for many people.
It is similar to finding yourself in a forest at dusk on a path you have never traveled before. Your day started out like any other — on a familiar path, well traveled and very safe. Then, something happened and you found yourself [...]
Election and Leadership Lessons
I would like to change the focus of Tuesday’s election results from a political perspective to one of leadership and accountability. Earlier in the week, Mark Sanborn summarized the election results in a very clear, political blog post. I have already referenced some of his comment in a previous post.
From Mark’s post, I gleaned six quotes [...]
If Your Employees Could Vote?
What would happen if your employees voted on your performance as a leader in your organization? How would you fare? Do you really care? If you knew that they would vote you out, would you examine your role and your behaviors? To what standard are you holding yourself accountable?
Here are two facts that would likely [...]
The Challenges in Business Leadership
There is an ongoing consensus that one of the biggest challenges in business is leadership related. When discussing the various issues businesses face, at some point in time, the conversation swings to the accountability, roles, and influences leaders have on the overall success of an organization.
On the surface, nothing has a greater impact on the [...]
Leadership and an Engaged Team
As leadership struggles to create growth and implement strategy, one critical component to the success of these initiatives is an engaged employee team. Without a fully engaged employee team, most initiatives, programs and projects stall, slow, or die. The key to business transformation and growth is a fully engaged and empowered team.
There are four simple [...]
Influences on the Decision Making Process
When it comes to the decision making process, every great leader relies on information as an essential resource. The decision making process requires some level of gathered, shared, or stored information before action is taken. Often leaders rely on sources they trust or have found reliable, including their gut instincts, to supply them with facts [...]
