Avoiding the Race to Zero
We have all read the stories about the company that was experiencing incredible sales and profits only to become irrelevant at some point in time. Whatever happened to Zenith, Quasar, RCA? What is Polaroid doing these days now that it has filed for bankruptcy – twice? These are all big name brands that won the [...]
Congruent Leadership
Nothing frustrates me more that leaders who have this unique ability to establish two sets of rules, behaviors, and values in an organization. The leaders I most respect are those who have demonstrated the capability to “walk the talk” and clearly live in concert with the values they encourage their team and their organization to [...]
Leadership Lost and Found
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” ~ John F. Kennedy
Leadership is a pretty popular topic in today’s business climate. As organizations continue to work through their economic and growth challenges, the pressure and expectations put on leaders, executives and managers to generate immediate results increases. From there, everything rolls downhill and the real [...]
Intentional Common Sense
In a recent planning conversation with a new client, I was reviewing the CEO’s knowledge of his customers, their decision making behaviors and what drives customer loyalty to his business. After a series of very information specific questions, the CEO looked at me and realized I was asking him questions that we both new he [...]
The Management Commitment
I enjoyed a great interactive conversation with an old client who is in the process of managing his first team. His biggest concerns were how he can make a difference in an expedient manner. The nature of his questions were based on the objective of accelerating his career. I politely and directly informed him that [...]
Organizational Growth Initiatives
I read a recent blog post by Brad Power entitled “Get Your Operations in Shape by Focusing on Process.” Though not a process person myself, I agreed with the four processes identified by Power as critical to effective organizational development and growth. However, I found myself feeling that the tone of the blog focused far [...]
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 [...]
