There’s a lot to be said for clarity and simplicity. When top executives make short, clear statements about their defined customers, core strengths, desired future, and action plans, they prevent employee confusion and anxiety. They generate confidence throughout all levels of the organization and replace uncertainty with resilience and creativity. In fact, the quality of [...]
Most CEOs I meet run their organizations atop a false assumption that creates a powerful yet almost invisible drag on their performance. Do you have the same false assumption that they do? The assumption is that your communication of strategy, tactics, goals, and behaviors through the organization actually works the way you intend. Yes, you’re [...]
Are you a Genius or a Genius Maker? How about your senior team – are they Geniuses or Genius Makers? If you’re the smartest person in the room you’re a genius. If you surround yourself with the smartest people in the room and continually strive to help them get even smarter, you’re a genius maker. [...]
Are you a Genius or a Genius Maker? How about your management team – are they Geniuses or Genius Makers? If you’re the smartest person in the room you’re a Genius. If you surround yourself with the smartest people in the room, you’re a Genius Maker. These terms and concepts come from the book ”Multipliers – [...]
As a leader, you need to understand why you and the people you work with resist change and cling to the status quo. There are five major reasons why people resist change. The first is FEAR. Fear is internal; it’s in our head, however it is the great crippler of human potential. Fear can be [...]
How do you spend your time? This question is painfully simple, yet it plays a major role in the execution of your firm’s vision and priorities. Sadly, many leaders cannot accurately answer it. You may be surprised to find a sizable disconnect between your top priorities and how you actually spend your time. People take [...]
This is Tom Peters’ latest video message and it highlights the importance of “out-reading” your competition. In case you’re wondering who Tom Peters is, publications including Fortune, the Economist, the New Yorker and the Los Angeles Times have said Tom is the “uber-guru” of management and inventor of the enormous “management guru industry,” that “in no [...]
Are you an “influence genius?” Take this short quiz to determine your Influence IQ and to learn about influence and persuasion techniques. Choose the best answer from the options to discover your Influence Quotient. Dr Robert Cialdini, the leading expert on Influence and Persuasion presents a simple quiz that can help you (and your team) [...]
I met Stony earlier this month on a flight from Newark to Houston. He was on his way home to Mobile, Alabama. I was on my way to deliver a keynote presentation to the Texas General Counsel Forum in San Antonio. Stony was working in the New York area for 9 days replacing all of [...]
In today’s mile-a-minute, e-connected, global, frenetic, here-today-gone-tomorrow world of commerce, it is no surprise that many of us don’t take enough time to select and focus on our most important business objectives. Whether you employ 4 or 400, crystal clear focus combined with a steady cadence of accountability will dramatically improve your competitive positioning and [...]
Assumptions make our lives easier. That’s both good news and bad. As creatures of habit, we seek efficiency through the use of assumptions in lieu of active thought to drive most of our behaviors. With few exceptions, what we do in any given 24-hour period demands little conscious thought because we’ve developed habits that help [...]
(This is part two of a two part post on How to Outthink and Outperform Your Competitors) Here are the 5 steps that are required to create a comprehensive and practical plan for your business: 1.Identify your vision and clarify your values Research shows that vision-driven leaders and their companies significantly outperform their competitors. Your [...]
To understand why we resist change, it is useful to acknowledge that humans are creatures of habit, and that habits are learned behaviors with predictable outcomes. By creating change, we force those involved – including ourselves – to confront the unknown and “unlearn” things that we previously accepted as producing desirable results. Even if the [...]
Like death and taxes, change in business is at once inevitable and difficult to comprehend. It also happens to be necessary if your aim is to create a sustainable, competitive enterprise. Ignore this imperative at your own peril, as history has taught us over and over again. Once great firms like AT&T, Polaroid, and A&P [...]
“Our deeds follow us, and what we have been makes us what we are.” – John Dykes Although accountability has various definitions, it is typically used to describe personal responsibility for getting something done. Accountability is an essential element of focused accomplishment and, therefore, of the business world. Successful organizations build systems that encourage accountability [...]
(How to Get Your Organization to Run Smoothly Without You) Ahh, Summer. Summer means barbecues, swimming, baseball games, camping, road trips, and lazy days in the sun. That’s what summer is all about, isn’t it? Well, for some, that’s just wishful thinking. Many business owners are so tied to their companies that they can’t step [...]
People build relationships and decide who to buy from based upon trust. Patricia Aburdene, author of Megatrends 2010 said: “Transcendent values like trust and integrity literally translate into revenue, profits and prosperity.” If you are searching for a surefire way to anger and alienate your prospects and customers, simply violate their trust and you have [...]
