Four Ways to Help Humans (Especially Leaders) with Life’s Most Urgent Question
First, a question. In fact, according to Martin Luther King, Jr., “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” Great question for all of us and THE question for team leaders: What are you doing for others? Ok, you may be saying....
Making Employees the Owners
In May of 2018, I wrote an article called “A World Class Corporate Culture," which was about a Pewaukee company, Harken Yacht Equipment. Harken is THE premier brand of sailing products in their market. But what sets Harken apart is their culture and their core...
Today’s Entrepreneurs Weigh In: Is Entrepreneurship a Lonely Journey?
At the core of Entrepreneurs’ Organization‘s mission is helping entrepreneurs achieve their full potential. And one of the most powerful ways to accomplish this is by encouraging valuable experience sharing. Insights and lessons from peers around the world are the key...
Leadership Advice in an Important New Year
Not only is this a new year, but it follows a year of turbulence that calls for a renewed commitment to leadership and a focus on avoiding a management as usual approach. An excellent and lengthy article on the First Round Review recaps the best advice from the last...
Leadership: What’s Needed to Recover in 2021
As we all say goodbye to a challenging year, we anticipate a better year in 2021 and we hear a lot about what the health and economic recovery will require. Most importantly, we all have to do more than anticipate the new; we have to create a successful 2021. In...
Game Changer!
Clearly, the COVID-19 crisis is the Black Swan event of our business careers and maybe even our lives. At this writing (April 15th) we are still faced with an unprecedented amount of uncertainty. For some reason, I found this quote from Stanley...
Take Your Business to the Next Level
Picture this. You’re the CEO of a foodservice distribution company. So far, your clients are independent restaurants. At your weekly sales meeting, a top salesperson mentions a fast food chain is looking for a new distributor. You could tell her, “I’ve got this.” Or,...
The Proper CEO Role in Effective Strategic Planning
Less than 1% of all businesses in the U.S. ever exceed $5 million in sales and have more than 50 employees. If your company is one of those few, give yourself a pat on the back and accept my congratulations for achieving that milestone. As your company has grown and...
Five Steps to Get the Most Out Of Your Leadership Planning Session
Leaders seem to have a love/hate relationship with one-day or two-day meetings. Often, they lean toward the hate side because the extended sessions can become like the other boring meetings they attend (or possibly lead?) only much longer. The flip side are leaders...
Alignment: 5 Keys to Success
Consider Aligning on 5 key points before getting down to executing your strategy. Alignment suggests that as leaders we have completed the painstaking process of developing strategy that makes sense for the market and our place in it. We may wish to be “first at...