The new year can be a time for reflection and focus on the things we’d like to improve. But often, energy fades as we move back to our existing set ...
Getting Useful Feedback — and Accountability — in Real Time
Leaders often “protect” employees by letting them offer feedback with anonymity. This may increase participation but it also reduces accountabilit...
Strategy and Planning:
Divest to Invest
As they begin planning for the coming year, business leaders focus on ways to improve and grow. A comprehensive review of the organization’s current...
The Mutual Benefit of an Outside-In View
We often overlook ideas for improvement and our own adherence to outmoded ways of doing things. An outsider’s perspective can provide an actionable ...
What’s a Customer Really Worth?
Few topics engender as much passionate debate as the the value of a customer. While most everyone agrees they’re important, there’s less consensus...
Does Your Business Reflect these Ten Success-critical Attributes?
McKinsey & Company points to a set of ten variables that make the difference between companies that flounder and those that build strong, sustainable ...
Five Questions You Should Ask Your Team Members
In my experience working with entrepreneurial business leaders, there is often frustration with the disconnect between the organization’s objectives...
Ten Steps for Fast, Focused, Flexible Strategic Planning
Finding time, once each year, to take your team through this ten-step process can bring your organization to a higher level of planning, performance,...
Time to Re-think the Traditional SWOT Analysis
After many years of facilitating planning sessions, I have concluded that there is a better approach to business analysis than SWOT exercises. Here’...