The “Dottie Test”
Reading Time: < 1 minute As organizations grow and C-Level executives become busier they often lose sight of the team members who occupy the lower rungs of an ever-growing org chart. Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger shared a valuable lesson in a NY Times Interview which taught him “you should never lose sight of people who
“Crazy Enough to Work?”
Reading Time: < 1 minute The great Danish physicist Niels Bohr once remarked to a young scientist who had presented a new idea to him that “Your idea is crazy. The problem is that it’s not crazy enough to work.” Many new businesses start out with a business model and/or strategies that are dismissed as “to crazy
Eat Last, Don’t Learn Last
Reading Time: < 1 minute An old leadership proverb is that “leaders eat last” and a new book bearing that title by Simon Sinek explores the topic well. However, one area where leaders “eat last” at their peril is failing to invest in their own development as well as that of their team. Vistage’s Chief Research Officer, Joe
Are You a Pusher?
Reading Time: < 1 minute No, not the kind that word generally brings to mind…. I mean as a leader are you a “pusher?” Patrick Lencioni author of “Five Temptations of a CEO” and “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” says you should be. Learn why he says “Leaders are Pushers.”
Steve on Email
Reading Time: < 1 minute We think of Steve Jobs as a great creative entrepreneur whose feel for the market and insights into design created great products that people stand in line for. He was also very persuasive and a great communicator. If you’d like a few tips on one particular aspect of his abilities,
How Ike Did It
Reading Time: < 1 minute Few people had more important and momentous careers that President Dwight (Ike) Eisenhower. During World War II he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe. He not only led the planning for the invasion of Europe, his remarkable interpersonal skills held together a fragile coalition of US, English,
Seven Best Business Decisions of All Time
Reading Time: < 1 minute A few years back Vern Harnish (“Rockefeller Habits”, “Scaling Up , “Gazelles”) shared what he thought were the seven best business decisions of all time in a short video. At the end, he commented that 6 of the 7 decisions had one thing in common. See if you can identify it before
Drucker’s Big Five
Reading Time: < 1 minute It’s hard to believe that the legendary Peter Drucker’s been gone for over a decade; perhaps it’s the timeliness of his work that keeps him top of mind with so many executives. Many companies will be focusing on their strategic plans during December and it’s easy to get lost in
Is Your Strategy Scientific?
Reading Time: < 1 minute Most of us realize that thanks to science, and perhaps more importantly, scientific method, that we enjoy a level of technology and therefore comfort that the kings and queens of a century ago would have envied. Maybe we should apply the scientific method to how we run our businesses. Specifically,
Your Five Contributions
Reading Time: 2 minutes Peter Drucker once suggested that the most important question executives can ask themselves is “What can I contribute?” As important as the question is, each of should realize that we are capable of several types of contribution; five to be exact according marketing blogger Seth Godin. His brief enumeration and