-
Search this blog
Archives
-
Recent Posts
Categories
Category Archives: Depending upon others
Turn “process” into “game.”
Most of us are driven by the competitive spirit, the desire or need to win. It reinforces self-worth, provides closure at the end of a good effort, and energizes us during the effort to achieve. Many of us as managers … Continue reading
Lead by consensus wherever possible.
Dictators are not great leaders in the long run. People follow such leaders by fear, rarely by devotion. Employees want to have a stake in their own destiny, and above all want to understand why actions are taken which affect … Continue reading
Discount your projections. Make surprises positive.
Lots of people do or will depend upon your leadership in driving growth, stability, and profitability. There will always be times when salespersons or associates provide you with projections for future sales that reflect their inherent optimism. Whether you in … Continue reading
No negative surprises! Be first to warn of shortfalls.
In past insights, we’ve explored data gathering and dashboards for tracking the most important information to manage your company. Every good executive has a set of critical data points that best alert him or her to the changes in the … Continue reading
Separate “Chairman from “CEO.”
More and more today, shareholder organizations recommend that the positions of chairman and president (or CEO) be split, so there are checks and balances at the board level in the leadership. This recommendation is true for all companies with outside … Continue reading
Use your board’s “golden contacts.”
Boards of directors have a number of important functions, both legal and structural. Boards provide or see to it that there are resources for the company (especially money) to operate. The board selects, monitors, helps, and oversees compensation for the … Continue reading
What to do with a dysfunctional board
It happens. Boards are elected by the shareholders, sometimes with preferred shareholders holding seats by right of their investment. In that instance, often the investor selects the board member and the CEO goes along with the choice, mostly out of … Continue reading
A good board deals with what and why, not how.
Who is responsible for the vision that drives the company? This is arguably the primary job of the CEO, with agreement from the board. Many entrepreneurs after taking outside investment defer to their board for matters of direction that include … Continue reading
Do you always follow the advice of your board?
This may be news, but boards of directors can offer bad advice. A typical board is composed of five persons in a company that has received outside funds from professional investors. Two members usually represent the founders or management, two … Continue reading
Does your team know your playbook?
This one comes straight from football. From experience and from information about the competition, a coach creates a playbook that contains detailed plans for actions or plays that the entire team must know without question and execute without pause in … Continue reading
