Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 12, 2016

In today’s media-saturated business world, a company’s image is inextricably linked to the reputation of the CEO. Wall Street analysts, marketers and corporate communicators understand the importance of a CEO’s personal brand and how it affects demand for a company’s products or services and its market value. The “ personal brand ” of Marc Benioff of Salesforce.com or Tesla’s Elon Musk is an extension of the company.

Brand 75

Brand CEO Strategic Planning Public Relations 75

Strategy Driven

JUNE 1, 2016

Great leaders pattern themselves after (drumroll, please) themselves. As stated by Jim Rohn, noted business philosopher, “all great leaders keep working on themselves until they become effective.”. Yet a significant amount of the billions of dollars we spend each year on leadership training is not about working on ourselves but patterning our leadership on some other leader’s life, leadership model, or leadership principles.

Crisis 75

Crisis Seminar Crisis Management Learning-by-Doing 75

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 14, 2016

Innovation has always been culturally synonymous with ‘the latest and greatest’, the ‘next big thing’, and on the surface this true. Companies like to rollout their innovations at trade shows and industry events to garner attention and praise for their good work. While there are a lot of best practices, many companies tailor their efforts to their corporate structure and industry.

Innovation 73

Innovation Real Estate Management Metrics 73

Strategy Driven

DECEMBER 9, 2016

Running a company is risky business. There is no risk-free way of doing it. So, you should try to learn how to handle risks better. Your business will face all kinds of different risks. Getting your approach to each of them right could turn out to be the difference between success and failure. It really is that important. So, here are some of the extra steps you’ll need to take to keep your business safe when risks are involved.

Insurance 73

Insurance Learning-by-Doing Planning Price 73

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 21, 2016

The financial situation for Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Company could not have been more dismal in 1998. The company had chalked up losses in seven of the past eight years, and it was now paying a billion dollars annually just to service its $19-billion debt. Not that Nissan’s management had not been trying to make the right decisions to staunch the losses.

Chief Operating Officer 73

Chief Operating Officer Short-term Strategic Fit Restructuring 73

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 26, 2016

At the time we launched my second business, Sigma Communications, and its flagship magazine, The National Register of Commercial Real Estate , the biggest issue facing chief financial officers and real estate executives was their surplus real estate. Capital was extremely scarce, and interest rates were extraordinarily high. The nation was awash in unsold and unleased commercial properties.

Real Estate 72

Real Estate Chief Financial Officer Business Model Magazine 72

Strategy Driven

NOVEMBER 1, 2016

If you are a professional working in business today then regardless of your industry, age or position you will be called on regularly to present your ideas to others. If it hasn’t begun yet then be patient, it will soon. Whether it’s a team meeting, monthly update, a new initiative or project briefing there will be moments when everything you say and the way you say it matters.

Career 71

Career Strategy Audience Construction 71

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 20, 2016

Whether you’re just starting out or have been operating for years, there are many legal issues confronting business owners. This article will identify tips to take that can save your business. Tip 1: Incorporate. Legal documents must be filed in order to incorporate your business, thereby protecting your business and personal assets. If you are operating as a corporation, you need to file articles of incorporation, and if you are operating an LLC, you need to file articles of organization.

Tips 71

Tips Document Licensing Operations 71

Strategy Driven

SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

The people who spend more for quality, influence their friends and networks and remain fiercely brand-loyal. Every category is being affected by a new wave of interest in living longer, eating better, and demanding more. The pursuit of an active healthy lifestyle is changing the loyalty equation for millions of customers worldwide, and if your company is not speaking to these values and thinking that Active Explorers aren’t relevant to your brand, we urge you to take a second look.

Brand 70

Brand Audience Self-aware Learning-by-Doing 70

Strategy Driven

DECEMBER 5, 2016

Great consultants don’t necessarily want to spend a lot of time talking about theory or generalities, they would rather roll up their sleeves and get into the mix to help you address your project needs and challenges now. That’s what you want to see: candidates that demonstrate how they can add value to the project, and are excited to get started. Success in bringing in a consultant hinges largely on determining what they know about – and how they might fit into – the company’s

Consultative 69

Consultative Self-aware Project Metrics 69

Strategy Driven

NOVEMBER 4, 2016

Non-profit organizations and the causes they promote are greatly served by enlightening the public. Public education is an important part of the charge for those organizations. The earliest PSAs promoted the selling of war bonds and were shown in movie theatres during World War I and II. The campaigns included: “Loose lips sink ships” and “Keep them rolling.

Advertising 68

Advertising Education Audience Marketing 68

Strategy Driven

DECEMBER 2, 2016

Professionals who succeed the most are the products of mentoring. I heartily endorse that find a great mentor. I have had many excellent ones in my long career and have in turn mentored hundreds of others. The mentor is a resource for business trends, societal issues and opportunities. The mentor becomes a role model, offering insights about their own life-career.

Mentor 67

Mentor Learning-by-Doing Open-book Career 67

Strategy Driven

NOVEMBER 22, 2016

Getting your idea approved requires a clear recommendation that’s paired with a compelling reason for your stakeholder to approve your idea. If you can combine that idea with a powerful rationale, you’ll get to “yes” before you know it. Make Your Audience Care. At the heart of getting your pitch approved is making your audience care about it. The best way to make them care is to explain how your idea advances their agenda.

Metrics 67

Metrics CFO Chief Financial Officer Marketing 67

Strategy Driven

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

Nothing sucks the blood out of a great idea faster than the dreaded “ Yabut… ” In fact, the “ Yabut ” may be the No. 1 killer of collaboration, cooperation, great ideas and innovation in organizations. You know what “ Yabuts ” are, don’t you? They are those prickly little creatures that make noises like; “ Yabut, the banks will never back us on this one… Yabut, the market is totally unpredictable… Yabut, we’ve never done that before… ”.

Committee 67

Committee Strategic Planning Cooper Banking 67

Strategy Driven

NOVEMBER 24, 2016

Decades ago I had an idea that questions could be vehicles to facilitate change in addition to eliciting answers. Convention went against me: the accepted use of questions (framing devices, biased by the Asker, that extract a defined range of answers) is built into our culture. But overlooked is their inability to extract good data or accurate answers due to the bias of the Asker; overlooked is their ability to facilitate congruent change.

Resistance 67

Resistance System Servant Leader Banking 67

Strategy Driven

NOVEMBER 9, 2016

When I launched my second business, a publishing company called Sigma Communications, I was filled with passion but knew next to nothing about publishing a magazine. Without proven competence, I desperately needed guidance. Sure enough, I came to learn that the Chairman Emeritus of Time Warner, Dick Munro, was in the neighboring office. I could not imagine a better advisor for our startup publication and decided to introduce myself.

Real Estate 74

Real Estate Magazine Entrepreneur Advertising 74

Strategy Driven

NOVEMBER 23, 2016

Achievement Against-the-Odds: How to become bold, confident and courageous enough to break through barriers and overcome obstacles to achieve any professional and personal endeavor and live ‘the best season of your life’ As a former plus-size model, I know all too well the pain and disappointment of rejection and judgements based solely on appearance, both professionally and personally.

Outsourcing 65

Outsourcing Motivation Learning-by-Doing Follow-up 65

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 13, 2016

In 1937 Dale Carnegie published his celebrated How to Win Friends and Influence People – the first book suggesting sellers build relationships. 1937: with primitive transportation, sellers found clients closer to home; telephones were emerging (FYI – Morse Code was preferred for 40 years after the telephone was invented!); marketing avenues were limited, as was advertising (Sears Catalogue, Life Magazine, The Farmer’s Almanac, the local paper or general store).

Servant Leader 65

Servant Leader Globalization Transportation System 65

Strategy Driven

SEPTEMBER 28, 2016

Are there real tricks to becoming fulfilled in life? You bet. My research and that of others suggests that there are key street-smart actions that those who are most fulfilled use every day. I interviewed over 100 successful people – some who were fulfilled and others who were not – to understand why success does not always bring about fulfillment.

Long-term 65

Long-term Pharmaceuticals Advice Human Resources 65

Strategy Driven

NOVEMBER 2, 2016

When we launched my publishing business, Sigma Communications, I was so passionate about the magazine, and so confident that it would be a runaway success, that I decided to self-fund. After all, I had successfully bootstrapped my first business, USI. Why couldn’t we bootstrap Sigma, too? Unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way that bootstrapping is not always best.

Real Estate 64

Real Estate Advertising Magazine Finance 64

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 7, 2016

Organizations should coordinate management skills into its overall corporate strategy, in order to satisfy customer needs profitably, draw together the components for practical strategies and implement strategic requirements to impact the business. This is my review of how management styles have evolved. In the period that predated scientific management, the Captain of Industry style prevailed.

Management 70

Management Hostile Takeover Management by Objectives Objective 70

Strategy Driven

JULY 26, 2016

It’s estimated that during the next few years, more than 1 million members of the U.S. military will transition into civilian careers. For many, that transition is difficult. Not because the veterans lack the skills and drive to be successful contributors in their new roles, but because they – and their new employers – have a difficult time translating their military accomplishments into non-military positions.

Career 62

Career Development Self-aware Participative 62

Strategy Driven

FEBRUARY 3, 2016

On my business cards, I’ve often thought the titles under my name should read: Owner. CEO. Zombie Hunter. Handing them out and watching for the inevitable eye roll would be kind of fun. But make no mistake; I’m dead serious about zombie hunting. This is a skill that – if Owner or CEO is a title on your business card – you need to master.

CEO 62

CEO Long-term Morale Content 62

Strategy Driven

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

Recently I listened while a coaching client pitched his solution precisely when he could have facilitated his prospect through the contingent issues she had to handle before she could buy anything. SDM: Why did you pitch when you pitched? CL: It gave me control over the conversation, and gave her the data she needed to understand why she should buy.

Consensus 61

Consensus Price Content Marketing 61

Strategy Driven

AUGUST 15, 2016

Is your strategy built on received wisdom or analysis of performance data? – management rhetoric or business reality? Are you building your business strategy on received wisdom or real data? Corporate strategies are often based on assumptions about what drives business performance rather than data from the company itself. J.W. Marriott (founder of Marriott Hotels) is famous for saying “You’ve got to make your employees happy.

Customer Loyalty 60

Customer Loyalty Supply Chain Loyalty Analysis 60

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 6, 2016

Do you enter conversations with a goal, or set of expectations? Do you assume you’ll have solutions for your Communication Partners (CPs)? Do you listen carefully to pose the best questions to enable you to fulfill your expectations? Do you assume the responses to your questions provide an accurate representation of the full fact pattern – ‘good’ data – to base your follow-on questions on?

Influence 62

Influence System Goal Servant Leader 62

Strategy Driven

APRIL 22, 2016

Mindfulness garners a lot of recent attention. Wisdom 2.0, a conference that blends mindfulness with technology, leadership, and culture, hosted over 2,400 participants earlier this year. Attendees come from all over the world to learn and engage in developing meaningful mindfulness practices. A new area for mindfulness is how business strategies are developed.

Strategy 57

Strategy Learning-by-Doing Long-term Marketing 57

Strategy Driven

FEBRUARY 24, 2016

Almost every day we read about a CEO ouster, a logo change that backfires, or a product launch that fails to live up to its hype. As a young sailor, I was taught how to salute properly, and how to wear my dress blues and summer whites correctly. Later, as a naval officer I was reminded regularly that details matter, and can be the difference between life and death.

Delegation 57

Delegation Metrics Execution Organizational Behavior 57

Strategy Driven

JUNE 17, 2016

How are your services and the people providing them viewed by your clients? Are you a commodity readily available anywhere? Or are you a resource where skill, judgement, and critical thinking are valued and rewarded? The difference is important to your business future. The corner gas station offers a commodity. It is entirely a transaction-based relationship.

Resources 56

Resources Real Estate Short-term Price 56

Strategy Driven

AUGUST 31, 2016

These days, it seems that the art of communication is being lost. All too often within society, conversations have become one-sided monologues with witnesses or even worse, people gathered together in one space while all looking at their devices. When people stop talking in the workplace, morale drops followed by productivity. If leaders fail to address these problems, they will see good employees walk out the door.

Emotional Intelligence 59

Emotional Intelligence Group Facilitation Environment Learning-by-Doing 59

Strategy Driven

JULY 15, 2016

As a college graduate, you now have a clearer path to increased earning potential, compounded retirement potential, and a longer and healthier life. In fact, young adults with a bachelor’s degree earned 57% more than young adults with a high school diploma and 105% more than young adults without a high school diploma, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Emotional Intelligence 56

Emotional Intelligence Diversity Long-term Letter 56

Strategy Driven

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

The word accountability elicits a threat response from most employees, who interpret the word ‘accountability’ to be synonymous with punishment. Let’s face it, any time there’s a disaster, mistake, or misfortune on the news, the first thing out of the mouth of the officials is, “Who is to be held accountable?” The tone is always one of shame and blame and fingers always start to point before facts are given.

Environment 56

Environment Learning-by-Doing Content Consultative 56

Strategy Driven

NOVEMBER 30, 2016

Most executives I talk to feel like they’re drowning in data and yet anyone and everyone within the organization is telling them they need more and more data! Do you ever feel overwhelmed with all the things you need to worry about, let alone the collection of “big data” with the belief that data might help you generate better customer relations, or a more loyal customer!?

Customer Loyalty 55

Customer Loyalty Loyalty Workshop Marketing 55

Strategy Driven

JUNE 3, 2016

When I was growing up, I spent many joyful Sundays watching football with my father. At the end of every down, we relished critiquing the coach’s play calling – if it had failed – by boldly claiming we knew the plays that would have saved the day. We reenacted this ritual every week and even carried “our” game’s analysis through Monday morning breakfast.

KPI 55

KPI Bottom-up Compliance Review 55

Strategy Driven

MARCH 17, 2016

One of the traits that often come to mind when people describe leaders is intellect. A leader is expected to be smart. But being smart shouldn’t be a static condition – there are always opportunities to expand your knowledge base. Here are a few ideas of ways to not only become smarter, but to become a more effective leader at the same time. Challenge yourself to learn.

Executive Coaching 54

Executive Coaching Learning-by-Doing Class Trends 54

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 4, 2016

Business leaders often talk about changing their organization’s culture… but what does that really mean? For most leaders, changing their organization’s culture is about changing how their employees make decisions and perform work. These leaders recognize that the organization’s underlying beliefs and values systems must be altered in order to change these behaviors.

Article 56

Article System Management Leadership 56

Strategy Driven

SEPTEMBER 27, 2016

In identifying organizationally shared values and beliefs, there are several common misperceptions that result in an invalid understanding of the actual corporate culture. These misinterpretations should be guarded against as cultural understanding serves as a foundation for many of management’s decisions. Hi there! This article is available to StrategyDriven Personal Business Advisor Remote Access and Dedicated Advisor clients and those who subscribe to one of the article's related categories.

Article 54

Article Management Leadership 54