In the CEO Afterlife
OCTOBER 18, 2015
Craft or Career. Decades ago, I was moved by a business school article entitled, “Craft or Career. The author, a professor, was making the point that crafts and careers are not mutually exclusive – that craftspeople do not have to climb the management ladder to realize fulfilling careers. Which Will It Be?
In the CEO Afterlife
APRIL 28, 2012
To most of us, mentors are people of experience and knowledge who help the less experienced advance their careers and/or their education. There are plenty of well-known examples throughout the course of history; Aristotle mentored Alexander the Great, Laurence Olivier mentored Anthony Hopkins and Freddy Laker mentored Richard Branson.
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In the CEO Afterlife
MAY 22, 2013
Over my 17-year career in the North American coffee business, I must have dealt with three or four Brazilian frosts that pushed the price of coffee futures through the roof. After that calamity, we altered our course to make the best of a difficult situation and always came out of the frost in much better shape than our competition.
In the CEO Afterlife
NOVEMBER 18, 2013
Despite the anomalies of a different industry (this one was fresh food), I was able to assess the situation in short order and define a course of action, always mindful of understanding the company/industry’s key success factors before leveraging them for marketplace differentiation. Cutting to the chase. The bottom line?
In the CEO Afterlife
APRIL 13, 2012
As a side benefit of this crash course in catch-up, I have learned more than I ever imagined. That idea can also change you; believe me, there is nothing like a business breakthrough to set the right foundation for the rest of your career. Your idea can change a company. Take the time to look at other industries.
In the CEO Afterlife
NOVEMBER 4, 2012
Turns out that Linds Redding, an illustrator and designer, spent most of his career crafting advertising in the UK and New Zealand, before opening an animation studio. Now of course we are all suffering from the same affliction. Well of course not. I’m glad I did. Can’t be done. It became a contest. How could it be.
In the CEO Afterlife
JUNE 8, 2016
The team also had to go through the pangs of training its employees to be strictly coffee experts, conducting “cuppings” (otherwise known as coffee tastings) and product knowledge courses so that “when a neighbour asked them about coffee, they would be able to talk about the origins, the roast, the grind.”. So another bold step was required.
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