Center for Creative Leadership

APRIL 24, 2019

I recently spoke with the CEO of a medium-sized manufacturing company about his new CFO who was poised to attend our flagship program for senior executives, Leadership at the Peak. She was respected by colleagues and employees, and over time had become the right-hand assistant to the CFO. How to Increase Your Executive Presence.

Charisma 65

Charisma CFO CEO Execution 65

Lead on Purpose

JULY 10, 2009

Achieving business success seems highly complex at face value. However, the principles that lead to success are not necessarily complex or difficult. However, the principles that lead to success are not necessarily complex or difficult. Products: Compelling products (or services) create success. People come first.&#

Succession 133

Succession CFO Ethics Taylorism 133

N2Growth Blog

FEBRUARY 8, 2019

Those who can’t or won’t become the barrier to growth and success. When you started out you rightly focused on developing your unique new product, service, or solution. Success depends on your ability to delegate not just responsibility; you have to delegate authority. Maybe your CFO is a family friend. Make the turn.

Delegation 243

Delegation Maturity CEO Execution 243

Lead on Purpose

FEBRUARY 22, 2014

The leading candidate is the scheming CFO played by Frederic March, a passionless, colorless bean counter groping for power, but with no vision beyond increasing dividend payouts to stockholders. This article posted on LiveLesium offers six tips for developing this important facet of the charismatic personality—confidence.

Charisma 222

Charisma Leadership CFO Learning-by-Doing 222

Mills Scofield

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Special guest blog post by Don Esch, President of Bettcher Industries of his story at BW-Center For Innovation & Growth 's Innovation Summit. This is a story about leaving “our lover”, the industry we know and seeking success in the unknown. Where We Came From and Why We’re Successful.

Succession 70

Succession Industry Stage-Gate CFO 70

N2Growth Blog

JUNE 29, 2010

Creating a framework for decisioning, using a published delegation of authority statement, encouraging sound business practices in collaboration, team building, leadership development, and talent management will all help even out the uneven. Where there is disagreement there is an inherent potential for growth and development.

Blog 313

Blog Brand CEO Consultative 313

The Horizons Tracker

MARCH 15, 2020

The founding team is vitally important to the success of any startup, and indeed, some studies argue that the founding team are more important to the success of the startup than the product itself. A recent study from INSEAD explored the academic literature to try and discover the genesis of what makes a startup team so successful.

Team 105

Team Entrepreneur COO CFO 105

CO2

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Your org chart can tell a more informed story by adding compensation information, date hired, communication/leadership style, potential successors, and the development plan. Those at the top feel obliged to pretend to omniscience, and therefore refuse to learn anything new even if the cost of doing so is success.” – Russell Ackoff.

Leadership Styles 87

Leadership Styles COO Learning-by-Doing Planning 87

CO2

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Your org chart can tell a more informed story by adding compensation information, date hired, communication/leadership style, potential successors, and the development plan. Development Progress & Complicating Factors: In general, adding “date hired” will give you a better sense of employees’ developmental progress.

Leadership Styles 78

Leadership Styles COO Learning-by-Doing Planning 78

N2Growth Blog

AUGUST 22, 2010

If your CFO handles all communications with your banking relationships, and your Chief Investment Officer handles all of your investor relations, you’re flat out missing the boat. Best wishes for continued success Marlyn. If your CMO is making all of your brand decisions there will be h*ll to pay down the road. I Think Not.

Blog 417

Blog Gordon CEO Consultative 417

Lead on Purpose

DECEMBER 6, 2010

Their success depends on their ability to build consensus and inspire the other team members to do great things. Here are the key roles that are crucial to your success as a product manager, and why they are important: Engineering/QA: The relationship with the engineering/development team is paramount for product managers.

Productivity 182

Productivity Products Management Leadership 182

Marshall Goldsmith

FEBRUARY 8, 2018

Co-founder of Rose Park Advisors—Disruptive Innovation Fund. A leading thinker on strategy and breakthrough innovation. 14th Administrator, United States Agency for International Development. Rod MacKenzie – Executive Vice President, Chief Development Officer for Pfizer, member of Pfizer’s Executive Leadership Team.

Executive Coaching 70

Executive Coaching CEO Magazine Banking 70

Persuasive Powerhouse

JULY 7, 2010

What shared interests can you learn about that you can combine to catalyze innovation for your organization? An enterprise business model was developed that takes in all the processes across all the business areas. The CFO owns a couple.

Greenleaf 200

Greenleaf Maslow Goal Goleman 200

The Empowered Buisness

JULY 14, 2015

Orientation toward innovation and creativity. Yet companies continue to invest in skills development only to be disappointed by little or no difference in performance. A successful CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) is likely to have such MAPs as – strong motivation toward options (ie., Decision making style. And much more.

Motivation 100

Motivation Leadership McClelland Long-term 100

Lead Change Blog

JANUARY 9, 2017

Welcome to the January 2017 edition of the Leadership Development Carnival! In this post, Virtual CFO Jon Verbeck helps readers get back to basics—explaining that we’re in business to make a profit (which can help us do good things). Miki Saxon of MAPping Company Success contributed 56 Words That Will Change Your Life.

Leadership Development 150

Leadership Development Development Leadership Ethics 150

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 5, 2012

Merck, Eli Lilly, and GlaxoSmithKline have all announced they are investing in early-stage biotech start-ups as a new product development strategy, hoping that external innovation will pick up where internal R&D has fallen short. Facebook Flop Won't Scare Off Growth-Company Listings (CFO). But this is no sure winner.

Development 13

Development McKinsey CFO Competitive Advantage 13

Miles Anthony Smith

MAY 2, 2018

Establishing a personal brand carries even more weight when you’re responsible for developing and leading others. Click "READ MORE" to discover the 29 steps and examples to creating a successful personal brand. If you’re successful, your brand will leave an impact long after you’re gone. ​ ​1.

Brand 68

Brand Examples Career Godin 68

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 17, 2015

A new study by The Bridgespan Group, based on a survey of more than 400 nonprofit C-suite executives and dozens of interviews, surfaced this surprising finding and discussed how to address this leadership development deficit. Education crowdfunder DonorsChoose.org, which finances classroom-based projects, is a good model of success.

Development 8

Development Mentor COO CFO 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 11, 2016

Since then, as the composition of top executive teams has changed, responsibility for leading strategy development has been shared by more members of the C-suite. The 1990s saw the rise of the strategic CFO, and more recently many companies have created a chief strategy officer (CSO) position. There are two reasons for this.

Strategy 8

Strategy CFO Finance Short-term 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 1, 2018

” The problem is that, when hiring, evaluating, or promoting employees, we often measure people against our implicit assumptions of what talent looks like — our hidden “template of success.” Not surprisingly, most managers end up hiring people who match their implicit template of success.

Power 10

Power Management Diversity CFO 10

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 6, 2013

But this makes the still lingering CMO-CFO disconnect even more significant, as both executives are now stewards of that critical corporate data. We found that we shared a passion for finance, the stock market, innovation, and marketing (and, candidly, politics). Can (and should) you track results instantly?

CFO 8

CFO Advertising Finance Marketing 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 8, 2018

These criteria assume a limited supply of financial capital and that prudent allocation of financial capital determines a firm’s success. Digital companies, however, consider scientists’ and software workers’ and product development teams’ time to be the company’s most valuable resource.

Report 8

Report GAAP Net Present Value CFO 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 25, 2015

What they don’t do well enough is reinvent and innovate. Sure, there are exceptions who are both visionary CEOs and innovators — Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos, for example — but there are very few companies that can stomach that sort of leadership. So if the CEO isn’t someone who can innovate, then who should?

Entrepreneur 8

Entrepreneur CTO Business Model CEO 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 21, 2012

Constellation has developed an Innovation Center , an unconventional permanent facility within its headquarters. People come from different locations to the Innovation Center for "ideation" (brainstorming), decision-making, and planning. What's distinctive about having a physical innovation center? It sends a message.

Brainstorming 14

Brainstorming CFO Innovation Energy 14

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 22, 2014

So, the real challenge for career success is not just how to “win” the next promotion, but also how to rebound from the next defeat , as we explain in our article in this month’s HBR. And an innovative manufacturing company offered her a job as head of “strategic partnerships.” Here’s a case example. Naturally, Sheila was upset.

Career 9

Career Examples Supply Chain CFO 9

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

These are all useful things to do, and successful executives invest time in them periodically. For example, Tim Sheahan, Chief Financial Officer for a large division of a multi-national corporation, aspires to become CFO of a Fortune 100 company in the future. Don't get me wrong.

Execution 14

Execution Team Chief Financial Officer Finance 14

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 26, 2014

We have reviewed hundreds of corporate announcements and websites, interviewed numerous leadership experts, and conducted an analysis of CEO changes and successions over the past five years at S&P 500 and Global 100 companies. The board can also continue to ensure the success of leapfrog leaders after their ascension to the CEO role.

CEO 10

CEO Contingency Plans Telecommunications Planning 10

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 10, 2013

The appointment of Mary Barra as CEO-to-be of General Motors is a signal to car-lovers everywhere that the company is serious about its products and vehicle innovation. The centrality of innovation to the future — electric cars, hybrids, self-driving cars, and beyond — makes her experience pivotal.

Engineering 9

Engineering CFO Industry Bureaucracy 9

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 7, 2012

In my last post , I argued that you should start process innovation by asking front-line workers how to improve their jobs. It's not easy, to be sure, but some companies have managed to spur their employees to innovation by observing a few principles. Protect the Downside — Demonstrate a Commitment to Continued Employment.

Attrition 15

Attrition CFO Deming Outsourcing 15

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 23, 2014

As a result, different parts of the organization have independently had success with analytics. The CAO should be under an executive that naturally spans all of the business units that have analytical needs, such as the Chief Strategy Officer, the CFO, and the COO. Over time, other groups did the same.

Company 8

Company COO Information Technology CFO 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

The same investment logic holds for Apple's innovation ecosystem; the flow and fortune of its third-party apps development alone would yield valuable insight. But those are exactly the kinds of values conversations (privacy, exclusivity, fairness, and intellectual property) innovative organizations need to have.

Hedge 15

Hedge Core Competence CFO ROI 15

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 30, 2011

To many, Jobs is a once-in-a-lifetime genius whose success can't be replicated or continued. It's true that Apple's success in the last decade has been built on a remarkable string of innovations, which seems harder to "codify." On the morning of his announcement, one analyst immediately advised people to sell their Apple stock.

P&L 14

P&L Supply Chain Retail COO 14

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 23, 2014

As a result, different parts of the organization have independently had success with analytics. The CAO should be under an executive that naturally spans all of the business units that have analytical needs, such as the Chief Strategy Officer, the CFO, and the COO. Over time, other groups did the same.

Company 8

Company COO CFO Analysis 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 7, 2012

In my last post , I argued that you should start process innovation by asking front-line workers how to improve their jobs. It's not easy, to be sure, but some companies have managed to spur their employees to innovation by observing a few principles. Protect the Downside — Demonstrate a Commitment to Continued Employment.

Attrition 11

Attrition CFO Deming Outsourcing 11

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 20, 2013

The question is how to equip employees with the skills to handle complexities such as creating innovative solutions to emergent problems, understanding new markets, and pushing back on the "status quo." They too have struggled to operate in complex environments, and have developed the skills and expertise to overcome these challenges.

Entrepreneur 8

Entrepreneur Company Six Sigma Franchising 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 9, 2012

Gene Morphis, former CFO of CVS and David's Bridal suggests: "There is an interesting intersection between risk management and innovation that emerges in the CMO-CIO interface." It's up to the CEO to ensure that marketing and IT are on the same page in terms of both innovation goals and risk management.

CIO 8

CIO Chief Information Officer Norton Technology 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 6, 2011

Two years later the company was the poster child for reengineering success — the subject of speeches, a Harvard Business School case study, articles, and book references. But the pilot was not far enough along to demonstrate that it would make any money and the firm had no detailed economic model against which to measure success.

Process 14

Process Six Sigma Finance Short-term 14