In the CEO Afterlife

OCTOBER 7, 2013

Women are ditching upper-management positions and bailing out before breaking through the glass ceiling. The problem is outdated, entrenched male-oriented cultures that refuse to recognize or promote the value of diversity in corporate leadership. The female bail out creates a reduced talent pool for senior management positions.

Diversity 200

Diversity Mentor Human Resources Human Capital 200

In the CEO Afterlife

MAY 1, 2011

Leadership. by John • May 2, 2011 • Human Resources , Leadership • 1 Comment. Which companies, organizations or industries are known to accept, even reward this type of behavoir? It’s not just that they are lousy people managers. We look at ways to manage around them. In the CEO Afterlife.

CEO 152

CEO Human Resources Brand Middle Management 152

In the CEO Afterlife

JUNE 20, 2013

The “steel” in strategy is its capacity to set the stage for an organization to achieve ironclad competitive advantage. Booz & Company’s survey of 3,500 global leaders, including 550 CEOs and 325 other C-suite executives report a serious lack of cohesion within their organizations. Such aspirations are goals or objectives.

Tactics 217

Tactics Retail Price Brand 217

In the CEO Afterlife

FEBRUARY 19, 2012

Theoretically, the principles and personal characteristics that constitute great leadership should mirror those of greats CEOs – but not always. Fundamentally, the leadership style or the skillset required of a CEO in one environment may be the kiss of death in another. Can a good “start-up” CEO guide a mature organization?

CEO 213

CEO Human Resources Bureaucracy Maturity 213

In the CEO Afterlife

MARCH 1, 2016

That night, I presented the marketing strategy that catapulted a regional brand to national leadership in Canada. After buckets of red ink and much soul searching, our young management team came to terms with the fact that Nabob could not survive as a ‘generalist’ against multi-nationals twenty times its size. Complexity Cripples.

Brand 100

Brand Competitive Advantage Marketing Strategy CEO 100

In the CEO Afterlife

NOVEMBER 18, 2013

Twenty years have passed since I sat in the corner office of a multinational consumer goods organization. Oh yes, the times have changed, but the inner drive that helped me motivate others, and propel organizations to excel, quickly bubbled to the surface. Seven years ago I removed my consulting shingle from the home office wall.

Human Resources 148

Human Resources CEO Mentor Resistance 148

In the CEO Afterlife

SEPTEMBER 6, 2011

Leadership. by John • September 6, 2011 • Human Resources , Leadership • 1 Comment. My regret is that I did not free up my other hip for Human Resources, a group of eager young managers at the rear of the functional pecking order. In the CEO Afterlife. Main menu Home. An adept HR executive is the CEO’s window.

CEO 162

CEO CFO Human Resources Real Estate 162

In the CEO Afterlife

FEBRUARY 26, 2012

As a 23 year-old Macleans Toothpaste Brand Manager in 1970, my colleagues and I competed against powerhouses P&G, Colgate and Unilever. Achieving the right culture is possible, but it seldom happens unless the organization is blessed with a strong and tenacious CEO who passionately practices the tenets of entrepreneurial leadership.

Creativity 240

Creativity Brand Management Marketing Resistance 240

In the CEO Afterlife

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

High on the list is weak marketing, weak management, and weak strategic discipline. I will say that the crux of the matter is the incessant pressure on management to maintain or rediscover corporate growth. Big Food Forgot How Create Organic Growth. There’s a host of reasons why great brands decay. I could add a dozen more.

Brand 100

Brand Competitive Advantage Fashion Price 100

In the CEO Afterlife

DECEMBER 11, 2011

Leadership. by John • December 11, 2011 • Branding , Leadership , Marketing , Strategy • 1 Comment. Believe me, there’s nothing that can match the turnaround experience in teaching or seasoning a young manager. While they have NFP status, they are a large organization so the finance picture is significant.

CEO 201

CEO Advertising Brand Franchising 201

In the CEO Afterlife

MARCH 27, 2011

Leadership. ‘Doing Right Things’ or ‘Doing Things Right’ by John • March 28, 2011 • Human Resources , Leadership , Strategy • 0 Comments. Most CEOs want their companies to do things right because that’s a sign of good management. Leadership. Main menu Home. Clout is the strategy.

CEO 100

CEO Human Resources Bureaucracy Brand 100

In the CEO Afterlife

MAY 16, 2011

Leadership. by John • May 16, 2011 • Leadership , Strategy • 3 Comments. Here’s a summary of his views on how leaders institutionalize innovation in their organizations: They begin with the Right Mind-set and a built-in attitude to constantly change things for the better. They unsettle the Organization.

CEO 133

CEO Innovation Education Brand 133

In the CEO Afterlife

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

Leadership. by John • February 5, 2011 • Branding , Leadership , Marketing , Strategy • 1 Comment. When I was a young product manager back in the ’70s, the only people I could talk to about brands were my colleagues in the marketing department and the advertising agency. Leadership. Main menu Home.

Magazine 100

Magazine Brand Article Marketing 100

In the CEO Afterlife

SEPTEMBER 3, 2012

When I was a CEO, I managed to squirrel away a “rainy day” fund for nasty business blips. In a crisis, whether short or long-term, the most senior people in the organization need to step up and offer innovative solutions to the issues hammering the bottom-line. At best, they are managers. Those who can’t do this are not leaders.

Short-term 232

Short-term Long-term Advertising Budgeting 232

In the CEO Afterlife

MARCH 20, 2012

Other than ensuring an ethical environment in the organizations they govern, I suspect today’s Boards still don’t give culture the attention it deserves. Provide strategic direction to management. Maybe it was the times – 25 years ago, culture wasn’t in vogue like it is now. Identify risk and monitor mitigation.

Competitive Advantage 250

Competitive Advantage Long-term CEO Ethics 250

In the CEO Afterlife

JANUARY 20, 2016

Leaders and managers are expected to do more, to do it better, faster, and at lower costs. An organization taken in several non-strategic directions. Your organization will become dysfunctional, bloated, and ill-defined by employees and customers. . You Can’t Be All Things to All People. Or Can You? The fallout?

Strategy 165

Strategy Core Competence Constraint Short-term 165

In the CEO Afterlife

FEBRUARY 3, 2016

Leaders and managers, in their struggle to adapt, are caught in the growing web of complexity. Complexity suppresses and stagnates; left unchecked, it can bring an organization to its knees. In business, the demands of customers and shareholders have never been greater.

Agility 100

Agility Download CEO Efficiency 100

In the CEO Afterlife

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

Moving on your instincts is not seat-of-the-pants leadership. Not everyone or every organization can, or should operate this way. Leaders and managers who work in these industries need all of the information. Less is better, strategically and managerially. Too much information ruins instincts. Entrepreneurial Mindset Power.

Power 100

Power Competitive Advantage Information Airlines 100

In the CEO Afterlife

FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Like many activities within any organization, “the squeaky wheels get the grease.” This is difficult for us to do because of the cultural disconnect to what these organizations stand for. In 1986, he instituted a policy whereby any employee can look up the salary and bonus of others, including the top management.

Long-term 100

Long-term Download CEO Objective 100

In the CEO Afterlife

MAY 10, 2018

No organization, large or small, can manage more than five goals and priorities without becoming unfocused and ineffective. Avoid egotistical price wars and emotional outbursts, but make competitors think you are prepared to win at all costs. Focus on the few things that really matter.

Maturity 159

Maturity Tips Entrepreneur Bottom-up 159

In the CEO Afterlife

AUGUST 29, 2011

Leadership. by John • August 29, 2011 • Human Resources , Leadership , Strategy • 2 Comments. There are all sorts of strategies in today’s business – at the top is corporate strategy, followed by a slew of functional and sub-functional strategies ranging from marketing to waste management. Leadership.

Strategy 131

Strategy CEO Company Competitive Advantage 131

In the CEO Afterlife

JULY 10, 2011

Leadership. by John • July 10, 2011 • Leadership , Strategy • 0 Comments. Whether the CEO is driven by personal ethics, a socially changing world, or headlines praising “sustainable” organizations, business is finally responding to the green trend—albeit slower than many would like to see. Leadership.

CEO 112

CEO Company Productivity Products 112

In the CEO Afterlife

JANUARY 14, 2012

The organization is structured in a way that almost every proposal requires concurrence from a peer. Management is inclined to ask questions rather than give orders. They are, and department by department, the company is stocked with dedicated people that are better than their competitor counterparts.

Proposal 260

Proposal Advertising Brand Marketing 260

In the CEO Afterlife

MARCH 28, 2012

Other than ensuring an ethical environment in the organizations they govern, I suspect today’s Boards still don’t give culture the attention it deserves. Provide strategic direction to management. Maybe it was the times – 25 years ago, culture wasn’t in vogue like it is now. Identify risk and monitor mitigation.

Competitive Advantage 131

Competitive Advantage Long-term CEO Ethics 131

In the CEO Afterlife

MARCH 26, 2015

For years management has failed to generate organic growth. Kraft is a rather interesting case in shareholder value. So they’ve chosen the easier growth route of acquisitions, mergers, divestments, and more mergers. And through it all, shareholders have been rewarded with lucrative stock gains.

Core Competence 100

Core Competence Brand Reference Objective 100

In the CEO Afterlife

JULY 16, 2015

From as far back as my days in brand management, I have held a deep affection for strategy. Without it, the complexity virus infects every nook and cranny of the organization. This might have something to do with the fact that I can be stubborn. Good strategists are also stubborn, even pigheaded. Why is that?

Strategy 100

Strategy Brand Brand Management Marketing 100

In the CEO Afterlife

APRIL 23, 2012

The companies that employed me were generally the underdogs in battles against bigger, better-financed organizations. With 100% share of market, our strategy was market growth and we managed to double sales in four years. Against mounting odds, we did more than survive. We thrived.

Power 208

Power Sports Competitive Advantage Advertising 208

In the CEO Afterlife

MARCH 5, 2013

If the hordes of telecommuters were adding massive value to the organization, Ms. During her 13-year tenure, Google invested in making their bricks and mortar facilities conducive to onsite collaboration. The strategy worked like a charm. So why wouldn’t she want to instill this model at Yahoo?

Competitive Advantage 241

Competitive Advantage Reputation Strategy CEO 241

In the CEO Afterlife

OCTOBER 17, 2011

Leadership. by John • October 17, 2011 • Branding , Human Resources , Leadership , Marketing , Strategy • 3 Comments. The reason: a fundamental flaw in the management process that is supposed to renew brand health. The blemish is the abdication of brand attention by top management. In the CEO Afterlife.

Brand 168

Brand CEO Stage-Gate SWOT 168

In the CEO Afterlife

APRIL 22, 2015

At Zappos, CEO Tony Hsieh has set his cultural sights on a holacracy management system a radical change from conventional structures. Hsieh is still hell-bent on achieving a world of self-management and self-organization, but not through more cultural changes, through quicker evolution of that initial change.

Brand 100

Brand Core Competence Retail Advertising 100

In the CEO Afterlife

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

Leadership. I valued the power of the big idea; big ideas facilitated growth on the brands I managed. For many organizations it is a key strategic tool. Becasue it has to be operationalized inside the organization, not just the marketing department. Leadership. In the CEO Afterlife. Main menu Home. About John.

Brand 199

Brand Media Positioning Marketing Strategy 199

In the CEO Afterlife

MARCH 18, 2015

The truth of the matter is that business leaders are the ones adding complexity to their organizations. This can mean expanding product lines, entering new markets and geographies, line extending brands, acquiring new businesses, creating projects, and adding layers of management to manage the self-created complexity.

Apparel 100

Apparel Brand Franchising Competitive Advantage 100

In the CEO Afterlife

JUNE 26, 2011

Leadership. by John • June 27, 2011 • Leadership , Strategy • 4 Comments. Isn’t top management supposed to be the strategic experts of the organization? Leadership. Tags: Business Discipline , Leadership , Strategic Planning , Strategy. In the CEO Afterlife. Main menu Home. Did you like this?

Strategic Planning 100

Strategic Planning Planning CEO SWOT 100

In the CEO Afterlife

APRIL 30, 2014

Sterling couldn’t even look to his organization for help. Without a sale of the Clippers, this case of leadership hari-kari will be fatal. As for the misbehavior of a chief executive, Donald Sterling is in a league of his own. His players covered the logo andwore black wristbands, black arm bands and black socks during a game.

Crisis 188

Crisis Crisis Management Brand Long-term 188

In the CEO Afterlife

FEBRUARY 13, 2017

I went in assuming his students believed corporate management and entrepreneurship were principles of contradiction — the only contrarians would be members of the flat earth society. In the meantime, perennial innovators the likes of Apple, FedEx and Amazon extended their leadership over old-guard competitors. “I want you for balance.

Mass Marketing 100

Mass Marketing Bureaucracy Entrepreneur Class 100

In the CEO Afterlife

MARCH 7, 2015

Watch out for them in your organization. Absentee leadership. Mistrust of senior management. There’s a rift within top management and everyone knows it. Picture this: The CEO of the decaying company is addressing his management team. If you spot four or five, work on resolving them, now. Lack of vision.

Absenteeism 100

Absenteeism Short-term Long-term Strategic Planning 100

In the CEO Afterlife

JUNE 25, 2012

Sure, I encountered bureaucracy at times, but I managed to navigate through the red tape by working within a cultural principal they all shared – the respect for great branding. No doubt, there’s a host of qualities beyond their approach to fresh produce that sets these organizations apart from the rest of the pack.

Brand 242

Brand Retail Bureaucracy Constraint 242