Leadership
Don’t Just Brand Your Business, Brand Yourself
This title means what it says…don’t just brand your business, but brand yourself! ‘You are your business’ -especially in the Micro and HBB sector. It is very important for potential clients to trust you as well as your business. So put some energy into branding yourself, as well as your business.
Have a personal plan for […]
Is Your Management Style Limiting Your Success
I have worked with stacks of businesses over the years. Often I am asked to name the most important indicator of whether or not a business will succeed or fail - my answer is always - Look at the CEO. CEO’s and their personal style can make or break a business.
A […]
All Chiefs and no Indians: Leadership in the Team Context
It is hard to believe that you company could be blessed with too many leaders and the possibility of that happening is indeed remote. But what do you do when you need a leader to be a follower?
The role of a leader is not fixed and changes with the needs of the […]
Can you Teach Leadership: Confronting Conventional Thought
Many people, including many colleges and universities, are firm in the belief that leadership is an inborn trait and cannot be taught as a field of study. This belief is rooted in the historical context of charismatic leaders who rose to leadership roles as a response to economic, religious, and political events. Looking […]
The Difference Between Leadership and Management
Leadership is process; it is continually in motion. Management is the product of that process, as well as its saviour. Left to itself, movement would travel on into infinity, there would be no boundary, no brakes.
Structure provides movement with a framework within which to move without overreaching itself. Management grounds leadership by setting up and […]
To Profit from Powerful Trends Be Like a Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
That hot-footed cat is ready to jump as soon as its paws get too hot. You should be too. The best ways to be able to move away from a mistake about an irresistible force are to keep your commitments as low as possible for as long as possible and to have contingency plans in […]
Helplessness Can Turn a Big Company into One Big, Unhappy Company
The Helplessness Stall often follows the Wishful Thinking Stall. Here’s an example of how that can occur. Sales and earnings at a large retail chain had been declining for years.
The chain’s executives were continually forecasting a turnaround that never came — that’s the wishful thinking beginning of this painful example. After a decade […]
Act Fast When Customers and the Community Lose Faith in Your Offerings
There may be no stronger source of unhappy surprise than having the customers’ and community’s perceptions of your products and services suddenly turn from positive to negative with no warning. Perhaps a television program runs an expose about the safety of your product, testing it in ways that you have never considered or are […]
Banish that Helpless Feeling When Trends Turn Negative
People who feel helpless often react that way because they cannot locate any acceptable alternatives in their own minds. A good way to circumvent that problem is to find others who have had similar problems, and ask them what they would do in your situation. Undoubtedly, you’ll get some ideas, and then you […]
Open Your Eyes and Ears When Tough Times Arrive
A number of years ago I was asked to help a struggling business overcome setbacks created by increased global competition, adverse cost trends, unfavorable currency rates, and weak leadership. Looking closely at the operations, I saw that within the weak operation was a kernel of strength: Huge profits could be gained by cutting back the […]
