Marcus Buckingham’s new strengths assessment helps leaders find their edge to win at work.  Some key takeaways: Extraordinary results can be achieved in radically different ways….there is no “perfect profile” Your natural edge is where you have an advantage over everyone else…so natural, yet not apparent Combination of strengths is who you are….you need to understand…

  Newcomers are competing with industry leaders, a trend that will likely increase.  For example, South Korea’s Samsung is doing quite well competing against Apple. Apple is at the top of BCG’s most innovative companies for 9 years straight, and Samsung is #2 (which is up from 26th in 2008.) How do they do it?…

  It had been a while since I had traveled to the Netherlands, and on a recent work trip to Amsterdam I saw a new “piece of art” at the famous Rijksmuseum. There are large, 5 foot letters that spell out “I Amsterdam” with all the letters in white except for the first 3, which…

  Virgin Galactic sold 26 tickets at $200K a piece for spaceflights, in the hopes of launching by the end of 2012.  They didn’t.  However, this does not replace our fascination with space and the future possibilities. What might your company create in the future? For many people, the realities of today limit their ability…

  If you assessed the amount of money spent on government lobbying in 2011, it appears the most regulated industries spent the most to protect their interests (Source: Center for Responsive Politics). Pharmaceutical $182M Insurance $116M Oil & Gas $110M Electric Utilities $105M TV/Movies/Music $92M Computers/Internet $92M Manufacturing & Distributing $88M Securities and Investment $75M…

  There is talk about the Triple Bottom Line:  Profit, People and Planet. I once heard a CEO say that without profit – he cannot do the other two, so profit is his main focus. A different way to say this is “No margin, no mission” or “no profit, no purpose.” Another CEO told me…

The tenure for static CEO’s is nasty, brutish, and short. A CEO must be dynamic, and an organization must prepare for the next CEO. 49% of S&P 500 companies replaced a CEO in 2011, and 80% of those were promoted from within. For public companies, the position that supplies CEO’s are: 72% finance, 71% operations, 67% sales,…

The rate of change has changed! A growing popular term to describe our world is VUCA – Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. Your organization’s performance is dependent upon learning. Learning, like milk, has a shelf life. Your learning offerings and system requires flexibility and adaptability to be effective in the dynamic business market. Also, you…

50 Million Users gained over time: Commercial Television – 13 yearsInternet service providers – 3 yearsFacebook – 1 yearTwitter – 9 months Social technologies streamline communication and collaboration, lower barriers between functional silos, and extend networked enterprises; yet, only 5% of all communications and content use in the US are on social networks. The majority of relevant, enterprise knowledge…

Ken Conley from Ken Blanchard Company highlighted how trust is gained and lost. Trust is Gained when one: Is competent Has track record of success Is honest and ethical Admits mistakes Listens with intent to be influenced Asks and receives feedback Walks the talk – is consistent in word & deed Follows “Do what you will say…