Motivation makes progress possible…leaders must build that excitement and fire among their employees. Three non-cash motivators (Source: McKinsey) include: Praise from immediate manager, Leadership attention (i.e. one on one conversation), and Project/task leadership to “provide answers” for company’s future. Basically, all three make people feel valued. So why don’t more managers/companies do these three?…

  There are definite better practices in corporate performance management. Yet, do these standards identify the potential of engaged leadership, which goes above and beyond expectations–yet in their own way that may be unorthodox? Yes, there should be specific goals, immediate feedback, and a focus on technique instead of outcome. However, “out of the box”…

There is plenty of outcome uncertainty when investing in innovation. Therefore, it is important to mitigate the risks. This is especially true if your company invests a considerable amount in research and development (one client’s budget is 9% of revenue).  These structured steps can assist (and don’t jump to #8 as many do): Seek ideas…

One primary corporate growth tool is acquisitions; however, 40-80% of acquisitions fail to meet their stated expectations. Yet, they continue to be a dominant strategy for corporate renewal and expansion (market share, customer bases, future corporate revenues). How can a company reduce its acquisition risk? They need to focus on long term growth that is…

  More and more is written about the need to overhaul performance management: the process companies use to determine who gets more money, who gets promoted, and who is let go. A colleague of mine at one of the top companies recently said they were looking at throwing out most established and mature talent management…

  After 100 years, the original 12 Dow Jones members from 1896 have had name changes, consolidation, booms, and busts.  (Source: Forbes) American Cotton Oil – Ancestor of Best Foods, now part of Unilever. American Sugar – Became Amstar in 1970 and subsequently Domino Foods. American Tobacco – Broke up into separate businesses in 1911,…

  Jim Collins’ book looks into the decline of great, even invincible companies. By learning from mistakes that took these companies from iconic to irrelevant, today’s leaders can avoid others’ tragic fate. Focus on good questions instead of right answers Institutional decline is a disease: harder to detect but easier to cure in the early…

  One of an executive’s primary team responsibilities is the decision regarding where to allocate scare resources. If no uncertainty, then no need for decisions. If no decisions, then no need for leaders. When allocating capital, they are deciding between: investing in existing operations, a merger/acquisition, dividend payment, debt reduction, or share buyback. The last…

  A.G. Lafley, former CEO of Proctor & Gamble, wrote a book called “Playing to Win,” when sales doubled, profits quadrupled, and market value increased by $100 Billion. In summary: Too many firms confuse strategy with vision/plan, instead of identifying choices to win Strategy guides and enables execution by allocating capital and people (i.e. where…

A while back, in France for work, the hotel TV did not have many English speaking languages. One of the channels: Euro News, had a 1-minute video that came on periodically called “No Comment.” There was no voice over, just a recent video somewhere in the world – and you were left to interpret it…