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…

Bersin Research recently stated that the #1 high impact talent practice gap at most companies isperformance management/coach. #3 is workforce planning (future talent gaps), and #4 wascompetency maintenance (understanding job capabilities). Is your company’s performance management meant to give feedback on the previous year, or to provide coaching and development for the future? If you did not answer…

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are a comprehensive and complicated technology initiative implemented by companies in order to receive system-wide efficiencies by sharing common data across all business functions. These systems (Oracle and SAP are the largest 2) change the way people work/think/act by challenging the way they have previously done things. Employees are naturally…

A corporate strategy is what you are going to do…as well as what you are not going to do. Resources are scarce, and a leader must make decisions on trade-offs between competing priorities. In order to do this effectively, a leader must evaluate business unit performance in a systematic manner. Afterwards, one must adjust resource allocations (capital…

An executive survey found that strategy decisions were made when: 44% at regular planning cycle, 35% issues arise, 18% none, 3% don’t know (McKinsey). Executives need to: Increase the time spent regularly creating, reviewing and updating strategy; Consider both a) internal corporate aspirations, and b) directional changes required due to external global forces; Limit the…

The traditional geographic, national and time zone boundaries that created divisive silos are becoming smaller obstacles. Yet, this requires global Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) that account for regional dissimilarities. These accomplish: Compliance – protect your company and people Consistency – improve efficiency and mobility…as well as cut costs Capability – improve workforce performance Does your…