Leading for Results
The most important reason to be an effective leader is to help the group achieves its goals. Not for the status, or the power, but the results. So today, find…
Learning from Facebook executive departures
The departures of key executives from Facebook last week are the latest over the past 18 months. They highlight a number of key lessons in strategy and strategy implementation: Leaders…
The Key to Large-Scale Change
I’ve been road bicycling in Aiken, South Carolina over the past week and have been amazed at the amount of litter along the backroads. I remember as a kid in…
Avoid Accountability Gaps and Overlaps
I saw a professional soccer game on the big screen at a Mexican restaurant last night. I always admire how really good soccer players know their positions and how adept…
Too Busy to Succeed
Most of the leaders and senior executives I work with are grappling with not enough time in the day. They are running hard trying to stay on top of key…
Why You Need to Talk With Employees
A leader needs to keep in touch with customers because a business’ real value is realized on the outside. But it’s just as important to keep in touch with employees. …
Time to Clean House?
Computers get bogged-down over time as programs take more and more memory. Similarly, organization structures and processes get bogged-down by the ongoing addition of policies, procedures, and rules. Almost always…
How to Stop Circular Discussions about Decisions
One of the ways that meetings can be both frustrating and inefficient is when participants are faced with a situation and are going around and around debating alternative solutions. I’ve…
How to Improve Accountability
The word “accountability” can have a lot of negative connotations for people, including managers. In most cases, that’s because they either don’t understand accountability, or had a bad experience with…
The Implementation Advantage
Strategy fails when it’s not implemented well – when it’s not connected to what goes on in people’s jobs day-to-day. You need to connect it. And you also want decisions…
3 Leadership Themes for 2019
A quick observation: My best clients, the ones who get the most value from our work together, take the ideas we discuss and put them into practice instead of thinking…
The Sharply-Focused Organization
Strategy formulation and planning are really two different things. And of course the value isn’t in spending three days setting strategy. The point isn’t walls full of easel sheets and…
Strategy Isn't Tactics
Strategy isn’t about starting from today and going forward into the future. It’s about defining the future you want and working backwards from it to determine how you’re going to…
What Nobody Tells You about Consistency and Efficiency
For all the benefits of six-sigma, lean, JIT, etc. (and there are significant benefits,) you must not let the focus on efficiency drive out innovation and creativity. This is particularly…
Excellence at Work
Being excellent and efficient at getting things done is good. It’s what effective managers do. Being excellent at deciding which things to get done is critical. It’s what effective leaders…
How to Address Resistance to Accountability (or to any change)
Last week I heard from a teacher in the Boston area in response to my piece about accountability. She said, “Wow! This is what I do every day as a…
Do You Have An Accountability Absence?
A significant challenge for management today is accountability. You must count on people doing what is expected of them, and doing it on time. But despite how important this…
Why Effective Leaders Don't Have Cluttered Desks
I used to wonder why it was that when I visit well-respected leaders their desks are clear of clutter. In most cases, there are only one or a few folders…
What No One Tells You About Learning
Learning drives competitive advantage. I If everyone in your company does pretty much the same work every day, you will standstill and lose your competitive edge. You need everyone…
The Executive's Quick Guide to Coaching Functional Managers
If you listen to the business press, you might come away thinking that developing people is all about culture. The message is something like: ‘leaders don’t grow people, they create…
Pay Attention to Your Pay Practice
Amazon made news last week by raising all employee pay to a minimum of $15. No doubt this was in part a political move to take pressure off after reports…
Is Your Organization Aligned with Your Strategy?
Make sure your organization is aligned with your strategy. It’s not enough to communicate the strategy. Two examples: Example #1: I was called with an urgent need by a gas…
The Art of Leadership
Last week I was in Chicago and visited the world’s largest and most respected maker of fine stringed instruments, William Harris Lee & Company. They make violins, cellos, and other…
How to Align Priorities
As a leader, you need to make sure that priorities are aligned throughout your organization, and that people are working on those priorities. To accomplish alignment, do the following: Provide…
The Transition Every Executive Must Make
Last week I was in Rhode Island where Autumn is beginning to take hold. It got me thinking about transitions and especially the transition that any new executive must make…
Do You Have Enough Discretionary Time?
C-level executives must have discretionary time to work on the tasks that are most important to the company. These include such tasks as strategy, organization direction, communication, and people development.…
How Successful Executives Demonstrate a Strategic Perspective
An important challenge any successful executive needs to master is the transition from an operational project focus to a strategic focus. That’s not to say that projects aren’t important (they…
Strategy and Growing Your Business
When I see a company year-after-year forecast sizable increases in revenues and profits and regularly miss the forecast I am reminded of Albert Einstein’s admonition about insanity: Doing the same…
Are You Discovering Enough Strategic Insights?
Nearly every company has experienced a period of prolonged financial difficulty. Growth does not occur in a straight line, but rather in a series of growth curves similar to product…
Learning to Think Strategically
Newly-promoted executives face a number of significant challenges as they adapt to an executive role. One of the most significant is the ability to think strategically. In my 30 years…
Pay Attention to Key Management Processes
Innovation and continuous improvement keep operating processes efficient and effective, but too often management processes get neglected and they can cause significant problems during growth. What are management processes? Here…
Special Report: Retain Your Key People
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that employees are voluntarily quitting their jobs at the highest rate since the internet boom in 2001, and most of them are getting bigger…
When a Key Manager Isn't Cutting It
Having the right strategy and structure is good, but you need to make sure that you have the right key players in every important management position. Is each one capable…
Stop Organization Silos
Organization silos occur when employees identify more with their group than with the company. When employees operate in silos they tend to keep information within their work group, distrust other…
Executives: Don't Operate Beneath Your Level
Many executives have the opportunity to increase quality and productivity in their organizations, and at the same time reduce demands on their time, simply by operating at their own level.…
The Executive Growth Mindset
To get to the next level of performance and growth, you need to think differently about yourself, and especially your business. You cannot get to the next level by thinking…
Dramatically Improve Your Leadership Effectiveness — Part Two
I’ve been asked what key changes executives need to make in order to have a quantum leap in their effectiveness. What’s interesting about the question is that the answer has…
Are Your People Becoming Obsolete?
One of the dangers to both employees and companies these days, particularly in small to medium-size companies, is that there tends to be insufficient emphasis on continuous learning. The manager…
Essential Steps for a High Return on People
Most organizations devote a lot more time and money on weak performers than they do on top performers. They think that by investing in the lowest performing people, they will…
Sharpen the Focus on Results
Here is one of the most common, yet astounding, things that I see in organizations: Direct reports often aren't clear on what their jobs are. Yes, they are busy all…
What they may not be telling you
You need to make sure that the information you receive is not filtered. That can be more difficult than it seems. You have to make sure that your people understand…
Here's How to Set Priorities
You're the leader. That means you choose the music that everyone dances to. You need to be out in front and leading, providing direction and ideas that excite and motivate…
An Essential Leadership Skill: Following-Up
Executing a strategy, implementing a decision, changing a culture, achieving an operating plan…all require the leadership skill of following-up. It is an enormous mistake to assume that because you’ve discussed…
You Must Address Non-Performers
Make sure that non-performers or weak performers throughout your organization know where they stand. I read a Wall Street Journal article this weekend about the New York City School System…
Have More Time for Your Priorities
Here are three suggestions to significantly reduce demands on your time: Attract, develop, and retain really good people who report to you. This is very highest priority because direct reports…
Developing Young Management Talent
Build both accountability and managerial skills, especially in newly-promoted managers. Instead of asking a manager for detail on project progress, ask what he or she needs to do in his/her…
How to be an inspiring communicator
A common challenge of leaders is to become a better, more inspiring and energizing communicator. To do that, it helps to change your perspective on your business and to think…
Make Top Team Meetings Effective
Developing a highly-functioning top team is not easy. It takes the right combination of people, agreement on a clear direction, the ability to interact effectively, and a number of other…
A Great Time for Recognition
This is a good time of year to recognize exceptional performance of one or a few key individuals. Consider a lump-sum cash award, especially if you have someone who does…
Corporate Renewal Best Practice
Every organization needs to ensure continuous learning and increasing overall competency. In addition, younger employees are anxious to take on more responsibility, while senior employees are holding off on retirement.…
Recognition and Thanks
Take the time to walk around this week and thank your people for the work they do, the ideas they surface, and the opportunities they discover. Make it a weekly…
Leadership: Your Mileage May Vary
When working with clients on implementing strategy, accelerating change, or improving performance, the actual results they achieve can vary greatly. Some clients make good steady progress while others grab ahold…
Making Relationships Productive
To be successful, managers and leaders need good relationships with their peers, subordinates and bosses. Yet, I usually see less-than-effective relationships when working with a leader. Often those relationships are…
The First Key to Exponential Growth
If you want exponential growth, you need to have a very clear picture of the business you want to have in the future: What will you be providing? Who will…
Harassment: What CEOs can do about it
The long-time Weinstein abuse and harassment was both widespread and known in the entertainment industry and beyond. It was an “open secret” that at least one major media outlet knew…
3 Key Elements of Teamwork
One of the most important factors in achieving high performance is teamwork. That’s true for two reasons: First, because organizations exist because their overall mission and goals require more than…
What leaders can learn from Wells Fargo, Uber, and Weinstein
Corporate culture is in the news due to the likes of Wells Fargo, Uber, and the Harvey Weinstein Company. CEOs, through their own behavior, set the values and the standards…
Is Your Strategy Sustainable?
Business strategy is all about having a distinctive position in your market, and making that distinctiveness sustainable. A distinctiveness that can be easily replicated is not a good strategy. Companies…
What's Your Niche?
To grow your business and improve profits stop thinking of your company as one of many competitors in a broad market, and define a narrower market niche to focus on.…
Operating at the CEO Level
The CEO has the responsibility to think strategically about the company and its business. This is a two-fold challenge: The first part is to extricate yourself from day-to-day tactics, problems…
Why You Need to "Think Different"
Exactly 20 years ago, Apple came up with a “Think Different” marketing theme. In part it was a rejoinder to IBM’s “Think,” but it resonated widely with businesses. It’s still…
Do Your Company Values Do Anything For You?
I’ve seen a lot of companies with fairly generic values posted in conference rooms and other work spaces. You know, values such as “Fairness,” “Teamwork,” and “Honesty.” While those are…
New Senior Leaders Must Change These to be Effective
These Have to Change When You Become an Executive Leader When a person is promoted to a leadership position as a CEO, COO, president, or senior executive there are three…
Top 7 Obstacles Getting in the Way of Your Strategy
Over the past 30 years, I've worked on strategy and strategy execution with the senior management of Fortune 1000 companies, mid-market companies, and Inc 5000 companies. In all that time,…
Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
Professional race car drivers have their eyes well down the track in anticipation and readiness. So do the very best equestrians who immediately upon completing one jump will be looking…
Take a Lesson From The Beatles
In 1966, The Beatles decided not to tour or do live concerts anymore. They made the decision primarily because they did not feel they were growing, evolving. When they played…
When Development Stalls at the Top
The need to continually develop knowledge and skills is important throughout an organization. You've got to have people who are capable of handling new and bigger challenges in all aspects…
When to Stop Investing in Poor Performers
Investing in people to develop and become better performers is important -- as long as you are getting a good return on the investment. But too often I see organizations…
What's Your Competitive Advantage?
Business strategy is all about competitive advantage. An brilliant strategy is be both unique and sustainable. If it's not unique, then you're simply running the same race as your competitors. …
On Getting Good Talent
There is a shortage of good talent for many key positions. It may seem counterintuitive, but it is imperative at times like this that you be MORE selective in who…
How's the Climate in Your Organization?
Back before culture surveys, attitude surveys, and engagement surveys, we used to have climate surveys, which were a way to measure the "climate" in an organization. I find it to…
Senior Management Incentives in the News
Strategic incentives are a good idea at the top. But getting everyone one in a large company on the same page is difficult, and it doesn't always work. Here are…
10 Ways to Eliminate Mediocrity in Your Organization
An organization that accepts mediocrity is a haven for under performers, and very frustrating for high performers. Here are ten ideas I found in my work with organizations are each…
Are You Enabling Mediocrity in Your Organization?
Mediocrity is bad for a number of reasons. Workplaces that allow mediocrity also de-motivate high performers. And tolerating mediocrity reduces an organization's energy and productivity, as well as employee engagement…
Creating an Anticipatory Set
When something bad is about to happen, people will get tense. When beginning a competition, people will become focused. When preparing for a happy occasion, people will become relaxed. They…
Powerful Ideas to Improve Your Leadership
From many years of coaching executives, here are five pointers for becoming a better leader: Hire people who are better than you in their discipline; not subordinates. Focus yourself on…
Do This Before the End of February
It's February and you've got most of the year still ahead. See if you can answer these questions clearly and briefly: What is your strategy? What is the over-arching vision…
Three Imperatives of Profitable Growth
From over 30 years of working with organizations of all sizes and in many industries on improving business outcomes especially growth and profits: The most valuable part is having a…
Beware Organizational Arsonists
An arsonist is someone who finds little things to pick on, to call attention to, and to question. They start small "fires" here and there requiring time and attention to…
What's Your Point?
Many people tell me that they like my On the Same Page emails because they are brief, to-the-point, and practical. I try to do the same thing when I speak.…
What to Try When Two People Aren't Getting Along
In the 1970's, the Army launched a study to identify where, in their organization, race relations were the best. The answer: In a foxhole under fire. It doesn't matter who…
What to do About Individual Performance Problems
I am often asked to look at people in key positions who are not performing at the level expected. Often, management already has in mind the solution: "He needs training,"…
Observations From Southeast Asia
I've been immersed in different cultures for the past couple weeks in Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Yangon, Myanmar. Some observations germane to leaders: These cultures are distinctly different, and based…
Building Competitive Advantage
An important focus for any business strategy is to establish a competitive advantage for the firm. The two primary ways to do this are to be the low-cost producer and…
Turning Culture Into Competitive Advantage
Oops! In last Monday's email, I wrote that a 1000-foot runway (implementation plan) would be insufficient for a beautiful jet (corporate strategy) that requires a runway of 10,000 feet. At least…
Do You Have Enough Runway for Your Strategy?
My client called me to help improve company performance. The strategy they had developed was beautiful, like a new 747, capable of taking them where they wanted to go. The…
When Culture and Strategy Conflict
This one is simple: If strategy and culture go head-to-head, bet on the culture. Here's why: Too many leaders, especially those who are out to change a company's strategy, think…
I Don't Want to Hear "Hopefully"
The foundation of accountability is commitment. When one is committed to accomplishing something, the hesitation and fear are replaced by resolve and energy. When one is not committed, they tend…
Why You Need Your Own Best Practices
There are very, very few companies that have been great over a long time. It's as if they were able to assemble an organization, a strategy, a culture, and product/services…
5 Key Levers for Successful Strategy Execution
Most strategies fail to achieve their objectives, not because the strategies are faulty, but because the implementation is weak. It’s like building a beautiful jet airplane requiring 5000 feet to…
Ten Reasons Why Strategies Fail
There isn't a strategy. The strategy is distributed in 3-ring binders, everyone celebrates getting that done and thinks the strategy will implement itself. The strategy is actually an operations improvement…
How to Use Your People Time
Here's what works: Divide your workforce into three groups based on their performance: The top 20%, the middle 70%, and the bottom 10%. On which group do you spend most…
Improving Management Development
David Ogilve, the advertising guru, once noted that half the money spent on advertising is wasted; the problem being that no one knows which half. The same could be said…
When Poor Performance is Caused by the Boss
When analyzing a performance problem, I've found it often pays to look at the supervisor or manager and how they manage their people. Examples: Micromanaging Unclear or no accountabilities Weak…
How leaders' behaviors affect their people
Someone (I think it was Woody Allen) said that the role of the leader is to demonstrate how to act to his/her people. It's sound advice. The most admired leaders…
Escape Velocity for Cultural Gravity
Your company has a culture. It's the values and beliefs that cause certain behaviors. For example, if people are routinely late for meetings or if there is a stampede to…
Here's What Builds a High-Performance Team at the Top
If you want to build a high-performance team at the top, you've got to have managers who are professionally close. The big mistake many companies make is to dream-up "team"…
Take Less Action — And Get Better Results
Managers become quite adept at problem solving which involves taking action to bring performance back up to where it once was. You know the drill: An individual's performance declines, a…
The Key Difference Between Bureaucracy and High-Performance
Of the things high performers hate most, bureaucratic organizations are in second place (weak supervisors are first.) The key difference between bureaucracies and high-performance organizations is how they value both…
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