Setting goals gives us something to motivate and rally our team around
If you’re burned out at the thought of another daunting year and trying to plan, you’re not alone. Trying to figure out what will happen and how it will affect your organization seems like a crapshoot. Yet many leaders who recognize that they need to change still fail to understand how to make the necessary…
And watch your business go down the drain
A lack of productivity is a serious concern because the more it costs us to produce something, the less competitive we are in the global marketplace. And the less competitive we are leads directly to fewer jobs, diminished earning power and a lower standard of living. The usual explanations as to why we struggle with…
The current method is fatally flawed
How business leaders evaluate the landscape, make sense of the environment, proactively shape the opportunities they see and then decide on which course of action to take – in other words, Strategic Planning – deserves far closer attention than it has received so far. There is a strong argument to be made for a more…
Could improve your performance by 10 per cent and double your profits
Imagine slaving away for years in your own business only to find out that it isn’t worth anything. I regularly meet with business owners who ask me how much their business is worth and I have to tell them the disappointing news that it’s actually worth very little. The reason their business isn’t worth anything…
Attitudes and beliefs equal character, while values and competencies equal competence
Sitting just alongside the attitudes and beliefs of an organization is a companion set of attributes that round out the cultural blueprint. It is represented by: The Values: espoused and held to be important. The Competencies: nurtured to drive performance and build talent. It is a pretty simple formula – so simple that many seem…
It’s a dangerous myth to believe there is a trade-off between safety and profitability
It was a small terraced house in a northern English city. The young couple did not look old enough to have a son in our apprentice programme. They gave me a cup of tea and I sat down on their sofa. There was no TV, just some chairs, a picture of their son and the…
The rules that have guided our economy no longer apply
Did you notice that 2022 began with far fewer forecasts and outlooks than are usually seen when we put up our new annual calendars? And most of those who bravely made predictions for 2022 have already been proven wrong. The emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, just when everyone was eagerly anticipating the end…
Naming the year inspires and motivates; a new year's resolution often ends in frustration
As a child, I remember my parents and their friends gathering on New Year’s Eve and talking about their resolutions for the next year. Some of those resolutions might have been: quit smoking; plant a bigger garden; get the kids to school on time; drink more beer and less hard liquor; have a bigger pile…
It's time to change the view that managers will simply learn "on the job" and experience comes with "practice"
Let us ask a few simple questions to help illustrate our point. How many hours of driving school does the average teenager need before they get a licence to take your car onto the road? How many hours of flying time does a pilot need before they are fully licensed to fly an Airbus or…
If you are self-employed, you will need to hone new skills to succeed
As 2021 morphs into 2022, more than numbers on the calendar are changing. Technology, communications, media, weather – even the way we work and earn our livings – aren’t what they used to be. It used to be jobs, jobs, jobs. That’s what we wanted for ourselves, our partners, our kids; it’s what politicians promised…
Accurately evaluating human potential is critical to long-term success
The mining industry has long known the importance and value of good geology and sound prospecting. It understands how operating performance is inevitably linked to the location of the ore body and the "grade" of the ore being mined. The same thinking, skill and science need to be used by every organization in order to…
We develop our bad habits in good times and our good habits in bad times
The preponderance of environment news in the media today started me thinking of how important the "environment" is in the corporate world as well. You see, the quality of the environment (i.e. the culture) really does matter. Business leaders must take ultimate responsibility for shaping the environment within which their people live and must be…
Are you a dominant or conscientious or steady leader, or an influencer?
Thanks to the women’s suffrage movement and their demands for equal work for women, I was at home last week while Margaret was slaving away at the university. Because she’s only in her 11th year at the university, she has to work until Christmas Eve. To make matters worse, Margaret was worried – as she…
How to ensure you and your organizations are fit for the future
Perhaps the biggest challenge facing leaders today is to ensure they can navigate themselves and their organizations through a complex and rapidly evolving future landscape. The reality is becoming clear: A good future-focused leader has to have a "futurist mindset." This means being capable of continuously looking over the horizon and constantly adjusting our present-day…
The venture capitalist is actually looking for a reason not to invest in your company
It is an industry accepted standard that venture capitalists will fund one of 100 deals. Some entrepreneurs will not be given more than a few minutes to pitch; others will get a longer meeting, while a lucky few will move into a process of successive interviews and discussions. But, in the end, only one deal…