Author Archives
CEOs of all-size businesses encounter conflict. It’s a fact of business life! The real question is: How do you manage it? It probably won’t surprise you that Conflict Management tops the list of their own skills CEOs believe need development in a recent Harvard Business Review blog article. Avoiding conflict can throw a wrench into the works […]
Recently, I posed a question to my board of advisors, a diverse group of fellow professionals who work with small business owners. WHY aren’t business owners interested in discussing Exit Planning? One person, an attorney who’s also a small business owner, remarked “That’s the hardest subject there is for business owners!” “Why’s that?,” I asked. “It’s […]
Where to Turn When Your Growth Slows A lot of successful businesses reach a point where their growth starts to slow as the company matures. In fact, the price of doing a great job carving out a unique niche is that the specialty that made you successful can start to hold you back. Why would two […]
Okay, so the ladies have weighed in, and we choose to be hopeful about Business in 2013. Now I’m the first to say “‘HOPE’ is not a strategy.” But that doesn’t mean that we can’t read tea leaves, and pay attention to the new business we’re seeing across industries and regions. Check out this survey […]
Many business owners believe the act of selling their business is similar to passing the baton in a 400 meter relay: once you’re finished running, you get to relax. In reality, buyers will insist that you stay on for a transition period – anywhere from six months to five years – during which time you […]
All organizations go through different stages of growth, from startup through maturity and exit. Businesses must accomplish the key development goals of each stage to proceed to the next. Each has a unique developmental focus, and can be classified by sales revenue (varied depending upon whether your firm is a service firm or a manufacturing […]
News about the economy may be edging positive, but there is little doubt we are in a different and still-changing business environment. Many business owners are operating cautiously, perhaps feeling chastened and downright scared from recent turmoil. They may be paralyzed, unable to move, even as their business grows weaker and weaker. Other business owners […]
What Sort of Checklist Should You Be Using? – Justin Fox – Harvard Business Review I worked with surgeons for more than 20 years as their publishing partner, and remember well hearing about Atul Gawande’s early research transferring the pilot checklist concept to surgical practice. (It was around the time that news stories were hitting […]
HBR Blogs: Three Questions Executives Should Ask for the New Year I love the Harvard Business Review blogs. It’s where all the great research they do gets turned into practical guidance that can make a real difference! Melissa Raffoni wrote a terrific article, brief-enough-to-be-read-quickly, but meaty enough to be invaluable long term. In a nutshell, […]
White House job summit: Obama pushes business – Money “‘The number 1 priority is to get banks lending to small businesses because small businesses create the majority of jobs in the United States,’ [Google’s Eric] Schmidt said.” This quote comes from the article in CNN’s Money.com (link above). Finally! Is Washington beginning to “get it”? […]