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LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS
In this week’s video blog our expert guide, Don Hadley, discusses being busy vs. productive. Being productive means “achieving or producing a significant amount or result.” Being busy is not the same as being productive. Whether it is a lack of confidence in themselves or those around them, some leaders are unable to hand off work and responsibilities to others and have difficulty prioritizing. We have found over the last 30 years that this “busyness” is actually masking other […]
We met with an owner of an organization recently. He and his partner started the company several years ago after working at another organization locally. That decades old organization began to have problems when the economy turned downward and eventually imploded. From the ashes, this new organization, under the shoe string financing of the two new owners, and with the support of 30 employees, started from scratch and rebuilt their organization. This organization satisfied a need in the marketplace, and […]
In this week’s video blog our expert guide, Don Hadley, discusses acquisitions and the importance of taking the time to understand the people. When organizations hire one individual, it is important that salary, job description, values and heart are a fit with the individual and the culture. However, if there is a value or culture issues that arises with only one person, the success of an organization is not in jeopardy. Mergers and acquisitions, though, are considerably more complicated. Often […]
We have been working with several organizations currently undertaking mergers and acquisitions. Through the years, the logic of these transactions is easy. It is what is behind the scenes in the heart, values, and operational culture of the organizations that gets to be “the art of a successful transaction”. The newer players to the market are too simplistic and downplay the heart, the values and the operational culture. Having the deal breakers clear and the reasons for the transaction for […]
In working with teams, we frequently run across a common frustration where meetings do not feel productive. The meetings take too long and give too little actionable information; attendees are there in body, but not in heart, mind and spirit. We have a number of tactical tools to deal with this. One way is to ask at the end of every meeting, “What do we need to stop doing?” I asked that in a meeting last week. One member suggested […]
Are you ready for 2015 and all the opportunities it will bring? Want to know what strategies are being utilized in other companies and industries that you can apply to your organization? What do other business leaders predict will happen with economic conditions over the next 12 months? Click below to take our 10 question survey to find out! Provide your email at the end of the survey and we will send you the full report in early 2015. Contact […]
Early on in business, it is exciting to hear a company is growing. However, what we soon realize is that growing an organization “eats” two things: people and money. Growth requires cash flow, and the cash flow lags while cash is needed to finance the growth. People get burned out doing things new and different. Quality communication suffers. Results fracture. Regardless of whether you are growing your top line or if you would like to dramatically increase your bottom line, […]
In a recent discussion with Joe Young of Waypoint, we were talking about becoming experts. He indicated that it takes about 500 hours of doing something to really become good at it in other words, an expert. While the amount of time may depend on the topic (i.e. nuclear physics vs. woodcarving), he was making the point that our most valuable commodity is time. Most of our time is spent on who we are now. Joe calls this “Expense Time”. […]
In this week’s video blog our expert guide, Don Hadley, discusses capturing people’s imagination. Many times as adults we lose the ability to use our imagination. We have found that by communicating with leaders and teams in a way that allows us to capture their imagination, we are able to draw on deeper thinking and cause or drive more powerful actions to be taken. As children we are masters of using our imagination to drive what we do and where […]