As a manger, particularly as a CEO or general manger, sometimes you are going to be in the position of leading a group whose function you have no experience in, and frankly, don’t have a clue about! Read More
Category: General Management
Simple Test: Are you a good manager?
Is every manager in your company a good manager?
If you want to positively impact the bottom line in your business, insist that all your managers are good managers.
Read MoreBad managers wreak havoc. Bad managers cost growth and profit.
Execution is not beneath you
The problem
For years I have been trying to figure out why so many leaders tolerate poor execution and do nothing about it.
One unfortunate issue I see quite regularly is simply that some “big” executives seem to believe that execution is beneath them. Read More
Imagined power vs. Real power and respect
People often ask me if it was hard for me to go from running really large organizations to having my own (implied — “much smaller”) company.
This was never an issue for me because I always maintained a psychological distance between the power of my role, (managing a $1B+ global business, multi-hundred-milion dollar budget, and thousands of people) and my own personal power. Read More
The hidden cost of asking a question
A simple question…
One time when I was running a large organization at HP, I asked my financial analyst partner, “What is the current headcount in my organization?”
He said “How accurate an answer do you need?”
I said, “What do you mean?”. Read More
What your employees need to hear from you
Last week I wrote about the importance of information sharing across an organization. If you missed it it’s a very important idea.
This week I want to share one more example, specifically about an executive’s responsibility to share information with the team — and the value of doing so. Read More
A key way to reduce business risk that many leaders miss
Late last year, I had a big AHA I want to share with you.
Here’s where it came from…
When I do strategy execution work with executive teams, I typically begin with an assessment phase where I talk with people across the organization at multiple levels. Read More
The 2 most important decisions an executive can make
WHO and WHY?
The first time I held a general management role I had a mentor share something with me I found to be pretty life changing.
He said, “You need to worry about WHO and WHY. Read More
What every leader should ask their team
What you don’t know…
When I work with general managers to help them get their organizations executing better, the first thing I do is talk to their team.
…First, I talk to all their direct reports.
…Then, I also have some
1-1’s or focus groups with their mid-level managers and their employees. Read More
How Ruthless Priorities Drive Strategy
Every month I do a webinar on a topic of business leadership
as part of my membership program.
This month’s webinar was on Ruthless Priorities & Strategy.
(Get invited to future webinars)
If you missed it, you can download the podcast! Read More
