Sword Tips, the Exkalibur Newsletter: January 6, 2022
Welcome to the first Sword Tips newsletter of 2022. A lot of good stuff in here and you'll be greeted with a beautiful new Table of Contents.
The 12 Course Tasting Menu of Business Excellence
Yes, 2022 is here - thankfully - and we can finally say good riddance to 2021. You've already got a long list of things to do ... executing the annual plan, inspiring your team, committing to a new level of productivity … and so it goes. To give you a…
The 7 Key Attributes of Successful New Leaders
Consider these 7 Key Attributes of Successful New Leaders to give yourself a running start. E xisting leaders will also benefit from reading along and making course corrections where necessary.A number of my clients and colleagues have recently ascended to greater positions of leadership at the top ranks of their…
Leadership Lessons | Are Incentives the Cornerstone of Life?
Does your incentive program REALLY drive performance?
You probably know someone, don’t you, who is a star performer who believes that her achievements go unrewarded?If so, you probably also know an underachiever who gets more than he deserves.I
s there any greater disincentive to the high performer than knowing that under-performance seems to be equally rewarded?
Should there be a moratorium on bonuses?
I’ve talked about the value of incentives before, but it keeps coming to mind as I talk to senior executives who don’t seem to have spent any time at all considering whether their incentive plans are working as intended … or whether they need to be revised.
In some ways, it reminds me of the comment that Bloomberg attributed to Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, during the $20 billion bonus scandals during the 2008-2009 financial meltdown.
According to Bloomberg, this was his comment … (more…)
Business Finance | Why you should read Warren Buffett’s Letter
A Weekly Business Finance series for Non-Finance Executives!
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Read Warren Buffett’s Letter to Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders
So, why not jump into the deep end right now by reading Business Finance is about much more than finance
I’ve said before that leaders don’t have the luxury of confining their interests to just a few things
How are you going to fill YOUR Leadership Gap?
The Center for Creative Leadership recently completed a large survey to assess the leadership competencies need for success, both now and in the future.One of the skills that I highly regard is resourcefulness, the ability to deal skillfully and promptly with unexpected challenges, etc. Interestingly, resourcefulness was the only skill…
Competence. Confidence. Caring. You’re done!
By now, you know that the Sunday NY Times Corner Office series is oft-quoted here to highlight varying aspects of leadership that flow from Adam Bryant’s conversations with notable CEOs and business leaders.
This week he interviewed William Green, Chairman and CEO of Accenture. Read it in its entirety as a refresher on important elements of leadership.
Green reminds us that there is an abundance of talent that we’re not mining … (more…)
Death … Taxes … AND Succession Planning!
The sudden resignation of Ken Lewis from Bank of America highlights, yet again, the risks that family and other businesses take in failing to prepare for the inevitable succession of leadership.
A succession plan doesn’t mean you have all the work done and the perfect successor is comfortably waiting in the wings, although that would be desirable. It does mean, at a minimum, that you have an interim CEO in place who can hold down the fort while certain details are worked out and long term plans are implemented. Developing an emergency plan also gives the Board or family a chance to discuss these often thorny subjects without stockholder worries, employee hand-wringing or the emotional burden that comes with a fallen leader.
Often, this process highlight gaps within the family or board about the suitability of a particular successor. (more…)
Congratulations to Mary’s Pizza Shack
Congratulations to Vince Albano, CEO and member of the CEO Round Table, and his entire family and team. They have just been awarded Business of the Year by the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce.Vince was elected as CEO in June as part of a realignment within the Mary's Pizza Shack…