Practical Strategies to Help Leaders Get Real Results

A Constitutional Convention for Family Business

Like me – until now – you may have missed the recent Business Week article about family business and the value of a family “constitution” to spell out the Company’s vision and set forth important guidelines for relationships, stock ownership, prerequisites, behavior and other attributes to create “rules of the road” among family members. The…

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Good Advice for Tough Times

Dennis Zeleny, an established HR professional and frequent contributer to Forbes magazine, contributes another POV in a growing list of articles about How to Lead in Tough Times. I think his key points are right on, and represent a compelling summary of key elements of leadership for all times: Communicate regularly and honestly with your…

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Anybody got too much time on their hands?

If you wonder whether your facial hair, or where you part your hair, has any relevance to your success, you’ll be glad to know that Fortune magazine has taken their journalistic razor to the strop! First, in an article about the technology world, they explore the whiskers of some of tech’s leading lights. If you…

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Use adverse times to your advantage

Most of you know Jim Collins as a result of his Good to Great bestseller, which catapulted metaphors like the “hedgehog” and “people on the bus” into the business vernacular. Writing in the current issue of Fortune magazine – the Fortune 500 edition – he discusses The Secret of Enduring Greatness. He challenges the assumption…

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The world’s first Billion Dollar Home

Forbes magazine showed a stunning picture in their new May 19, 2008 edition. It is a home in Mumbai, India built by Mukesh Ambani. You’ve never seen a home like this before . . . 27 stories (down from the original plan of 45 stories), 400,000 square feet – no, that’s not a typo –…

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For you graphics nerds – Starring the CPI!

In today’s New York Times, there is an eye-catching picture that will make the nerdiest graphmeister weep. It’s a very unique graphical depiction of the Consumer Price Index. You may not know that the Bureau of Labor Statistics gathers 84,000 prices on 200 products every month to calculate the Consumer Price Index. See it here…

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How to lead during a recession!

Jack Welch doesn’t need kudos from me, but I appreciate his recent column (with his wife, Suzy), Keeping Morale Up in a Downturn, in the recent issue of Business Week. It focuses on 2 key characteristics that I think good leaders possess: 1] Transparency, referring to a willingness to talk openly and honestly with members…

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Hiring Outside the Box

Forbes magazine ran a timeless article in their April 10 edition about critical errors made in the hiring process. In short … 1. Ask well-considered questions to assess critical competences, 2. Don’t be the only interviewer. Since the development of your leadership team is the most important step you can take to accelerate your growth…

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Cash Crunch: April 14 Column – Extended Version

For those of you who read the recent column in the April 14 edition of the North Bay Business Journal, entitled A cash crunch necessitates a trip to the bank for a loan, here is the extended version with a more complex borrowing calculation which takes into account the Minimum Cash Balance required. Please feel…

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Family Business Survey

For readers of my January 14th column entitled Small businesses lead economy, but often neglect their own needs, I promised to provide a copy of the 2007 Mass Mutual Family Business Survey.

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ABOUT ME

I am a professional author and speaker as well as a leadership coach facilitating leadership groups among CEOs and senior business leaders in the SF Bay area.

I am the author or more than 125+ newspaper columns published by the SF Bay affiliate of the NY Times among the 550+ articles here. I have also written 3 ebooks about Leadership & Business Finance.

I have been married forever to a beautiful woman and have one spectacular daughter who has dedicated her life to helping children with life-threatening illnesses.

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Within a three year period I had two different startups and one acquisition to deal with. Lary's involvement in the projects allowed me to raise substantial amounts of capital on all occasions. He makes even the most monumental task seem effortless. His tireless attention and focus on the project gets things done, done right, and under deadline. ~ Don Meahan, owner and operator of Alaska’s Naknek Anglers, LLC

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Lary began advising our company when we were going through some difficult challenges, and now, two years later, we are in a completely different and significantly better place. His advice was specific, direct, and not always what we wanted to hear, and that was invaluable. Lary has been quick to cut through to the heart of an issue. His coaching, prodding, and tough questioning helped us to make changes that truly and measurably have helped both our top and bottom lines. ~ Paul Levitan, CEO

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Lary brings to the table a wealth of real world wisdom and experience that is grounded in an impressive array of C-level and other executive leadership and operational management roles. Over the years I have found Lary's advise and counsel to be invaluable, I think in part because of his dedication and commitment to being of true value to his clients and colleagues. Lary has a well-honed ability to ask the right (and often difficult!) questions, to shed light on the most challenging aspects of your business, to share best practices and to guide you to valuable solutions to consider. I recommend Lary without hesitation. If you are a CEO or senior level executive, working with Lary will no doubt prove to be one of the smartest decisions you will make during your career.~ David Newlin, Managing Partner