Leadership | The past offers no forgiveness for today’s transgressions!

History showing old books What’s missing? Why do we keep wrestling with the same issues that we’ve examined and discussed throughout our careers?

That’s what makes it both fascinating … and painful … to be reminded about our timeless journey and our ongoing struggle to find the right balance to fulfill the lives we envision for ourselves.

“To be or not to be that is the question.”

I’ve always been intrigued by Shakespeare’s line … not only because of its famous lineage, but because so few know the words that follow and give the phrase its power:
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Lewis & Clark didn’t load the canoe with Mojitos!

What Does It Take to be a Great Leader? Every Tuesday, we're sharing valuable and practical leadership tips and tools to help you BE a better leader so you can BECOME a better leader. Remember ... you won't BECOME a better leader until you start BEING a better leader ...…

Why are the biggest challenges the hardest to kill?

What Does It Take to be a Great Leader?

Every Tuesday, we’re sharing valuable and practical leadership tips and tools to help you BE a better leader so you can BECOME a better leader. Remember … you won’t BECOME a better leader until you start BEING a better leader … implementing NOW the changes necessary to adopt the proven strategies of successful leaders. You might start by building on the communication matrix and making sure you’re defending the castle to get done what only you can do. Make sure to take some time so you’re thinking past today. Don’t forget our 12 part Leadership series and #100 of my newspaper columns.

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Why are the biggest challenges the hardest to kill?

The magical mystery tour continues with another retrospective about some of the subjects covered in my first 100 columns … seriously? … the “first 100”? (Is that a threat or a promise?)
As I considered my earlier columns, I was struck that none of these issues has really gone away. We’re continually battling the same challenges … occasionally finding temporary resolution or respite, but so often juggling so many of them that we don’t take time to resolve any of them. Why are we stuck in that do-loop? That’s a conundrum we’ll attack in a forthcoming column.

“Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.” ~ Andrew Grove

“If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

These quotes launched a few columns about leadership succession in the wake of the sudden terminations of the Merrill Lynch and Citicorp CEOs as the mortgage portfolios held on Wall Street imploded on the eve of the Great Recession. My focus, however, was more about how these colossal organizations, so dependent upon talented, international leadership teams, did not have a management succession plan in place. (more…)

#100 – Building a Business: What have we learned in 4 years?

What Does It Take to be a Great Leader?

Every Tuesday, we’re sharing valuable and practical leadership tips and tools to help you BE a better leader so you can BECOME a better leader. Remember … you won’t BECOME a better leader until you start BEING a better leader … implementing NOW the changes necessary to adopt the proven strategies of successful leaders. You might start by building on the communication matrix and making sure you’re defending the castle to get done what only you can do. Make sure to take some time so you’re thinking past today. Don’t forget our 12 part Leadership series.

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Finally, Column No. 100?

If I haven’t put you to sleep yet, you’re not reading every one of my columns published in the local New York Times affiliate … and guess what? By my count, this column is a milestone as column #100. Has anyone else written that many … other than the Editor in Chief, of course?

Have I been listening in on your conversations?

This journey began in the Fall, 2007 and for the most part, bi-weekly since then. The only exception is the most recent L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P. series that was published over 12 consecutive weeks. Most of the columns have climbed around the monkey bars at the intersection of Strategy, Finance & Leadership, but according to several keen observers, I’ve also listened in on their boardroom conversations. Others have said they recognized themselves in my examples … I’ll never tell … and some have even said, “stop writing about me”. We’ll never know if it was intentional or accidental, will we?

What are some of the most important concepts in Building a Business? (more…)

Business Finance | Pick a card … any card ….

New metrics to Define Financial Performance?

In the tumult surrounding the 3D maelstrom (Debt Ceiling, Downgrading and Deficit) of several weeks ago, you may have missed another chilling corporate finance update on the relentless pursuit of performance metrics that extol the sunshine while you’re in the heart of darkness. Yes, there may be some economic value for certain of these metrics, but they’re dangerous barometers of realizable value and highly misleading as to future achievements of tangible operating profits and free cash flow.

Another Sign of the Apocalypse?

Most of us recall the “eyeball counting” that preceded the Dot-Com-Bomb and those certain “Signs of the Apocalypse”, as when your cab driver is telling you what stocks you should buy. (more…)

Social Media | LinkedIn’s 100 Million Members ARE a big deal

Leverage the Business Power of LinkedIn

It happened again the other day. I was chatting with a client and in the course of our conversation about someone they said: “I checked him out on LinkedIn.”
LinkedIn has become the de facto “go to” resource for researching companies and most especially people to learn more about them. And, if you’re very interested, you can usually find someone in your LinkedIn network to chat with and “get the scoop.”

LinkedIn now has 100 million members

LinkedIn doesn’t get covered as much in the media as its more glamorous cousins, Facebook and Twitter, but it has grown steadily as a powerhouse in the business environment and now stands at 100M+ members, adding 1 new member a second!
Unlike Facebook, people don’t hang out on LinkedIn for hours, they get in and get out – usually with a specific business purpose in mind. The information you get isn’t about a new restaurant or cute kid stories; people actually share information that’s useful to other business professionals on LinkedIn and use it as a research and networking tool.

LinkedIn is a powerful business marketing channel

Since LinkedIn members are there for business reasons, it’s become a highly receptive marketing channel for you to leverage for a variety of business purposes, including Business Development and Brand Management.
Business Development gets a boost when you leverage the capabilities of LinkedIn. (more…)

The Big River series is a 12 part installment about a company desperately seeking cash to fuel their growth and the struggles they face trying to find it.

Business Finance | The Big River | Chapter 3 – What if our loan collateral doesn’t cut it?

The Big River series is a 12 part installment about a company desperately seeking cash to fuel their growth and the struggles they face trying to find it.

Tom Sampson, the controller for Ace Business Stuff, was in his office considering how to explain to John Wilson, the Company’s CEO, the issues related to the Company’s borrowing capacity and the weaknesses in the Company’s Balance Sheet.

Tom pulled together several schedules for his meeting with his CEO that afternoon, but was still struggling with how to get across some of the subtleties that he knew John would want to understand.

Tom knew that his CEO was absolutely committed to the Company’s success, although he became very frustrated when his convictions about future performance collided with the bank’s concerns about current performance.

What factors will the bank consider?

Tom knew that the bank considered many factors when judging an asset-based loan.

Having enough collateral to support the Company’s borrowing request was only part of it.

How do they measure the strength of the collateral?

One key ingredient is the quality of the collateral. (more…)

Leadership Lessons: Madness or a Masters in Business?

What Does It Take to be a Great Leader?

Nothing in life travels in a neat formation accompanied by bugles and cavalry. A lot of it shows up filthy and unkempt, prominent in the mess we’ve made around our foxhole. These lessons are typically the offspring of hubris, naivete and ignorance … or from overlooking the land mines hidden beneath our feet.
We’re also sharing valuable and practical leadership tips and tools to help you BE a better leader so you can BECOME a better leader. Remember … you won’t BECOME a better leader until you start BEING a better leader … implementing NOW the changes necessary to adopt the proven strategies of successful leaders. You might start by building on the communication matrix and making sure you’re defending the castle to get done what only you can do. Make some time so you’re thinking past today.

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[pullquote]“I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people’s accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man’s failures.” ~ Justice Earl Warren[/pullquote]

Get in the game. Enjoy the Ride.

The week just ended is my favorite sports week of the year. Some of you will say, “Nah, you got your calendar mixed up. Baseball season opened the previous week.” Of course, I could say, “but the home opener for the Giants was that week” and then you’d say, “OK, so you’re a big Giants fan. I get it.”

A few of you may suspect that’s not the reason. Not that I don’t love the World Champion San Francisco Giants and all … but honestly? That didn’t even occur to me as I braced for the greatest sports week of the year.

What’s not to like?

There are a lot of reasons why I love this past week. (more…)

Leadership Lessons | Thinking Long Term – or just for today?

“Make use of time, let not advantage slip.” ~ William Shakespeare What Does It Take to be a Great Leader? As we've all learned, most of life's lessons don't travel in a neat formation accompanied by bugles and cavalry. They arrive filthy and unkempt, prominent in the mess we've made…