Strategy is what you choose NOT to do!

conference-tableBy 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 Drew Gilpin Faust, the first female President of Harvard University. Communication is a critical factor in her leadership style, and I can concur with the extraordinary importance this has in a university setting, having spent 6 months consulting with UCLA. The university community is a diverse governance conundrum with many cooks and few bottle washers, so communication is vital across all of the constituencies and leadership platforms. It’s no less important in your organization but the style required in a university setting sets a high standard for what’s required from all business leaders.

She also emphasizes the value of MBWA … the leadership tactic of “Management by Walking Around” mentioned often here. She also emphasizes (more…)

Continue ReadingStrategy is what you choose NOT to do!
Read more about the article Vol. 51 – Never Give Up! Never, Never, Never!

Vol. 51 – Never Give Up! Never, Never, Never!

Churchill Image: I am an optimist2

At first, I figured it was too late to talk about surviving the economic storm we’re in … and then, I thought, hey, this isn’t over.

What does this recession really look like?

Maybe the sense of impending doom has dissipated but the reduced level of business activity and an increasing sense of frugality in a buyer-dominated market are going to be our unbidden passengers for quite a few more miles.

“Let us go into the storm … and through the storm,” said Winston Churchill as he prepared England to confront the Nazi regime in World War II.

As it applies to our current business climate, I thought this might be a touch of hyperbole, but then I recalled that Churchill’s odyssey raged for five years, not just the single year we’ve navigated since September 2008.

[pullquote]“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” ~ Winston Churchill[/pullquote]

Imagine Churchill, FDR and others slogging for five dreadful years through the greatest threat to civilization we have known.

How do we carry on the fight over a longer period?

So, how do we get through four more years of this business cycle, a time frame proclaimed by many before employment gets back to 6 percent and more customary growth trends resume?

Consider these few concepts inspired by the triumph and tragedy of those years: (more…)

Continue ReadingVol. 51 – Never Give Up! Never, Never, Never!

I don’t buy a dog and bark for it

Pen and Glasses and Business File on TableThe NY Times runs a weekly column entitled the Corner Office, that discusses leadership lessons from CEO’s across a broad spectrum of companies. These interviews usually recall important tenets of successful leadership and serve as a valuable reminder about important lessons and how they should be applied.

This week, Adam Bryant interviewed Susan Lyne, CEO of Gilt Groupe. Lyne reports that she has learned the importance of being committed to “stepping back to think about the big picture,” a major challenge for most business leaders. A great way to do that is to grab a blank sheet of paper to begin.

I also like her suggestion about “office hours”, an idea she picked up from a colleague who was a former college professor. (more…)

Continue ReadingI don’t buy a dog and bark for it
Read more about the article There’s a lot of power in a blank sheet of paper

There’s a lot of power in a blank sheet of paper

Brain Most of the time when we sit down to work, even in our favorite chair, we have a stack of papers or files, maybe a list of some kind, and proceed to “work” as we’ve always defined it … plow through the stack and “get ‘er done”.

But if you try it with a blank sheet of paper, as I did again this morning, and just sit back and noodle on the issues that are clogging your brain waves and keeping you up at night. … with no preconceived notions about them because your paper is blank so far … you’ll be amazed at how your mind starts to do it’s favorite thing … add some intellectual firepower to solving problems.

Give your brain some space to work

Our brain is not really that good at filing, sorting, recording and remembering what we need at the precise moment we need it. (more…)

Continue ReadingThere’s a lot of power in a blank sheet of paper