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The Chief Outsider
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Recent Posts
Does Your Contracting Pipeline Live in the Owner’s Head?
Relationships matter in construction, and most subcontractors have good ones. The owner or president carries the key customer relationships, and the project managers carry everything else. That arrangement can work well. It is also fragile. In our last post, we asked whether you know by name who owns each strategic account. This one looks at what happens when the answer is the owner.
Most Leaders are Made Not Born—And They Need to be Developed
Sat, Sep 14, 2013 — Born leader or made leader—do they both exist? There is a world of difference between knowing about leadership and becoming an effective leader. I may be wrong about this, but from my reading and conversations with colleagues and clients, I get the impression that relatively few supervisors and managers and even fewer C-level executives, entrepreneurs and board members actively pursue disciplined professional leadership development. They read books, articles and blogs about leadership, and they attend workshops and seminars—so they know about leadership. But were they born leaders or are they made leaders?
Email Is Not Always Your Friend – Three Ideas for Better Management
Wed, Sep 11, 2013 — It’s Not Just a Problem of Volume The immense volume of email that many of us receive each day can make email seem like an unbeatable adversary in a battle between responding to messages and getting the work done that we had planned. It is always a bit impressive, therefore, when people come up with a system for dealing with email overload that actually works for them. For instance, Both Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh and LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner have developed their own systems for handling email and staying productive rather than email being a constant, nagging drag on his day. Their systems won’t work for everyone, but they are good examples of taking a systematic approach to email.
Start Using Market Research Strategies to Drive Your Company’s Growth
Sat, Aug 24, 2013 — Market Research Strategies: Getting to Your Company to The Next Level Quite often these days, especially evident in mid-market businesses, I come across CEOs, who have been very successful at building their company’s revenues but are now are challenged with reaching the next level. Sales may have slowed down; the low hanging fruit picked; or competitors are upping their game. They may also have been successful in using their technology and expertise in one market, but totally misread another. Whatever the issues are; in order to flourish, every company should consider integrating market research strategies into their growth plan to keep a pulse on their market and its dynamics and to capitalize on market opportunities. Growing through market research strategies can include new products and services, new pricing plans, new positioning, new market segments, changes in business models, or new channels of distribution. Each of these should be evaluated, researched and integrated into your growth strategy and ultimately into your business, product development, and tactical go-to-market plans.
Leading Out Loud!
Thu, Aug 22, 2013 — By now, anyone who reads this blog knows that we read a lot. And a book I recently read is Leading Out Loud: Inspiring Change Through Authentic Communications, New and Revised by Terry Pearce (February 2013). The main point of the book is that a leader must speak in an authentic voice to build loyalty, commitment and enthusiasm in his or her organization. Pearce doesn’t just write this. He provides a step-by-step process to help leaders find their authentic voice. It is not an easy journey, but it's one that is worthwhile. “People make commitments to causes they value and people they respect and trust.”
6 Steps to Understanding and Adapting to the Contours of Change
Wed, Aug 14, 2013 — Markets, like the companies and people who participate in them, are constantly evolving. Many an organization has seen its growth derailed or even faced its demise for failing to pick up or act on a key evolution in their market. The news about the sale of the Washington Post to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos brought that point back to center stage.
The CFO says cut costs, Sales says cut prices. What’s a Leader to do?
Sun, Aug 11, 2013 — The following post is written by guest blogger Per Ohstrom In the business cycle, there comes a time that looks something like this: Sales are down across segments and products. Certain product lines perform worse than others, but there is some softness across the board. Budgets have been revised and Board expectations reset, but the business still does not meet targets.
Great CEOs “Eat a Frog First Thing Every Day”
Wed, Aug 7, 2013 — “If you eat a frog first thing in the morning that will probably be the worst thing you do all day.” – Mark Twain. Mark Twain truly had a way with words. Most of us have read at least one of his 28 books. Much has been written about his famous “eat the frog first” quotation including articles that question whether he actually said or wrote this. Regardless of the truth, the analogy is intended to help great leaders tackle more difficult, dreaded and distasteful actions first everyday. There are some business coaches that don’t agree with doing the most unpleasant work first, but they all agree that successful business leaders are great at prioritizing their activities every day.
SEO for the CEO: What You Need to Know, How Not to Screw It Up
Sun, Jul 28, 2013 — Maybe it’s happened to you: your board looks at your budget for web marketing and asks about key performance indicators. As the CFO or CEO, you boldly look over the data from your marketing team and condense the complexity to a quick test: How are we doing on these five keywords? One of your board members measures the effectiveness by doing web searches: Are we ranked in the top 3 on Google for this one? And as the wind shifts, Marketing starts to focus on a few keywords, looking at rankings instead of results. Meanwhile, the OTHER 500 search terms that are driving traffic go under the radar, and the bounce rate (one page visits) doesn’t budge. While one search term can look like the prize because it has high volume, it doesn’t necessarily convert into new business. And more traffic doesn’t necessarily mean more sales. Top rankings don’t matter if they’re the wrong search terms.
The Rise and Fall of Executives
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 — This blog is written by guest blogger Per Ohstrom. In my years in business, I have noticed how top executives often come out of Operations, which is a little counter- intuitive considering the number of highly trained Finance, Marketing or R&D managers there are in organizations. I have also seen execs crash and burn, who used to be well performing in a functional role. What’s going on? In a report from the Chally Group “Why Global Leaders Succeed and Fail”, published by Right Management, the researchers share some interesting findings.