Growth Insights for CEOs

5 AI Trends Every CEO Must Act On
Earlier this year, I shared takeaways from Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report, which showed how AI is reshaping business at a macro level. Building on that, Google Cloud’s 2025 AI Trends highlights five forces that will directly impact companies in the year ahead.
AI is no longer experimental. It is restructuring markets, reshaping customer expectations, and redrawing competitive boundaries. Here are five AI trends CEOs are preparing for now:
Recent Posts

What’s Driving Double-Digit Growth in SMBs?
Wed, Oct 11, 2017 — Latest Vistage Research Provides Important New Insight to Growth If you’re like most companies we’re working with, you’re experiencing growth this year. After all, the economic and business climate is quite conducive to growth – low cost of capital and a stable labor market are certainly contributing. But what about the companies that are getting more than their fair share of growth? What are they doing? Vistage Worldwide just published insightful research that explores the decisions high-growth company leaders are making that set them apart from their peers. This study of over 1,300 CEOs and business owners identifies key factors that clearly distinguish between higher (double-digit growth) and lower growth companies. Ready to see the specifics?

7 Ways Not to Screw Up Your Value Proposition
Tue, Oct 10, 2017 — Value propositions are critical to the health and growth of your business. How critical you think they are may be colored by your personal experience. For me, a value proposition is a powerful summary of who you are and what you offer. It defines what is distinct and valuable for those prospects and customers that you want to reach.

Three Common Mistakes that Prevent Growth
Wed, Oct 4, 2017 — All too often I speak with CEOs who are frustrated by their company’s lack of growth. They know they offer a needed product or service, and they know that they’re using all the tools they should to drive growth. But it doesn’t come. Oftentimes the secret is right in front of us. We just need to pay more attention. If you aren’t growing as fast as you think you should, ask yourself these three questions.
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Supercharging Your SWOT, Step Two: Activating Your SWOT
Tue, Oct 3, 2017 — Congratulations! If you’re reading this blog, you’ve mastered the art of collecting the data for your SWOT (strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats) analysis, and have grouped similar concepts into manageable chunks of information. At many enterprises, this is where the SWOT work dies — leaving company executives with a keen understanding of the state of their business, but lacking a clear path to rendering the findings actionable in an effort to foster real change. Think of the Starship Enterprise never returning from years of space exploration — all that knowledge and data stored in the ship’s memory banks and officer logs, yet nobody ever does anything with it.

Supercharging Your SWOT: Three Steps to Turning Yours into Actionable Business Impact
Mon, Sep 25, 2017 — I’d like to start this blog by offering my hearty congratulations. Having recently completed your SWOT Analysis — that fundamental exploration of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to your business — and declared it a masterpiece, you now have entered a warm and fuzzy zone known as “After the SWOT.”

Are You a “Disruptor” in Your Market? Three Questions to Ask Right Now
Thu, Sep 14, 2017 — January 15, 2009, was a brisk, cold, winter day in New York City. Everyone in the “Big Apple” was going about their business as US Airways Flight 1549 lifted off from LaGuardia Airport Runway 4 at 3:24 p.m. on its way to Charlotte, NC. We all know the story of what happened next – the “Miracle on the Hudson,” with all souls on board rescued, despite a nearly impossible situation for the pilots.

Are You A “Level 5” Leader? How Cool Confidence Can Foster Sales Success
Fri, Aug 25, 2017 — On a recent sojourn, I had time between flights, so I joined the throngs of fellow travelers who had taken up residence in one of those oversized rocking chairs. As I sat working – and rocking – I observed the airport’s massive food court, which featured an amalgam of fast casual and upscale restaurants. One of the restaurants, in particular, seemed to have the magic formula to attracting throngs of hungry travelers – despite the fact that it was a well-known fast casual concept with thousands of units around the world. Though it was abuzz with activity, the employees were doing a great job of keeping up with the pace. Napkins were perfectly lined up; the counter was spotless; and the employees genuinely were smiling. Everything seemed tidy and welcoming. When customers approached, they received a greeting that far exceeded the expected for such an establishment. Even from a distance, you could see the employees smiling, the customers smiling, exchanging a few pleasantries, wishing each other to have a great day.

The 1 Percent Secret: How to Price Your Product for Mid-Market Revenue Success
Fri, Aug 18, 2017 — Psst. I have a secret for you, CEO. How would you like to learn one easy, surefire way to immediately add more than 10 percent in operating profits to your bottom line? Before you declare this another attempt at “fake news,”– let me assure you, this is a legitimate, real, and practical offer. Though it requires very little in terms of effort to achieve – it does require a leap of faith, and resolve of focus, that many CEOs have either been reticent, or reluctant, to make.

CEO Shares How He Grew His Stained Glass Business with the Help of His Peer Advisory Group
Thu, Aug 17, 2017 — Business increased by 300% since joining Vistage Chief Outsiders Fractional CMO, Neil Anderson, has a conversation with Vistage Member and CEO of Scottish Stained Glass, Martin Faith, about his experience with Vistage, an executive coaching organization that provides leadership training and business coaching to CEOs and Executives.