Posts tagged as:

resource allocation

Ready, Aim, Fire!

by margaretreynolds on January 26, 2012

in STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP,STRATEGIC PLANNING

Sounds simple, right? Yet, how many of us would reluctantly admit that in this crazy busy world, more often than not, we ready, fire, aim? Just today I was working with a client– a business of 30 people–all of whom are talented and stretched too thin. Before the holidays we recognized the need to create a procedure [...]

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When I speak with CEO’s around the country, I ask them to rank which of the following four issues gives them the biggest challenge: 1) defining the relevant market, 2) creating a purposeful culture, 3) crafting an effective growth strategy or 4) strategic implementation. Would it surprise you to learn that CEO’s find the most [...]

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Whac-a-mole management

by margaretreynolds on May 26, 2011

in STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP,STRATEGIC PLANNING

You are probably familiar with Whac-a-mole, an arcade game that requires you to use a mallet to beat down the mole heads that pop up in a irregular pattern. It is a great game for soothing the savage beast inside! In today’s world where companies are running and gunning trying to find a path to [...]

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In a recent article of the Financial Post Entreprenuer, Jameson Berkow shared his views regarding when a company needs to consider seeking help from outside resources, how consultants can support growth and how to find the right resource. Excerpts of the article follow. To read the entire article click here. Who needs outside resources? “The bottom line is [...]

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The recession has ended. It has been announced by economists, proved by statistics and lauded by politicians. But do you believe it? For each of us, our reality is our own experience. Is your business doing well? Are you optimistic about your growth prospects? According to Bloomberg, US CEO’s are the most optimistic they have [...]

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For most of us, we don’ t want to re-create the last few years. We want to learn from them. In fact, we want to grow our businesses at accelerated rates, in part, to make up for some lost time. Yet, we have all heard, “only fools keep doing the same things and expecting a different [...]

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Who is your worst enemy?

by margaretreynolds on December 23, 2010

in STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP,STRATEGIC PLANNING

The answer may surprise you. When I worked at Hallmark, we loved to trump American Greetings. I imagine they felt that same way about Hallmark. So, you might be surprised to learn that, as leaders, our worst enemy is not our biggest competitor, but rather ourselves. Huh? In any aspect of our lives, we become [...]

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A microcosm of the economy

by margaretreynolds on November 30, 2010

in STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP,STRATEGIC PLANNING

So, what do you believe? Is the economy coming back? Most economists say yes, but slowly. Most businesses say maybe–some are seeing more positive signs than others. Most people say not yet. However, the challenge may be that the “recovered” economy doesn’t look much like the robust economy of yesterday. Some businesses will never recover. [...]

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To improve performance, focus on strengths

by margaretreynolds on April 8, 2010

in STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP

Most leaders get it wrong. If an employee is doing 70% of their job description really well and 30% marginally or worse, what do you do? If you said, “focus on their strengths,” you were right! Most of us have a tendency to want to “fix” what isn’t right. Here is the downside of focusing [...]

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First, the treat. It IS possible to reduce your workload by 1/3. And if you did? You would be able to redeploy that time on the things that are important instead of the things that are urgent. You would be able to have time to implement some of those new ideas that will move the [...]

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