Clik here to view.
10 measures to a high-performance culture: 4-7
Last week I outlined my first three measures in creating a high-performance culture: Private offices for all employees, an open meeting policy, and having an anonymous feedback mechanism. Here are four...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Portrait of the CEO Class of 2012 (Infographic)
Here is a demographic breakdown of CEOs hired in 2012, from Booz & Company's 2012 Chief Executive Study. Who are these leaders, according to the report? "For the most part, they are familiar faces:...
View ArticleClik here to view.
10 measures to a high-performance culture: 8-10
So far in this series I’ve covered seven of the 10 measures that I found helped me build high-performing cultures in my companies by putting the SCARF model into practice: Private offices for all...
View ArticleClik here to view.
CEO Fail: The CIA CEO
Too many CEOs seem to believe they are in charge of an espionage operation instead of running a company. Having spent my first four years out of college teaching at the Naval Nuclear Power School, I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Which Decisions Should a CEO Make?
As I wrote about recently, one of the main responsibilities of a CEO is to make good decisions. This is easier said than done of course. I will spend the next few weeks discussing the elements of good...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Thwarting the 4 villains of decision-making
Now that I’ve have discussed what decisions the CEO should be making, I want to address how to make the best decisions possible. In their excellent book Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
10 Rules of CEO Decision-making: Part 2
I’m sharing 10 rules of decision-making for CEOs, which have helped guide me through the years. In my last post, I covered the importance of determining whether it should be the CEO’s decision in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
10 Rules of CEO Decision-making: Finale
Here are the final three of my 10 rules to effective CEO decision-making, which have guided me for many years. These three entail working with and supporting your staff to ensure the best decision...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On the Great Recession 5-year anniversary
Anniversary of the Great Recession: What’s Changed, What Hasn’t I’m quoted in this article written by Geoff Williams in U.S. News & World Report today about the five-year anniversary of the Great...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How CEOs Can Triage Decisions
During my CEO decision-making series, I’ve talked about how to thwart the four villains of decision-making and 10 rules to live by, but what do you do when you are in the heat of battle and decisions...
View ArticleClik here to view.
It takes different strokes to move a company
In his latest column - “Starting and Finishing” - Fred Wilson writes about the different skill sets needed to found a company and then to build the business. Many times the founder is not the person to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
CEO Fail: The Budget Tyrant CEO
The tyranny of the annual budget reigns supreme over a business ruled by the Budget Tyrant. Treating the budget like a divine creation passed down from an infallible god, this type of CEO often has a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The budget is set so no brilliant ideas until next year
I just wrote about the failings of the Budget Tyrant CEO. Here’s a real-life example of the consequences of this fiscal autocrat’s policies. I served as an IT manager at a large Fortune 500 company in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to balance the budget with the business
As I mentioned in my most recent post – The budget is set so no brilliant ideas until next year – in many companies budgets are often the only strategic, tangible plans that lower-level managers and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to tell if a company prioritizes budget over productivity
I know a senior manager at a large company who did not meet his direct manager for 18 months due to a travel ban. Finally, the ban was lifted and he made the trek to corporate headquarters to meet his...
View ArticleClik here to view.
10 ways CEOs can get better at their jobs
“Learning is not compulsory but neither is survival.” W. Edwards Deming Whether the result of ignorance, hubris or both, it is easy as a CEO to get trapped into thinking that you should have all the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
CEO Fail: Saint CEO
In the summer of 1984 I was lucky enough to participate in a church youth group trip to Rome where Mother Theresa was scheduled speak to an assembly of all the youth groups from the U.S. At the time I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What links CEOs of billion-dollar start-ups?
I found this article from Aileen Lee fascinating: Welcome To The Unicorn Club: Learning From Billion-Dollar Startups. She looks at the 39 U.S.-based tech companies founded since January 2003 that have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When CEOs demonstrate cowardice under fire
I was a member of a CEO peer group years ago. The format of the monthly meetings involved reviewing your current business situation and discussing what actions each CEO should take. John, the CEO of a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The million dollar hire
I was recently reminded of how important a single personnel decision can be. I traveled to San Francisco to make a presentation on behalf of a non-profit organization I’ve worked with for a couple of...
View Article