“Yes, there was that moment, and I was really unsure of which side was up. You helped us trust the framework and it pulled us through …” The above comment was made recently by a client during an after project review. We had just completed a project that included some significant challenges both with external […]
It’s one of the biggest sand traps for firms as they start to grow – particularly for those founders that have built the firm from the ground up and who are known as scrappy problem solvers. These founders and their teams become driven by finding the next new problem, and for some time, their intuition […]
It’s a familiar part of life’s journey that I’m currently experiencing up close and personally: I’m helping a close relative downsize their home as they prepare for the next stage of life. The good news, is that this person is really excited about the change – and the focus that their smaller and more specific […]
I found myself (in a former role) being one of the leaders in a business unit, that while strategically very important, was hemorrhaging cash. As the person responsible for product and operations, I immediately set to work getting a plan in place that would “turn things around.” We did all the right things to get […]
I recall it like it was yesterday: walking through a massive, class 10 clean room we had built for the extraordinary demands of cellular componentry. I had the privilege of being there when it was commissioned, and in what seemed like 15 minutes, when it was no longer relevant. That time was measured in years […]
It happens to every group of people working to achieve a common goal: there are periods of great progress and alignment and cycles where things are just not working. Making a move when things are not working seems straightforward. But as we’ll discover below, it’s harder than it appears to fix the deeper issue that […]
It’s a turning point in our Complete Growth Leader “Jumpstart” workshops that usually happens after the group has been briefed on the four key styles of the Complete Growth Leader model, as well as the five stages of STRIDE that every growth project follows. The goal of the workshop is this: to take a […]
“So, what do you think this looks like in sales for this year?” It seems like such an innocent question, and in the moment it may be. Once answered, however, it can be the nail in the coffin of a perfectly good growth initiative. I call it the singularity paradox. The language of established business […]
It’s strategy season…that all-important time in the business year when the first portions of an annual plan are taking shape. Plans are also being established for those offsite sessions so new vision targets can be set. The process of setting a near-term target that is in your field of view greatly improves your chances of […]
I’m constantly reminded that people don’t resist change as much as they resist uncertainty. When I first began to lead larger workshops, I quickly learned that I needed to give very clear directions for group activities. How did I know when they were unclear? Just when I expected the group to begin, they would all […]
