I was having a recent conversation with a mid-market firm’s President when this came out: “When we need out-of-the-box thinking, we need to get our CIO out of the room.” I needed to push back on this leader…not because his comment didn’t have some merit when it came to how the team was working together, […]
Why is it that you can have a fantastic offsite session, and then 48 hours later, put the same people in a room and nothing that was proposed survives? Perhaps something similar has happened to you: You’ve just completed a very productive offsite creative session with the senior team and are feeling good. Pages of […]
Conversation with passionate founder: “I’ve built a device that is an amazing addition to the business traveler with features of x,x and x. Can you help me get a conversation with the big 3 cell phone firms?” As part of my work, I get a chance to work with early stage firms and their passionate […]
My CFO client was lamenting the pace of progress on their innovation programs during a recent 1:1 session. I had an inkling that I knew what might be going on, so I asked her to show me the portfolio of project work they were funding for the current year. And there it was. Some background: […]
So, feeling my oats, and being a hotshot 30-something in a Fortune 100 firm, I was running around with my hair on fire, with three major product programs, and doing my best to make sure they all “made it.” I had just come back from a meeting when I received a message from someone I […]
No kidding – This is the information I wish someone would have shared with me early in my leadership career. It would have saved me a massive amount of time, effort and resources both personally and professionally. If you’re leading a growth program that has significant new-to-your-company elements, I know the exact path you are […]
Just last week I had a chance to meet a senior leader from a manufacturing firm for an introductory discussion. As we began talking, I could tell she was coming from a day of hard tactical work, and we’d need to elevate our viewpoint to get to the insight she was looking for. The topic […]
A firm launches a new in-vehicle data service based on supplying relevant information to the passenger’s preferences. Traffic signal coordination is driven by an intelligent algorithm that takes into account time of day, ambient atmospheric pollution and congestion. A smart home system allows your content to follow you out of your house and into your […]
I had a version of this call three times in the last six months: “Where did I go wrong? We planned thoroughly, tested and refined our concepts and built an All Star team. Things went smoothly for about eight weeks…and then all hades broke loose. There were things we just didn’t anticipate. Now we have […]
Three phone calls: A colleague who is an internal catalyst who has given his all to get new things going – only to see them shut down due to problems in the core business. A reader who leads a breakout sales team and fights the internal inertia more than his competition. A senior team member […]
