“Don’t Just Cut Government, Reinvent It,” writes Louis Gerstner, a former CEO of IBM in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, February 1, 2011. I couldn’t agree more, and the same principle applies to businesses. When things gets rough, the old guard cuts – budgets, bonus pools, and people, sweeping innovation and real transformation off the table for a perfunctory exercise in cost reduction.
Let’s face it: talking about cutting costs in government is a game-changer in itself. Unless those charged with a major reinvention initiative are radical visionaries (please, I mean that in a positive sense), the change at best is government lite, rather than government reinvented.
The difference between change and re-arranging the deck chairs is like night and day. Continue reading…
The economy is in the doldrums. The business media is focused on economic growth and why it hasn’t happened. Clearly, to add jobs, we need robust growth in businesses of all sizes. And dynamic growth starts with agile leaders who want to break with business as usual. In this spirit, I went to Tempe, Arizona where it was 105 degrees, to learn how to be a Whale Hunter – a proven way to search and land the big deals that grow companies, their reputations and revenues.
Early into my Whale Hunting boot camp (I’m now certified), I knew that this approach can make a dramatic difference in our struggling economy. Companies with big aspirations often lack the magical ingredients for success - the best methodology to target growth, the process, and the leadership to pursue it effectively. Continue reading…
April 15th was tax day for most, but for women leaders in construction, architecture and engineering, it was day 1 of Groundbreaking Women in Construction, a conference sponsored by the Women Builders Council and McGraw Hill. I had the pleasure of leading the first event of the day, a workshop on Visionary Leaders, the New Champions in Business. Here’s what I did and what I learned.
My premise was simple: 1. Visionary leaders, the New Leader in business, will be the most successful executives in the next decade. 2. There are major differences in the way these new leaders operate to create their unique approach. 3. Once leaders embrace the hallmarks of this new paradigm, they have a clear vision of success and a way to get there. 4. As soon as we begin to shift our mindset and expose our organizations to the hallmarks of the new leader, we go beyond hierarchy and power to unleash the real potential of our businesses, colleagues, and leaders. Continue reading…
“Recovery demands a clear-out of the old-guard,” says Luke Johnson in the Financial Times, March 17. If the big ideas of this decade are reinvention, we need leaders who can innovate.
Innovative leaders make the most of opportunities when they arise. They step up to the challenge when there’s a need and look for opportunities to do things differently. They pay attention to the environment and believe that they can instigate change.
Roger Ochs, President of HD Vest Financial, a subsidiary of Wells Fargo, believes that leaders are developed by giving people the responsibility or by letting them take responsibility without having the authority. “You earn the authority from your peers,” he observed. Continue reading…
For a take-charge optimist like me, the financial crisis was a brutal experience. Although it’s hard to know exactly what’s ahead, for certain, we are close to a recovery. What we have yet to grasp is how different the future will be.
Many economists are expecting a new normal – extensive regulation, a much bigger, intrusive government, and a changing mix of businesses and jobs. How important it is to be on the right side of the new opportunities. How satisfying it will be to make the right moves in business and our careers. Continue reading…
