Why Strategies Succeed

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“Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night, with no lights, while looking out the back window. The best way to predict the future is to create it.“ ~Peter Drucker  Most companies rely on strategic planning to help create their future.  Seeking the best strategy to achieve their goals, one that leverages their strengths and competitive advantage, they compile market information, gather intelligence on their competitors and clarify customer needs. They identify …

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How Do You Make Things Better?

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The objective of change is improvement. Making a product, service or process better creates value. The products and services we use, our food, our environment, our communication tools, the number of options we have, and many other things have improved because someone decided to challenge the status quo and take on the risk of making them better. Surviving in a competitive world demands that improvements continue, but overcoming the barriers built to sustain the status quo is always …

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Sustaining Change Dialogue

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Disruption compels the consideration of change. Once it’s gained our attention, determining how best to navigate through change requires personal, respectful dialogue. Safely sharing and discussing differing perspectives enables new ideas to emerge, tensions to be relieved and a preferred outcome to be determined.  Leadership is all about dialogue, contact and connecting, building relationships – with the objective to improve outcomes. Few leadership obligations are more vital. Securing the shared commitment and accountability by affected stakeholders to achieve an …

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Acting on What’s Been Learned

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Mastering leadership is a continuous process of learning how to adapt to change and how to motivate it. It’s what leaders are expected to do.  Lately, leaders have been consumed with adaptation. But now it’s time to act on what’s been learned, relying on purpose and values, on encouragement and transparency, to inspire collaboration that can make things better going forward.   Learning begins by reflecting on what experience has taught, and then finding a better way by applying lessons …

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Relationships Deliver Results

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“You cannot continuously improve interdependent systems and processes until you progressively perfect interdependent, interpersonal relationships.” ~Stephen Covey  A leader’s ability to improve results depends on the strength of her or his relationships. Organizations are living entities and relationships are their lifeblood.  Building strong relationships is not about the amount of interaction but rather the quality of it. Leaders earn their right to lead through these interactions. A leader’s commitment, credibility and authenticity are constantly assessed. Are promises kept? …

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The Way Forward

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Managing disruptions is part of every leader’s resume. You evaluate the opportunities and risks of the situation. You work to stay ahead of fluid circumstances, while seeking to gain control by identifying alternative ways forward, choosing a direction, planning for it, and then communicating it. But very few leaders have faced an interruption as serious and significant as the current one, so it’s heartening to see how many, from businesses large and small, are rising to meet the challenge. …

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3 Steps to Build Momentum

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Time only moves in one direction… relentlessly forward. The time of isolation is ending, and you’ll be moving forward. With 2020 plans in shreds, working to achieve short term goals is key to establishing momentum in the months ahead. Accumulating small wins will accelerate your progress.  Making progress is a fundamental driver of personal motivation and performance. During my leadership years, I depended on this truth to improve results. More than any words I spoke, my associates …

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Why Energy Makes a Difference

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When I served as a leader, it was the more challenging times that reminded me how vital were the contributions of our people in sustaining the business. It was evident after 9-11 when our business slowed dramatically and Steve volunteered to remain on site after hours to support a customer in crisis several times zones away. Or, while serving with a different organization, I discovered that Marilyn had invested her own time, after already working a …

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Leveraging Lessons Learned

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I was once presented with a business turnaround opportunity. The company was in trouble, the President was fired, and the Board asked me take the lead in reigniting the business. They gave me 6 months to change the trend or they would shut it down.  Having never led a turnaround, my confidence was shaken and I was filled with anxiety, doubt and fear of the future. These uncertain times remind me of what I felt back then.  My leadership style has always tended to focus more on the …

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Essential Discussions

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The world of work will continue to evolve in the months ahead. As you evaluate how best to shift your business from protection mode back to proactive mode, there will be an abundance of opinion within the organization about the most effective way forward.  Dialogue, often emotional, about the pros and cons of alternatives, and their projected impact on results, will increase. Many of these discussions will be critical, risky, political deliberations that result in decisions …

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