Grolistic

Acting With Urgency

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Today’s business environment changes rapidly. Functioning successfully in it compels businesses to quickly make accurate decisions.  Each of these decisions is made within a specific context, and with a defined set of criteria, against which various options are evaluated. The context is the company’s culture as described in 3 foundational documents: Its Purpose – Why the business exists and how it makes a difference for customers; Its Values – The company’s core beliefs which define how it behaves and why; …

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Price or Value

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Offering your product or service as the lowest priced alternative is a simple, efficient strategy. Price is obvious to all buyers. It’s clear, direct and easy to evaluate. It’s often the same for everyone. Offering the lowest price is seductive. But doing so makes your offering a commodity – discounting your expertise, diminishing your brand, and setting you up for a one-way journey down in revenue and profit. A purchase becomes just another transaction, producing no enduring value for the …

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Krulak’s Law

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Charles Krulak is a highly decorated, deeply experienced, retired General in the United States Marine Corps. In 1999, the General published an insightful article about leadership that later led him to become a college President and founder of theKrulak Institute for Leadership, Experiential Learning, and Civic Engagement.  The core leadership principle that he cited in 1999, which is often described as Krulak’s Law of Leadership, is “that the future of an organization is in the hands of …

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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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