SWOT: Tackle the Biggest Problem First

SWOT: Tackle the Biggest Problem First

Successful executives have learned to tackle the biggest issue early in the day, and deal with lesser priorities as time permits. That approach also works well for the senior leadership team (SLT) in looking at the problems and opportunities facing the organization. However, it’s not always easy for the SLT to distinguish between immediate and the long-term needs. In the rush of daily activity, it’s easy for those longer-term priorities […]

Finding Balance as a CEO

Finding Balance as a CEO

Balancing personal goals and family life with the 24/7 demands of the workplace is a challenge for the CEO or any senior executive. Shareholders, key customers, other executives and the media are among the long line of people who make demands on your time. It’s no wonder that many CEOs need to “disappear” from the organization at least once or twice a year to recharge their batteries by playing golf, […]

Become Your Organization’s Executive Coach

Become Your Organization’s Executive Coach

As a CEO, you’re asked to play many roles in the organization from visionary strategist to crisis manager to financial taskmaster. But are you also serving as an executive coach? Providing guidance and support to your senior leadership team is vital to strengthening your company’s internal talent pool and improving its prospects for long-term success. Depending on your leadership style, you may already be doing some informal counseling or making […]

Celebrate Labor Day within Your Organization

Celebrate Labor Day within Your Organization

By long tradition, Labor Day is a yearly national tribute to the contributions that our country’s workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of America. It marks the unofficial end of summer and the beginning of a new business year, as well as the start of school in some parts of the country. But most companies do almost nothing internally to celebrate the contributions of their workers—the key […]

The Chief Change Officer

The Chief Change Officer

If your company would like to operate more effectively, improve productivity, or realign the organization, consider adding a chief change officer (CCO) to the senior leadership team. Driving a major change initiative requires leadership from the top. So if the CEO needs to focus on other priorities, it’s important to designate an executive to lead and coordinate the effort. In some cases, the senior human resources executive can serve as […]

Play to Your Strengths

Play to Your Strengths

When a troubled manufacturing company needed an expert numbers person as CEO, the board of directors conducted a national search for an experienced chief financial officer with the ability to run the entire organization. When a U.S. sales company decided to open its first overseas affiliate, the CEO selected a sales manager from one of its largest domestic offices to run the new operation. And before a major children’s hospital […]

Global Expansion

Global Expansion

When companies plan to expand to international markets, one of the key considerations is the depth and strength of executive talent. Depending on the scope of the growth plan, additional managers may be needed to lead the new operations, and many organizations are creating new positions, such as Chief International Officer, to lead their teams. Careful evaluation of the leadership team’s skills, experiences and attitudes is crucial to making good […]