If you’re satisfied with your brand’s position in the marketplace, beware of becoming too complacent. You may not be paying enough attention to the competition or the changes within your customer market.
While many senior executives look within their industries for advancement opportunities, it’s a good practice to step back for a moment and look at the bigger picture: Are you in the right industry where your skills and aspirations are the best fit? Do you want to keep working in retail, oil and gas or consumer goods for the rest of your career? Or would you be better off moving into […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Successful executives have many skills and qualities that enable them to excel in their roles and create value for their companies. These might include strategic thinking, vision, creativity, leadership, communications skills, emotional intelligence and decision making—to name just a few. However, superior decision making is arguably the most important ingredient for success, especially in the C-suite. In fact, as a June 2010 Harvard Business Review article by Blenko, Mankins and […]
Lisa Thompson, Managing Director, Professional Services Executive coaching is an important part of the corporate culture in many organizations. When done effectively, coaching can boost productivity and help build new career skills. Yet, many organizations don’t extend their coaching programs into the C-suite. Coaching the CEO can be one of the best investments an organization can make, since the impact goes far beyond the C-suite—and it’s especially vital during […]
During the recent “Great Recession,” many companies adopted a conservative operational strategy. Facing declining demand and slowing revenues, they looked inward: reducing operational costs, delaying capital investments and focusing on balance sheet management. In that challenging global environment, strong chief operating officers (COOs) and chief financial officers (CFOs) played leading roles in keeping their companies afloat. Now that economic growth has resumed, particularly in emerging markets, many companies are embarking […]
