First I want to say “Thank you” to Simon Sinek who presented at the All-TEC Inspirational Leadership Conference earlier in April. It was fantastic and inspired me to share some of his thoughts with you and what they have meant to me as well. If you are interested, I’d first recommend that you watch a…
Now that the Green Bay Packers are World Champions again, and NFL Football is officially done (probably for a long time!), it’s time to get back to the important business of blogging. For February, I want to tell a story called “Slow down for Yellow Lights.” I was introduced to the concept about 15-years ago…
Better Processes or better people? I am sitting in a board room watching Jim Purtell facilitate a planning session. Jim is one of THE BEST strategic and operational planning facilitators on the planet. We often have a friendly argument about whether process or people is the main cause of success or failure in organizations. Being…
Ok, I admit it. I’m a psychology wonk. I never thought my Psychology degree in 1980 was good for anything, BUT in looking back on my business career, I realize it has helped me a lot. In my work with business people, I have noticed that often their view of managing their own company is…
Where has the summer gone and where is my “V-Shaped” recovery? My friend Stuart Banghart, CEO of The Grover Corporation sent me this excellent newsletter from John Mauldin. His website is www.frontlinethoughts.com It’s great information and has a plug for TEC (Vistage) as well. Thanks Stuart! My unscientific, informal survey of TEC members tells me…
Hello TEC Members and Business Friends, I, like many TEC Chairs have two business lives. The happiest part of my day is working with TEC members. We often discuss strategy, growth options, dealing with success and other optimistic issues. Of course, in TEC we also deal with difficult issues—business and personal. But on average, TEC…
We had a great discussion this month in my TEC groups about strategic marketing. It’s a sure sign that business is improving. One of the BEST TEC speakers on the subject is Mitch Gooze, who runs a business called “Customer Manufacturing Group”. http://www.customermanufacturing.com Mitch has spoken to one of my groups and he says that…
Hi All, My last blog on The Cloud has received a great response. So far, I have gotten 3 invitations to lunch, and a bunch of phone calls from old friends. Here’s a link to a good article from Forbes that you might like. http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/02/internet-software-zeus-technology-cloud-computing-10-garrett.html?partner=technology_newsletter
It’s pretty clear to me that most businesses should focus on their core business, and move non-core functions to experts outside the organization. One over-looked opportunity for many companies is to consider a PEO. PEO stands for “Professional Employer Organization”. A PEO’s is a legally recognized entity that allows business to co-employ their associates with…
For my next few blogs, I am going to argue (hopefully persuade) that most small to medium companies should really consider outsourcing many of their non-core activities. Great candidates for outsourcing include: Email Servers Accounting Systems Telephone Systems (Hosted VOIP) Human Resource functions Top Financial Officer Graphic Arts and design Product design and development Day…