A few nights ago, I was having dinner with some friends, who are also business colleagues. A question came up at the table re how one the guys approaches strategic planning. He is the CEO of Financial Institution [a large Credit Union to be specific]. His answer was interesting based…
You would be hard pressed to go through a Deal Review and not have this as a question asked by one of your Executives or teammates. What do you think the Price to Win is? In general, we will always be guessing, but some guesses are more informed than others.
I was doing some work with two different clients in the past week where the concept of the “Red Team” came up in conversation. Rooted in military history, a Red Team is an inside group that explicitly challenges a company’s strategy, products, and preconceived notions. It frames a problem from…
As we enter the time of year when many companies begin to think about their Strategic Plan, it is a virtual guarantee that growth will be one of the top 2-3 strategic goals. We get to see many organizations from the Fortune 500 to the Fortune 5 Million and they…
As a relatively new father, my 2-year-old son never ceases to amaze me at the pace that he both learns and adjusts. He is very vocal and has a great repository of words that grow daily, so you get to hear how his thought process plays out. Like most kids,…
Building on previous blogs, change is hard and in complex selling environments, a business case is typically required as part of the buying process. They will vary in formality and content, but in the land of consensus decision making, the business case for change is the one common denominator that…
In the world of complex sales, a reality in many markets is there are now more “no decisions” than Wins and Losses combined. A benefit of the work we do with our partner CEB, we get exposed to the most current research and trends from the world of sales and…
It is January 2nd and for most, the first day of the new business year. As an Executive or a Sales Leader, are you and your teams ready to roll? The implication of the question is that there was a lot of thinking and planning done in Q4 to get…
How many of you want to get off the wheel and do something for yourself? Who would like to pick with whom you work and invoke the “no @#$hole” rule? Being an entrepreneur is unbelievably hard and under appreciated work. That said, in the season of giving and resolutions, I…
I have spent the past 5 weeks running Strategic Planning sessions for Corporations across North America. I credit these organizations for understanding the opportunity to create alignment, consistency and simplicity by actually having a Plan. There are a couple of realities that I would like to discuss. The first is…
