Archive for July, 2007
« Previous EntriesWhy You Need A Press Kit
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
One of the basic foundational elements in the PR arsenal for C-level executives is to have a well designed and crisply articulated press kit. The press kit should support the executive’s personal brand, provide a solid competitive value proposition and enhance the credibility of the executive by positioning him or her as a thought leader, innovator or subject matter expert. As fundamental as this is, it is nothing short of astonishing to me how few senior executives have a crisp executive bio much less a professionally prepared press kit. In today’s post I’ll examine the pay-off of creating a world class press kit
Should I Use A Recruiter?
Monday, July 30th, 2007By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
Today’s Myatt on Mondays question comes from the CEO of a consulting firm who asks: “My HR department isn’t producing the quality of applicants that we need Should I use outside recruiting firms?” Since N2growth has a talent management practice which includes a practice group that provides both contingent and retained search services, in order to be transparent I must disclose my bias before answering today’s question. While I clearly have a strong bias favoring an outsourced recruiting model, the question merits a bit of exploration in order to provide a fair answer. In the text that follows I’ll do my best to manage my bias and provide a transparent and authentic answer to a question I’m sure most of our readers have asked themselves at some point in time
Financial Market Update
Thursday, July 26th, 2007By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
With this week’s negative market activity I have had several inquiries asking for my opinion on the direction of the stock market. Let me begin by saying that I’m not a stock picker or market prognosticator, but rather I tend to look at macro and micro economic drivers to make general observations which some have found of benefit over the years. In today’s post I’ll note some of my recent observations which I hope will be of some use. That being said, it is my strongest recommendation that before making any changes in your portfolio that you seek the counsel of a qualified financial advisor. On with my thoughts…
Read The Full PostThe Need For Speed
Wednesday, July 25th, 2007By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
In the world of athletics there is widely accepted principle that states: “Speed Kills.” In most sporting events speed will prevail over strength and often times speed will end-up being the deciding factor between victory and defeat. As important as speed is on the field of play it has been my experience that it is even more important in the world of business. While there is little debate that speed can create an extreme competitive advantage, it is not well understood that the lack of speed can send a company (or an individual’s career) into a death spiral. Agility, fluidity, decisiveness, commitment and focus all lead to the creation of speed which results in a certainty of execution. In today’s blog post I’ll discuss why you should feel “The Need For Speed.”
Read The Full PostHow’s Your Product Mix?
Tuesday, July 24th, 2007By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
One of the most critical choices that an executive or entrepreneur can make is to determine which sales/revenue opportunities to pursue vs. which ones to pass on. How do you determine where you will allocate your time, your resources and your talent? Do you use a rational decisioning process to arrive at the right conclusion or are you the person that is often second guessed or proved wrong because your decision was made irrationally and you arrived at your conclusion by default, osmosis or some other unknown process?
Read The Full PostExecutive Level Hires…
Monday, July 23rd, 2007By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
Today’s Myatt on Mondays question comes from the president of a marketing firm who asks: “I don’t have the best track record when it comes to making executive level hires and want to know if you have any specific suggestions.” Since I have written often on the subject of talent management and have covered the basics of recruiting in previous posts I’m going to share a few secrets that can help separate the great talent from those that simply interview well…
Read The Full PostPositioning Your Business for Sale
Thursday, July 19th, 2007By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
While the M&A space is very frothy with transactional volumes at record levels and premium valuations abounding, the risk associated with getting deals done might just also be at an all time high. Ideally selling a business should really be about taking what the CEO believes is the best deal, however lately it has become more about doing the deal that the CEO perceives as the most defensible transaction when evaluating the impact of the sale on a variety of constituencies. In today’s post I’ll share my thoughts on getting the right deal done with the least amount of litigation risk
Business Cards…
Monday, July 16th, 2007By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
Okay, what’s so special about a business card? Much more than you might think In fact, I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t tell you that a great business card is one of the most powerful pieces in your corporate identity arsenal. In today’s post I’ll share why I believe many professionals miss the opportunity to make a great first impression…
Read The Full PostIs Business Formulaic?
Thursday, July 12th, 2007By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
You can either engineer your business by design or let it evolve by default. While the choice is clearly up to you I would strongly suggest the former over the latter. Creating a formulaic approach to business is not only logical, but it is without question the right approach to implement when desiring to create a thriving, sustainable enterprise.
Read The Full PostView From The Top
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
How many times have you watched a CEO give a favorable assessment of expected company performance to the board of directors, the bank, shareholders, analysts, employees, or the media only to be proven woefully incorrect? I’m always amazed at the number of CEOs who are out of touch with the operating realities of their company. In today’s post I’ll share why the view isn’t always better from the top…
So the question is this…how does a CEO get to the point of being so disconnected from operations that he or she just doesn’t have a clue? The reality is that there are any number of reasons why this can happen, a few of which I’ve noted below:
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