Sarah Palin
By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska has been named the Republican Vice Presidential pick. In keeping with his “Maverick” theme, John McCain avoids any number of safe choices and makes the unconventional pick. This shows that his independent thinking is still intact, and that he will not hesitate to shake things up. Also worthy of note, is that regardless of one’s party affiliation, this Presidential election will indeed make history…an African-American candidate on the Democratic side, and a female candidate on the Republican side. Whatever the outcome of this election, the United States of America will see a first in the White House. So in today’s post I’ll share my thoughts on John McCain’s choice to select Sarah Palin…
Today’s Myatt on Monday’s question was posed by a new CEO who asked: “Do you have any tips for first-time chief executives of a start-up company that would allow for a faster and more effective transition?” Virtually all of the advice and counsel I provide to CEOs is just as applicable to first-time CEOs as it is to tenured executives. Moreover, while start-up and early stage companies certainly have unique issues, great executive leadership is really not life-cycle centric. While I could suggest you buy a copy of my book, or read other posts contained on this blog (not bad suggestions by the way), I thought it might be interesting to see how other CEOs would answer the question. In the text that follows, I have provided a variety of answers to today’s question, which have been put forth by a number of different C-level executives and directors… 
Economic slow down? Great CEOs know how to generate growth during even the worst of economies. If you want to recession proof your business, simply increase your marketing expenditures. If you’re the short-sighted CEO who cuts back on marketing, branding, and advertising budgets in an attempt to reduce costs, shame on you…Top CEOs recognize that economic slow-downs are not all doom-and-gloom. In fact, the smartest executives understand that swimming upstream against the conventional wisdom of the risk adverse can actually create significant opportunities for growth. By making heavy operating investments into marketing, advertising, business development, and sales initiatives, the aggressive enterprise can create significant competitive separation during a time when many are pulling back on such expenditures. In today’s post I’ll make the business case for applying contrarian thinking by becoming very bullish in the face of a waning economy…
As much as you wish it might be so, due diligence is really not an optional consideration. Have you ever made a decision based upon what you thought was a thorough understanding of all pertinent information only to find out after the fact that you didn’t know as much as you thought you did? It’s not much fun to find yourself on the wrong side of the information gap…Incorrect data, omissions, information that is biased or skewed, misrepresentations, misunderstandings, or any number of other scenarios that lead to the creation of information gaps can be very costly in today’s business environment. In today’s post I’ll discuss the critical nature due diligence…
I was recently asked if I would share my insights on some of today’s high-profile CEOs. I assume that the thought underpinning the inquiry was that since the majority of my working life is spent coaching and mentoring CEOs, or evaluating and assessing CEO performance for boards of directors and investors, that I might be able to provide some insights on their performance. I thought this might be an interesting exercise, so today’s post will be the inaugural piece in a new category entitled CEO Profiles. I’m going to attempt to provide a balanced scorecard approach in reviewing the performance of the lucky CEOs profiled so that there will be actionable takeaways from each assessment. You are invited to send me the names of CEOs that you’d like to see profiled, and if they’re not a current or past client I’ll add them to the queue. Today’s Profile…Steve Ballmer, CEO Microsoft.
Employee onboarding is not something for CEOs to take lightly. The ability to scale your company will be largely dependant on your ability to recruit, retain, and properly deploy new employees. While certainly important, recruiting is not the end-game, but rather it is the very first step in the talent management lifecycle. Over the years I have watched great recruiting efforts fall prey to a sudden death when everything that management communicated to the new hire during the interview process was completely unwound by the reality of what they experienced on their first day on the job.
The topic of improving sales should be near and dear to the heart of any CEO. Is your revenue flat or declining? Has the market shifted such that your sales model is showing signs of obsolescence? Are you tired of hearing the same old excuses from your line managers and staff professionals? A challenge that every CEO and entrepreneur is faced with, is the pressure to create consistent quarter-over-quarter sequential growth in revenue and earnings in an ever increasing competitive market. In today’s post I’ll put forth some suggestions to both help you assess your sales model, and to take the right steps towards jump-starting new sales…