Executive Level Hires…
Posted on November 30th, 2009 by admin in Myatt on Mondays, Talent Management
By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
Today’s Myatt on Mondays question comes from the president of a technology firm who asks: “I don’t have the best track record when it comes to making executive level hires. Do you have any specific suggestions that might help?” 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…
It is simply not possible to have a well received message that is not relevant. Think about it for a moment…when was the last time you bothered to read, watch or listen to a message that wasn’t relevant to your needs? Great leaders understand the power, influence, and leverage created by relevant messaging. Do you ever find yourself sitting back and marveling at those leaders who always seem to have the right thing to say? Contrast this with the feelings you have when you hear an awful sound-bite that makes a leader look either uninformed or unintelligent. The difference between the two aforementioned examples is that great leaders have mastered the art of finding the right message (the relevant message) regardless of the medium, market, or constituency being addressed. In today’s post I’ll share some of the messaging secrets used by the best leaders to keep their message relevant…
How disruptive is your business model? While much has been written about corporate vision, mission, process, leadership, strategy, branding and a variety of other business practices, it is the engineering of these practices to be disruptive that maximizes opportunities. Without a disruptive focus you are merely building your business model on a “me too” platform of mediocrity. As we move into the closing days of 2009, nothing will be more critical to your efforts in increasing your revenue growth and corporate sustainability than understanding the value of disruptive innovation. So, in today’s post I’ll examine the power of disruption as a key business driver…
Entrepreneur, CEO or Both? Which hat, or hats do you wear? CEO…that title sounds good doesn’t it? Okay, so you founded the company, but does that mean you should also be the chief executive? Did you bestow the title upon yourself simply because you had the authority to do so, or are you the right person for the job? Perhaps you were the right person for the job initially, but has the company outgrown your management ability? As the founder, can you, or should you, attempt to grow with the company? What does a CEO really do anyway? In today’s blog post I’ll assess what it takes to be an effective CEO and you can decide for yourself if you have what it takes to get the job done.
So, what’s your story? If your personal or corporate brand doesn’t tell a story, then your brand is lacking the very essence of what makes a strong brand to begin with…The story. There is no denying that everybody loves a good story, and there are numerous reasons why. Think about the novels you’ve read, movies you’ve watched, speeches you’ve listened to, ads that have hooked your interest, or virtually any other message delivered by any other medium and it’s the story that either seals the deal, or leaves you feeling cheated. In today’s post I’ll discuss the value in creating a strong brand story…
Has your company’s marketing gone awry? Is the proverbial tail starting to wag the dog with respect to current marketing initiatives? How do you know when marketing is out of control? Those of you familiar with this blog know that I’m generally a strong advocate for sales and marketing driven organizations. However my typical pro-marketing position assumes that certain key fundamentals are in place to insure that the lunatics don’t somehow become in charge of the asylum. In today’s post I’ll discuss how to keep marketing in check so that brand focus is maintained and your company avoids the costly trap of marketing gone awry… 
Is the customer really always right? How far should a company go to satisfy their clientele or customer base? What is the lost opportunity cost associated with customer churn? Is there a point when satisfying the customer is actually harmful to the enterprise, or back to the original question, is the customer always right? In today’s blog post I’ll share my opinion as to the validity of this old business axiom, and also offer a few insights on where to draw the line… 
News Flash…A CEO who views themself as an army of one will fail. Whether you like it or not, your success as a CEO will be largely tied to your team building ability. Not only do great CEOs understand how to recruit a top executive team, but they also understand how to build cohesion among team members through collaboration while addressing specific situational and contextual needs. Great CEOs realize the importance of being consistently and intensely engaged with their CXOs. They understand how to effectively deploy these highly productive and valuable team members to create tremendous leverage and velocity across the enterprise. In today’s post I’ll share the questions that great CEOs use to align the interests and focus the efforts of their executive team…
Social media influence; the harsh reality is that you either have it or you don’t. I’m going to tell you the cold hard truth about social media…what you need to know that most people won’t tell you. While anyone can have a social media presence, not everyone possesses social media influence. It’s clear to those in the know that social media is a universe of the haves and have nots. It’s the difference between relevance and irrelevance, visibility and anonymity. You might have something to say, but without influence, nobody will be listening. Put simply, having a social media presence without influence is little more than an exercise in frivolity. In today’s post I’ll share some thoughts on the importance of social media influence in the building of personal and corporate brand equity. 
Individual vs. Community Blogs…I was recently asked: “Do I think individual blogs have a future?” The underlying premise behind the question was the insinuation that if as an individual blogger you don’t take shelter within a blogging community, you simply won’t be able to survive. There has been a lot of buzz surrounding this topic of late, with people beginning to form very firm opinions on either side of the debate. From my perspective, I believe there are sound arguments to be made on both sides. The larger issue is not whether one form of blogging will survive while the other perishes, but rather how the maturation of the blogosphere may force many bloggers to choose a side. In today’s post I’ll take a look at the benefits of individual vs. community blogs. 