It’s Bonus Time Baby…
Friday, November 7th, 2008By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
It’s bonus time again baby…Let the games begin. Some things never change, but just once it would be nice to see fiscal responsibility take precedence over the blatant greed and disregard displayed by the likes of Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. Some of the recent bonuses doled out by these financial institutions who were recent recipients of billions of dollars via the bailout are nothing short of ridiculous. Given the current state of the economy, massive layoffs, and the overall financial uncertainty in the lives of many Americans, do these types of actions do anything to restore trust in corporate America? The answer is no…In today’s post I’ll share my thoughts on the bonuses which are being paid out by these two institutions…
Key Employees
Thursday, October 16th, 2008By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
What is a key employee, and who is worthy of such a title? Much has been written on the subject of retaining key employees, and in my opinion most of it flat misses the mark. In fact, I’ll go so far to say that key employees are not really assets, but rather large contingent liabilities. If you have stooped to the level of paying retention bonuses, or find yourself otherwise being held hostage by those employees who feel like they are indispensable, you are only exacerbating the problem. I’m not disputing the need to retain talent and reduce turnover, but I am vehemently disputing the conventional wisdom of how most businesses address the risk of managing key employees. In today’s post I’ll give you a fresh perspective on the age old dilemma of how to deal with key employees…
Just Say No to Socialism
Wednesday, October 15th, 2008By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
Please watch the above video and then join me in just saying no to Socialism. I don’t know about you, but last time I checked those of us residing in the United States of America live in a Democratic Republic underpinned by free market capitalism, and not a Socialist State. Barack Obama’s desire to play Robin Hood is not at all appealing to me. I don’t desire to have Mr. Obama determining how much of my income he is going to give away to others based upon his definition of “fair.” In the text that follows I’ll share some thoughts on why Mr. Obama’s plans are just plain wrong for Americans…
Read The Full PostObama’s Ruse of Ambiguity
Thursday, October 9th, 2008By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
With only 26 days left until the election, I feel a responsibility to help expose Obama and his ruse of ambiguity. I don’t believe that I’ve ever encountered a more appropriate use of the phrase “form over substance” than as applied to Barack Obama. While I could go into great detail and address the fact that he has no executive experience, numerous questionable associations, supports radical social reengineering, has an undeniable track record of wrong decisions with respect to national security and foreign policy, his suppression of personal historical information, that he has the most liberal voting record in the Senate, the fact that his tax policies would even further cripple our economy, his elitist arrogance (see “confidence vs. arrogance“), etc., I won’t take a deep dive there today. So, I invite you to join me in looking into Obama’s carefully crafted ruse of ambiguity…
Are CEOs Getting a Bad Rap
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
Are CEOs getting a bad rap? In a word, yes. As a top ceo coach, I can tell you that CEOs are under siege…in fact, I would go so far as to say that CEOs as an occupational class are in a state of crisis. I understand that Americans are upset about the economic debacle we find ourselves presently entangled in. I’m upset and outraged as well. What’s frustrating to most is that there are many more questions being posed than answers being given at this point in time. We’ve entered the blame zone of rash allegations and finger pointing in order to deflect responsibility. While I understand that no sane person could have watched the events of the last few weeks and not want to pin the blame on someone, simply assigning “villain” status to chief executives as a class because their compensation plans seem egregious to some is not the answer. In today’s post I’ll examine the issue of CEO Compensation and why I believe CEOs are unfairly being vilified.
Rogue CEOs & Board Accountability
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
Rogue CEOs…given the recent failure of banks and financial institutions previously thought to be untouchable, there has been a tremendous amount of justifiable venom being spewed at the CEOs of these firms. Their ignorance, and in some cases their arrogance, allowed these rogue CEOs to operate outside of normal business rules, conduct self-serving agendas, and partake in self-dealing transactions all while receiving outrageous compensation. Before I go any further, let me state that I believe we should understand that the overwhelming majority of CEOs operate within the bounds of reason and ethics consistently placing stakeholder interests ahead of their own. The real question we should be asking is where were the boards of directors during this period of mismanagement? You see it is the board who is responsible for holding the chief executive accountable. Even where you have a CEO who is inclined to misbehave, an actively engaged board of directors simply won’t allow it to happen. In todays post I’ll examine the role of the board of directors in keeping CEOs accountable…
Rethinking Good To Great
Monday, September 22nd, 2008By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
Just like Tom Peters got it wrong with “In Search of Excellence,” Jim Collins got is wrong with “Good To Great.” Most of the companies Tom profiled as “America’s Best Run Companies” are now defunct. Jim Collins profiled Fannie Mae as a company that made the leap from good to great. If Jim’s definition of a great company is an entity whose fraud, corruption, mismanagement, and poor leadership can run so rampant as to require a bail-out by the government, then I would submit there may be a problem with his business logic.
Intellect…an Asset or Liability?
Friday, September 12th, 2008By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
My question is this: Is your intellect and asset or liability? All one has to do is watch a very bright person defend their position to understand what I’m driving at with today’s post. Observing intelligent people lecture, spin, posture, position, cajole, rationalize, or justify their beliefs in order to “get the win” is often times entertaining, but it can also be exceedingly frustrating. I’ve come across more than a few self-proclaimed “intelligent” people who believe that their intellectual acuity is superior to the discernment ability of their peers and co-workers. Not only are these intellectual giants wrong, sadly, by the time they awaken to a state of reality it is already too late. In today’s post I’ll share the keys to leveraging your intellectual assets as opposed to having your intelligence serve as a barrier to your success…
Are You Easy To Help?
Sunday, August 31st, 2008By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
Are you easy to help? Think about it…do you make it easy for others to want to help you, or is your demeanor such that most people won’t lift a finger to assist you in a time of need? How many times during the course of your career have you witnessed executives and entrepreneurs who desperately need help but either don’t recognize it, or worse yet, make it virtually impossible for someone to help them? In today’s post I’ll address the importance of positioning yourself to be helped…
Clarity Matters
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
Clarity Matters…while clarity may have become a lost art, understanding the importance of clarity is nonetheless critical to your success in business. Have you ever finished listening to an explanation from a purported subject matter expert only to wonder what it was they just said? It has been my experience that the more vague, general, or ambiguous an explanation, the less command of the subject matter the person doing the explaining likely possesses. It is one thing to toss around the latest buzz-words, but it is quite another thing to actually know what they mean and have the ability to correctly apply them. In today’s post I’m going to reveal the tricks of those who practice what I call “the black art of confusion” propagated by the ruse of ambiguity…