With only two days until Christmas I thought it would be an appropriate time to thank all of the N2growth stakeholders for their contributions and support. It is with the utmost gratitude and respect that I express my sincere appreciation for the loyal support of our clientele, the assistance provided to us by our vendors, suppliers, partners and investors, as well as the tireless efforts of our employees. For without your invaluable contributions we would most certainly not have experienced such a remarkable 2011. We are thankful for the opportunity to serve you, and I want to personally wish you a very Merry Christmas, and hope you have a happy, safe and prosperous New Year.
If you know me, or have read this blog for any length of time, you know that I believe all great leaders are also voracious readers. In fact, I would go so far as to say reading is simply a necessity if you’re serious about leadership. I’m constantly asked for reading recommendations, and rather than provide you with the current best seller list du jour (you can get that anywhere), I’ve compiled a list of 20 leadership books everyone should read, but may not have. The list below (in no particular order) is comprised of leadership lessons from Ancient History, US History, Religious History, Military History, and yes, I threw in a few of my favorite business business classics as well. Enjoy…
Have you ever noticed how the best leaders also tend to be the most curious leaders? Great leaders simply aren’t satisfied with what they know. They possess an insatiable curiosity for discovery and learning – they are in constant pursuit of what they don’t know, and what lies ahead. Real leaders are not nearly as concerned with attainment (stasis) as they are with betterment (change). Since the dawn of time the world has been shaped by leaders who understand that curiosity is the gateway to the future. So my question is this – How curious are you?
In the text that follows I’m going to poke holes in a process generally accepted as productive, when it rarely is. I’ll likely take some heat over this, and while this post works off some broad generalizations, in my experience having worked with literally thousands of leaders, they are largely true. More than $60 Billion dollars is spent each year in the U.S. on employee training. More than 25% of those dollars are spent on “Leadership Training.” Here’s the thing – when it comes to leadership, the training industry has been broken for years. You don’t train leaders you develop them – a subtle yet important distinction lost on many. Leadership training is alive and well, but it should have died long, long ago…
Few things highlight great acts of selflessness and heroism more than tragedy. This weekend’s helicopter crash in Afghanistan was a horrific loss for the families of our fallen warriors, but also for our nation as a whole. The men who perished in the crash were in fact our nation’s best. They were courageous men who placed service above self, who went places and did things that most of us could never conceive of, and who died to protect our freedom and way of life. What I’m struggling with is whether or not as a country we are deserving of their sacrifice…
“Managing Up” is a great catch phrase and an interesting concept – it’s also a practice that can get you in deep trouble rather quickly if misunderstood or misapplied. Many people would say the purpose of managing-up is to have the by-product of your efforts enhance the work of those you report to. While I have nothing against this concept (I call it doing your job), I do have a problem with the reality that many practitioners of managing-up miss the point altogether. When the practice of managing up gets confused with promotion of self-interest, brown-nosing, deceit, manipulation, the gymnastics of corporate climbing, or other mind games, a good theory rapidly becomes twisted resulting in a false and dangerous reality.
What would you do if you didn’t need to work? Golf, travel, volunteer, spend time with family and friends, teach, go into politics – the list of options are virtually endless…A friend of mine called me today, told me that the sale of his business had closed, and that he had enough money to never need to work again. He informed me he had put together a list of people he respected and was calling to ask what I would do if I didn’t have to work again. I was pleased to have made his list, was impressed with his logical pursuit of advice and counsel, but wasn’t at all surprised that he was searching for a bit of direction. While many entrepreneurs tirelessly seek their exit by disposition, few have spent a great deal of time planning what life after work looks like. In today’s post I’ll share a few thoughts on planning for the future…
While my philosophy on valuations hasn’t changed in years, my feeling as to their importance has. Valuations are always a dicey proposition, but even more so given today’s business climate. I can’t think of a time in recent history where having third party validation for your valuation metrics has been more critical. Over the years I have particpated in the M&A process from virtually every angle possible. I have been a principal of a company being acquired, as well as a principal of a company conducting acquisitions. I have also served as an executive working on both acquisitions and dispositions teams, and as a professional advisor representing both the buy-side and the sell-side. Having sat on all sides of the acquisition table it has been my experience that regardless of approach, style, timing, culture, synergy, supply/demand drivers, or any other catalyzing factor, the transaction will eventually boil down to valuation metrics.
Do CEO Surveys constitute a reliable bellwether, or are they little more than well packaged corporate propaganda pieces? The answer is yes on both accounts. Not only does N2growth conduct CEO Surveys, but so do most other consultancies. It has been my experience that the determining factor in whether or not CEO surveys are reliable can be found solely in whether or not the data is being published for external consumption. In today’s post I’ll share some thoughts about how to discern the value (or lack thereof) of CEO surveys.
What would you do if you didn’t need to work? Golf, travel, volunteer, spend time with family and friends, teach, go into politics – the list of options are virtually endless…A friend of mine called me today, told me that the sale of his business had closed, and that he had enough money to never need to work again. He informed me he had put together a list of people he respected and was calling to ask what I would do if I didn’t have to work again. I was pleased to have made his list, was impressed with his logical pursuit of advice and counsel, but wasn’t at all surprised that he was searching for a bit of direction. While many entrepreneurs tirelessly seek their exit by disposition, few have spent a great deal of time planning what life after work looks like. In today’s post I’ll share a few thoughts on planning for the future…
While my philosophy on valuations hasn’t changed in years, my feeling as to their importance has. Valuations are always a dicey proposition, but even more so given today’s business climate. I can’t think of a time in recent history where having third party validation for your valuation metrics has been more critical. Over the years I have particpated in the M&A process from virtually every angle possible. I have been a principal of a company being acquired, as well as a principal of a company conducting acquisitions. I have also served as an executive working on both acquisitions and dispositions teams, and as a professional advisor representing both the buy-side and the sell-side. Having sat on all sides of the acquisition table it has been my experience that regardless of approach, style, timing, culture, synergy, supply/demand drivers, or any other catalyzing factor, the transaction will eventually boil down to valuation metrics.
Do CEO Surveys constitute a reliable bellwether, or are they little more than well packaged corporate propaganda pieces? The answer is yes on both accounts. Not only does N2growth conduct CEO Surveys, but so do most other consultancies. It has been my experience that the determining factor in whether or not CEO surveys are reliable can be found solely in whether or not the data is being published for external consumption. In today’s post I’ll share some thoughts about how to discern the value (or lack thereof) of CEO surveys.