Interview: Rebel Brown

Today's interview is with noted turnaround specialist Rebel Brown (@rebelbrown). Rebel has more than 25 turnaround engagements under her belt - she knows what it takes to be a successful leader in not just the good times, but in the toughest of times. I can tell you from personal experience, few things test your metal as a leader more than leading a turnaround.  Today also happens to be the…

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CEO Profile: Brad Smith, Intuit

Brad Smith is the President and CEO of Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU). Intuit is a leading provider of financial management, tax, and online banking solutions with more than $3 billion in annual revenue, and more than 8,000 employees.  While Brad is well known for his strong commitment to innovation, and is worthy of praise for his leadership and stellar performance alone (Intuit has consistently produced…

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CEO Profile: Steve Ballmer

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…

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Learning from Eliot Spitzer

The recent debacle surrounding New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has dominated the media headlines in the last few days. While I have long made it a point not to sit in judgment of others as it is very difficult to properly connect the dots from afar, it is my belief that there is something to be learned from any gross error in judgment. In today's post, I'll attempt to stay away from personal…

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Bill Gates on Success

Bill Gates and success...The linkage between the man and the trait seem obvious. In reviewing various news blurbs last Friday afternoon I stumbled across a viewpoint column on BBC News authored by Bill Gates. In this op-ed piece Mr. Gates was espousing his views on what it takes to be successful. As the world's wealthiest man, the co-founder and chairman of the world's largest software company…

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Interview – Robin Koval

Advising CEOs and entrepreneurs for a living I have had the pleasure of working with a wide variety of truly amazing individuals over the years. However when I look back amongst those individuals who have left an indelible impression on me it is not the smartest, toughest, wealthiest, or most powerful executives, but rather it has been the "nicest" executives that made the lasting impression.…

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Interview: Sydney Finkelstein

There is nary a week that passes where I don't receive at least one inquiry asking for my opinion as to the value of an MBA in the business world. Now if you've been in business for any length of time I'm sure you have heard more than a few humorous stories recounting the trials of young MBAs attempting to prove their value and failing miserably in their effort to do so. However, the stereotypes…

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Companies That Get It

Today marks the launch of a new category on the N2Growth Blog...Companies That Get It. Since I tend to frequently rant about companies that don't get it I thought it only fair to spend a bit of time in praise of those that do. I will not comment on existing client companies and I will not accept any form of compensation to induce coverage. So moving forward when I happen upon a company that…

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Interview with Ken Fisher

Ken Fisher is perhaps one of the most fascinating men of our time. He possesses both incredible intellect and genuine humility. He is a true renaissance man...A family man who has been married for 36 years, the best selling author (his current book The Only Three Questions That Count is ranked #14 on the NY Times Hardcover Bestseller list), The CEO of Fisher Investments, one of the most…

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Interview with Carolyn Kepcher

As most of you know I'm always interested in exchanging information with people who have successfully crafted strong personal brands through careful attention to managing their reputations while in the public eye. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing such an individual. Carolyn Kepcher formerly of The Trump Organization and best known to the public for her role as Donald's intelligent and…

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Interview with Marty Secada

When it comes to the business of business few decisions are as pivotal as those surrounding capital formation issues. Understanding when to seek capital, where to look for funding, how to structure the deal and other such decisions are at a minimum complex, and if made incorrectly problematic if not disastrous. For those executives and entrepreneurs who deal with such issues, you're in for a…

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Interview with Mike Myatt

One of the hidden pleasures of being a long-term survivor of the entrepreneurial life is that you are afforded the luxury of being invited to participate in any number of interviews, focus groups, surveys, etc. I was recently asked to take part in a survey consisting of 20 questions posed to a group of 50 entrepreneurs.  The purpose of the survey was to search for common traits possessed by…

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Interview with Ecademy’s Penny Power

With the unprecedented growth and undeniable success of the Blogosphere, Rupert Murdoch paying $580 million dollars to purchase MySpace, Facebook's valuation resting comfortably in excess of $1 Billion dollars, and venture capitalists tripping all over each other to fund social networking companies before the ink is even dry on their business plans there is little doubt that social networking is…

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Interview with Phil Gerbyshak

One of the requests I've had of late is to begin conducting interviews with Authors, CEO's and other business personalities that would be of interest our readers. Well, ask and you shall receive....I first stumbled across Phil Gerbyshak on the blogosphere by posting a comment on an article he authored. An e-mail dialogue ensued, and a few weeks later Phil and I have learned that we have many…

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