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The Value of a Brand
In an earlier post this month entitled "Assessing Brand Value" I provided a fairly in-depth overview of both how to calculate a brand's value as well as describing why it is critically important to focus on creating brand equity. Nothing illustrates the impact of a brand's contribution to the overall health of a company more than an assessment of its financial contribution marked by its…
How to Create Passion in the Workplace
Creating a passionate workplace is not as simple as one would like to think. I've written often on the important role that passion plays in personal success and fulfillment (see "Passion equals Purpose"). However in today's post I want to offer a bit of a different take on the value of passion...In the text that follows I'll examine the impact of passion as a key success metric for the overall…
Where Do You Seek Advice?
I believe that most reasonable people will concur with the following statement: The quality of the professionals you choose to surround yourself with will have a direct impact on the level of success that you achieve. So my question is this: Why do so many people surround themselves with mediocre to low-end professionals? I followed an interesting thread the other day which was something of a…
Push vs. Pull Marketing
It is more important than ever to understand the differences in and relationships between "Push" and "Pull" marketing given continued advances in technology, the corresponding proliferation of mediums, and the ever-shrinking global marketplace. I'll also apologize in advance as I'm using this post as yet another opportunity to rant on the damage caused by those would be subject matter experts who…
Dazed and Confused…
You can run, but you cannot hide...as a C-level executive you can bob-and-weave, spin with the best of them, delude yourself by inhaling your own smoke or just hide out in the corner office. However, it's only a matter of time until your ruse is uncovered as you will eventually be held accountable for what you know and what you do (or perhaps what you don't know and don't do). I'm always amazed…
Tragedy and Business
Regrettably, we live in a time where tragedy strikes somewhere in the world on a daily basis. While certainly not to be minimized, most of us have developed the ability to come to grips with the earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters that impact our lives as we rightly categorize these events as circumstances beyond anyone's control. When a soldier loses his life…
Making the Most of Talent
I've written often on the subject of leadership development and talent management because very few things in business can catalyze change and create sustainable growth like leaders who understand how to leverage their talent and resources. It takes more than charisma and subject matter expertise to be a leader, it also takes a keen understanding of how to create organizational leverage. In…
Research & Benchmarking
I had an overwhelmingly positive response to my post the other day entitled "Identifying Competitive Threats." In fact so much so that today's post is somewhat of a follow-on piece based upon some of the questions that were submitted. As I read the comments and e-mails it became clear to me that while many of you understood that staying abreast of your competition is of critical importance, most…
Media Gone Mad…
Since this blog frequently addresses the topics of accountability, leadership, media, and CEO practices I thought I'd take this opportunity to use recent events in the media to rant about all of the above. Does anyone remember the days when the media actually took responsibility for the content it chose to air to the public? Many would say the media has always pushed the envelope in terms of…
Title Proliferation
I have recently been doing quite a bit of work in the European Community and more particularly in the UK. One of the things that I've found interesting is that many of our European brethren are not familiar with the term "C-suite executive". As the yank from the colonies, I've found myself attempting to rationally explain the phenomenon of "Title Proliferation" (which is comprised of "Title…
Becoming A Great CEO
So you're the CEO...You've worked long and hard to climb the corporate ladder, or you bet the family farm and took the entrepreneurial risk of starting your enterprise. Either way, you're intelligent, passionate, committed, experienced, and ready to lead your company onward and upward. Whether self-appointed or bestowed upon you, how do you measure up now that your business card reads CEO? In…
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…
Leadership Rants
Most of you that have been reading this blog for any length of time know that I have strong feelings on leadership. While many of you have read my prepared material on the subject, I guess that very few of you have had the opportunity to read any of my commentary on other authors' perceptions of leadership. So today, I'm going to step out from behind the protective veil of my prepared and edited…
Social Networking for Business
So what's with all the buzz about social networking? What's the difference between old school networking and social networking? As a CEO or entrepreneur, why should you care? With so much being written about the impact of social networking on business and the numerous examples of companies that are capitalizing on its many benefits, I'm amazed at how few companies still just don't get it. Not…
Leadership Development and the CEO
A CEO by definition must have some level of leadership ability. Regrettably, many CEOs will never develop their leadership skills to their full potential. Put bluntly, those CEOs who fail to become great leaders will inevitably fail to become great CEOs. Part of being a true leader is having a commitment to developing not only your own skills but the skills of those around you. One of the fastest…
How To Become A Great CEO
What does it take to become a great CEO? Much more than it did even 5 years ago to be sure. The rapidly changing global landscape and the evolving complexity of business makes the job of CEO something that is only well suited for a rare few. For these reasons, sustainable success at the C-suite level is an elusive thing in today's business world. With the average tenure of a CEO being less than 5…