Mary Marshall When an employee does not work out, it’s always a disappointment for the company and the employee. No one likes it, we don’t want to talk about it, and we feel like we failed. And it’s expensive! The figures I’ve heard put it at three … Read more
My work often takes me into organizations that need to make some fundamental change, but have been unsuccessful doing so in the past. I have thought a lot about how companies get themselves into this predicament and more importantly, how they get out of it. … Read more
Debrief, post-mortem or oil change – no matter what you call it, it needs to be done. It is the final step to any project, initiative, strategy or action that more than one person was involved in. The purpose of the debrief is to understand … Read more
Over the years I have read numerous books on various aspects of business, (as I am sure you have too). In the last 5 years, 3 books have been published that I believe every CEO should read. Each covers a deeply fundamental concept that as … Read more
A situation I have been faced with many times as a coach is working with partners, or multiple business owners, most frequently at professional services firms. These are typically well-educated professionals who have degrees in fields like law, accounting, manufacturing, medicine, marketing, architecture and others. … Read more
So what is the role of the CEO really? What makes a good leader? CNN Money recently put out its list of the top 50 Leaders and I looked to see what, if any, commonalities there were within this diverse group. There were a lot – … Read more
Great article this week in the Wall Street Journal from the C-Suite (View from the Top) with several observations and comments from those who own the seats. What stood out for me were a couple of key lessons from the entrepreneurs that were interviewed. First … Read more
I read an interesting article in Forbes recently that discussed a study about whether entrepreneurship was in your genes. The article referenced several different examples of each type of entrepreneur the study identified and it got me to thinking that perhaps the real question is … Read more
I worked with a brilliant man once who was in the “culture change” business. He went into large companies and helped with mergers of two disparate cultures to move the united company forward or came in after a leadership change to reinforce the new culture. … Read more
I was giving a talk the other day at S.U.R.F Incubator in Seattle for startups and got an interesting question – what the heck is “intentional culture?” I asked several follow-up questions about the questioner’s background. He was on his third start-up. The other two … Read more