Tuesday Morning Focal Point

Emerging leaders often express a common frustration to me. They notice that as they get closer to the top of an organization fewer opportunities exist. Moreover, depending on how they handle that frustration, they may move into a state of whining. These future chiefs start complaining about not being given opportunities. They grumble about not…

High Performance for Leaders I always find it interesting how things come in waves in so many areas of life. My executive coaching business is certainly included in that. Recently, there has been a wave for me related to KPI s (Key Performance Indicators).  Several of the executive teams we work with are significantly upping…

Last week I had an extended lunch meeting with a very successful entrepreneur who knew a lot about creating customer value.  This man started a business in 1978 with a single store. By time he sold the company in 2010, the entity had 125 stores across Canada.  He retired in 2010. Retirement was short lived…

Earlier this month I was traveling in the USA and had an opportunity to drop in on a well-known business and tourist attraction – Wall Drug Store in the town of Wall, South Dakota. This store has become a favorite road trip stop for many travelers and is perfectly located on the edge of the…

We frequently have conversations with prospective clients who come to us and say, “Can you teach us how to sell”?  The answer is yes; there are a range of things we can teach that assist people in developing the soft skills that are associated with sales – particularly communications skills. Why sell, though? What about…

Last night I finished up an important task which was finalizing a formal report for the Board of Directors of a company I’ve been working with for about a year and a half.  This particular company decided in early 2016 to consider an unorthodox executive structure. They chose to have two CEO equivalents. Both of…

Stale and fluffy strategy A big missing piece in most businesses I work with is that there are few, if any, times and places set aside for adequate strategic thinking.  What most companies call “Strategic Planning” is something that they do once a year, usually for a day or two.  The result of the full…

Couples Coaching – Maintaining your key personal relationship At the end of the day yesterday I was expecting my last coaching client at 5pm.  He arrived as expected, but not alone – he had his wife with him.  I had not been expecting her, as she had been to only one coaching session with him…

Businesses that plan well, grow most. The Planning Cycle It’s the time of year when a lot of businesses are beginning their budget cycle if their fiscal year is tied to the calendar year.  In these early stages, companies that rely on a bottom up approach due to the specialized knowledge that exists on the…

As an executive coach, I get the opportunity to meet so many different types of entrepreneurs, and one of the many differences I get to see is level of ambition, drive and determination to achieve particular outcomes and meet growth objectives. Every entrepreneur has their own definition of successful growth Evaluating long-term Contrasting two business owners…