Exploiting the Competition for Innovation

by Mike Myatt

Whether you want to admit it or not, competition is part of your world, and likely a bigger part than you'd care to admit. Granted, exploiting the competition is not a novel concept. Even so, it is still very common to hear many executives adopt a competition neutral position. These executives simply don't believe competition to be a significant factor in the execution of their business plan.

While this may make for a nice sound bite, I don't buy it, and if they're truly honest with themselves, neither do they. In business you can either choose to deal with your competition (even if that means partnering with them), or you can opt to stand idly by and let the competition eat your lunch. In today's post I'll share my thoughts on the proper way to view your competition and how to identify competitive threats...

While some companies talk a good game with regard to competitive strategy, in my experience very few businesses actually address the issue in adequate fashion. I suppose much of my perspective on competition was formed during my days as a soldier and athlete. In the military we valued intelligence, studied our enemy's strengths and weaknesses, developed a battle plan around a solid strategy, and executed our tactical mission as if our lives depended on it - because they did.

Similarly, in my days as an athlete, our game plan each week was refined based upon the strengths and weaknesses of the team we were playing next. If we didn't study films and scouting reports, develop plays that would exploit match-ups, and execute our game plan we would lose... it was as simple as that. Dealing with competition in the business world is really no different than dealing with enemies on the battlefield or competitors on the athletic field... you either win or lose based upon your state of preparedness, desire and commitment.

How well do you know your competition? No, really... Not how well do you think you know your competition, but how well do you really understand them? Do you have a business intelligence platform? When was the last time you conducted a formal competitive study? Do your R&D and innovation programs evaluate the competitive landscape? Do your marketing, PR and branding initiatives exploit the competition? Do you stack-up as well as you think, or have you just adopted a position out of convenience?

The first step in developing a competitive strategy is to identify your current and potential threats, and then to prioritize said threats based upon perceived risk/reward and cost/benefit scenarios. The following list is clearly not exhaustive, but it is representative of the main competitive threats to a business. As the following list indicates, competition can come in the form of any one or combination of the following potential threats:

1. Existing or potential direct and indirect competitors.


2. Existing clients or end-users that could either become competition or strengthen your competitors if they have a change in loyalty.


3. Current or former employees who could become competition.


4. Vendors, suppliers or distributors that could become competition, or provide an edge to your competition.


5. Competitive innovations in process, management, talent, pricing, efficiency, etc. that can cause disruption in the market.


6. Strong changes in brand perception via news, PR, branding, litigation etc. can create changes in the competitive landscape.


7. Competitive technology innovations that could adversely impact your business.


8. Competitive mergers, acquisitions and roll-ups that could adversely impact your business.


9. Political, legislative, regulatory, or compliance actions that could create a competitive imbalance in the market.


10. Changes in general market dynamics that could create competitive changes in the market.

Once all areas of competitive risk have been identified and prioritized it will be much easier to develop a strategy for stacking the odds in your favor regardless of when, where, or how you encounter the competition.

The key to successfully exploiting competition over the long haul is linking your competitive strategy to the discipline of innovation and the mindset of custom centricity. A sustainable competitive advantage is not found by creating minor advantages in product features. Long-term competitive separation is created by innovating around the needs of your customers and clients with a focus on long-term value creation.


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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Importance of Employee Engagement

by Mike Myatt

The topic of "Employee Engagement" is something that many CEOs tend to struggle with. Long gone are the days where the executive leadership of a company can remain sequestered in their offices with an internal focus on hard metrics. Given the current economic climate, it takes far more than cost-cutting to survive. It is the CEO who understands the need for focus on the soft metrics of customer centricity and employee engagement that will create sustainable growth in revenue and brand equity. In today's post I'll examine the need to have a fully engaged work force...

Before you read any further, I want you to stop and ask yourself the following question: How many of your employees are truly passionate about your company, its values, its vision, its mission, and the role that they play within the organization? Don't fool yourself... Conduct a harsh, critical analysis and come up with a true head count of the passionate employees within your organization.

Your answer to the question above should be a very telling sign about the overall health of your business. Are people just showing-up and punching the clock to collect a paycheck, or are they personally consumed and committed to achieving the company vision? Are your employees corporate evangelists serving as a motivating force to be reckoned with, or do they gather in small groups to gripe and complain about all the things wrong with the company and its leadership?

The key to having an engaged workforce is to have a passionate workforce. And the simple truth of the matter is that no single person in the company can instill passion in the ranks like the CEO can. Despite the consensus recognition that employee engagement matters, the enormity of its impact on the company's bottom line and its capacity for innovation, still appears to be misunderstood by most CEOs. I rarely talk to a CEO that doesn't understand this principle in concept, but yet I rarely see chief executives who put theory into practice.

So it begs the question, why are CEOs listening but not taking action? The answer seems to be that CEOs continue to allocate considerable effort and resources toward engineering the corporate strategy, yet they seem to be unaware of what forces can prevent said strategy from being delivered successfully. Not surprisingly, employee engagement is often the critical missing factor.

As the CEO you must also become the chief engagement officer. Operating in a vacuum and being out of touch is never a good position to find yourself in as the CEO. I have consistently espoused the value of walking the floor, dropping in on meetings on an impromptu basis, taking employees of all ranks to lunch, and any number of other items that focus on raising your internal awareness and creating a passionate workforce.

It is your passionate employees that are the franchise talent (regardless of position) that you should be building around. If you can't get employees to see the light and become passionate about the company and their contribution, then seek to replace them as quickly as possible. Just as passion is a positive, contagious trait so are apathy and dissatisfaction. Passionate employees are productive, energized, committed and loyal assets. Apathetic employees quickly become disenfranchised liabilities that will hurt both productivity and morale. To drive home the point of how much I value passionate employees, I would take a moderately talented but passionate employee over a very talented but complacent employee eleven times out of ten.

Truly great companies are built around passionate employees. When you walk into a dynamic, thriving company you can sense the passion. You feel a certain buzz and fervor that pervades everything. Contrast this with a company that feels as if it has no pulse. If you've ever walked into an organization that feels like rigor-mortis has set in, you know what I'm referring to. In today's economy, the old saying that "the only thing worse than an employee who quits and leaves is the employee who quits and stays" has never been more accurate.

As a leader you need to understand that your employees not only want to be led, but they want to be led by a passionate leader. Ultimately employees want to be passionate about what they do; in fact, they'll go to the ends of earth and sacrifice tremendously if passionate about the endeavor. Think of the employees that started off with Gates and Allen at Microsoft, or those that worked with Phil Knight in his garage before Nike even had a name, or those employees that endured the early days with Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Google. It was their passion and commitment that helped change the landscape of business, not their starting salaries.

To build an extraordinary company, you must light the fire in the bellies of your workforce. You must get them to feel passion about your organization and to connect with your vision. You must get your employees to engage. As the CEO, your ability to transfer your passion to your employees is the essence of being a great leader. So much so that if you can't accomplish this, you simply can't be a great leader. Think of any great leader, and while you'll find varying degrees of skill sets, intellect and ability, I challenge to name even one that did not have passion, as well as the ability to instill said passion in team members.


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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Org Chart Kool Aid

by Mike Myatt

Since Organizational theory is a hot topic these days, I thought I'd poke a bit of fun at that old corporate tradition that is the Organization Chart. Over the years I've seen every type of org chart in existence. Some have come and gone only to come again. Every year or two the latest revolutionary thinking in corporate organizational theory spawns a new form of charting. The dynamics of corporate organization are so revered by B-school professors and management consultants that an entire generation of corporate management has drunk the org chart Kool-Aid. These managers often rush to adopt the latest thinking without any consideration for whether or not the new form of structure is even appropriate for their business. So powerful is this dynamic that entire companies and numerous products have been built to support these latest trends. In the time it has taken to author this musing it wouldn't surprise me if Visio had a new product release.

So, is an org chart a corporate asset or a waste of time? The answer depends on the purpose behind its creation, the process used to create it, and the corporate purpose for the existence of the chart post creation. The following list contains my top 10 reasons not to create an organizational chart:

1. To give the CEO an opportunity to view his name at the top


2. Because you need to beef-up your management presentation and you have room for an extra PowerPoint slide


3. Your management consultant told you to create one


4. The business planning software you purchased has a template for one


5. Your CFO just read a new article on corporate organizational theory


6. You just attended an off-site where someone drew an off-the-cuff chart on a dry erase board and it looked good


7. When reviewing your competitor's website you noticed they had one, and well your website needed updating anyway


8. There wasn't anything better for the intern to do


9. Someone got a promotion


10. It just seems like you should have one

Putting the satire aside, a business should in fact have an organization chart. A sincerely motivated, properly constructed, and actively implemented organizational chart can in fact help refine the operational aspects of any business. The development of an org chart should be a serious initiative born out of solid underlying business logic, process and methodology. Culture and environment are considerations that are often times completely ignored in the design of and org chart while perhaps representing the most critical architectural elements.

The most common mistake made by corporate management is that the organization chart is created way too early in the process before business rules and logic are aligned. Much like the order of operation principles that apply to an algebraic formula, if you get the sequencing wrong you can't solve the problem. An org chart is not where you start the process, but is rather the culmination of many processes helping to insure a certainty of execution and clarity of direction by creating a road-map to be followed.

There's an old joke in business circles that says "every company has two org charts... the one that's put into graphical form and incorporated in the business plan, and the one that never gets published but is actually representative of how things really work." The process of corporate organization is most succinctly and easily understood by using the following order of operation which I developed more than two decades ago:


"Values should underpin Vision, which dictates Mission, which determines Strategy, which surfaces Goals, that frame Objectives, which in turn drives the Tactics that tell an organization what Resources, Infrastructure and Processes are needed to support a certainty of execution." - (Mike Myatt 1988)


The org chart should enter the organizational construction cycle as deep into the cycle as possible to avoid the joke that led off the preceding paragraph. By waiting to create your organizational paradigm until there is at least some level of maturity in the business, a clear picture of who, what, when, where, why and how will begin to develop. It is only at this stage that you can properly align expectations, with process, culture and environment. It is then and only then, that you should address the need for, and deployment of, your human capital assets.

The bottom line is that I have observed all types of organizational structures (in vogue, antiquated and otherwise) succeed, and I have also seen them fail. It is not the "type" or the "style" of chart used that works or doesn't, rather it is the process of design that was used in creating the org chart that will determine its usefulness, functionality and adoption. That said, my personal preference is to build a very flat organization, and where a hierarchical framework is necessary, to drive complex decisioning down as low as possible within the organization structure.


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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Culture Doesn't Trump Strategy

by Mike Myatt

I was checking Twitter yesterday while getting ready to board my flight when a quote attributed to @zappos (Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos) came across my timeline. It read "Culture Trumps Strategy." I did a double-take on this as it just didn't resonate with me. Then my timeline started to get peppered with Retweets of this quote from some very bright people. Okay, maybe I missed something here... I really respect Tony Hsieh, and the people Retweeting this quote are some very smart people, I better read it again - "Culture Trumps Strategy" - it still didn't resonate with me. What did I do next? I Googled the phrase "Culture Trumps Strategy" and found that Stanford offered an Entrepreneurship Lecture by this title, I found several CEOs using the phrase in speeches, press releases, etc., I even found a few blogs espousing the mantra of "Culture Trumps Strategy." Could this just be an issue of semantics? Maybe it's just a nice politically correct soundbite that gets some good play, or is it simply flawed logic?

Since when are a healthy culture and sound business strategy bifurcated? Great corporate cultures are built by design. While I suppose that a great culture could somehow evolve by default or osmosis, I have yet to observe it. Creating a healthy culture is a matter of making it a focus point within the corporate values, vision, mission and strategy. Put simply, a corporation's strategy that ignores, or only pays lip service to culture, will be the beneficiary of the toxic culture they deserve. Back in the dot.com days I watched many a young enterprise suffer from placing culture ahead of strategy, or worse, even focusing on culture in lieu of strategy. When the marketplace began to see through the spin and the vapor, all the fun and games in the world couldn't save a flawed business model. The fun was over and the culture ceased to exist.

Every vibrant, healthy, inspiring, innovative, and positive corporate culture I've witnessed has occurred not because culture has been placed ahead of strategy, but because it has been a key driver of the corporate strategy. Why does everything in today's world have to be framed within an exclusionary either/or proposition? I've consistently found that the best scenarios are the ones that allow you to have your cake and eat it too. Why separate culture from strategy to their mutual demise, when culture is secured, enhanced, and sustained by sound strategy?

So, back to my original source of confusion... How could such bright people seemingly be taking exception to the thoughts Ive shared above? The more I pondered the statement "Culture Trumps Strategy" the more I thought I may understand what it was these bright people, whom I respect immensely, were actually trying to say... I just disagreed with how they were saying it. So I dug a bit deeper and found a New York Times interview with Tony Hsieh in which he described his experience with building corporate culture, and how it impacted his current philosophy. My suspicions were confirmed. As I read the interview I found that contrary to the quote which was attributed to him, culture was actually woven in to the very fabric of his strategy at Zappos. Moreover, the corporate values of Zappos are foundational to creating their corporate vision.

Bottom line: I'm not sure that Tony Hseih and the collective body of those who Retweeted his quote actually disagree with me on anything other than how we chose to express our views. Therein lies my caution... I'm fearful that people who don't have the experience or intuition to read between the lines of a short quote, or a 140 character Tweet, might be misled by the simplicity of the appeal. This is why I took the time to author today's post. In reality, Culture does not Trump Strategy, rather they work together to enhance the success of one another. What say you?

P.S.
Our closet is adorned with many a pair of shoes from Zappos. Their customer service is the best I've experienced anywhere, and I remain a fan of Tony Hsieh.

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Do you have an innovation blind-spot?

by Mike Myatt

My experience with most executives and entrepreneurs is that they are totally committed to and focused on success. As a result, many of them tend to have a major blind-spot (translation: weakness) when it comes to the anticipation of set-backs. While this is understandable, it is nonetheless naive, and it constitutes a major flaw in the business logic of most strategic plans. This is so much the case that the most often overlooked aspect of strategic planning is adequately addressing contingencies as part of the planning process. As you get ready to usher in 2010, my suggestion is to take one final look back at your planning and assure that you've anticipated all the ways in which things can go wrong, and what you'll do when the inevitable happens...

The reality surrounding the success of any implementation is found by understanding that no matter how smart you are, things rarely go as planned. Those that plan in advance for changes in circumstances can adroitly address issues when they occur, while those who must deal with "unforeseen" circumstances don't tend to fare as well. Smart leaders view obstacles as a constant rather than a variable, and incorporate that thinking into their planning. Any well crafted strategy anticipates obstacles and factors in multiple "what if" scenarios. Leaders that wait until a problem occurs to deal with it place themselves and their organization at a huge strategic disadvantage.

The two most common outcomes created by a lack of contingency planning are: 1.) watching things grind to a halt as you scramble to evaluate options, and; 2.) having fewer options to assess based upon the new found time constraint. Speed is your friend and should be leveraged to your advantage. Speed is aided by anticipation and slowed by a lack thereof. Smart leaders will do everything in their power to keep a decreae in velocity from becoming a self imposed adversary due to a lack of contingency planning.

It is important to remember that contingency planning is a key to avoiding costly mistakes. In most cases your wins won't put you out of business, but your losses most certainly can. The three most critical items to focus on when conducting your planning are:

1. Insure that personal accountability is present on any major benchmark, milestone or deliverable.


2. Make sure that someone has identified the 5 worst things that could happen with any initiative, what steps can be taken to prevent their occurrence, and what measures will be taken to overcome them if they happen?


3. Make sure that advance warning signs for potential failures are identified and understood so that you have plenty of runway in front of you to implement your contingency plans.

Good luck and good planning.

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Keys to Growth for 2010

by Mike Myatt

While today's post is short, it truly merits the attention of anyone still grappling with 2010 budget concerns. I'm going to share something with you that you might not want to hear, and quite frankly, something that will likely send your CFO straight into apoplexy. You don't grow a business by shrinking it. The key to corporate growth is not to fall into decline; hopefully not by default, but certainly not by design. If your 2010 plan is one that involves constriction, contraction, shrinkage or retraction, you should note that this is not what your clients and prospects are looking for.

Do you think your clients will be impressed that you're cutting staff, shrinking marketing budgets, eliminating service lines or any other item that they perceive as a limiting factor in your ability to help or add value? Know this: your clients and prospects will never see any form of bunker mentality as being beneficial to them. One of the great business myths is the theory of "remaining flat" - it simply is not possible. A business grows or shrinks - it gains ground on competitors, or loses ground to them. So my question to you is this: What are you specifically going to do in 2010 to better serve your clients, to continue acquiring and developing talent, to build your brand, and to grow your business? General George C. Patton said it best: "Never defend, always attack."

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Who are the real thought leaders?

by Mike Myatt

Thought Leadership...What is a thought leader, and what does thought leadership mean in today's business world? As much as some people wish it wasn't so, a thought leader is not someone who simply restates someone else's views and positions. Furthermore, beyond uniqueness of thought, a true thought leader's positions also challenge established norms and conventions. Moreover, the true litmus test for a thought leader is when their unique ideas are implemented in the marketplace, they tend to create disruptive innovation, and often change the way we view the world. In today's post I'll examine the subject of thought leadership in an attempt to separate fact from fiction

It is certainly much easier to look back in time at world leaders, Nobel laureates, religious scholars, philosophers, and captains of industry to identify historical thought leaders than it is to identify today's visionaries. This is due to the fact that thought leadership was once a term reserved for a limited few. Regrettably the label of thought leader has evolved to become a self-bestowed title for anyone who has something to say or promote, often without regard for qualitative issues. Some would say that the term thought leader, once synonymous with futurist and innovator, is more closely aligned with snake-oil salesman today. Don't get me wrong, true thought leaders still exist; they are just much harder to spot these days.

Let me begin by stating that authentic thought leaders, the real deals, are not created via great marketing and PR alone. While they are oft published, quite outspoken, and many times represented by marvelous publicists, they are not merely contrived, self-promoted legends in their own minds. Rather true thought leaders are born out of real-world successes, achievements, and contributions that have been recognized by their peers and competitors alike. Their work is widely regarded as being innovative, disruptive, and market altering. They are not the posers, but the players. They are not spin masters trying to make it, but are the undisputed market leaders that have already arrived.

It is also important to draw a distinction between personal or corporate branding and thought leadership. While thought leaders often become well recognized brands, there are many well crafted brands that have messaged thought leadership where none exists. Don't allow yourself to get caught-up in the spin and hype associated with great marketers who will gladly accept compensation, but will leave you woefully disappointed when it comes to living-up to their billing. Look for real results based upon market leadership, and not just brand leadership alone.

The best example I can give you about discerning the difference between brand leaders and thought leaders is that of large consulting companies. I would challenge the brand perception that McKinsey or Bain are the true thought leaders in their sector. I would submit that you will find the true innovation and thought leadership taking place at the smaller consultancies. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that there is almost an inverse relationship between size and thought leadership in the consulting world in that the bigger a firm is, the less likely they are to be innovators. Rather it is those firms chasing the big brands that must innovate to survive, and that often employ today's thought leaders. I have walked into many businesses over the years that were branded as market leaders that hadn't come up with a new idea for years. The fact of the matter is that the more institutional a firm becomes, the harder it is to maintain an entrepreneurial edge driven by a culture of innovation.

While I don't want to belabor the point and unfairly pick on large consulting firms, I think it's important to go a bit further with this train of thought. You see, the legions of twenty and thirty-something consultants employed by Accenture, McKinsey, Bain, Booz Allen Hamilton etc., haven't lived long enough to even form their own thoughts much less become thought leaders. One of the problems I have with large consultancies is that they often label themselves as thought leaders (strike one). They repurpose generic materials across industries and sectors and spin "old" as "innovative" (can you say best practices? strike two). They have regrettably become pimps of mass merchandised mediocrity (strike three).

As noted above, espousing 'best practices' propaganda has nothing to do with thought leadership, but has everything to do with creating mediocrity. What I have witnessed time and again is that these purported thought leaders have in reality weakened businesses, damaged brands, and commoditized competitive advantages for many entities, which ultimately adversely impacts their profitability and sustainability. I know my perspective may appear jaded, but I'm so tired of reading the drivel of people that don't have anything unique to say, who have been deemed as brilliant up-and-comers that I just want to scream.

I have nothing against the term thought leader, however it is my opinion the label should be reserved as an honor to bestow upon a select few, and not a title to be adopted by the masses. Dilution has the opposite effect of scarcity in that it diminishes value. Can you remember when the title of Vice President or Managing Director actually meant something? I can.

Bottom line...judge people on their actions and results, not their rhetoric. Don't accept conventional wisdom as gospel unless you can validate proof of concept, and then only accept it if you can innovate with it, or around it. Challenge everything in business by looking to improve upon the status quo and differentiate yourself from your competition. I don't advise my clients to adopt the practices of their peers, but rather to be disruptive with their innovation such that they create or widen market gaps between themselves and their peers. Lastly, when you run across a real thought leader, you'll clearly recognize them as such for there is something truly unique in both their words and deeds.

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Keeping it Simple

by Mike Myatt

One of the most effective ways to order your world is to simplify everything you encounter. However the problem is that keeping it simple often becomes very difficult when our basic human nature is to over-complicate everything we touch. In thinking about the people I respect the most, to the one, they possess the uncanny ability to take the most complicated of issues and simplify them. You will find that the best leaders, communicators, teachers, and innovators have a true knack for taking extremely complex, dense or intricate content and making it engaging and easy to understand. In fact, it was Leonardo Da Vinci who said:


"Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication."


In today's post I'll take a look at the often overlooked benefits of keeping it simple.

While simplicity may have become a lost art, understanding the importance of simplicity is nonetheless critical to your success in business. Consider all the presentations/meetings you've attended in the last few weeks. Was it the people who were able to articulate their positions in a simple and straight forward fashion, or the individuals that made things complex and tedious that got traction with their ideas?

It has been my experience that the more complicated, difficult, or convoluted an explanation is, that one or both of the following issues are at play: 1) the person speaking is a horrible communicator, or; 2) the person speaking really doesn't possess a true command of their subject matter. It is one thing to toss around the latest buzz-words or to have the most complex flow chart, but it is quite another thing to actually possess such a deep and thorough understanding of your topic that you can make even the most complex issues easy to understand.

It is almost as if business people have come to believe that complexity is synonymous with sophistication and savvy. It has been my experience that the only things that "complexity" is synonymous with are increased costs and failed implementations. There is an old saying in the software development world that states "usability drives adoptability" which tends to lend support to my observations. Those of you that know me have come to understand that I prefer to cut to the chase and get to the root of an issue as quickly as possible...this requires the ability to simplify, not complicate matters.

The truth is that simplifying something doesn't make it a trite or incomplete endeavor. Rather simplification makes for a more productive and efficient effort that is often more savvy than other more complex alternatives. As an example I'll use the area of design to prove my point. I can think of no better representation of simplicity at work than the iPod. Apple took something complex, sophisticated, and feature rich and crushed the competition by making it simple. The simplicity of the iPod is exactly what makes for a great user experience. Absolutely nothing is lost in the iPod's simplicity, and it is in fact the simplicity itself which makes it so classically elegant.

Another benefit of simplicity is that it serves as a key driver of focus, which enables greater efficiency, productivity, and better overall achievement. Keeping things simple allows you to focus on one thing at a time without the distractions that complexity by its nature breeds. I would suggest that you break down every key area of your business (operations, administration, marketing, branding, sales, finance, IT, etc.) and attempt to simplify your processes, initiatives, and offerings.

As a C-level executive you must focus on simplifying your day in order to maximize your efficiency. By simplifying everything from the information and reports you view, to your communications protocol, to your agenda, to your decisioning structure, you will be better able to operate in today's unnecessarily complex world.

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Playing to Win in 2010

by Mike Myatt

Since we're about to flip the calendar and move into 2010, I thought I'd provide a bit of motivation to help focus your efforts as you prepare for the new business year ahead. Today's message is not likely to please the politically correct. I'm not going to talk about competing or playing nicely, rather I'm going to address the topic of winning. Want to succeed? It's easier than you might think...just don't quit. Strip away the excuses, rationalizations, and justifications and the only thing standing between you and the attainment of your objectives, is what you see staring back at you when you look in the mirror each morning. In today's post I'll examine the benefits of playing to win.

I'm a big fan of the Die Hard movies, and the one thing you have to admire about the main character, detective John McClain (played by Bruce Willis), is that regardless of the obstacles he encounters, he just won't quit. Granted, the aforementioned example of determination against all odds comes from a fictional character, but the fact of the matter is that successful people play to win. They don't indulge themselves in half-hearted attempts destined for failure, rather they choose to focus all their efforts and energies on accomplishing their mission.

My first football coach used to say: "Don't even bother showing up if you're not going to play to win..." Mind you I tend to be a bit competitive, but even so, that phrase has stuck with me my entire life. I don't often bother with taking on an endeavor unless I plan to accomplish the task at hand, and that means not quitting until I meet the objective. It is that "refuse to lose" and "never say die" attitude that I picked-up on the playing field, and had further reinforced during my time in the military that provides me with a competitive advantage.

I have found that dedication, determination, attention to detail, commitment, and focus are the traits that have been most valuable to me throughout the years, and are therefore the strengths that I tend to play to. The good news is this...if you examine the aforementioned traits you'll quickly see that I possess no special skill, and I have no secret tricks up my sleeve. Rather the things that have allowed me to serve my clients well, are things that anyone can harness and leverage if they have one thing...the desire to do so.

I could certainly paint a more complex picture of what it takes to be successful by citing esoteric management theories, but the truth of the matter is that I just don’t quit until I get the job done. I don't spend my time complaining about the challenges and obstacles, rather I spend my time solving problems and creating solutions. If my objective is to get to the other side of the wall, I don't really care if I go over the wall, under the wall, around the wall or through the wall...I just care that I get to the other side. While I might spend a bit of time evaluating the most efficient strategy for getting to the other side of said wall, it will ultimately be my focus on the tactical execution of conquering the challenge that will determine my success. A bias toward action is always a better path than falling prey to analysis paralysis.

I once played an entire half of a football game with a broken ankle, early on in my first entrepreneurial venture I found myself at a critical nexus and chose to liquidate personal assets to meet payroll, I've gone as many as 4 days in a row without sleeping to stay the course and solve a critical issue, I've led teams to achieve things that others said couldn't be accomplished, I've kept my family a priority having raised two wonderful children and having been married for 25 years and the list could go on...My point in describing these actions is not to pat myself on the back for anyone could have done these things, but the reality is that most people don't. They choose to accept defeat...they don't play to win...They aren't willing to do what it takes to be successful...they quit.

Quitting is a temptation that all of us are consistently confronted with. The reason that so many people become a casualty of giving up, is because they can. Put simply, quitting is one of the easiest things to do in life. If you take your eye off the ball, even if only momentarily, all it takes for most people to throw in the towel is a tinge of anger, humiliation, panic, rejection, stress, frustration, hurt, pain, jealousy, sorrow or anguish. Look back on your live, or the lives of others, and you'll find numerous instances of people who took the easy way out and just quit. You'll also find that it is those people who stayed the course, who overcame the challenges and barriers, and who stayed the course that have succeeded in life.

My message to you for as we enter 2010 is simply this: Play to win...Don't compromise your values, define your vision, refine your mission, architect your strategy, identify your objectives, set your goals, implement your tactics and engage in willful, purposeful action. Stay focused and do not quit until you've met your objectives...May your passion become your purpose, and I wish you the best of success in the year ahead.

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Do you have a relevant message?

by Mike Myatt

It is simply not possible to have a well received message that is not relevant. Think about it for a moment... when was the last time you bothered to read, watch or listen to a message that wasn't relevant to your needs? Great leaders understand the power, influence, and leverage created by relevant messaging. Do you ever find yourself sitting back and marveling at those leaders who always seem to have the right thing to say? Contrast this with the feelings you have when you hear an awful sound-bite that makes a leader look either uninformed or unintelligent. The difference between the two aforementioned examples is that great leaders have mastered the art of finding the right message (the relevant message) regardless of the medium, market, or constituency being addressed. In today's post I'll share some of the messaging secrets used by the best leaders to keep their message relevant...

So why is great messaging so important? In the business world, as a chief executive officer or entrepreneur, corporate messaging is the key to both your personal and professional positioning strategy. A leader's message has a direct impact on their personal and corporate brand equity, how they manage a crisis, marketing initiatives, investor relations, press and public relations, team building and employee engagement, customer loyalty and virtually any other mission critical area of chief executive responsibility.

The reality is that your messaging will often times have a greater impact on your career than your performance. I have witnessed on numerous occasions CEOs with average, or even sub-par performance histories fare well because they possessed great messaging skills. Let me be clear that I'm not advocating form over substance here. I'm simply pointing out that they understood how to message their shortcomings and flaws, while engendering confidence around their planning for corrective measures to critical spheres of influence. The message was on target, it was relevant and therefore it was believable. By contrast, I have also watched CEOs with excellent performance histories not do so well because they did not possess the messaging skills necessary to keep stakeholders engaged. They did not address the needs or concerns of the audience they were addressing, and therefore the message was irrelevant and subsequently ineffective. Simply put, the relevancy, savvy and sophistication of your messaging will have a direct impact on the sustainability of your tenure as a chief executive.

CEOs who become recognized as great leaders are prepared, articulate, consistent, and crisp in their messaging. They speak with authority, clarity, and certitude because their messaging is relevant. In fact, it is the relevancy of their messaging that engenders confidence and serves to inspire and unify. Perhaps most importantly, a great leader's message is never in conflict with their values. They will not compromise their core beliefs simply to manipulate the outcome of a specific situation. They rest in the comfort that doing and saying the right things will ultimately put them in a favorable position, and if not, they are comfortable in assuming any negative consequences that may come as a result of right thinking and decisioning.

When it comes to the construction of messaging, I have found that people will tend to fall into one of the four following groups.

1. The Medium "is" the Message: People that fall into this camp believe that the medium will do the work for them. They believe in the reach and power of the medium to overcome any flaws in the message. This view of messaging constitutes a numbers based approach where the business logic states that if you reach enough people with the message some acceptable percentage of the people reached will embrace the message.


2. The Market "is" the Message: This view of messaging values the target audience above all else. The message is so targeted and niche specific that it is sometimes almost unintelligible to those who fall outside of the intended target market.


3. The Message "is" the Message: This group believes that content is king. The emphasis here is that if the message is creative enough, or valuable enough, nothing else matters. This view of messaging is all about the teaser, the hook, the calls to action, the design, the concept, etc.


4. The Messenger "is" the Message: This is the branded approach to messaging. If the person delivering the message has enough credibility and influence, nothing else matters. This iconic, ego-centric approach to messaging places a high premium on the spokesperson.

My view of the aforementioned four theories is that their sum total value is greater than their independent stand alone value. Other than in matters of character and principle, I don't tend to be an absolutist. Over the years, and especially in the genres of marketing, branding, positioning, and messaging, I believe a collaborative and cross-disciplined approach to be the key to success. While content can create credibility, credibility can also enhance the view of content. Furthermore, the best content or spokesperson in the world communicating to the wrong audience, with the wrong message, or through the wrong medium is likely to miss the mark. It takes a blending of approach to craft the right message and this will not happen when operating in a vacuum. Following are a few final thoughts for your consideration when crafting your message:

1. It Must Be the Truth: The truth always comes out in the end. If your message won't pass public scrutiny over time, then you have the wrong message.


2. Use a Multiple Medium Approach: Long gone are the days of one size fits all mediums…the best messaging campaigns take place across mediums creating multiple touch points to various constituencies and demographics.


3. Know Your Talking Points: Don't allow the message to get lost in the medium. Remember that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. You must be consistent and convicted in your opinions and your positions. Be clear, concise and don't compromise on key points.


4. Know Your Audience: All messages should be tailored to the audience being addressed. This does not mean you should compromise your position, rather it means your message needs to relevant, timely, and of significance. While your talking points need to remain the same, they also need to address the concerns and areas of interest of those being communicated to. The message must be relevant to be successful.


5. Don't Forget Your Critics: The tendency is to believe that your audience is comprised of friends and allies. You need to assume that every message given will find its way into the hands of your worst critics, and furthermore, that they will attempt to use your message against you.

Keep the message relevant and real and you'll stand apart from the masses. Good luck and good messaging...

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

CEO, Entrepreneur, or Both?

by Mike Myatt

Entrepreneur, CEO or Both? Which hat, or hats do you wear? CEO...that title sounds good doesn't it? Okay, so you founded the company, but does that mean you should also be the chief executive? Did you bestow the title upon yourself simply because you had the authority to do so, or are you the right person for the job? Perhaps you were the right person for the job initially, but has the company outgrown your management ability? As the founder, can you, or should you, attempt to grow with the company? What does a CEO really do anyway? In today's blog post I'll assess what it takes to be an effective CEO and you can decide for yourself if you have what it takes to get the job done.

Sure, it's your business, your idea, your net worth at risk and certainly nobody else will work as hard as you will, but is this really the right way to evaluate who should be the chief executive? The answer is no it's not...however this is often times exactly how the decision is made. While entrepreneurs are clearly talented innovators and visionaries, most first time entrepreneurs don't have prior experience as a CEO.

Over the years I have come across many self-appointed CEOs that struggle to read a balance sheet, don't understand capital formation or financial engineering, have poor communication skills, have never built a sales force, authored a business plan, or lack any number of other requisite operational abilities. I'm not suggesting that all entrepreneurs are incapable of being chief executives, but I am suggesting that you stop and make an honest assessment of whether you are doing the job because you’re the most qualified, or just because you don't know what you don't know...

Before I start breaking this down, let me disclaim that a post of this nature works off generalizations and stereotypes, and that there are clearly exceptions to every rule. I have known many entrepreneurs that are exceptional CEO's, but I have known many more that don't measure-up and shouldn't be fulfilling the role of CEO. I'm not making any judgments or pointing any fingers, but readers of this post will know which camp they fall into.

It is the nature of the beast that most entrepreneurs are a disruptive force within a company. A VC friend of mine refers to most entrepreneurs as practicing "seagull management" in that they fly in, flap their wings, crap all over everything and fly back out again...Many entrepreneurs desire to have input on everything, yet don't want anything to do with the details. They often don't possess the skill sets to add value to the initiatives they want to control. This type of behavior is proof certain that the entrepreneur is not being effective at leading, team building, delegation, leveraging process and a variety of other highest and best use activities for CEOs.

Let's begin by determining what it is that a CEO does...First and foremost it is the CEO's job to provide leadership based upon a clearly articulated vision and a well defined strategy. Priority number two is team building and talent management. One of the main keys to generating organizational leverage is for chief executives to know when, where and why to deploy (or redeploy) talent and resources. It has been my experience that it is much easier to recruit talent or acquire resources than it is to properly deploy talent and allocate resources.

Jack Welch the former head of GE built a reputation as one of the great chief executives of this era. When asked how he transformed a lack-luster, institutional, global corporate giant into a dynamic culture focused on innovation and growth, Welch responded by saying; "My job is to put the best people on the biggest opportunities and the best allocation of dollars in the right places. That's about it. Transfer ideas and allocate resources and get out of the way." Welch clearly not only understood the concept of organizational leverage through proper deployment of talent and resources He mastered it.

I've heard it said that the role of a leader is to create and manage good followers. While there is an element of truth in that statement if this is what you aspire to as a leader it constitutes a complete underutilization of leadership responsibility. I believe great leaders will mentor and coach subordinates for the purpose of identifying and developing other great leaders.

To achieve maximum success I believe it is incumbent upon an entrepreneur to take an honest inventory of his/her skill sets and competencies, and contrast them with the needs of the enterprise as it relates to what is best needed to efficiently and effectively lead the company forward. If your skill sets are best suited for business development, product development, branding, finance or other areas you may want to consider playing to your strengths by taking a senior position in the area of your subject matter expertise and hiring the best chief executive you can find to lead the company.

Surrendering the chief executive role doesn't mean that you must give-up financial control or lose the ability to have input on decisioning, but it does mean that you’ll have to trust in, collaborate with, and delegate to someone who has the necessary domain expertise to get the job done.

Please forgive the forthcoming pitch, but it really is sound counsel...for those not willing to bring in professional executive talent, I would strongly advise that you at hire a CEO coach to help develop your executive skills and advise you in areas beyond that of your core competency. At the end of the day, the choice of who occupies the chief executive role is yours to make...choose wisely.

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Do You Have Social Media Influence?

by Mike Myatt

Social media influence; the harsh reality is that you either have it or you don't. I'm going to tell you the cold hard truth about social media...what you need to know that most people won't tell you. While anyone can have a social media presence, not everyone possesses social media influence. It's clear to those in the know that social media is a universe of the haves and have nots. It's the difference between relevance and irrelevance, visibility and anonymity. You might have something to say, but without influence, nobody will be listening. Put simply, having a social media presence without influence is little more than an exercise in frivolity. In today's post I'll share some thoughts on the importance of social media influence in the building of personal and corporate brand equity.

The amount of influence, or lack thereof matters in all areas of life, and social media is no different. That said, before we go any further I think it's important to address social media critics and the naysayers by answering the questions: Does social media work? Is social media right for business? Can you generate an increase in revenue and brand equity with social media? How does social media compare with other mediums? Watch the video below and judge for yourself:





Okay, it should be clear after watching the Socialnomics video that social media can produce huge ROI, but only if you know what you're doing. The one thing that each of the personal and corporate brands profiled in the video all had in common is that they leveraged social media influence to accomplish their objectives. If you choose to dive into the social media world without a strategy, without understanding how to create social media influence, you will not be pleased with your results. Like anything in life, if you're going to do something, you're better off to do it right or not to do it at all.

There's nary a week that passes where I don't have a conversation with somebody who proudly proclaims that they created a Twitter page, to which I usually respond; "that's great, but why?" Don't get me wrong, recognizing the value of participating in the most powerful medium on the planet by getting in the game is a good thing, but it's an even better thing when coupled with a plan. Let me say this as clearly as I can...a ready, fire, aim approach will rarely find the target.

For all you well intended ad agencies, consultants, marketing managers, brand managers, entrepreneurs, and professionals ready to dip your toe, or your clients toe in the water that is social media, keep in mind that it does no good whatsoever to have a blog that only has one published post in the last 6 months, a Twitter page with 4 followers, a LinkedIn profile with 18 connections, a Facebook account with 7 friends, etc. It's like flashing a neon sign that says I'm irrelevant and nobody cares. It won't do anything to help you, it will only hurt you. In today's world no one wants to do business with a company that's not connected, has no influence, isn't engaged, and that doesn't get it.

While having little or no online following can easily brand you as being without influence, having legions of followers solely for the sake of amassing large numbers doesn't necessarily mean you have any real influence either. Anybody can amass tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of followers just by following as many people as they can and waiting for them to reciprocate. The important thing to understand is whether or not anything of substance or value underpins the numbers? Think about it for a moment...almost nothing can hurt a brand faster than constantly messaging irrelevance to a large constituency. Not a good move.

Who you choose to follow on Twitter, which blogs you read and comment on, who you add as a friend to your Facebook account, or which invitations you accept on LinkedIn speaks volumes about what you're attempting to accomplish online. Like most things, building and maintaining your social media footprint should be engineered by design, but the truth is that most people allow it to be constructed by default. In a perfect world you would build relationships with the largest possible universe of targeted constituents where you can productively engage and contribute. Just as you don't want to add to the noise, nor do you want to remain part of the silence. Having a relevant, highly engaged social media following means you have influence and can create action.

So, how do you start to build social media influence? The best way is to start off on the right foot by not tainting your brand or reputation. Don't begin by trying to sell something, but rather by listening, engaging in conversations, building trust, and adding value. Contribute knowledge and information to the constituencies that you want to build influence with. Become a part of them as opposed to a vendor to them...This is a difficult concept for old-school marketers to get their arms around, but a critical one nonetheless. I would strongly suggest reading two previous posts: "Shut-up and Listen" and "Stop Selling and Add Value" as support for these positions. Following are a few tips to help you build influence online:

1. Don't breach trust - you work far too hard to create a trust bond with your followers, so don't blow it by not following through on your commitments. I would also suggest resisting the temptaion to have all your communications be self-serving. Do this and you'll be viewed as just another sales broadcast. When you do sell, do it properly, and for the right reasons.


2. Don't be a jerk, hater or taker - People don't want to hear from those they don't like. If you want to build lasting social media influence you must be seen as valuable resource and not a taker of other's time, resources or ideas.


3. Have command over your subject matter - If you don't know what you're talking about, remain silent. Voicing your opinion isn't nearly as important as helping someone else refine their thinking with wise counsel. The easy rule is to stay out of conversations where you don't add value.


4. Listen and respond - If you're forcing an agenda rather than responding to the needs of your followers you'll lose any chance at creating influence. Remember that most people will go to great lengths to help someone who has been of assistance to them.


5. Publish quality content that adds value - what you produce in terms of content will be become synonymous with your online reputation. It will either serve you well, or be your undoing.

As I've espoused before, I'm not a huge fan of one-size-fits-all strategies, and this opinion holds true in regard to building your network as well. Despite countless opinions to the contrary, I've come to the conclusion that while no single 'right' methodology exists for building your online network, I regularly observe many 'wrong' approaches...

The bottom line is that you'll be successful in creating real social media influence when you take the time to seek out wise counsel, and implement an authentic approach to a well crafted social media strategy.

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Top 10 Corporate Time-Wasters

Do you need time to innovate?

by Mike Myatt

Time is the only thing we all have in common, yet it's how we choose to spend it that defines and differentiates us as individuals. Even though time is a key success metric, I am always amazed at how many executives don't manage it as such. Time is indeed a precious and finite commodity, and those professionals that manage it wisely are those that achieve the greatest results. Show me an executive that doesn't leverage time to its highest and best use and I'll show you an executive likely to be replaced by one that can. In today's blog post I'll examine the value of time.

The proper understanding of how to use time directly impacts income. You see, time doesn't slow, nor can it be accelerated or recovered; it can only be wasted, invested, or leveraged. I often hear people espouse the axiom "don't work hard, work smart."

I have a bit of a different take on the subject as I work very hard at working intelligently. It was coming to an understanding of these fundamental principles at an early age that have made a tremendous difference in my life as contrasted with many others I've encountered along the way.

Whether you are a sales person, professional advisor, entrepreneur, or executive, you only have 24 hours in a day, which consists of 1440 minutes, and when reduced to the ridiculous amounts to 86,400 seconds. If you want to do more, earn more, serve more, influence more, or significantly change the level of your impact in any area, you simply must make more out of the time you have at your disposal. So, my question is this - How well do you leverage your 86,400 seconds?

Have you ever heard someone say they wish there was more time in a day?

While I've already pointed out that you cannot increase the amount of time in a day, I've also said that time can in fact be leveraged if you know how. Some people use only a portion of a full day, while others leverage the entire day, and those who are most productive leverage multiples of a day.

Multiples of a day you ask?

In my world there are far more than 24 hours in a day. Through making good use of personal time, leveraging staff and technology, outsourcing across different time zones, associating with quality people and organizations, managing risk, and having a laser like focus on highest and best use principles, I estimate that I'm able to average nearly a full week's work into a single 24 hour period while rarely working more than an average work week on a personal basis. Leveraging time is all about making good choices.

Are you making good choices?

The first step in making the most out of your time begins with the understanding that time itself is a key success metric. You can either leverage your time, or waste your time. Once you learn how to invest your time wisely, you can then get to a point where you can start to leverage your time into multiples. The first step in making this transition is to maximize personal time by avoiding the most common workplace time-wasters. According to most of the research I've read, the following items represent the Top 10 Corporate Time-Wasters:

1. A lack of focus and shifting priorities


2. Technology (phone, email, IM, social media, etc.) interruptions


3. Lack of planning


4. Biting-off more than you can chew (initiative overload)


5. Drop-in visitors


6. Ineffective delegation


7. Lack of organizational skills


8. Procrastination


9. Inability to say "No"


10. Unproductive meetings

Time can either be your best friend or your worst nightmare. Executives that understand how to use time to their advantage accomplish great things, and those who allow time to slip through their fingers don't. The lesson to learn is to accomplish more through leverage while decreasing personal time commitments. Remember that time is a finite commodity, and once a moment in time has passed it is gone forever.

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

15 Traits of a Great Leader

by Mike Myatt

Today's post will make the case for leadership development. While much has been written about the traits and characteristics that form great leaders, the truth is that leaders come in many different varieties. There is no one-size-fits-all formula for leadership. That said, all good leaders all possess certain core qualities, and great leaders simply develop said core qualities to a higher level than their peers. Put simply, a leader's shelf life will be equal to their ability to leverage their leadership traits through solid execution, and influencing their constituencies in alignment with the corporate vision with values. If you want to insure longevity and success as a leader, focus on developing your leadership acumen by prioritizing your efforts on the following list of 15 leadership traits:

1.Integrity

• Always do the right thing regardless of sentiment, and never compromise your core values. If you cannot build trust and engender confidence with your stakeholders you cannot succeed. No amount of talent can overcome illegal, immoral or otherwise ill-advised actions. A leader void of integrity will not survive over the long-haul.

2.Excellent Decision Making Skills

• As a leader you will live or die by the quality of the decisions you make. When you're the leader good decisioning is expected, poor decisioning won't be tolerated, and great decisioning will set you apart from the masses.

3.Ability to Focus

• If you cannot focus, you cannot perform at the level necessary to remain in leadership for very long. The ability to do nothing more than understand and lock-onto priorities will place you in the top 10% of all leaders.

4.Leveraging Experience

• Inexperience, a lack of maturity, needing to be the center of attention, not recognizing limitations, a lack of judgment, an inferior knowledge base, or any number of other common mistakes made by rookie leaders can cause your house of cards to fall. If you don't have the experience personally, hire it, contract it, but by all means acquire it. Great leaders surround themselves with tier-one talent, and the best advisors money can buy. They don't make uniformed or ill-advised decisions in a vacuum.

5.Command Presence

• Great leaders possess a strong presence and bearing. They are unflappable individuals that never let you see them sweat (unless of course it serves a purpose). Everything from how they carry themselves to how they speak and dress, messages that they are in charge.

6.Embracing Change

• Great leaders have a strong bias to action. They don't rest upon past accomplishments, and are always seeking to improve through change and innovation. In today's fast paced and competitive environment those leaders who don't openly embrace change will often be shown the door prior to the expiration of their initial employment contract.

7.Brand Champions

• Great leaders understand branding at every level. They seek to build not only a dominant corporate brand, but also to leverage a strong personal brand. Leaders that are not well branded on a personal basis, or who let their corporate brand fall into decline will not survive.

8.Boundless Energy

• Great leaders have a boundless amount of energy. They are positive in their outlook, and their attitude is contagious. A low energy leader is not motivating, convincing, or credible.

9.Subject Matter Expertise

• Great leaders have a deep understanding of their subject matter, and a strong orientation toward achievement. Great leaders possess what often appears to be a sixth sense, or an almost instinctive feel for what the needs to occur in order to leverage their knowledge into a competitive advantage.

10.People Acumen

• Great leaders have a nose for talent. They understand how to recruit, develop and deploy talent focusing on applying the best talent to the best opportunities. They also know when it's time to make changes, and to cut losses as needed.

11.Organizational Acumen

• Great leaders know how to engender trust, when and how to share information, and are expert listeners. They develop strong and positive team/organizational cultures driven to performance by aligned motivations. They can quickly diagnose whether the team/organization is performing at full potential, delivering on commitments, and whether the team is changing and growing versus just operating.

12.Curiosity

• Great leaders possess a powerful motivation to increase their knowledge base and to convert their learning into actionable initiatives. They question, challenge, confront and are never accepting of the status quo.

13.Intellectual Capacity

• Great leaders are also great thinkers...both at the strategic and tactical levels. They are quick on their feet, and know how to get to the root of an issue faster than anyone else. I've never met a great leader who wasn't extremely discerning.

14.Big Thinkers

• Regardless of the physical or geographical boundaries of their current role, great CEOs think big and add a zero. Limited thinking results in limited results. Whether global thinking is applied to capital formation, supply-chain issues, business development, strategic partnering, distribution or any number of other areas, those leaders who don't grasp the importance of thinking globally will not endure. Great leaders are externally oriented, hungry for knowledge of the world, and adept at connecting developments and spotting patterns.

15.Never Quit

• Great leaders refuse to lose. They have an insatiable appetite for accomplishment and results. While they may reengineer or change direction, they will never lose sight of the end game.

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Tenure versus Loyalty

by Mike Myatt

If your organization confuses loyalty and tenure there is trouble on the horizon. If your business highly values tenure as a measure for employee evaluation, it is time for you to consider updating your talent management practices and procedures. So, what's wrong with tenure you ask? In principle very little; but in practice virtually everything. Think of any organization that has mediocre talent, where management has frustrated you with consistent under-performance, or where cavalier attitudes and a sense of entitlement overshadow a focus on productivity and performance, and I'll show you an organization that embraces tenure.

An old business saying that sums-up my feelings about tenure goes like this:


"The only thing worse than an employee who quits and leaves is an employee who quits and stays."


You see tenure is not synonymous with loyalty, but rather is a more often a measure of compliance and survival. Ask yourself this question: Who is more loyal - an employee who has been with the company a long time but is an under-performer, or a less tenured employee who always goes the extra mile and consistently exceeds expectations? The following are the top reasons why tenure as business practice simply constitutes flawed business logic:

1.Tenure is Outdated

• In case you haven't checked your calendar lately it isn't 1950, it's almost 2010. Outside of government and academia (this should be more than enough proof that tenure is a bad thing) most people don't work for 30 years for the same employer.

2.Tenure Suppresses Talent

• Just because 'Employee A' has performed a task longer than 'Employee B' doesn't necessarily mean that 'A' is more skilled than 'B'. Furthermore, just because 'A' has been with the company longer than 'B', doesn't necessarily mean that 'A' possesses more talent, upside, knowledge, or adds more value than 'B'. When an organization promotes based upon tenure, and not based upon recognition of talent, merit, performance, etc., the company is not leveraging its true talent base. Not recognizing, developing, and rewarding talent is the fastest way I know of to drive talent out of your organization and directly into the hands of your competition.

3.Tenure Breeds Obsolescence and Mediocrity

• The sad reality is, that with very few exceptions, if you have someone on your payroll who has been with the organization in a similar role or capacity for an unusually long period of time, you likely have a mediocre employee producing mediocre work. Here's an example. Even in this day and age it is still not that uncommon to find large corporations and government agencies with IT silos built upon mainframe computing solutions. These silos are staffed with legions of 'tenured' COBOL and C++ programmers, as well as 'tenured' IT managers overseeing the operation. Walking into these organizations is often like traveling back in time 20 years. These companies have placed themselves far behind the technology curve because tenured managers hire employees with obsolete skill sets and together they create mediocre solutions.

4.Tenure Inhibits Change and Cripples Innovation

• Organizations that favor tenure also tend to be prone to majoring in the minors. The mandates for compliance along with the accompanying maze of bureaucratic processes and procedures, will often take precedence over doing the right thing. Tenured organizations also tend to embrace comfort zones and are often built upon the "DITWLY" (Did It That Way Last Year) principle. All of these traits preclude the advancement of change initiatives and cripple innovation.

5. Tenure Kills Brands

• As an organization expands and continues to promote mediocre talent up through the ranks, you'll notice that growth will eventually slow, quality and customer service suffer, and eventually these negative attributes will be reflected in declining brand equity. Think of any negative brand connotations you have, and you'll likely find an organization that embraces tenure. The Costco experience isn't what it used to be, US auto manufacturers continue to struggle, the Comcast brand has been hammered, the banking industry has been crippled, and government agencies (pick one - IRS, DMV, etc.) often evoke feelings of hatred at the mere mention of their name.

The bottom line is this...as an employer you need to possess an extreme bias toward performance. Reward talent, innovation, loyalty, attitude, creativity, work ethic, contribution, and leadership ability...not tenure.

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Stop Selling and Add Value

by Mike Myatt

What I'm about to espouse will cause many an eyebrow to furrow and jaw to drop. I truly believe that the practice of sales as a business discipline has become at best ineffective, and in many cases flat out obsolete. You see, good business practices are not static. Stale methodologies and disciplines simply die a slow and very painful death, and it is my contention that the overwhelming majority of sales processes I see in today's marketplace are just that...stale. If you want to create revenue, increase customer satisfaction, and drive brand equity, stop selling and start adding value. In the text that follows I'll share my thoughts on how the practice of sales must change in order to survive.

Lest you think I've lost my mind, I want to be clear that I'm not advocating taking your eye off the revenue creation ball. Rather what I'm recommending will help you generate more revenue, with greater velocity by simply doing the right thing in putting your customer's needs first. I hear a lot of noise about the tough economy, and revenue being down for many companies. I hear complaint upon complaint that companies just don't have money to spend, and that nobody is buying. If you're experiencing this type of reaction from your customer, it's not because they don't have money to spend, it's because you're selling and not adding value. It's because you're talking and not listening. It's because you don't get it. It's not about you, your company, your products or your services. It's about meeting customer needs and adding value.

The problem with many sales organizations is that they still operate with the same principles and techniques they were using in the 60's, 70's and 80's. While the technology supporting sales process have clearly evolved, the traditional sales strategies proffered by sales gurus 20 or 30 years ago have not kept pace with market needs. They are not nearly as effective as they once were, and as I've eluded to, in most cases they are obsolete. Trust me when I tell you that your prospects and customers have heard it all before. They can see the worn-out, old school closes coming a mile away. They can sniff antiquated selling strategies, and will immediately tune out on presentations not deemed relevant. If your sales force is still FAB-selling, spin-selling, soft-selling or using any number of outdated, one size fits all selling methodologies, your sales are suffering whether you realize it or not.

So, my first suggestion is that you change nomenclature. Think about this example - in most corporations there exists a hierarchy of sales that comes with a very established and entrenched pecking order. The enterprise sales folks and key accounts reps sit atop the food chain, followed by inside sales reps, and at the bottom of the latter you'll find the customer service reps. The hunters are revered and the farmers are tolerated. Regardless of the titles being used, this entire concept of sales is so antiquated it's laughable. Frankly, most people I know would rather talk to a knowledgeable customer service person over a sales rep any day of the week. The reason for this should be obvious. The perception is that a customer service professional is providing information and helping them meet their needs. A sales person is trying to sell them something.

Call me crazy, but I don't want to talk to someone who wants to manage my account, develop my business, or engineer my sale. I want to communicate with someone who wants to service my needs or solve my problems. Any organization that still has "sales" titles on their org charts and business cards is living in another time and place while attempting to do business in a world that's already passed them by. It's time for companies to realize that consumers have become very savvy and very demanding. Today's consumer (B2B or B2C) does their homework, is well informed, and buys - they are not sold.

Engage me, communicate with me, add value to my business, solve my problems, create opportunity for me, educate me, inform me, but don't try and sell me...it won't work. An attempt to sell me insults my intelligence and wastes my time. Think about it. Do you like to be sold? News flash...nobody does. Now ask yourself this question, do you like to be helped? Most reasonable people do. The difference between the two positions while subtle, are very meaningful and powerful. If customer centricity is a buzzword as opposed to the foundation of your corporate culture then you have some work to do. The reality is that until I know that you care more about meeting my needs than yours, you'll remain on the outside looking in. By the way, in order to understand my needs you have to actually know something about me.

The first thing to do when assessing your sales model is to take a giant step back, and critically examine the current landscape. You can't fix a problem that you don't understand, and implementing change for the sake of change will likely only make matters worse. If what you've read thus far even remotely resonates with you, then I would suggest reading "Don't Negotiate...Facilitate." Teach your sales force to become true professionals focused on helping their customers for all the right reasons vs. closing the big deal for personal benefit. Otherwise you will likely miss substantial opportunities without even being aware of it.

The bottom line is that the most important factor in creating revenue and building brand equity is the client/customer/end-user. If you don't engineer everything around the client, your client relationships will vanish before your very eyes. I would strongly recommend reading "Understanding Your Customers," and "Leveraging the Customer Experience."

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Broken Trust

by Mike Myatt

This is the final post in a three part series on trust. The first post was an interview with Chris Brogan, the second was on creating a No Spin Zone, and today's post is on the topic of Broken Trust. Some of my work happens to be in the field of crisis management, and given the recent calamity surrounding what seem to be an ever increasing number of personal and professional indescretions by our elected officials, I thought I'd share some thoughts on what I've learned over the years. 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 accusations and will provide you with my thoughts about what can be learned from such tragic and public mistakes.

Regardless of how you feel about the recent actions of South Carolina Governor Sanford, former New York Governor Spitzer, Blago, and various other senators, congressman, mayors etc., these individuals are after all more than businessmen and politicians, they are human beings who are husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, and community members. Even when the facts stack-up against someone, and there is no doubt as to fault or guilt, I always find it tragic when people's lives are reduced to personal attacks, gossip and innuendo. Humans are imperfect creatures, and I have yet to come across any business leader or politician who can't rattle off several decisions that they wish they hadn't made. It just so happens that some mistakes are more public and tragic than others, and for most people, it is much easier to point the finger at those who have been in the spotlight rather than to deal with their own private indiscretions.

It is also important to note that there are indeed at least two sides to every story, and that what often times appears in the media as hard news can actually be editorial commentary that may, or may not, portray the reality of a given situation. Furthermore, just knowing someone who knows someone, will rarely provide you with accurate information relating to the actual events of a situation...especially one veiled in controversy. Where there is controversy you will always find the attack dogs ready at the leash to exploit the situation to the advantage of their personal, political, or professional agenda...sad, but true.

Okay, enough of the platitudes...I'll climb down from my soap box for a moment and provide you with some thoughts surrounding some of the indiscretions that have dominated our headlines of late. However, I would encourage you not to focus on the issue du jour, but rather to take a step back and read the following commentary with the bigger picture in mind. As you read the following comments think about your perspective on people in general, as well as about how your broader outlook on life:

The Facts: Wrongdoing is certainly wrongdoing, and even the best of intentions don't justify deviant behavior. That being said, good intentions rarely have anything to do with the breach of trust. We are talking about public officials that are stewards of the public trust, and regrettably, personal decisions that impeach one's character matter. Whether mistakes involve acts of a criminal nature, violation of the public trust of constituents, or the emotional devastation to family and friends, these were ultimately conscious decisions that were 'made', and the price for such decisions have unending consequences. As you watch a person's reputation go up in flames, careers come to an abrupt end, and worst of all the emotional and psychological pain inflicted upon family and friends, you cannot help but wonder how a person allows these things to happen.

Why this Happened: From my perspective these matters are rarely as simple as people would like to try and make them. They are rarely due to momentary fit of passion, rage, mental exhaustion or breakdown. Rather you'll find in most cases that these 'indiscretions' have typically gone on for years. Through my reflective lens of observation, they normally appear to be a case of poor decision upon poor decision, further compounded by an out of check ego, pride, arrogance, an addiction to power, and quite possibly an extreme case of narcissism bordering on sociopathic behavior. When all is said and done, I believe you'll find the consensus opinion to be that most people who fall hard, have lost touch with reality, have become lost in themselves, and almost view themselves to be untouchable or invincible. It is truly sad to watch the transition of someone who was once selfless become totally selfish.

What We Should All Take Away From This: Nobody is invincible or above the law…Some notable quotes also seem to apply here: "pride comes before the fall", "don't let your ego write checks you cannot afford to cash", and "your sins will surely find you out". In this media and technology driven world nothing will be kept a secret for long. Whether recorded in audio, video, IM files, phone records, credit card history, e-mail archives, personal testimony, or any number of other forensic audit trails, NOTHING IS TRULY PRIVATE. Therefore, my suggestion is that you consider your thoughts and actions carefully when decisioning anything of consequence. I would recommend putting any meaningful decision up against the following litmus test:

1. Perform a Situation Analysis


• What is motivating the need for a decision? Who will the decision impact (both directly and indirectly)? What data, information, analytics, research or other supporting information do you have to validate your decision?


2. Subject your Decision to Public Scrutiny


• There are no private decisions. Sooner or later the details surrounding any decision will likely come out. If your decision were printed on the front page of the newspaper how would you feel? What would your family think of your decision? How would your shareholders, constituents, and employees feel about your decision? Have you sought counsel and/or feedback before making your decision? When I'm faced with a tough decision, I've learned to take pause and ask myself what decision would make my wife and children proud?


3. Conduct a Cost/Benefit Analysis


• Do the potential benefits derived from the decision justify the expected costs? What if the costs exceed projections and the benefits fall short of projections? What are all the possible rewards and when contrasted with all the potential risks, and are the odds in your favor or are they stacked against you?


4. Assess Whether it is the Right Thing To Do


• Standing behind decisions that everyone supports doesn't particularly require a lot of chutzpa. On the other hand, standing behind what one believes is the right decision in the face of tremendous controversy is the stuff great leaders are made of. My wife has always told me that "you can't go wrong by going right" and as usual I find her advice to be spot-on. Never compromise you value system, your character, or your integrity. Do the right thing.

Lastly, here is some food for thought. It has been my experience that those most critical of certain behaviors likely have their own issues they're trying to distract attention from (case in point, Mr. Spitzer aggressively prosecuting prostitution crimes). What we should all be concerned with is not judging others, but rather how we treat other individuals in general during both the best of times and in worst of times. Don't allow yourself to be a fair weather friend, a gossip, or insensitive jerk. Rather understand that most of us are not privy to the inner thoughts of others and their motivations.

We need to keep in mind that all people make mistakes, and that mistakes alone don’t necessarily make you evil, they just make you human. While it is much easier to avoid disaster than it is to recover from it, perhaps the most important lesson is that it's not the mistake you make, but what you do with your life after the fact...will your fall define you as a failure and disgrace, or will the event serve as the impetus to correct your thinking and actions such that you redefine yourself to become a better and more trustworthy human being?

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

A No Spin Zone

by Mike Myatt

As a follow-up to my interview last week with Chris Brogan, New York Times bestselling author of "Trust Agents", I felt that it was only appropriate to take a closer look at the topic of trust. My feeling is that business should be a no spin zone because trust really does matter. However in the wake of some of the recent, and highly publicized business, financial, and political scandals, one may question the existence of truth in business or government. If you peel back the layers on most of the debacles that often transform themselves into highly sensationalized headlines, you'll see that said problems often begin with rationalizations, justifications, posturing, and spin being substituted for the truth. I think sometimes we all need to revisit reality, and examine why we do the things we do. Hopefully the text that follows will be of some use in this regard.

Try this thought on for size. I believe that truly great leaders view business as a no spin zone. The most successful business leaders of our time have built their personal brand by letting right thinking, right decisioning, and right acting serve as their guide. If you have to manipulate the truth to gain an advantage, the advantage is not worth the perceived gain, for any advantage gained in deceit will surely come at a very high cost...the sacrifice of your honor and integrity. In today's post I'll address the often overlooked benefits of truth telling as a key success metric.

While there is not an adult breathing today that hasn't told a lie, not everyone is pathological liar. A key difference between those that succeed and those that fail as leaders is whether they are known for their honesty or lack thereof. One of the best traits you can possess as a leader is to be known for your candor. Whether in written or oral form, communication that is clear, concise, on point, and truthful will gain the respect and admiration of peers and subordinates alike. While many wannabe leaders possess the ability to selectively self-edit on the fly as they wax eloquent for the purpose of persuading their audience, true leaders understand that all the justifications and rationalizations in the world cannot replace the value of the truth.

The truth is an interesting tool in that it is often a difficult master to serve. Telling the truth is not always easy, and may subject you to substantial opposition and controversy over the short run, but it will do nothing but help build your reputation, success and sustainability over the long haul. While I've come across many executives that have been able to achieve short term success via less than honorable conduct, these successes to the one have been short lived as poor business practices will eventually be found out and in turn will unwind any ill gotten gains. However I have yet to meet a CEO or entrepreneur who has endured the test of time without having an exceptionally strong moral compass. When reflecting about how you communicate and conduct business with others consider the following thoughts:

1. Telling the truth is a habit

• For those not grounded in the truth you'll find that it requires practice. Each truth-telling event strengthens you for another, and each one gets easier, until telling the truth becomes second nature. It is never to late to start telling the truth. Regardless of whatever your past indiscretions might be, you can change your future by beginning to tell the truth today. Truth is a habit well worth forming.

2. Telling the Truth is the right thing to do

• Lying is wrong. It's just that simple, and oh by the way, omitting, editing, spinning, blurring or repurposing the truth is also wrong. Selective truth telling is synonymous with being a liar. Resist any form of deceit or manipulation if you want to achieve sustainable success.

3. The heaviest baggage you can carry is a lie

• By opting not to tell the truth then you are simultaneously opting to take on the heaviness of the burden of deceit. Each time you encounter a person, circumstance, or situation that reminds you of the untruth, your conscience will weigh you down as you become a fugitive in your own mind running from the lie you told.

4. Lies will always come back to haunt you

• We've all witnessed some fairly elaborate cover-ups over the years, and as we've all seen they always turn out the same way...in disasters that could have been avoided had the truth been told to begin with. You might be able to run, but you can't hide from your lies. While you might be able to conceal your deceit for a time, your lies will always resurface at some point in the future...it may be a week, a month or a decade but they will find you out.

5. Lies create a barrier to personal and professional development

• Time, energy and worry are often spent on hashing and rehashing wrong acts and untruths. Instead of wasting resources on fruitless endeavors you could be invest in transacting business, building relationships, learning, or any number of other positive things.

6. Truth strengthens your reputation and enhances your personal brand

• If you consistently and effortlessly tell the truth a strange thing happens...other people will notice. You will quickly earn the respect of others by becoming known as a person of character and integrity. There is no more valuable mental association you can tie to your personal brand than that of integrity.

7. Truth deepens the quality of relationships

• There is a distinct difference between the surface level acquaintances that will gravy-train your success and the deep professional relationships and true friendships that will endure the test of time regardless of circumstances.

8. A clear conscience leads to a healthy mind

• Its a nice feeling to be able to look at yourself in the mirror each morning and actually like what you see. I don't know about you, but I have better things to do than try and remember all the different stories that I've told to people. The truth is a gentle, healing sponge that keeps your conscience clear, provides you with a positive outlook and a confident and formidable presence.

9. Truth is a powerful example

• As a leader you have in fact chosen to be a role model and as such it is incumbent upon you to model the truth. When friends, peers, subordinates, competitors, vendors, partners, suppliers, investors, lenders, etc. see that you actually walk the talk, you will not only have earned their confidence and respect, but you'll find that they will also try to model that behavior.

I think the Bible says it best: "The truth will set you free." It has been said that a person is only as sick as their secrets, and I would strongly encourage you to be honest and forthright in your communications and actions as you'll be healthier, happier and more successful. Remember that business should be a no spin zone...

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Who are your Trust Agents?

An interview with Chris Brogan

by Mike Myatt


I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Brogan. Chris is the President of New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency. With the market being awash of so called social media "experts," Chris, who would never refer to himself as such, is absolutely the real deal. In addition to running a successful agency, Chris has reached celebrity status as a blogger, social media advisor, and most recently as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of "Trust Agents".

If you want to see Chris at work, just follow him on Twitter where his followers (now numbering more than 100,000) represent one of the most fiercely loyal and engaged communities on the web. However, what I admire most about Chris is that with all his success he has remained one of the true nice guys in the business. On with the interview...


The world of social media has not only become big business, but it's also become one of the most crowded niches in today's business world. What has been the thing that differentiates you from the legions of other social media advisors?

I don't try to compete with other social media types. Instead, I try to work with companies on ideas that improve their business communications efforts. My background in social media is 11 years long and growing. My background in online community participation and then leadership starts in the mid-80s. So, instead of being a marketing professional who figured out social media, I'm a social media native who learned some things to help people do vibrant things with their marketing and internal communications.


What inspired you to write "Trust Agents"?

I'm working on building out information that others can use to empower their own efforts. Blogs are great, but the idea of a book was that people could share it with their colleagues, their bosses, their clients, whoever needs to know. It's a chance to share the bigger ideas of what I think works underneath the movement of using social media, and to give people much more than the 'which tool is cool' type stuff I'm reading mostly these days.


How is social media impacting your clients?

My clients realize that these tools allow people to be human again, that we can have a face on the brand. There are plenty of opportunities for people to build relationships. For example, one of my clients, Citrix Online (who do GoToMyPC, GoToWebinar, etc) were looking to reach more people interested in the mobile and distributed workforce. We created workshifting.com, which is a group blog that engages people without being any kind of an ad for their product. In fact, nearly none of the posts have anything to do with their products directly. Instead, we write about the kinds of challenges facing people who workshift for some parts of a week. My other clients, Cisco, Microsoft, Sony Electronics USA, etc, are all enjoying the chance to connect with people in a much more personable level.


Up to this point, can you point to any single defining moment in your career?

I'm not sure I've had my most defining moment. Personally, hitting both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller's list for my ideas was great, but as my clients go, or in my overall business, I haven't really hit my biggest success just yet. My clients are happy and have all kinds of appreciative things to say, but I don't feel like I've really taken things high enough or deep enough or successful enough.


How do you gauge your success on a day-to-day basis?

On a day to day basis, my sense of success comes from trying to be as responsive as possible, to the most people possible, and from working on delivering actionable ideas to people for their efforts (be those clients, or readers of my blog). Any day I can help someone move the needle forward is a good day for me. Working with big clients gives me the chance to try big ideas, and when we can see some signs of success, that's what matters the most to me.


What is the toughest part of your day?

Great question. Not being able to respond fast enough to everything is my cross right now. I've over 129 unprocessed emails right now collected over the last few days. I'm traveling so much and working some very long hours, and very few of them are in front of a computer to answer email, so I'm frustrated but trying to accomplish more every day. I'm re-reading Leo Babauta's The Power of Less to try and improve that all the more.


If you could give any advice to our readers what would it be?

Be helpful, be consistent, be everywhere. I'm doing everything I can to equip people to do new things with their business goals, but I feel this advice is timeless and yet timely. We've somehow become selfish, as businesses and as people, and my goal is to help empower people to think about others as much as they can, and to derive sustainable business value from doing it.


What's next for Chris Brogan?

I'm working on editing my second book, which will be a much more typical 'about social media' book, and working on the proposal for the third book (my second with Julien Smith) which will be a shift from where "Trust Agents" left off. We're writing about how human business works, and what we believe will be the DNA of disruption. It should be quite different from "Trust Agents", and yet, in compatibility with what we've written there.


Conclusion

As you can tell from the interview, Chris is focused, smart, and totally engaged with his market. You'll be hard-pressed to find someone who models the definition of customer-centric like Chris does. Thanks for sharing Chris...

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Need for Speed

by Mike Myatt

The need for speed is something that all CEOs need to keep at the forefront of their minds. In the world of athletics there is widely accepted principle that states: "Speed Kills." In most sporting events speed will prevail over strength, and often times speed will end-up being the deciding factor between victory and defeat. As important as speed is on the field of play, it has been my experience that it is even more important in the world of business. While there is little debate that speed can create an extreme competitive advantage, it is not well understood that the lack of speed can send a company (or an individuals career) into a death spiral. Agility, fluidity, decisiveness, commitment, and focus all lead to the creation of speed. In today's blog post I'll discuss why you should feel "The Need For Speed."

General George S. Patton said it best: "A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow." The pursuit of perfection is one of great adversaries of speed. In fact, at the risk of being controversial I’m going to take the position that perfection does not exist. I hate to break it to you, but those of you who regard yourselves as perfectionists simply exhibit perfectionistic tendencies in an unrealistic attempt to achieve what cannot be had. The pursuit of perfectionism does not result in an increase in quality, but it will result in time delays, cost overruns, missed deadlines and unkept commitments. I would suggest that rather than seeking what cannot in most cases ever be achieved that it makes more sense to seek the highest standard of quality that makes economic sense relative to the constraints of an ever shifting marketplace.

Time to face the facts...we live in a digital world where the speed of engagement, response, interaction, communication, delivery etc., was once a unique competitive value proposition, but is now a requirement for survival. There are those that would argue that speed in synonymous with undisciplined decisioning, but I would caution you against confusing speed with reckless abandon...I'm a big proponent of planning, assessment, analysis and strategy, but only if it is concluded in a timely fashion. 'Analysis Paralysis' leads to missed opportunities and failed initiatives. Speed is your friend...embrace it...leverage it...win with it.

Earlier in my career I served as Director of Internet Strategy for what was at that time the world's largest web-enablement firm. While serving in that position I coined the term 'e-velocity' which we trademarked and used to describe the influence that technology was having on the pace at which business had to be conducted in order to remain competitive. It used to be acceptable to take 12 to 18 months to roll-out an initiative, but in today's world you better be able to do it in 90 days or it will be obsolete before it gets to market.

When I first started in business it was usual and customary to produce 5 and 10 year business plans, but today I work off of rolling 90 day tactical business plans. The latest advances in Business Process Management (BPM) have seen a reduction in the planning and budgeting cycle from 120 and 90 days to 45 days. But, is 45 days good enough? How many days constitute a responsive cycle time? Many believe the right number is between 5 and 10 days. Why is cycle time reduction important? Because shorter planning and budgeting processes facilitate greater flexibility and responsiveness.

In today's competitive business environment you must quickly be able to assess risk and make timely decisions. You cannot be successful being guided by fear and hesitation. When in doubt, remember that "Speed Kills" and that "he who hesitates is lost."

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

The Impact of Trends on Business

by Mike Myatt

Today's post was inspired by a witty piece authored by Wally Bock on the topic of fads. If you're not familiar with Wally's work, I'd recommend checking him out on a regular basis. When you looked beyond the humor, Wally made some great points about the impact (or lack thereof) of the latest fads, trends, business theories, gimmicks, concepts conveyed in business books, etc. Trends have a significant impact on business. Does your business exploit trends or do they exploit your business? What was the latest fad chased or trend adopted by your business? Why did your management team jump on the band wagon? Has the trend or fad generated an increase in revenue or gains in efficiency and/or productivity? In today's blog post I'll examine the impact trends can have on your business.

Let me also point out that trends and fads don't necessarily constitute innovation. In fact most often the organizations that demonstrate a "herd mentality" when rushing to adopt the latest trends are the farthest thing away from being innovative. The result is that they will likely experience little more than yet another in a long line of great adventures that ended in frustration due to the time wasted and the investment squandered. The reality is that many businesses are quick to recognize great ideas, but they often have no plan for how to successfully integrate them into their business model.

My advice to you is not to let your business get caught up in trends and fads, at least not without some initial analysis being conducted to determine the likelihood of success. Failed initiatives are costly at several levels. Aside from being costly, a flawed execution can cast doubt on management credibility, have a negative impact on morale, taint the brand, adversely affect external relationships and cause a variety of other problems for your business.

Every sound business initiative begins with a solid strategic plan. However while most anyone can cobble together a high level strategic plan, very few can author a strategy that can be successfully implemented. In order for your enterprise to turn a trend or fad into a monetizing and/or value creating event you should develop a strategic plan that attempts to measure the idea against the following 15 elements:

1. The trend or fad should be in alignment with the overall vision and mission of the enterprise.


2. If the initiative doesn't provide a unique competitive advantage it should at least bring you closer to an even playing field.


3. Any new project should preferably add value to existing initiatives, and if not, it should show a significant enough return on investment to justify the dilutive effect of not keeping the main thing the main thing.


4. Put the idea through a risk/reward and cost/benefit analysis.


5. Whether the new initiative is intended for your organization, vendors, suppliers, partners or customers it must easy to use. Usability drives adoptability, and therefore it pays to keep things simple.


6. Just because an idea sounds good doesn't mean it is You should endeavor to validate proof of concept based upon detailed, credible research.


7. Nothing is without risk, and when you think something is without risk that is when you're most likely to end-up in trouble. All initiatives should include detailed risk management provisions.


8. Adopting a trend or fad should be based upon solid business logic that drives corresponding financial engineering and modeling. Be careful of high level, pie-in-the-sky projections.


9. Any new initiative should contain accountability provisions. Every task should be assigned and managed according to a plan and in the light of day.


10. Any trend being adopted must be measurable. Deliverables, benchmarks, deadlines, and success metrics must be incorporated into the plan.


11. It must be detailed and deliverable on a schedule. The initiative should have a beginning, middle and end.


12. Strategic initiatives must not be disparate systems, but integrated solutions that eliminate redundancies, and build in tactical leverage points.


13. It must contain a road-map for versioning and evolution that is in alignment with other strategic initiatives and the overall corporate mission.


14. A successful initiative cannot remain in a strategic planning state. It must be actionable through tactical implementation.


15. Senior leadership must champion any new initiative. If someone at the C-suite level is against the new initiative it will likely die on the cutting-room floor.

The bottom line is that new ideas are beautiful things. Properly implemented, capitalizing on trends can keep business from stagnating and cause growth and evolution. Just follow the 15 rules above and stay away from being an agent for change for the sake of change.

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Equality & Team Building

by Mike Myatt

In recent months I have observed a decent amount of politically correct discourse on the topic of team building and equality. The gist of the argument seems to be that for teams to be productive, employees have to feel 'empowered' by having an equal voice. I can sum-up my feeling on this in one word - 'ridiculous'. To be blunt, the concept of equality in the workplace has only made team building more difficult as employees seem to have a sense of undeserved entitlement with regard to their roles and responsibilities. And as odd as it may sound, one of the greatest impediments to building productive teams is practicing management by consensus. In today's post I'll share my thoughts on team building and equality...

Hear me loud and clear... While all men and women may be created equal, they are certainly not all equals in the workplace. While the thought that all employees should have an equal say may get some air time in business school, I have found that often the theoretical discussions that take place in halls of academia have little to do with the realities that exist in the world of business. You must also keep in mind that the classroom is one of the few remaining bastions of true equality (at least until the grades are posted). The business world is not fair...it is regrettably most times rather merciless. In a highly productive organization the power and influence of your voice is earned through trust and performance, and not entitlement.

Team building basics are often overlooked by ineffective leaders or unproductive companies. However great leaders and highly productive organizations always focus on team building as a key priority. I have found that highly productive executives and companies clearly understand the value, leverage, efficiency, and economies of scale that are generated by assembling highly focused, motivated, and productive teams. If you are a CEO or entrepreneur and don't see team building as a priority, then the text the follows is written for you.

I've often said that theory without action amounts to little more than useless rhetoric, and while most companies are spinning their wheels pontificating on the merits of team building, it is the truly great organizations that put theory into practice. Great leaders intrinsically understand that team building catalyzes collaboration, creates both disruptive and incremental innovation, facilitates a certainty of execution, and is one of the key foundational elements associated with creating a dynamic corporate culture.

It is one thing to be able to recruit talent, something altogether different to properly deploy individual talent, and quite another thing to have your talent play nicely and collaborate with one another. It is the responsibility of executive leadership to set the tone for great teamwork by putting forth a clearly articulated vision, and then aligning every aspect of strategic and tactical decisioning with said vision. A lack of clarity, the presence of ambiguity, obviously flawed business logic, or constantly shifting priorities/positions are the death of many a venture. However CEOs that implement a well thought out and clearly articulated vision create a sense of stability and a bond of trust amongst the ranks. This in turn leads to a very focused, coordinated, and ultimately a very passionate work environment. It is not too difficult to get your crew all oaring together when these characteristics are firmly in place.

I have been highly regarded throughout my career for building extremely effective teams, and what I can share with you is that team building is not about equality at all. Rather team building is about alignment of vision with expectations, and getting team members to understand exactly what their roles are, and to perform said duties with exacting precision. Building productive teams is about placing the right people, in the right places, at the right time, and for the right reasons.

Team building should have nothing to do with ego, tenure or titles, but rather it should be all aboutcompetency, collaboration and productivity. Leaders must clearly communicate to team members what their duties, roles, and responsibilities are, as well as setting forth a road map for performance expectations. Team building, group dynamics, talent management, leadership development, and any number of other functional areas are much more about clarity, focus, aligning expectations, and defining roles than creating equality. If you examine the most effective teams in the real world you'll find numerous examples which support the thoughts being espoused in this text.

Whether you look at athletic teams, military teams, executive teams, management teams, technical teams, design teams, functional teams, or any other team, you'll find that the best of the best have structure, a hierarchy of leadership, a clear understanding of roles, responsibilities and expectations, clear and open lines of communication, well established decisioning protocol, and many other key principals, but nowhere is equality found as a key success metric for teams.

While I'm a true believer in candor in the workplace, and have always encouraged feedback and input at every level of an organization, this doesn't mean that everyone has an equal say, because they don't. Moreover those that hold less of a vested interest, that don't have as much as risk, that don't have the experience, or those that may be looking-out for self interest more than the greater corporate good should not be considered equal with those that do.

While I concur that there is no "I" in team and many other statements to that effect, such statements are not meant as endorsements for management by consensus. They are simply meant to foster a spirit of cooperation. Understanding how to lead and motivate groups and teams should not be considered one in the same with creating false perceptions of equality that don't exist. Show me any team created of equals and I'll show you a team that will never reach its full potential.

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Leading Change Isn't Hard

by Mike Myatt

Is leading change difficult? Only if you don't know what you're doing. As much as some people want to create complexity around the topic of leading change for personal gain, the reality is that creating, managing and leading change is really quite simple. In fact, catalyzing and leading change isn't very daunting at all if you understand a few key principles. To prove my point, I'll not only explain the entire change life-cycle in three short paragraphs, but I'll do it in simple terms that anyone can understand...

1. Identifying the Need for Change

The need for change exists in every organization. Other than irrational change solely for the sake of change, every corporation must change to survive. If your entity doesn't innovate and change with market driven needs and demands it will fail...it's just that simple. The most complex area surrounding change is focusing your efforts in the right areas, for the right reasons, and at the right times. The ambiguity and risk can be taken out of the change agenda by simply focusing on three areas:

1. Your current customers...what needs to change to better serve your customers?


2. Potential customers...what needs to change to profitably create new customers?


3. Your talent and resources...what changes need to occur to better leverage existing talent and resources?

2. Leading Change

You cannot effectively lead change without understanding the landscape of change. There are four typical responses to change:

1. The Victim


• Those that view change as a personal attack on their persona, their role, their job, or their area of responsibility. They view everything at an atomic level based upon how they perceive change will directly and indirectly impact them.


2. The Neutral Bystander


• This group is neither for nor against change. They will not directly or vocally oppose change, but neither will they proactively get behind change. The Neutral Bystander will just go with the flow not wanting to make any waves hoping to perpetually fly under the radar.


3. The Critic


• The Critic opposes any and all change. Keep in mind that not all critics are overt in their resistance. Many critics remain in stealth mode trying to derail change behind the scenes by using their influence on others. Whether overt or covert, you must identify critics of change early in the process if you hope to succeed.


4. The Advocate


• The Advocate not only embraces change, they will evangelize the change initiative. Like The Critics, it is important to identify The Advocates early in the process to not only build the power base for change, but to give momentum and enthusiasm to the change initiative.

Once you've identified these change constituencies you must involve all of them, message properly to each of them, and don't let up. With the proper messaging and involvement even adversaries can be converted into allies.


3. Managing Change

Manging change requires that key players have control over four critical elements:

1. Vision Alignment


• Those that understand and agree with your vision must be leveraged in the change process. Those that disagree must be converted or have their influence neutralized


2. Responsibility


• Your change agents must have a sufficient level of responsibility to achieve the necessary results


3. Accountability


• Your change agents must be accountable for reaching their objectives, and


4. Authority


• If the first three items are in place, yet your change agents have not been given the needed authority to get the job done the first three items won't mean much

You must set your change agents up for success and not failure by giving them the proper tools, talent, resources, responsibility and authority necessary for finishing the race.

There you have it; in three short paragraphs I've given you the formula for change, and the question now becomes what will you do with it?

If you're interested in reading more about change feel free to read the following posts:

1. Don't Fear Change - Embrace It
2. Time for a Disruptive Business Model?
3. Great Ideas Aren't Innovation
4. Creating Innovation Metrics

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Speed or IP Protection?

by Mike Myatt

While the security aspects of intellectual property ("IP") are often sacrificed for speed to market considerations in today's world of mash-ups and knock-offs, I believe when it comes to IP it is possible to have your cake and eat it too. The protection of all forms of intellectual property ("IP") should constitute common sense and require no real explanation, however the courts are littered with case law precedent that has been decisioned against some of the largest and most sophisticated companies on the planet. What should be routine business 101 protocol, can easily turn into major financial and operational debacles if you don't have a solid grasp of IP law. In today's post I'll discuss the basics of identifying and protecting your intellectual property.

The issues surrounding IP are basically three-fold:

1. What actually constitutes intellectual property and what doesn't?


2. What is the best method to protect what is deemed as IP


3. Is intellectual property worth protecting?

The answers to the aforementioned questions really lie in the eye of the beholder...Some companies take a very aggressive stance on attempting to classify virtually everything as intellectual property in an attempt to create competitive barriers and gain a competitive edge. Other firms only consider IP as it applies to protecting proprietary technology, while other firms almost ignore the concept of IP altogether (some out of ignorance and some by design).

As to cost...well sometimes protecting IP is absolutely worth the costs involved, and in other circumstances any dollars sunk into protecting IP is more akin to a frivolous investment that can actually show a strong negative return.

I have witnessed companies invest human and financial capital to adopt a trade name without doing their research only to receive a cease and desist letter, or even worse, to be sued for IP infringement. I have watched other firms invest the time and resources into protecting a piece of intellectual property via the appropriate form of registration, but not be prepared for the cost associated with defending their mark against an aggressive and better capitalized competitor.

I have observed other companies who made a valid attempt to protect their IP, but chose the wrong form of protection only to have better IP counsel exploit their flawed strategy. I have watched yet even more firms lose control over their IP to employees or contractors because they did not understand the ramifications of not using work for hire, non-compete, or non-circumvention provisions.

A company's intellectual property can be virtually anything (tangible or intangible) from a trade name, product or service name, technology, business process, marketing copy, images and the list goes on...Companies can protect their IP through the use of a variety of legal mechanisms and registrations of which the most common types include:

• Patents


• Copyright


• Trademark


• Know-how


• Trade Secret


• Mask Works


• Contract

Without going into the details surrounding all of the above protection alternatives, and to keep things simple, let's use the example of a corporate website as it applies to copyright protection (keep in mind that certain things within a website can also be patentable, trademarkable or protected by contract). A basic website is composed of a multitude of copyrightable elements including textual content, graphical content, source code, custom applications, and numerous other items.

Although as an entrepreneur or senior executive you might personally draft some of the text for your website, your internal staff or outsourced agency/contractor usually edits and refines your draft text, creates the graphics, source code and applications. Who owns what? Are you protected? Do you care?

It is important to have proper written language incorporated within your employment agreements and vendor contracts to assure your right to move your site, modify it, and not have it held hostage or taken offline. Ideally, your contracts and agreements should specify that you own the copyright for the graphics, source code, applications, etc., but at a minimum you need a license to use those materials and to create derivative works.

Lastly, in addition to cost considerations there is also the potential for financial upside to a well conceived and protected piece of intellectual property. IP can produce revenue, be carried as an asset on the balance sheet, add to corporate valuation, or produce a personal income stream to an individual that licenses IP back to the entity.

Bottom line...IP considerations should be incorporated into your business strategy and tactics in a fashion that provides you with the greatest possible benefits while managing your risk. In order to achieve the balance between risk and reward you should retain the services of a reputable IP law firm.

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Great Ideas Aren't Innovation

by Mike Myatt

"Ideas Don't Equal Innovation" and I can prove it...It is my hope that today's post will serve to help dispel the myth that ideas are inherently good things. Let me state right from the outset that I place little value on ideas. Not only do raw ideas have little intrinsic value, but they are often very costly. While I stipulate to the fact that ideas can sometimes lead to great things, I also submit that it is more frequently the case that ideas lead to disappointment and disaster. Those of you familiar with my work are probably wondering if it is really me authoring this text…if you're baffled at how a champion of innovation can simultaneously be an idea-basher, I urge you to read on, and I promise the congruity will become apparent.

I want to start by actually defining what an idea is, and is not. Ideas in and of themselves do not constitute a philosophy, principle, or strategy. An idea is not synonymous with a competitive advantage, an idea is not necessarily a sign of creativity, an idea does not constitute innovation, and as much as some people wish it was so, an idea is certainly not a business. To the chagrin of many reading this post, ideas in and of themselves are nothing more than unrefined, random thoughts. Ideas on their own accord are really quite useless. The truth can often times be harsh and difficult to hear, but it is nonetheless the truth.

Ideas are a dime a dozen...take a moment and reflect on all the ideas you've spawned over the years, or the many ideas that have been birthed by your friends, family, and professional associates and you'll quickly see that most of them never got lift-off. The problem is that most ideas never get implemented, and moreover even the best ideas when improperly implemented can cause great harm. You see, while creativity is a clearly a valuable asset, unbridled creativity where random, disparate ideas abound outside of a sound decisioning and execution framework will create distraction and chaos much more often than they will lead to innovation.

In fact, it is most often the organizations that demonstrate a "herd mentality" when rushing to adopt the latest ideas that are the farthest thing away from being innovative. The net result of being a late stage trend follower is that you will likely experience little more than yet another in a long line of great adventures that ended in frustration due to the time wasted and the investment squandered. The reality is that many businesses are quick to recognize great ideas, but they often have no plan for how to successfully integrate them into their business model.

My advice to you is not to let your business get caught up in embracing random ideas At least not without some initial analysis being conducted to determine the likelihood of success. Failed initiatives are costly at several levels. Aside from being costly, a flawed execution can cast doubt on management credibility, have a negative impact on morale, taint the brand, adversely affect external relationships, and cause a variety of other problems for your business.

Every sound business initiative begins with a solid strategic plan. However while most anyone can cobble together a high level strategic plan, very few can author a strategy that can be successfully implemented. In order for your enterprise to turn an idea into a monetizing and/or value creating event you should develop a strategic plan that attempts to measure the idea against the following 15 elements:

1. The idea should be generated within a solid framework for decisioning. It should be developed as a solution to a problem or to exploit an opportunity. The idea should be in alignment with the overall vision and mission of the enterprise.


2. If the idea doesn't provide a unique competitive advantage it should at least bring you closer to an even playing field.


3. Any new idea should preferably add value to existing initiatives, and if not, it should show a significant enough return on investment to justify the dilutive effect of not keeping the main thing the main thing.


4. Put the idea through a risk/reward and cost/benefit analysis.


5. Whether the new idea is intended for your organization, vendors, suppliers, partners or customers it must easy to use. Usability drives adoptability, and therefore it pays to keep things simple.


6. Just because an idea sounds good doesn't mean it is You should endeavor to validate proof of concept based upon detailed, credible research.


7. Nothing is without risk, and when you think something is without risk, that is when you're most likely to end-up in trouble. All initiatives surrounding new ideas should include detailed risk management provisions.


8. Adopting a new idea should be based upon solid business logic that drives corresponding financial engineering and modeling. Be careful of high level, pie-in-the-sky projections.


9. Any new ideas should contain accountability provisions. Every task should be assigned and managed according to a plan and in the light of day.


10. Any new ideas being adopted must lead to measurable objectives. Deliverables, benchmarks, deadlines, and success metrics must be incorporated into the plan.


11. It must be detailed and deliverable on a schedule. The initiative should have a beginning, middle and end.


12. Ideas need to be incorporated into strategic initiatives and not constitute disparate systems. They should be incorporated into integrated solutions that eliminate redundancies, and build in tactical leverage points.


13. Ideas should contain a road-map for versioning and evolution that is in alignment with other strategic initiatives and the overall corporate mission.


14. A successful idea cannot remain in a strategic planning state. It must be actionable through tactical implementation.


15. Senior leadership must champion any new idea being adopted. If someone at the C-suite level is against the new idea, it will likely die on the cutting-room floor.

The bottom line is that new ideas are beautiful things when they become solutions or lead to opportunities. Properly implemented, capitalizing on process driven creativity can keep business from stagnating and cause growth and evolution. Just follow the 15 rules above and stay away from being an agent for change for the sake of change.

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Creating Innovation Metrics

Measuring innovation is where the rubber meets the road. While it's very easy to wax eloquent about innovation, I've found that for most companies, measuring innovation is quite a tall order. Moreover, even for those organizations that do measure innovation, are they measuring the right metrics, for the right reasons?

I've authored many previous posts on the topic of innovation, and have lectured often on the necessity for executives to completely embrace innovation as a core focus area. The power of innovation to totally transform a mediocre business into a category dominant company is really only deniable by the ignorant or the prejudiced. However even those businesses that embrace the concept in theoretical fashion can fail to implement productive innovation management programs if they do not understand how to measure its impact. In today's post I'll address how to measure innovation.

So, how do you tell if an innovation initiative is successful? According to Scott Anthony at Harvard Business Online, perceptions of inital successes or failures are often times misleading when it comes to whether innovation will be successful on a sustainable basis. To validate his assertion, Scott presents a simple case-study of two innovation initiatives and asks which one would you deem as being the most successful:

• Innovation A: This initiative enjoyed huge first-year revenues of $200 million thanks to "a clear value proposition, clever positioning, and a strong distribution network."


• Innovation B: This initiative offered what was at best an ambiguous business model and generated only $220,000 during its first year.

So which initiative was more successful? "It's obvious, right?" he says. "Innovation A is the winning proposition." Not so fast... Is revenue the only thing that matters? Just because something is easy to measure, and appears to be an obvious win, in and of itself this doesn't necessarily constitute a victory. Were the right things done? Were the right metrics measured? Let's see...

• Innovation A was Vanilla Coke. "It was a line extension that largely cannibalized sales of Coke's other products," says Anthony, with the note that Coca-Cola unceremoniously discontinued the flavor only three years later.


• Innovation B was Google. Enough said.

The Take Away: "Before making a decision about an innovation," notes Anthony, "make sure you know what type of idea you are evaluating. Then make sure you use the right metrics for meauring the success of that idea."

There is great truth in the old axiom "you can't manage what you can't measure" and perhaps nowhere is it more applicable than as applied to the practice of innovation. Let me be clear... measuring innovation is not difficult at all if you understand it. The problem lies with the uneducated managers and executives who view innovation as a vague, ambiguous, and undisciplined area that sucks time, resources, and investment without demonstrable return. While the aforementioned sentiments couldn't be further from the truth, they nonetheless represent the opinion of many uniformed people in a position of authority. They simply don't know what they don't know.

There are three CIOs in the corporate world - the Chief Information Officer, Chief Investment Officer, and the Chief Innovation Officer. Of the three I believe the one position that a company cannot due without is the Chief Innovation Officer. As with any other important discipline, your enterprise needs to place someone in charge of innovation. Without a dedicated innovation champion it is likely that your initiatives will die a slow and painful death. Furthermore your CIO needs to be set up for success and not failure. This means that he or she must have total buy-in from executive leadership that innovation is a corporate mandate and not a corporate albatross.

Let me attempt to simplify what many strive to make complex. Innovation is simply a philosophical mindset that is used as a catalyst to accelerate growth and efficiency. It is a business driver and nothing more. However the reason innovation is one of the most powerful business drivers is simply because it is a disruptive, high velocity, and high return discipline that can create a much greater impact than other drivers.

The truth of the matter is measuring innovation is as simple as aligning your innovation initiatives with your business objectives. While innovation can be measured in many different ways, the following bullet points will give you examples to use when framing your metrics and analytics:

• What to Measure: Focus on measuring the things innovation is designed to impact: process, growth, differentiation, and profitability.


• Innovation as a Percentage: Measure the trends. Look at the sales growth or contribution margin caused by products or services launched within the near term (i.e. past three years) as a percentage of the overall line item. The greater the influence of innovation as a growing percentage of the whole category being measured, the more healthy, vibrant and sustainable your enterprise is.


• Track Efficiency Gains: Measure speed to market, milestone hit rates, benchmark productivity, and other metrics designed to measure innovation's impact on process and efficiency.


• Track Competitive Separation: Measure how innovation is impacting win/loss ratios, changes in market share, increases in brand equity, competitive differentiation and other competitive metrics tied to innovation initiatives.

The bottom line is that most of the current market data indicates that companies that embrace innovation as a key business driver are the fastest growing and most profitable companies in the market. Businesses that use innovation to create, disrupt and disintermediate will attract the best talent, have higher brand loyalty, and have the best chance at long-term sustainability. Don't hesitate. Innovate!

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Don't Fear Change - Embrace It

"Leading Change" is clearly more difficult than arriving at the realization that change is needed... If you want to validate the prior statement reflect back on all of the "change agents" that have crossed your path over the years and ask yourself the following question: How many of them have truly succeeded?

While we've heard a lot about change of late as it relates to our current political landscape, the power of real change is trivialized when it becomes little more than a political sound-bite. Change - it can either be your best friend or your worst nightmare. Change got President Obama elected, and it may well end-up being the root of his political demise. Nobody ever said change was easy, but I'm here to tell you that change is essential. In today's blog post I'll discuss why CEO's and entrepreneurs (and not just politicians) need to become masters at catalyzing and leading change.

While there is little debate that the successful implementation of change can create an extreme competitive advantage, it is not well understood that the lack of doing so can send a company (or an individual's career) into a death spiral. Companies that seek out and embrace change are healthy, growing, and dynamic organizations while companies that fear change are stagnant entities on their way to a slow and painful death.

Agility, innovation, disruption, fluidity, decisiveness, commitment, and above all else a bias toward action will lead to the creation of change. It is the process of change which results in evolving, growing and thriving companies. Much has been written about the importance of change, but there is very little information in circulation about how to actually create it.

While most executives and entrepreneurs have come to accept the concept of change management as a legitimate business practice, and change leadership as a legitimate executive priority, in theory, I have found very few organizations that have effectively integrated change as a core discipline and focus area.

Leading change is certainly not without risk, but if implemented properly it can breathe life back into the most tired business. So, why is it that so many established companies struggle with the concept of change?

Many times it is simply because companies have been doing the same things, in the same ways, and for the same reasons for so long that they struggle with the concept of change. Consider the modern workplace... In executive circles, leaders often talk about employees who are not on-board, resist change, and are reluctant to try new things. And among the ranks of employees, conversations that take place in the hallways and break rooms often center around whether or not executives really know what they're doing, and whether the newest change initiative is just a passing fad. Actually, these reactions are reasonable, given the pace that change is occurring in most of organizations.

One of my contentions about why change is difficult to implement is that too many executives want perfection to proceed action, and the truth is that the pursuit of perfection is one of great adversaries of speed. In fact, at the risk of being controversial I'm going to take the position that perfection does not exist. I hate to break it to you, but those of you who regard yourselves as perfectionists simply exhibit perfectionist tendencies in an unrealistic attempt to achieve what cannot be had. The pursuit of perfection does not result in an increase in quality, but it will result in time delays, cost overruns, missed deadlines and unmet commitments. I would suggest that rather than seeking what cannot in most cases ever be achieved, that it makes more sense to seek the highest standard of quality that makes economic sense relative to the constraints of an ever shifting marketplace.

One of the key considerations that must be understood when implementing change is the necessity of moving quickly. There are those that would argue that speed is synonymous with undisciplined decision-making, but I would caution you against confusing speed with reckless abandon I'm a big proponent of planning, assessment, analysis and strategy, but only if it concludes in a timely fashion. "Analysis Paralysis" leads to missed opportunities and failed initiatives.

Earlier in my career I served as Director of Internet Strategy for what was at that time the world's largest web-enablement firm. While serving in that position I coined the term "e-velocity" which we trademarked and used to describe the influence that technology was having on the pace at which business had to be conducted in order to remain competitive. It used to be acceptable to take 12 to 18 months to roll-out an initiative, but in today's world you better be able to do it in 90 days or it will be obsolete before it gets to market.

When I first started in business it was usual and customary to produce 5 and 10 year business plans and today I work off a rolling 90 day tactical business plan. The latest advances in Business Process Management (BPM) have seen a reduction in the planning and budgeting cycle from 120 and 90 days to 45 days. But, is 45 days good enough? How many days constitute a responsive cycle time? Many believe the right number is between 5 and 10 days. Why is cycle time reduction important? Because shorter planning and budgeting processes facilitate greater flexibility and responsiveness.

In today's competitive business environment you must quickly be able to assess risk and make timely decisions. You cannot be successful when guided by fear and hesitation. When in doubt, remember that "Speed Kills" and that "he who hesitates is lost." Don't fear change... embrace it. I think General George S. Patton said it best: "A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow."

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.

Time for a Disruptive Business Model?

How disruptive is your business model? While much has been written about corporate vision, mission, process, leadership, strategy, branding and a variety of other business practices, it is the engineering of these practices to be disruptive that maximizes opportunities. Without a disruptive focus you are merely building your business model on a "me too" platform of mediocrity. As we move into the second half of 2009, nothing will be more critical to your efforts in increasing your revenue growth and corporate sustainability than understanding the value of disruptive innovation. So, in today's post I'll examine the power of disruption as a key business driver...

Disruptive business models focus on creating, disintermediating, refining, reengineering or optimizing a product/service, role/function/practice, category, market, sector, or industry. The most successful companies incorporate disruptive thinking into all of their business and management practices to gain distinctive competitive value propositions. "Me Too" companies fight to eek out market share in an attempt to survive, while disruptive companies become category dominant brands insuring sustainability.

So why do so many established and often well managed companies struggle with disruptive innovation? Many times it is simply because companies have been doing the same things, in the same ways, and for the same reasons for so long, that they struggle with the concept of change. My engagements with CEOs often focus on helping them to embrace change through disruptive innovation. As a CEO, I would strongly suggest you conduct a gut check during your next executive meeting by counting the number of times you hear your CXOs say things like: "That will never work," "We can't do that," "That's not my problem," or my personal favorite, "We've always done it that way." Don't allow your enterprise to adopt an attitude of complacency, because the simple truth is that complacency kills companies.

Let's just take a moment and look at what happens to companies that become complacent and fail to embrace disruptive innovation... Why didn't the railroads innovate? Why didn't Folgers recognize the retail consumer demand for coffee and develop a Starbucks-type business model? Why didn't IBM see Dell and Gateway coming? Why wasn't Microsoft able to keep Google at bay? Why have American auto-makers been relegated to inferior brands when contrasted to their European and Asian counterparts? How did the brick and mortar book stores let Amazon get the jump on them? I could go on-and-on with more examples, but the answer to these questions are quite simple... The established companies become focused on making incremental gains through process improvements and were satisfied with their business models and didn't even see the innovators coming until it was too late. Their focus shifted from managing opportunities to managing risk, which in turn allowed them to manage themselves into brand decline...

At one end of the spectrum take a look at the companies receiving investment from venture capital and private equity firms, and on the other end of the spectrum observe virtually any category dominant brand and you'll find companies with a disruptive focus putting the proverbial squeeze on the "me too" firms occupying space in the middle of the spectrum. With the continued rapid development of technology taking the concept of globalization and turning it into hard reality facing businesses of all sizes, it is time for executives and entrepreneurs to examine their current business models from a disruptive perspective. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Why should anyone be led by you?


2. When was the last time your business embraced change and did something innovative?


3. When was the last time you rolled-out a new product?


4. Are your management and executive ranks void of youth?


5. Do people in your organization laugh at new ideas?


6. When was the last time you entered a new market?


7. Are any of your executives thought leaders?


8. When was the last time you sought out a strategic partner to exploit a market opportunity?


9. Does your organization focus more on process than success?


10. Are employees who point out problems looked down upon?


11. Do you settle for just managing your employees or do you inspire them to become innovators?


12. Has your business embraced social media?


13. When was the last time your executive team brought in some new blood by recruiting a rock star?


14. Does anyone on your executive team have a coach or mentor?


15. Has anyone on your executive team attended a conference on strategy, innovation or disruption in the last year?

If you're an executive or entrepreneur and you can't put forth solid answers to the majority of the questions referenced above, then your company is likely a market lager as opposed to a market leader. If you continue to do the same things that you have always done in today's current market environment you will see your market share erode, your brand go into decline, your talent and customers jump ship, and your potential never be realized.

Albert Einstein said it best when he noted "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result each time." Bottom line... don't be the CEO who causes your management team to continually say "the boss won't go for that one." If you lead from the front by inspiring change, innovation, and disruption your business will surely prosper in 2009.

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Mike Myatt, is a Top CEO Coach, author of "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual", and Managing Director of N2Growth.