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STRATEGIC PLANNING

I am a strategic thinker and make a living helping people make strategic decisions that improve future performance. It is a very enjoyable and rewarding career. Admittedly, to most people, what I do is a mystery, hard to explain and even more difficult to do. It is all in what you are used to.
 I can’t [...]

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To improve performance, focus on strengths

by margaretreynolds on April 8, 2010

in STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP

Most leaders get it wrong. If an employee is doing 70% of their job description really well and 30% marginally or worse, what do you do? If you said, “focus on their strengths,” you were right! Most of us have a tendency to want to “fix” what isn’t right. Here is the downside of focusing [...]

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Defying the Forces of Business Gravity

by margaretreynolds on April 6, 2010

in STRATEGIC PLANNING

We all get caught up in the gravity of day to day business–the forces that keep us where we are today. We repeat our processes, our systems “lock us in” to doing business a certain way, our training is teaching the same skills and knowledge as last year, and then we wonder why growth is [...]

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This is not a news flash. We have always known that change is not a luxury of choice. Yet, we have never been in the position we are now––facing so much change all at once and at such a rapid pace. We are surrounded by it… technology, health care treatment (not insurance, an entirely different [...]

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6 Ways Leaders Add Value

by margaretreynolds on March 30, 2010

in STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP, STRATEGIC PLANNING

Leaders have an opportunity and an obligation to add value to their teams and organizations. Size of the organization is irrelevant––a leader is there to “raise the tide so all boats float higher”. When that happens, employees are challenged, feel valued, and are more productive, more innovative and more likely to help the company achieve [...]

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I admit, I thought of this blog topic on a plane returning from a very nice vacation in Mexico. It occurred to me that strategic planning (which, to me, is the backbone of every successful business) seems so hard, painful and difficult to everyone else. The truth is that, like anything else, it has to [...]

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Value driven organizations have a sense of purpose that supercedes profit. Yet value driven businesses are rapidly becoming some of the best models of financially successful companies. They find their competition and motivation comes from within, to strive to be better–a better solution, a better employer, a better citizen. They strive to outperform themselves, to [...]

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The question many corporate executives are debating, especially those in charge of guiding their companies direction, is “Is there a new normal”? The short answer is yes…and no. Let me explain.

We have gone through a number of economic crisis and shifts in this century–the depression, the post war boom, the silicone valley boom and bust, [...]

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Corporate Culture is probably not on the top of many lists for serious discussion at a time when businesses just want to have enough money in the bank to meet payroll, or meet bank agreements so there loan is not called. However, culture discussion is important because it is one of the things that could [...]

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We have grown up with the phrase Just Do It. And with my compliments to Nike. It has served their mission well. But now it is time for most businesses to ask the question, what should I stop?. Here’s why:

Strategy is a set of choices regarding what you want your business to become. It can’t [...]

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