The CEO Insomnia Factor
Hey CEOs Who Want Growth: Stop Asking Your Team To Play Pin The Tail On The Donkey
Many CEOs of private midsize companies are reluctant to share financial details of their firms with the rest of the company. But read why sharing those numbers is crucial and one approach to opening the books that works well.
How To Manage Morale When Companies Hit Turbulence
When companies go through times of change—whether acquisition, divestiture, leadership change, sales slump or competitive shocks—employees worry, then react, often with little input from management. When change is impending, the CEO (or top-most leader) ought to pull the leadership team together to share the news, discuss what the employees’ concerns might be, then decide on the appropriate message to be conveyed.
Winning the Talent War Demands Creative Hiring Strategies
Your company may be suffering from a genuine talent shortage. It may be suffering from a flawed hiring process. It may be one or the other or even both, but the end result will be the same: Companies that can’t find creative ways to find the employees they need can’t grow. Business leaders who can win the talent war (and it is a war) will be able to say yes to new business opportunities while their talent-strapped competition will have to walk away.
The Origins of Mighty Midsized Companies Interview
Rob interviewed more than 100 business leaders in researching his newest book, and now the tables have been turned. In this latest issue of The CEO Insomnia Factor, Bob Morris interviews Rob in his inimitable get-deep personal style. We take a look under the hood at how the book came into being and discuss what’s different for CEOs today. We look at leadership, change-making, growth and the “7 Silent Growth Killers” that were synthesized from Rob’s research.
Detecting And Surviving Seven Silent Growth Killers
Most midsized company leaders want their businesses to become mighty growth machines. Unfortunately, sometimes that growth slows, stops, or goes the other way, and their leaders don’t know why. Is it the market? Is it the product? Is it the leadership team? Is it something he or she has done wrong – an ill-conceived deal; an unrealistic strategy?
How Leadership Infrastructure Helps Midsized Companies Sustain Their Growth
Growing companies can be victims of their own success. When they get the growth they so desperately seek, they may just as quickly outgrow their leadership infrastructure, rendering the business chaotic and inefficient.
How Much Should You Risk for Growth?
When is accelerating spending on growth initiatives prudent or just a drain on the bank account? Mid-market firms can spend too much too fast, or spend too little too late. It’s like the driver who braves oncoming traffic to pass in the passing lane—misjudging speed, distance and timing can be deadly.
How to Assess the Headache Quotient of a Potential Acquisition
The acquisition success statistics are dismal, with about 50% deemed unsuccessful. The findings—neatly summarized in a Federal Trade Commission paper—are troubling news for mid-market firms who cannot afford the losses and headaches, which stem from unsuccessful acquisitions.
Integrating Acquisitions: How to Keep Them from Running Amok
Mid-market acquisitions fail 50% of the time and even those that succeed face a rough ride. Here’s how to cut your risk by using a big-company practice.
Defying Gravity: Preparing for the Inevitable Downturn in Your Core Business
Nearly every successful middle-market company eventually faces a swarm of competition. When their core business contracts, single-product companies can find themselves fighting for their lives. But the companies which plan highly-related diversifications before such downturns grow in good times and bad.
Robert Sher is founding principal of CEO to CEO, a consulting firm of former chief executives that improves the leadership infrastructure of midsized companies seeking to accelerate their performance. He was chief executive of Bentley Publishing Group from 1984 to 2006 and steered the firm to become a leading player in its industry (decorative art publishing).