Description:  Now that people are putting their masks aside, company leaders are faced with a litany of operational and cultural questions about when and how to return to the office. Hanson Bridgett — a full-service, midsize law firm in California — began working on all that (and more) about 14 months before the pandemic began. The firm’s leadership didn’t foresee the crisis, but starting in 2018, they had been looking to reduce fixed costs and spend the savings in creative ways to become more competitive. In this article, I present four lessons from the firm’s successful shift to remote and hybrid work. As Hanson Bridgett has demonstrated, announcing a hybrid work policy does not mean immediate implementation. They’ll patiently work out the details, communicate carefully, achieve alignment, and then implement. Midsize companies would be well advised to do the same.

• READ MORE

Description: The pandemic has accelerated change that will significantly affect demand trends, and forward-thinking midsize companies must understand the change in demand patterns and adapt through innovation. One midsize company, Kern Oil & Refining Co., has an impressive track record of adapting to major changes in demand. They’ve been successful because of three main capabilities: investments in innovation, extensive external information-gathering, and a culture of collaboration. Midsize companies in every industry can have a big role in making the future better. But their work must begin now, fueled by systematic investment in those three areas.

• READ MORE

This keynote was delivered for DCA Partners’ Success Strategies Seminar Series, “Setting Your New Trajectory: Strategic Acquisitions to Accelerate Growth” on June 28, 2017 at the Sacramento State Alumni Center.

• READ MORE

For companies hungry to grow, economic slowdowns are the time to accelerate growth through acquisitions of weak competitors and by snagging market share at a bargain.  Here are five ways to prepare to be a power bargain shopper and build your war chest.

• READ MORE

A new breed of predator sees your profitable, established business as a tasty lunch. Don’t wait to be devoured.  Follow this strategic plan to help increase sales and business growth.

• READ MORE

Cramming our strategic work into a short time frame at the last minute may be a common approach, but it forces us to rely on opinions about market conditions, not solid facts.  Start the planning process early to avoid a puddle-deep strategic plan.

• READ MORE

Planning done well is not a once and done event.  It requires research and thoughtfulness.  Spreading it over the calendar and starting early is crucial.  Here is a simple timeline for midsized firms with small to medium sized leadership teams who work on a calendar year planning rhythm.

• READ MORE

In 2011, Jeffrey Glazer was handed a rare opportunity: the chance to once again lead the company he had founded 26 years earlier. Like a parent whose wayward adult child moves back home, Glazer saw things he didn’t like.

Glazer decided he had to alter the culture fast, and he did so by rebuilding his senior leadership team, promoting talent inside the organization, putting his new team in charge of several dozen big accounts, and not expecting mindsets to change overnight.

• READ MORE

Startup companies that thrive react to a new market opportunity at lightning speed, long before big, established companies even recognize what’s happening.

• READ MORE

Want to Upgrade Your Business? Upgrade Your Leadership Team!

A maturing industry requires its leaders to act differently. As industry players grow larger to manage compliance burdens and to gain access to capital, leadership styles that worked in the past can become dysfunctional.

• READ MORE