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The Suprising Truth Publishing A Book Confirmed About Big Ideas
[ When I set out to write Fast Track Your Big Idea! I thought I was writing about how leaders...
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What Choosing a Book Cover Taught Me About Strategy
Why the process of testing a design mirrors the process of launching any bold idea. I’m thrilled to finally reveal...
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Are You Really Listening? Or Stuck Just Polishing?
Have you ever built something new? And knew it was good enough to share, but you kept tweaking anyway? Design. Build....
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How to Get an ROI on Mistakes
I was sitting in a room of executives from around the world, reviewing our results. Some people’s numbers were pretty...
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Who’s Accountable for Your Strategy? Do They Even Know It?
At your last strategy retreat, did everyone walk out crystal clear on who’s accountable for what? Probably not. In a recent...
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Why Smart People Don’t Take Action (and What to Do About It)
Last week, I had the opportunity to meet with visionary CEOs and Executive Directors from across the country. We gathered...
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When I Realized I Was The Problem
Are you leading a situation where everything seems to be falling apart? • Funding for a big project has suddenly...
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From Lost in Fog to Soaring: How to Move Your Strategy Faster
Ever feel like you’re driving blind—constantly reacting to obstacles instead of confidently moving forward? You’re not alone. The good news?...
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This Isn’t How I Thought Things Would Go”—Now What?
You had a vision—a new strategy, a career move, a relationship—something that really mattered. And now, it’s not going the...
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Reality Check: Your New Strategy May Get Messy
Happy New Year!! 🎉The confetti has fallen, the noise has faded, and now you’re staring at the year ahead. Do...
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Three Steps to Finish the Year Strong (Even If You’ve Stalled)
Can you hear it? The buzz of people hustling to close deals, ship inventories, and secure donations before the year...
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How to Leverage “Pushback” to Get Your Strategy Back on Track
Last week, I hosted a Strategy Reboot Workshop that brought together leaders from around the globe. These leaders came with one shared...
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Five Signs Your Strategy Is Stuck
Did you start the year with a splashy launch of a big new strategy? How’s it going? If your answer...
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Three Things You Can Do NOW to Save Your Strategy
The final quarter has begun! Feeling energized? Or concerned? If you wake up at night with your heart racing because...
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How to Talk about Scaling People
How do we talk about “scaling” — when it comes to people? Scaling sounds GREAT when you’re talking about software....
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Delegating to AI? 5 Questions to Create Ethical Guardrails
AI is starting to hold rockstar status in our daily lives, prompting the question: “I𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐬, 𝐡𝐨𝐰...
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Is Going Faster Really Better?
The year is half over. Is your big, high-stakes strategy going too slowly? CEOs and boards often complain that their...
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Two lessons a horse race can teach about high-stakes strategies
When Mystik Dan won the 150th run of the Kentucky Derby, it was a history-making photo finish. Despite the 18:1 odds, the...
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Want Yes’s Faster? Avoid Skipping this Step.
Whether you’re choosing a seat, selecting a vendor, or funding a cause, it’s a lot easier to say “Yes!” when...
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How to Drive Your Strategy at Warp Speed
Wouldn’t you like to be Captain Jean-Luc Picard, from the Star Trek Next Generation movies? He’s a visionary leader with big ideas...
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Is the way you lead your strategy causing commitment phobia?
Next week is Valentine’s Day, and I’m again pondering the challenge of leading a new initiative – from a relationship...
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Four Ways to Help People “Get” Your Unconventional Niche
The CEO laughed nervously, “We are either going to seize an amazing niche and be considered brilliant – or we’re...
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Risky Business: Make Big Decisions and Avoid the Pros/ConsTrap
I have a friend struggling with the decision to take a new job or not. Impacted by the wave of...
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Is Your “Big Idea” Too Small?
The CEO sitting across the table shifted in his seat. He was tackling a problem in his community, and his...
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Making a decision — even when it feels risky
“We’ve spent an entire year trying to get this launched, and we’re nowhere! Maybe I have the wrong team.” The...
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Taking the Risk to Adapt (Again)
I just returned from biking in Croatia. The trip provided an unexpected lesson about dealing with the risk that things might...
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Budgeting? A Blueprint to Climb Out of the Minutia
The annual budget meeting droned on, and the frustrated executive muttered to himself, “We are stuck in minutia! I’m wasting...
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More than “Just Work”? Called for the Marketplace
While other kids aspired to be firefighters and astronauts or join the Peace Corps, I felt an undeniable call to...
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Avoid Getting Lost: Deal with the Big Risks First
As I was ushered into the office, the CEO bluntly got to the point as he paced around the room....
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The Problem with Purpose-Driven
Do you want to lead an organization that is “purpose-driven”? Are you sure you’re ready? A purpose-driven organization defines success based...
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Tackling the Alignment Problem When Driving A New Strategy
I help CEOs and boards fast track high-stakes strategies | Go to Market Strategist |Board Member|Speaker|41 articlesJune 27, 2023 Humans...
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Leading a Merger: Four Practical Questions to be Ready to Answer
Two similar stats jumped out at me recently: About 70% of all mergers fail to achieve their goals. And about 70% of all blended...
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A Balancing Act: Communicating when the Stakes are High
I was seated in a crowded cafeteria, surrounded by employees from every function. The atmosphere was tense. We were there...
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Overwhelmed by Growth? Four Ways to Scale Your Strategy
The demo went smoothly and they came to the last slide. The CEO asked, “Are there any questions?” After a...
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Getting Lost When People Don’t “Get” Your High-Stakes Strategy
The CEO slammed down the phone, exasperated. “We just need more customers and investors who GET IT!” When you’re driving...
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Getting Lost in the Possibilities of Your New Strategy
Our family talked for years about going to New Zealand. Inspired by “Lord of the Rings” scenery and a cool...
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A Strategy For Bouncing Back
Being laid off is painful. Laying off employees you care about hurts too. I’ve done both. As daily waves of...
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Leading Your Strategy When You Don’t Have All the Answers
He was the Shell Answer Man, and he had all the answers: How to change a tire. How to drive in...
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Getting Your Strategy Back On Track (Despite the Storm)
The CEO sitting across from me looked dejected. He had been brought in from the venture capital start-up world to...
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Start With What You DO Have
One morning, our two kids hurried downstairs to make their lunch before school. They were met by their dad, who...
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Your Strategy in One Word?
Can you describe your strategy in ONE WORD OR PHRASE? For most leaders, It’s not developing a strategy but COMMUNICATING...
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When NOT Talking about Risk is Risky
After seeing a movie about the future, have you ever left thetheatre feeling a bit — disoriented? Whether it’s The Matrix or Star...
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When unthinkable questions are the answer
Did you know Albert Einstein’s secret weapon for solving problems? He said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem...
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Leading from the Middle
A leader of a large department was frustrated — and stuck. The organization had decided to merge with another firm....
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Are you overlooking the biggest risk to your growth?
“The WORKFORCE is the number one RISK to growth”. This bold assertion jumped out at me from the 2022 Global...
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What if You Had an Adaptive Advantage?
Did you know that it actually REDUCES anxiety when people are able to talk about the “What if” that everyone is so fearful...
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Is your organization a well-oiled machine? Or a flowing river?
Does your organization work like a “well-oiled machine” to achieve your strategy? Or more like a flowing river? It makes...
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Get on board or on one page? The difference impacts your strategy
I was stuck at a railroad crossing the other day as an unending cargo train passed by. As I watched...
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Are you ready to run, jump and play?
Are you ready to “run, jump and play” as an organization? The question came to me as a 4th grader excitedly...
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Are you prepared for your strategy hypothesis to fail?
“What do you THINK will happen if we put these two solutions together?” the chemistry teacher posed. Students threw out...
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Deciding to lead even when the music stops
The music plays and you dutifully follow others around the circle of chairs, alert and listening for what might happen....
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A positively challenging balancing act
When my son was six years old, he came home from school visibly upset. He had misunderstood the instructions for...
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Three ways leaders can avoid the analytics trap
Has this ever happened to you? You’re making a purchase decision online but you’re uncertain which product to choose. You search...
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Three ways to avoid driving your strategy in the dark
When I was in high school, I asked my mom to look over a paper I’d written the night before...
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“It’s not that we’re smart. We’re just sane.”
Warren Edward Buffett and Charlie Munger shared today how they navigate wild rides and uncertainty. As they adapt, they focus on...
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Let’s face it: Your new strategy is made of GUESSES.
Exiting college, people told me I needed a good strategy: a strategy for networking, for my career, for investments. Despite...
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Are you contagious and don’t know it?
For more than two years we’ve heard this phrase related to COVID-19/Delta/Omicron. But if you are driving a high-stakes strategy, you...
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When your strategy demands a new starring role
I have a friend who found herself responsible for driving a big strategic initiative. She had good ideas, and people were...
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High-stakes strategies, “spirited” debate, and the IKEA Effect
I once had a boss that both inspired and frustrated me. He had great vision and deftly steered our organization’s...
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Feeling like you’re in “ready position” for your new strategy?
My ears perked up at McDonald’s when I overheard two (very tall) students in line ahead of me: “Hey, are you...
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Scene Opens: Speed your strategy by ensuring all voices are heard
I once took a job that required that I move to California, along with my husband and kids. There were...
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Is the way you lead your strategy causing commitment phobia?
Is the way you’re leading your strategy causing “commitment phobia”?This Valentine’s Day, I’m pondering the challenge of leading a new...
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People often ask me what “go-to-market” means…
After decades of working in this space, here’s my definition: Go-to-Market = “Aligning ALL your resources (internal AND external) to...
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Which do you plan in: Pencil or Ink?
Through the pandemic, I started planning in pencil – both literally and as a mindset. Have you? I find myself: ...
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Are you humble enough to be resilient?
From resilient businesses to resilient supply chains to resilient cities to resilient families, RESILIENCE seemed to be the big word...
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Feeling “the risk of missing out”? Answer these two questions
Are you noticing this too? With vaccine numbers up, people able to congregate, and summer activities and events unfolding, everyone’s...
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“Is there a risk we could lose?”
I still can’t get that moment – or the coach’s comment — out of my mind. Even if you are...
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Is that an option?
Has the word “option” been on your radar lately? It has been for me. The GameStop kerfuffle saw short-sellers...
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“In case of sudden turbulence…”
How long has it been since you were on a plane? At one point I felt more at home at...
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Are you planning in pencil?
If there is one thing I learned in 2020, it was to appreciate pencils. Last January, I wrote my plans...
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Are you leading with “What If”?
Do you remember that Hewlett Packard ad campaign, “What If?” It showed people — walking their dog on a beach,...
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Taking the Risk: Diversity of Thinking
During a long plane ride home from a global tech conference, I was reflecting on diversity — and frustrated. Now,...
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5 Ways to De-Risk Your Next Big Virtual (or Hybrid) Event
The world suddenly shifted. Your big meeting or event that was always face-to-face (conference /trade show /fundraiser /etc.) now has...
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Your Business Model Steers Your New Normal
The word “crisis” comes from the Ancient Greek krísis, “a decision, or choice.” And though few of us would ever choose the uncertainty that...
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Ambulances and Helicopters: Leaders and Boards in a Crisis
The siren wails as the ambulance steers left then right to navigate the complexity of heavy traffic at rush hour....
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Nonprofit Boards Adding Value During A Crisis
How are you personally adding value during this crisis? For most leaders, the shock stage is starting to subside, and “normal for...
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3 Questions to Always Ask about the “People Side” of Tech
Pulses quicken as headlines roll in: Robotics, drones, self-driving cars, digital health, e-sports, home automation, immersive media, blow-your-mind-fast 5G! At CES in...
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Robots Need Humans Who Care
The voice-activated IoT-enabled AI-analyzed robot-clad cloud-delivered possibilities at CES, the “world’s largest tech show,” did not disappoint. But I went to...
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What skills will we need to make all this tech stuff work?
As the curtain closed on the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the story was clear: “Whatever the question, tech...
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Managing the Risk of the People Side of Tech: Three Questions
Pulses quicken as headlines roll in: Robotics, drones, self-driving cars, digital health, e-sports, home automation, immersive media, blow-your-mind-fast 5G! At...
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Smart Campus: Building Blocks for Smart Cities?
When my son was four he was a Lego fanatic. Architect, general contractor and construction crew all at once, he would...
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