By: Gary Cohen If you consider that when I was in college in the early 1980s, the world population was 3 Billion people. Today the world population is 7 Billion. While death by disease, war, and famine are down significantly the complexity has more than doubled. Take a look at
If you want a glimpse into how well an organization is run, take a look at how they run their meetings. The value they get out of their meetings usually reflects how well the organization is run as a whole. Meetings are designed to accomplish a particular objective. There are
The quality of an organization’s meetings is often tied to the quality of the organization’s overall work. Like effective organizations, effective meetings have clearly defined roles and objectives. There are four different types of meetings: decision-making, informational, creative, and motivational. While every meeting type is important, decision-making meetings are perhaps
How to conduct a meeting is accomplished by a small amount of deliberate practice and training and will save significant costs to the business. Businesses are spending billions on meetings and do little to improve them. In this post you will begin your exploration of effective meeting strategies.
Educational Rubrics Educational institutions have long struggled with performance evaluation of employees. They have succeeded, however, with developing some useful rubrics to evaluate the performance of students. Rubrics provide a vertical set of performance criteria against horizontal measures of effectiveness. They tend to work best when the evaluation is complex
Educational Rubrics Educational institutions have long struggled with performance evaluation of employees. They have succeeded, however, with developing some useful rubrics to evaluate the performance of students. Rubrics provide a vertical set of performance criteria against horizontal measures of effectiveness. They tend to work best when the evaluation is complex
Exit and Succession planning are big topics on our Tuesday show with Tom Siders and Jeff Johnson. Gary Cohen and Rick Diamond from CO2 Partners Join Jeff Johnson on The Business Forum Show. Have you ever heard the amazing story behind ACI Telecentrics, Inc and its founding partners, Rick
When doing a strategic plan, you may be faced with mountains of data. How you use the data from many different surveys is critical to the outcome of your strategic plan. You will have to sort what is relevant from what is irrelevant. Many of you may already have your
In order to help clients understand what a mission statement is and how to create one, CO2 Partners has put together this Mission Statement Video. The mission statement is our statement of purpose. It describes why we exist as an organization. It tells us what we exist to do and
A dear friend of mine came over a few months ago for a glass of wine and asked me, “What’s the half-life of a strategic plan?” She’d just completed one with her team. Everyone voted to implement it immediately, and yet one executive began to stray from it within
Your leadership and management skills can be dramatically improved by taking a page out of the motorcycling playbook. This past weekend I took a training course in how to drive a motorcycle from Rider Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota. To say I stretched myself would be an understatement. I was left fatigued at the end
We don’t often consider the way decision making is driven by energy: anabolic (positive) and catabolic (negative).
“The final mystery is oneself” — Oscar Wilde Would you spend the rest of your life following the notions of a 12-year-old child? Probably not. Why is it then that people feel attached to the life trajectory and vision they formed at that age? When we’re young and imagining our
How to Prepare for a Meeting The first seven steps to prepare for a meeting are: 1. Set a clear and achievable goal for the meeting How to Prepare for a Meeting: Steps #1 & 2 that is in line with the organization’s vision and mission 2. Choose the appropriate
The first four steps of how to prepare for a meeting are: 1. Set a clear and achievable goal for the meeting that is in line with the organization’s vision and mission [How to Prepare for a Meeting: Steps #1 & 2] 2. Choose the appropriate type of meeting: decision-making,
The first four steps of how to prepare for a meeting are: 1. Set a clear and achievable goal for the meeting that is in line with the organization’s vision and mission [How to Prepare for a Meeting: Steps #1 & 2] 2. Choose the appropriate type of meeting: decision-making,
How to Prepare for a Meeting The first three steps of meeting preparation are: 1. Set a clear and achievable goal for the meeting How to Prepare for a Meeting: Steps #1 & 2 that is in line with the organization’s vision and mission 2. Choose the appropriate type of meeting:
How to Prepare for a Meeting Once you have a clear and achievable goal for the meeting How to Prepare for a Meeting: Steps #1 & 2 that is in line with the organization’s vision and mission, and you’ve chosen the appropriate type of meeting, selecting the right participants ought to
How to prepare for a meeting is important for all employees and critical for any manager or leader. Step by step process that will improve your meeting preparation and wow your co-workers
Leaders who want to see far into the future, look first into the past. Is this a habit that needs nurturing?
Four Goal-Setting Questions Here are four critical goal-setting questions to ask: What do you want? When do you want it? What are you willing to give up getting it? Yes, I know that is only three questions, and no I don’t have a problem with math. But
Work to Do Before You Network The informational interviews I’ve given typically fall into two categories: 1. The job hunter arrives relatively unprepared and asks questions that arise through the natural course of conversation. He wants to know about the type of work I do and if I have any
Creating a Personal Marketing Plan A personal marketing plan isn’t a bio or a résumé, though it draws from the same well. A personal marketing plan demonstrates how your unique skills and talents would be ideal for a specific position (or two) in a particular organization/market. A personal marketing plan
Core Values If you want to find a new position or career that’s right for you, first you need to know what you think is right given your values. What are your core values? Your core values won’t only help you find the right path and position, but will also
How to lead an efficient and effective meeting Communicate the importance of attendance, participation, and punctuality. If key staff members don’t show up, cancel the meeting. If their absence has been approved in advance, have them delegate their decision-making responsibility to someone else in the meeting. Make sure all agenda
Creating a strategic plan is quite an undertaking for a business. Not only are you often hiring outside firms for facilitating the process but you are using an enormous amount of internal resources for gathering data converting it to meaningful information and sorting that data over 3 to 5 days
Leaders need to know not only how to run a good meeting, but also when NOT to hold one. In this article you will learn the ten reasons why a meeting should be canceled or rescheduled.
This is an amazing look at the future. Imagine the possibilities….
How to prepare for a meeting For leaders who want to hold successful meetings–rather than feel held up or held hostage by them–here are eight steps to take: 1) Get chapter and verse on all attendees. Review their recent activity on web sites, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin. Know your
Getting hired can be difficult, even for talented leaders–not because they’re not the right for particular jobs, but because they don’t know how to tell their stories. Chris Cohen, a partner at the Chandler Group and one of the top three executive recruiters in Minneapolis working with non-profits, instructs job
Getting hired can be difficult, even for talented leaders–not because they’re not the right for particular jobs, but because they don’t know how to tell their stories. Chris Cohen, a partner at the Chandler Group and one of the top three executive recruiters in Minneapolis working with non-profits, instructs job
Many years ago, Dana Olson and I went to a very elegant Chinese restaurant in New York. It was an intimate space with a clear view of the kitchen. We could see the shrimp we’d ordered being tossed into the wok. The shrimp must have been alive because they screamed,
“Capital in some form or other will always be needed.” Ghandi “Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will.” Nelson Mandela
As you go about your day, ticking off items on your to-do list, you may feel a rush of accomplishment and pride. But how long does that feeling last? Does your level of satisfaction and fulfillment reset the next day? When you look at the past week, month, or year,
I have the opportunity as an executive coach to sit in on different conferences around the world. In reflecting on the speeches of key executives, it amazes me how out of touch they seem to be with their rank and file. It’s not always obvious at first because they’ve rehearsed most of
As a leader, you must be attuned to the safety of your followers. It’s hard to protect them from each and every threat–physical and psychological–but you can take measures to reduce the risk of fatal heart attacks. Here’s how: 1) Inform your employees that taking a small baby aspirin a day will decrease their risk of
Big ideas are terrific. There’s no harm in thinking big. Acting prematurely on these ideas is the problem. Many visionaries move from start to finish in their minds quickly and skip many of the steps in between necessary for execution. That’s how they wind up trying to boil the ocean.
Most leaders have to-do lists; some are written, some are mental. Many leaders prioritize items on these lists–by importance, time sensitivity, difficulty or ease, nature of the task. Not too many leaders put each item from their to-do lists onto their calendar, however. As a result, those items rarely get
Before you add an item to your to-do list, make sure it isn’t already there—hidden under different language. The same goes for responsibilities you’re doling out. Ask your coworkers to determine if a new task or idea overlaps with other assignments, so that their to-do lists don’t get bloated also.
You can call back those 10 people you have been procrastinating calling. You could finish writing the report you were going to finish last week. You could have that uncomfortable conversation with that employee, vendor, or client that you have been putting off. You could have that meeting that you
In this age of information, it’s so easy to get distracted by a comment, idea, book, motivational speaker, blogger, etc. Before giving in to a distraction, ask, “How does this support our strategy?” You may find yourself with an extra ten hours a week if you begin asking this question and
As you progress as a leader, your schedule tends to get more and more packed. There simply isn’t enough time in the day or week or month to do all that needs to be done. As a result, you start making rash decisions based upon incomplete information. And when you
How many to-do lists do you have? Do you have one for home, work, community, etc.? How long are they? Are you moving items continually to the next day? When someone in your meeting says, “Who can do this?” do you respond in the affirmative? Later, do you not only
How many to-do lists do you have? Do you have one for home, work, community, etc.? How long are they? Are you moving items continually to the next day? When someone in your meeting says, “Who can do this?” do you respond in the affirmative? Later, do you not only
How many to-do lists do you have? Do you have one for home, work, community, etc.? How long are they? Are you moving items continually to the next day? When someone in your meeting says, “Who can do this?” do you respond in the affirmative? Later, do you not only
There’s a fine line between tenacity and stubbornness. After a period of time, if your idea doesn’t start to move on its own, with gravity, it may be time to move on. Yes, there are many historical examples of people who kept slogging their ideas forward and upward and eventually
Big risks are generally for the young—when fewer livelihoods are at stake and when there’s plenty of time and energy to rebuild or start something new from scratch. If you’ve already spent considerable time and energy building your business, if you’ve already had your share of entrepreneurial adrenaline rushes, don’t
Charlie Hartwell is a good friend of mine who leads a brilliant company, Ideas to Go. He presents his thoughts on transforming ideas into action.
You’ve heard “What’s the worst that could happen?” It’s a valuable question, encouraging the asker and responder to demystify and evaluate the risks involved with making a certain decision. The converse, “What’s the best that could happen?” has value, too.
KISS is a memorable acronym for “Keep It Simple, Stupid,” coined by Kelly Johnson, who worked as an engineer for Lockheed Skunkworks. KiSS with a lowercase “i” is a different acronym, but it’s simple and memorable, too.
KISS is a memorable acronym for “Keep It Simple, Stupid,” coined by Kelly Johnson, who worked as an engineer for Lockheed Skunkworks. KiSS with a lowercase “i” is a different acronym, but it’s simple and memorable, too.
KISS is a memorable acronym for “Keep It Simple, Stupid,” coined by Kelly Johnson, who worked as an engineer for Lockheed Skunkworks. KiSS with a lowercase “i” is a different acronym, but it’s simple and memorable, too.
Traction is written for a very specific target market. It’s for entrepreneurial business owners and leadership teams of small to midsize companies who want help and are open-minded, frustrated, willing to be vulnerable, open, real, and authentic. As it pertains to that market, there really isn’t a book written for
OODA stands for: Observe Orient Decide Act Colonel John Boyd, Military Strategist, created this model once he considered decision making for military strategy happened in recurring loops. The idea is that when moving to action you first observe the battlefield or what ever area you are operating in. Once you
OODA stands for: Observe Orient Decide Act Colonel John Boyd, Military Strategist, created this model once he considered decision making for military strategy happened in recurring loops. The idea is that when moving to action you first observe the battlefield or what ever area you are operating in. Once you
Business Model Generation caught my eye in a book store in December – It is rare I find myself in book stores anymore given how many books are sent to me as a blogger and my preference in reading on Kindle or IPad. I think it was the graphic design
“A word is dead when it is said some say, I say it just begins to live that day” – Emily Dickenson When you work on a strategic plan – even if you keep them as short as we do at CO2 Partners, to one page each word you choose
When is something so baked into your culture that you no longer need to put it into your strategic plan? This post will put some light on this question or it may create more thinking than answers. When your strategy is so ingrained into the culture do you still need
The Other Side of Innovation the authors demonstrate their absolute knowledge of an area that many organizations need more of, innovation! They have been studying over past decade innovation within established organizations. In the process they have compiled perhaps the most extensive library of innovation case studies in the world.
Dan Pink asks us to look past the outmoded view of what motivates people, like the carrot and stick, to more cutting edge research about personal growth and development. Recently, when working with clients to bring the strategic planning process out of the board room and into mail room, we
”The real voyage of discovery consists of not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust As an executive coach you are parachuted into different organizations to work with leaders. One of the first questions I ask an organizational leader is what is your vision. Many
I have read many books on the subject of applied behavioral economics. They jump from study to study each one more amazing than the next. This short three page white paper does a wonderful job of helping you with a pricing strategy based on how people really behave. The Retail
When your a leader and blocking the view of your organization. Are you helping or hurting the organization with your lack of transparency?
Is your customer experience making you money? Costing you money? Do you know? Like a line of falling dominos, daily actions across your organization form a sequence of events that, if aligned correctly, build momentum and culminate in what every business wants-outstanding financial performance.
When you are in the family business make sure you check the fine printing on the crest. It may not be what you thought you signed up for…
When you are in the family business make sure you check the fine printing on the crest. It may not be what you thought you signed up for…
Are you playing to win or just do good enough. In this post you will be challenged to consider taking an extra step to upgrade your team.
Five Critical Qualities you should know about being an entrepreneur.
This is radio show is a short format with two authors about how they went about writing their own book.
Business Check Lists – How to better systematize, organize and deputize in your business
Business Check Lists – How to better systematize, organize and deputize in your business
The Minnesota Twins beat the Red Sox recently, largely due to Red Sox fielding and throwing errors that led to several runs. It was a home game, so Twins fans cheered when the Red Sox failed to make routine plays. Far less cheering happened when the Twins made their routine
Simon Sinek is a leadership consultant who recently wrote the book Start With Why, and delivered a presentation at TED on this concept he has research. The premise is based on the idea he calls the Golden Circle.
Today I asked Steve Roberts to be our guest blogger. About Steve Steve Roberts was born in Greenville, Ohio, the son of a small-town golf pro and a mom who managed the golf pro shop. The small family lived in the other half of the pro-shop building. Later the family
You might think “activities” and “actions” are more-or-less synonyms. When you begin to understand the defining difference, you will never look at the words in the same way again. “Activities” are those everyday behaviors that you do, the mundane, no-change, no-gap-closing initiatives. Activities are like merry-go-rounds; you’re constantly moving, but making
Is it leadership if it happens by the law of unintended consequences? Bag loss was dramatically reduced by airlines due to baggage-fee hikes. 23.8 % less bags worldwide were lost in 2009 than the previous year, partly because of passengers checking less bags! This was a $460 million dollar savings
(Click for Part I) This is Part II of a three-part blog interview with Noah Blumenthal, author of Be the Hero: Three Powerful Ways To Overcome Challenges In Work And Life. Gary B. Cohen: What steps would you take to build the hero’s mindset in an organization or larger community?
You work hard to become knowledgeable yet, admittedly, it is easier for some than for others. Even before you learn to speak a journey has begun. As a youth, perhaps you begin to emulate some of your parent’s beliefs regarding religion, politics, and culture. As time advances you move on
When you are confident that you are a good manager, does that mean that you are automatically a good leader? Leadership should not be considered to be the same as management. They are different, yet not in the way most people presuppose. Leadership is not something that requires a specific
http://www.alliedexecutives.com/ GeoTagged, [N44.97292, E93.27363] Keynote Speaker: Narayana Kocherlakota, President of The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Panel included: Dean Bachelor – CEO Platinum Group Scott J. Dongoske – President Winthrop & Weinstine Al Gerhardt – COO Kraus-Anderson Elliot Jaffee – TC President US Bank Michael Lacey – CEO Digineer Beth
Yesterday, my daughter, who is driving with her permit, headed towards a destination she envisioned. She asked me what lane she should be in, and I answered, “The right.” I detected a micro-change in her physiology, but said nothing. I then encouraged her to move over one more lane to
At the end of the year, I was shopping for a new laptop (I’m a bleeding-edge technology junkie) to take advantage of some tax benefits. I must have spent hours sorting through the labyrinth of possibilities. And part of this selection process was to maximize value. I put more time
Tiffany’s Sells Swatches! Extremely unlikely, given their pull-back on $100 charms because they recognized the trade-off they were making in serving that low-cost customer versus serving the elite-quality-oriented customer that they built their reputation on. So says bestselling author Kevin Maney in his recent book Trade-Off: Why Some Things Catch
by David Gray Channel partners play a critical role in your marketing mix. Your channel partners should be carefully chosen to complement the capabilities of your organization. For example, if your organization is excellent at product development and product offering, but not so good at promotion, then you will need
In our interview earlier this week with Bill Treasurer he offered these top 10 questions to building courage in organizations: 1. What do we want to become as a business? 2. How can courage be applied to help us get to where we want to be? 3. Where are we
When you’re budgeting in October or November of 2009 for 2010, January looks so close it is difficult to see how you’re going to get from your current revenue run rate to your overall revenue growth for the following year. What managers usually try to sell to the leaders of
Scott Glatstein, President of Imperatives, shares with us the Top 10 questions you should ask in strategic planning and why! 1. What’s your marketplace promise? a. Identifies whether a clear promise exists b. Asking the same question across the organization tests alignment 2. Lots of companies make promises they don’t
Gary Cohen interviews Scott Glatstein, founder and president of Imperatives, on the topic of Strategy Activation: how to move from strategy to execution! Scott, there are a great number of strategic planning books on the market. What was it that you felt was not being shared or shared in a
Usually when employees fail to fulfill the expectations their job descriptions raise, their superiors work with them to improve their performance. If that fails, they are sent packing. Such firings–and all the hurt feelings, wasted time and tried patience that accompany them–aren’t always avoidable, but leaders shouldn’t overlook the part
Last night Jim McCarter, President and CSO of Divergence, a company that is solving major issues in the agriculture world by eliminating nematodes from our food supply, and I went to a fundraiser at Bill Danforth’s home in St. Louis. We were there to meet Secretary of State Robin Carnahan
Often individuals and organizations become so focused on their primary business, they don’t fully appreciate all their core skills, talents, and resources. Sometimes it takes an outsider, or a bestselling book like Strength Finder 2.0. Charles McCabe founded People’s Income Tax, Inc. in 1987. He planned to open multiple tax
When faced with a difficult situation in education or politics, Howard Gardner offered the following suggestion of the “Three Jesse Test.” Take whatever the issue is and observe in your mind how Jesse Helms, Jesse Ventura, and Jesse Jackson would each react to whatever the particular situation is. Because these
Have you ever used the expression “We are going elephant hunting?” I have for years up until recently. I was in a board meeting and someone raised the topic. And another quipped back, “I think it is more like waiting for an elephant to give birth.” After some laughter from
Have you ever used the expression “We are going elephant hunting?” I have for years up until recently. I was in a board meeting and someone raised the topic. And another quipped back, “I think it is more like waiting for an elephant to give birth.” After some laughter from
Just returning from the Book Expo America (BEA) in LA. Wow! It is overwhelming how big this book industry is when observing it as a whole at the Staples Center. Last year over 400,000 books were published, so far this year 395, 405 books have been published. There is a
10 Common Misconceptions About Executive Coaching “I don’t have issues and don’t need coaching.” Many individuals think coaching is a sign of a shortcoming rather than a key tool for improving performance or building a business. Coaching as problem solving is perhaps the oldest misconception and, fortunately, it is fading
Q: In last week’s column, you gave advice about starting a business, and you kept preaching about writing a business plan. I own a business, I don’t have a plan, and I’m doing just fine. What’s the big deal? A: How do you know your business is doing “fine” if
Q: After working at one company for 10 years, I would like to start my own business. What issues do I need to consider, and how do I know when it is the right time to start your own business and take “the big step?” A: When people ask me
