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Managing the Transition Zone called The Wind Tunnel

Their growth had been slow but steady up until March, 2007. They had seemed to remain ‘under the radar’ of larger competitors and the CEO had kept her hands on the operations over the past 9 years, steering a course that brought good profits, creating a working environment that people seemed to enjoy as turnover was low, and maintaining solid sales through customer referrals.

Starting in October, 2007 her world started to shift. Two new clients had come on board and at first glance, she didn’t treat the addition of these two clients any differently than she had in the past. She did add more staff to handle the increased work load – a change that took them from a Stage 4 company, with 54 employees to a Stage 5 company practically overnight. Read more about Managing the Wind Tunnel

The New Profit Model: Profit Design
A Profit Design is the operative DNA of the venture, the interconnected guts of the enterprise. A Profit Design is a clear view of the core business, the adjacent business and the edge business of your company. Read more about The New Profit Model: Profit Design

The New Profit Model: The Profit Zone
Getting your staff to care about critical profit building activities in your company is what the Profit Zone concept is all about. Think about specific activities in your company that help you make a profit. Of course there are the sales. And there is generating cash flow. And there is the pricing of your products or services. Would it surprise you if I told you there are 9 activities in any company that help you drive profitability? Read more about The New Profit Model: The Profit Zone

Tying Staff Satisfaction to Increasing Your Bottom Line
Connecting an increase in a company’s success to an upbeat, positive, energized workplace has been made by many business pundits over the years. But a study done in 2001 by Lyle Spencer for the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations found that "for every 1 percent improvement in the service climate, there’s a 2 percent increase in revenue.” Read more about Tying Staff Satisfaction to Increasing Your Bottom Line

Create Dynamic Dialogue - Decrease Conflict in the Workplace

Conflict. Confrontation. Most of us hate it. We avoid it. We simply hope it goes away.

The negative effects of unresolved conflict include:

• Decrease in productivity
• Lack of focus on company objectives
• Loss of respect for leadership team
• Destructive gossip
• Covering up underlying, hidden problems
• An erosion of trust with leadership
• Higher turnover
• Lack of buy-in on critical issues

As the CEO of your company and a manager of people, you have a tremendous opportunity and a tremendous responsibility. The opportunity is you get the chance to actually influence the behavior of people in a way that helps them grow at the same time help your business grow. The responsibility requires you to not take this job lightly and to look for and relish the chance to have an empowering conversation with an employee. Read more about Create Dynamic Dialogue - Decrease Conflict in the Workplace

Looking for Truth About Your Business: 10 Perspectives Worth Considering

It's not as if, as the owner of your business, you don't have enough to think about. Just keeping up with the overwhelming amounts of information that bombards our email accounts daily -- some of it is welcome, some isn't -- or the continual flow of business articles in traditional and on line magazines -- not to mention the 'flavor the month' business book that is touted to turn your ordinary business into a great business overnight.

As business owners we have plenty of choices when it comes to reading about how to increase our profitability or engage our employees or improve performance.

Over the last few years, I kept noticing one thing that seemed to separate high performing enterprises from those that are still aspiring to reach or maximize their goals. You may be thinking, 'She's talking about an innovative application of resources or an ability to executive a clearly defined plan or maybe a way to leverage a company's unique competitive advantage.'

The one differentiating factor that seemed to separate high performing companies from the rest of the pack was so ordinary that it tends to slip by even the most astute business thinker. Read more about 10 Perspectives Worth Considering