As 2014 approaches, I thought I’d share the following “forecast” about what the upcoming year could hold. Dear Small and Mid-Market Executive –
Several years ago, James Fischer, had an ambitious goal. The co-Founder of the Origin Institute, a research and consulting company out of Boulder, Colorado, wanted to understand and decipher the patterns, behaviors and the characteristics in entrepreneurial enterprises - and - develop best practices to better navigate the trials and tribulations of business growth. Six years and over 700 CEO interviews later, Jim documented his findings in the book, “Navigating the Growth Curve: 9 Fundamentals that Build a Profit-driven, People-centered, Growth-smart Company”.
Last week I spent five wonderful days touring the Douro Valley in Portugal with my husband, my sister and brother-in-law. The spa/ hotel where we stayed had terrific service and accommodations; we ate fabulous Portuguese food and took several day trips to the visit the local wineries that are ubiquitous in this part of the world. The views were breathtakingly gorgeous as we wandered around impossibly high mountains in a tiny little Volvo, attempting to navigate unfamiliar roads in a foreign country.
“You don’t look like a chemical engineer,”another (male) chemical engineer said to me, upon being introduced as his new colleague, as if I was some strange aberration of the “species”. (Twenty years later, I still get a laugh remembering his reaction.) “What’s an engineer supposed to look like?”, I asked him with a smile. It wasn’t the first time that I had heard that type of comment from a man upon introducing myself (certainly not the last) and why get angry when humor can often be the best response?
Take this short quiz (courtesy of the speakers at the Fortune Leadership Summit in Orlando a week ago) and see!
If a tsunami affected your business tomorrow, would you still stay on track with your plan? A few years ago, that exact scenario happened to one of our clients, who was implementing the “Habits”. Thanks to the Habits, the executive team had a plan, were aligned to their priorities, and had great meeting rhythms. The whole company remained focused, despite the turbulence and they still hit most of their goals for the year. So what's your "tsunami" goal? If your business was affected by a major crisis tomorrow, would you be able to stay focused on your goals and deal with the disaster too?
