Selected Quotes by Mike Myatt

Selected Quotes by Mike Myatt

The following quotes by Mike Myatt are freely available to cite or reference with proper attribution. Attribution should include Mike Myatt's name, title and a link back to the N2growth Blog. Twitter users should RT @mikemyatt.

Accountability:
"Accountability is the lowest cost, most practical, and most productive form of risk management and quality assurance that can be implemented across an enterprise." (2006)

"Regardless of where you are in the corporate hierarchy, accountability is a fundamental principle associated with success." (Mike Myatt, 2004)

"It is those individuals or organizations who don't believe they are accountable to anyone, for anything, or at anytime that are nothing more than a disaster waiting to happen." (Mike Myatt, 1998)



Authenticity, Character, Integrity, Respect & Trust:
"Trust freely extended without first being earned is trust likely to be broken." (Mike Myatt, 2007)

"The ultimate corporate incentive (not compensation) is found in the rewards of creating trust and loyalty across relationships." (Mike Myatt, 2007)

"Respect is earned by honoring commitments and doing the right thing regardless of opinion, sentiment, or influence." (Mike Myatt, 2005)

"Don't let the mercenary agenda of those who pretend to be your friends solely for their own gain keep you from doing the right thing, for the acceptance of others will never serve as a substitute for integrity." (Mike Myatt, 2004)

"A good reputation will precede you, but a bad reputation will simply prohibit your arrival to begin with." (Mike Myatt, 2003)

"The greatest advertisement is the personal & professional conduct that leads to public endorsements by those of influence." (Mike Myatt, 2001)

"A 'fake it until you make it' mentality insures only one thing...you won't make it." (Mike Myatt, 1998)

"A rush to justice in the absence of truth is the greatest injustice of all. Emotion, opinion & even reason are no substitute for truth." (Mike Myatt, 1985)

"Hearing the truth, regardless of how tough it might be, is always better than the regret of not knowing. Ignorant bliss is still ignorance." (Mike Myatt, 1985)

"Guarantees are only as good as the character of the person or entity standing behind them." (Mike Myatt, 1985)



Branding (Personal & Corporate):
"While brand and reputation are not technically synonymous, they are inexorably linked. While not all people/companies have a brand, all brands do in fact have a reputation. Furthermore, a brand built without reputation as a key focus area is a brand that will eventually fall into decline." (Mike Myatt, 2009)

"It is important to draw a distinction between personal or corporate branding and thought leadership. While thought leaders often become well recognized brands, there are many well crafted brands that have messaged thought leadership where none exists." (Mike Myatt, 2006)

"The business landscape is continuing to become more intimate and entrepreneurial as evidenced by an emerging trend which is placing greater emphasis on the creation of powerful personal brands which operate either in tandem with, or in place of corporate brands." (Mike Myatt, 1991)



Communications:
"Communication skills acquired and/or knowledge gained are only valuable to the extent that they can be practically applied when called for." (Mike Myatt, 2007)

"Learn to deliver your message with clarity. Simple and concise is better than complicated and confusing." (Mike Myatt, 2004)

"The more vague, general, or ambiguous an explanation is, the less command of the subject matter the person doing the explaining likely possesses." (Mike Myatt, 2000)

"Your title, education, influence, or charisma simply cannot overshadow the lack of sound communication skills." (Mike Myatt, 1996)

"If the strength, color, tenor, or character of an individuals message changes mid-stream, common sense would dictate that the underlying intent may be changing as well." (Mike Myatt, 1991)

"The genesis of most business mistakes can be traced to poor communication, or worse yet, no communication at all." (Mike Myatt, 1990)

"While content can create credibility, credibility can also enhance the view of content. Furthermore, the best content or spokesperson in the world when communicating to the wrong audience, with the wrong message, or through the wrong medium is likely to miss the mark." (Mike Myatt, 1989)

"Brevity matters. The importance of clear, lucid, and straight-forward communication is critical to your success." (Mike Myatt, 1988)



Crisis Management:
"The current always-on, real-time, and often invasive world of media coverage means that companies are only just ever a slight faux pas away from crisis mode." (Mike Myatt, 2007)

"When trouble hits don't waste time in panic mode. Gather wise counsel, create a plan, and execute. All storms come to an end." (Mike Myatt, 2000)

"Controversy can create conflict or opportunity. The choice is yours...choose wisely." (Mike Myatt, 1999)

"Anticipate and Insulate!" (Mike Myatt, 1992)

"Average leaders deal with trouble when it occurs, good leaders steer around it, & great leaders turn trouble into opportunity." (Mike Myatt, 1989)



Decisioning:
"The ability to think contextually is what creates success across constituencies regardless of emotions or positions." (Mike Myatt, 2006)

"Allowing the urgent to impersonate the important is a sure-fire recipe for bad decisioning that is the outcome of enabled chaos." (Mike Myatt, 2002)

"Indecision is the arch nemeses of all who would desire to accomplish great things." (Mike Myatt, 2000)

Static thinking in a vacuum that does not take into account situational and contextual nuances will leave even the most experienced executives or entrepreneurs wondering what went wrong." (Mike Myatt, 1999)

"There are no shortcuts; only things that appear easier and faster at first blush. In the end, the only thing you get with a shortcut is a cut that bleeds." (Mike Myatt, 1988)

"The outcome of a leaders decisions are not only their stock in trade, but ultimately serve as their legacy as well." (Mike Myatt, 1985)



Economics and Capital:
"Growth in the public sector doesn't create jobs, it steals jobs from the private sector. Government expansion takes jobs from skilled labor, and gives them to unskilled labor. This creates a regressionary movement from an efficient, innovative and performance driven market, to a stagnant, apathetic, and tenure based bureaucracy ." (Mike Myatt, 2009)

"Put simply, the real problem with economics is that most economists don't have a clue..." (Mike Myatt, 2000)

"In the M&A world making the deal is the easy part...it is the post acquisition integration of culture and personality that causes most deals to fall short of the pre-transaction projections." (Mike Myatt, 1989)

"The influence a capital partner brings to the table is significantly more valuable than their funding in the grand scheme of things." (Mike Myatt, 1988)



Failure:
"Only fools go it alone. No matter what the circumstance, others have experienced something similar & will gladly help if you ask." (Mike Myatt, 2007)

"When you learn to view your mistakes as gimmes that will be exploited by your competitors you'll make fewer mistakes." (Mike Myatt, 2007)

"Anyone who says they haven't failed is lying, delusional, or has just never tried. Failure is normal, don't fear it; learn from it." (Mike Myatt, 2006)

"The only way to be chained to past failures is not to recognize your mistakes for what they are, and to not make the necessary changes for continued growth and development." (Mike Myatt, 2000)



Focus:
"Don't allow distractions to dilute your determination or deter your desire." (Mike Myatt, 2009)

"Biting off more than you can chew is not only painful when you choke, but it leaves a very bad taste in your mouth when it comes back up." (Mike Myatt, 2008)

"Multitasking is tantamount to executive suicide as it leads to a lack of focus and initiative overload." (Mike Myatt, 1995)

"Part-time efforts yield part-time results." (Mike Myatt, 1986)



Innovation:
"Don't allow your enterprise to adopt an attitude of complacency, because the simple truth is that complacency kills companies." (Mike Myatt, 2009)

"The power of innovation to totally transform a mediocre business into a category dominant company is really only deniable by the ignorant or the prejudiced." (Mike Myatt, 2008)

"A lack of innovative thinking is the precursor to a brand in decline." (Mike Myatt, 2006)

"Speed is a good thing as long as you're not too quick on the trigger. Ready-Fire-Aim normally results in missing the target. Speed only kills when you hit the bullseye." (Mike Myatt, 2005)

"Beware the change agents for the sake of change, but embrace change by design (radical or otherwise) for the good of the enterprise." (Mike Myatt, 2005)

"Things are what they are until you choose to change them. While apathy protects the status quo, action shatters it." (Mike Myatt, 2003)

""Don't succumb to a herd mentality and follow the masses toward mediocrity, or worse yet failure...Collaborate, Innovate and Dominate!" (Mike Myatt, 2001)

"Apathy is mediocrity's weapon of choice." (Mike Myatt, 2000)

"Rarely will you come across a static opportunity in the sense that it will stand idle and wait for you to act...significant opportunities are not only scarce, but they typically operate on the principal of diminishing returns. The longer you wait to seize the opportunity the smaller the return typically is. In fact, more likely is the case that the opportunity will completely evaporate if you wait too long to seize it." (Mike Myatt, 1998)

"One of my contentions about why change is difficult to implement is that too many executives want perfection to proceed action, and the truth is that the pursuit of perfection is one of great adversaries of speed." (Mike Myatt,1991)

"Hesitation and caution are the traits that your competitors most appreciate about you." (Mike Myatt, 1987)



Leadership:
"Leadership is not what you know or who you know, but how to transfer what you know into the hearts and minds of who you know." (Mike Myatt, 2009)

"The strongest argument for great leadership is what happens in its absence...very little." (Mike Myatt, 2009)

"A leader's remarks should not patronize, belittle, or condescend. They should challenge, inspire & engender confidence." (Mike Myatt, 2009)

"Rationalization and justification are poor substitutes for doing the right thing." (Mike Myatt, 2009)

"As a leader you will live or die by the quality of the decisions you make. When you're the leader good decisioning is expected, poor decisioning won't be tolerated, and great decisioning will set you apart from the masses." (Mike Myatt, 2009)

"Those who seek shelter in the wisdom of sound counsel must also be willing to take refuge there. Those unwilling to do the latter really don't value the former." (Mike Myatt, 2009)

"One size fits all leadership styles restrict the effectiveness of professionals, alienate staff and peers, and limit the ability of a company to thrive in ever changing markets." (Mike Myatt, 2009)

"Workforce reduction is not an operating strategy. Managing revenue risk through workforce reduction is simply a sign of poor executive leadership. If an employee is a valued asset one day, and somehow expendable the next day, then I question how valuable they were to begin with." (Mike Myatt, 2008)

"Decoupling vision from leadership will cause organizational implosion." (Mike Myatt, 2008)

"Leaders replete with rhetoric, but lacking in substance will fall much harder and faster than they arose." (Mike Myatt, 2008)

"Leadership begins and ends with the trust engendered by the character of your decisions, actions and associations." (Mike Myatt, 2007)

"Any leader void of philanthropic interest has a critical gap that needs to be filled. Compassion and leadership are not mutually exclusive." (Mike Myatt, 2007)

"Leadership's not hard: serve, keep your commitments, listen more than you speak, when you do speak, mean what you say & say what you mean." (Mike Myatt, 2006)

"Great leaders have few rights and many obligations. Real leaders understand that service is an obligation of privilege." (Mike Myatt, 2006)

"Real leaders spend the preponderance of their time on items of significance and not of success." (Mike Myatt, 2006)

"Leadership without understanding is an exercise in frivolity. You cannot solve problems or exploit opportunities that you don't understand." (Mike Myatt, 2006)

"Leadership sells hope when needed, and the willingness to accept a lack thereof when necessary." (Mike Myatt, 2005)

"After character, the ability to create, evangelize, and execute on your vision is what will make or break you as a leader." (Mike Myatt, 2005)

"Leadership is nothing but for the worthiness of the cause, and the value created from its undertaking." (Mike Myatt, 2005)

"Leadership without action and execution is just more tired rhetoric." (Mike Myatt, 2005)

"Landmines are everywhere in business, but the great leaders know where they can walk confidently, where they must tread softly, and where they must never go at all." (Mike Myatt, 2004)

"Leaders must not only absorb the right information, but they must transform it into actionable knowledge." (Mike Myatt, 2004)

"Mastery is a concept of arrogance. Leaders who believe they've mastered something have only reached the point of certain risk of disappointment." (Mike Myatt, 2004)

"There exists a season for all things, but decisive, prudent and principled leadership never goes out of season." (Mike Myatt, 2003)

"While intrigue & mystery make for great novels, I don't count them among positive leadership traits. Reclusive leaders lack effectiveness." (Mike Myatt, 2003)

"Real leaders won't accept credit for success, but always claim responsibility for failure." (Mike Myatt, 2003)

"While it takes years of solid decision making to reach the boardroom it often times only takes one bad decision to fall from the ivory tower." (Mike Myatt, 2003)

"Leaders understand there are no victories to be won by participating in the blame game. Blame doesn't inspire, it breeds malcontent." (Mike Myatt, 2002)

"Key employees are not assets but rather large contingent liabilities. The problem with key employees begins the very second you publicly identify someone as such." (Mike Myatt, 2002)

"Experience creates the ability to see & hear what others cannot. If you don't possess the needed experience surround yourself with it."(Mike Myatt, 2002)

"We have all witnessed companies that have been over managed in the absence of leadership. When leadership has been abdicated to management in a corporate setting, you will always find that growth slows, morale declines, creativity wanes, and the competitive edge is weakened." (Mike Myatt, 2001)

"Everyone experiences anger, but only the foolhardy let it out as rage. Effective leaders calmly express displeasure w/out anger." (Mike Myatt, 2001)

"The pursuit of knowledge and wisdom should be a life long endeavor, and should not end with the receipt of a degree. Great leaders never stop learning." (Mike Myatt, 1999)

"Leadership requires a willingness to endure the heartburn and brain-damage associated with the journey of helping others succeed." (Mike Myatt, 1998)

"People-pleasers have great trouble in positions of leadership. They inevitably compromise values in favor of popularity. Big mistake." (Mike Myatt, 1997)

"Leaders understand that passion creates purpose, purpose in turn creates focus, and focus leads to results." (Mike Myatt, 1997)

"Great leaders are accomplished at knowing when action needs to be tempered with patience and discretion." (Mike Myatt, 1996)

"Great leaders create powerful independent thinkers not weak dependent relationships." (Mike Myatt, 1994)

"Leadership is only as sustainable as the leaders ability to positively impact those whom they influence and serve." (Mike Myatt, 1993)

"The only real guarantees that come with a position of leadership are those of hard work and criticism. Everything else is gravy." (Mike Myatt, 1992)

"If not expeditiously extinguished, gossip and innuendo can kill even the best initiatives. Leaders trade in truth and reality." (Mike Myatt, 1992)

"Great leaders see themselves as organizational physicians aggressively seeking to eradicate all maladies and afflictions." (Mike Myatt, 1991)

"Don't be a doer without being a thinker, yet don't be a thinker without being a doer. Great leaders are both thinkers & doers." (Mike Myatt, 1990)

"Knowledge and the willingness to apply it for the benefit of others is the basis for sound leadership." (Mike Myatt, 1988)

"The best way to inspire others is to challenge yourself to become a better leader and succeed." (Mike Myatt, 1988)

"Vision without action while often entertaining, is ultimately a useless endeavor. However action without vision while likewise an exercise in frivolity, is rarely entertaining and quite often results in tremendous cost and pain." (Mike Myatt, 1987)

"Too many leaders fail to focus on the main thing...serving those they lead. Make those around you successful, and you become significant." (Mike Myatt, 1987)

"Great leaders understand that patience is only a virtue when not confused with complacency or apathy." (1986)

"The success of a leader is best measured by the performance, growth & development, and loyalty of their followers." (Mike Myatt, 1986)

"Real leaders don't allow their emotions to override their focus, or their sense of right thinking and right acting." (Mike Myatt, 1985)

"Few can comprehend the heavy burden of leadership until it rests squarely upon their own shoulders." (Mike Myatt, 1985)



Miscellaneous:
"Remember that opinion doesn't miraculously become fact simply by adding emphasis." (Mike Myatt, 2008)

"Purveyors of nonsense make a mockery of common sense with their incessant attacks on the interruption of reason." (Mike Myatt, 2002)

"Creativity is a luxury, but the ability to deliver a certainty of execution is a necessity." (Mike Myatt, 1996)

"While the art of closing a deal requires great skill, it takes almost no effort whatsoever to blow-up a transaction. One of the fastest ways to watch a deal vaporize right before your eyes is to let your ego write checks that your skill can't cash." (Mike Myatt, 1996)

"Positive feedback while flattering, doesn't provide the opportunity for growth and development that constructive criticism offers." (Mike Myatt, 1995)

"Speed is a great asset so long as you don't move so fast that attention to detail is sacrificed." (Mike Myatt, 1995)

"Don't let your ego write checks your ability can't cash." (Mike Myatt, 1994)

"Cost containment is not a business strategy." (Mike Myatt, 1993)

"Loyalty should be present in all healthy relationships. Loyalty earned is loyalty deserved. Loyalty abused should be loyalty lost." (Mike Myatt, 1993)

"Ease of attainment is just one reference point, and it is often the wrong benchmark to focus on." (Mike Myatt, 1993)

"You will fail to get a hit 100% of the time you don't swing the bat." (Mike Myatt, 1991)

"Quality is not a characteristic well served by fractionalized application." (Mike Myatt, 1991)

"Arrogance does not qualify as a substitute for confidence." (Mike Myatt, 1989))

"Possible vs impossible, plausible vs not plausible, probable vs improbable, or fantasy vs reality...experience, discernment and effort will determine the outcome." (Mike Myatt, 1986)

"Nothing is more valuable than lost time because you can't quantify the magnitude of the lost opportunity cost. Make the most of your time." (Mike Myatt, 1986)

"Hubris can be a needed trait to call upon at times, but to rely solely upon it as the foundation of your leadership style just won�t work." (Mike Myatt, 1984)



Organization:
"How do you tell if chaos is taking over? check your desktop, inbox, voicemail, task list, and the health of your relationships." (Mike Myatt, 2001)

"Great leaders see themselves as organizational physicians aggressively seeking to eradicate all maladies and afflictions." (Mike Myatt, 1999)

"Chaos must eventually give way to order so that any success initially achieved will not to be squandered." (Mike Myatt, 1993)

"Great success is not sustainable without even greater organizational ability." (Mike Myatt, 1991)

"A private world out of balance will eventually lead to professional discord. Don't allow a frenzied pace to overcome your ability to execute." (Mike Myatt, 1988)



Passion:
"There is a difference between passion and irrational exuberance...passion creates purpose, and irrational exuberance creates chaos." (Mike Myatt, 2008)

"Passion can certainly provide a clarity of purpose allowing the accomplishment of great things as long as it's balanced by reason and not allowed to impede your true calling." (Mike Myatt, 2005)

"Never allow your passion to be subordinated to trivial matters. A focus on your passion will always provide clarity of purpose." (Mike Myatt, 1991)



Process & Best Practices:
"When a practice evolves to the level of becoming a �best practice� its time has already past." (Mike Myatt, 2007)

"The key to great process is surrender, not control." (Mike Myatt, 2007)

"Analysis Paralysis only applies to flawed analysis. Good analysis has a conclusion and validates taking action." (Mike Myatt, 1994)

"Best Practices creates a herd mentality that stifles innovation and leads to accelerated obsolescence." (Mike Myatt, 1994)

"There are many who would say process stifles creativity and slows production...While I would concur that this statement is usually the case with bad process, nothing could be further from the truth as it relates to good process. Good process serves as a catalyst for innovation, which in turn optimizes and accelerates workflow and enhances the productivity of business initiatives." (Mike Myatt, 1990)

"Values should underpin Vision, which dictates Mission, which determines Strategy, which surfaces Goals, that frame Objectives, which in turn drives the Tactics that tell an organization what Resources, Infrastructure and Processes are needed to support a certainty of execution." (Mike Myatt, 1988)



Productivity:
"Who are the least productive members of your team? Why? Coach them to productivity or replace them. There is no third option." (Mike Myatt, 2008)

"Getting things done doesn't necessarily make you productive. The issue isn't getting things done, but rather it's getting the right things done, at the right time, and for the right reasons." (Mike Myatt, 2002)



Success:
"Success is in the eye of the beholder, whereas significance is a view of you that is held by others." (Mike Myatt, 2008)

"Aspiration alone will not guarantee achievement. Personal effort must be multiplied by & through others to truly succeed." (Mike Myatt, 2008)

"It's a fallacy to believe that money can buy success. It just accelerates or delays the inevitable outcome." (Mike Myatt, 2008)

"Strip away the excuses, rationalizations and justifications and the only thing standing between you and whatever your objective may be is what you see staring back at you when you look in the mirror each morning." (Mike Myatt, 2007)

"Failure to recognize the contributions of others in your success is a sign that your success is shallow and will be short-lived." (Mike Myatt, 2002)

"Manage promises like projects. Build a culture that breaks down all commitments made into deliverables, benchmarks, and deadlines." (Mike Myatt, 2001)

"Resolve that strength of character & genuine interest in others will be your best traits & you will surely succeed." (Mike Myatt, 2000)

"True confidence comes when your public face is aligned with who you are inside and the facades are removed." (Mike Myatt, 1999)

"Nothing in life is as rewarding as watching your children make great decisions without your input." (Mike Myatt, 1998)

"While great rewards come to those who are well prepared when opportunities present themselves, greater rewards come to those who create the opportunities to begin with..." (Mike Myatt, 1994)



Talent Management:
"The principle of tenure stifles innovation and suppresses talent...Organizations built upon tenure reward the wrong behaviors and as a result have mediocre employees, sub-par products and solutions, atrocious customer service, a negative corporate culture, and will eventually watch their brand fall into decline." (Mike Myatt, 2008)

"Key employees are not assets but rather large contingent liabilities. The problem with key employees begins the very second you publicly identify someone as such." (Mike Myatt, 2002)

"Don't allow your company to be talent poor and key employee dependent, but become talent rich by becoming key employee independent." (Mike Myatt, 2000)

"Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual"

For Immediate Release: Portland, Oregon 10/15/07



Portland OR---October 15th, 2007 --- N2growth announced today that Mike Myatt, its Managing Director and Chief Strategy Officer has authored a new book entitled "Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual" which is due to be released in time for Christmas Sales. The book is written for both aspiring CEOs and those that already hold the title of Chief Executive Officer. Authored by Mike Myatt, America's Top CEO Coach the book provides a rare look at what it takes to survive and thrive as a CEOs in today's competitive business world.



The "CEO Survival Manual" contains the following chapters:



Chapter 1: Introduction...A Little Perspective On What Really Matters
Chapter 2: CEO...The Toughest Job On The Org Chart
Chapter 3: Becoming a True Leader...Do You Have What It Takes?
Chapter 4: Speed, Timing & Innovation...Leading Change as a CEO
Chapter 5: Talent Management for the CEO
Chapter 6: Creating Dominant Corporate Brands
Chapter 7: The Value of Process
Chapter 8: The 7 Secret Weapons of Great CEOs
Chapter 9: The 5 Traps That Great CEOs Avoid
Postscript: It's How You Finish That Counts



"With the tenure of CEOs being at an all time low, the demands upon the chief executive have never been more challenging or less forgiving. In today's rapidly evolving and increasingly competitive global market, CEOs must be on top of their game. While the C-suite used to provide a level of insulation and protection those days are long gone...A CEO's ability to survive will be directly influenced by their competency in providing leadership, generating consistent and sustainable results, effectively stewarding the corporate brand, adeptly managing talent and your ability to positively influence multiple constituencies. The book addresses all these issues and more" said Mike Myatt, Managing Director and Chief Strategy Officer at N2growth.



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Capital vs. Influence

Capital vs. Influence
Posted on July 30th, 2009 by admin in Financing - M&A

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth

I have long held that the influence a capital partner brings to the table is significantly more valuable than their funding in the grand scheme of things. I often work with clients helping them to navigate the complexities of the financing world, and since I’ve authored other posts on valuation, capital structure, negotiations, M&A, employment agreements, etc., in today’s post I’m going to focus on what you want out of an investment partner post closing. Hint: its not about the money.

You did everything your were supposed to do; you developed a product, validated proof of concept, protected your intellectual property, did your due diligence on the investment community, put your offering memorandum together, banked a ton of frequent flyer miles on your road show, painstakingly negotiated valuation, closed the current round of financing, and gave up a few board seats. But now that the beauty contest is over, and you have a very real, and often demanding investment partner kibitzing from the cheap seats, what post-closing value are they really adding?

From my perspective I’d advise clients to give a bit on valuation, or live with more rigid financial engineering to acquire influence (gain access to markets, knowledge, intelligence, connections or superior business savvy). Let me take this thinking one step further…I simply wouldn’t recommend clients accept capital from investors who can’t wield influence on their behalf, and add significant non-financial value to their business model.

While most venture capital and private equity firms will tout the non-financial value adds they bring to the table pre-closing, the reality is that most of them simply don’t deliver post-closing. In fact, many investors simply don’t carry much clout, or add very little value once the deal is closed. What a sad commentary on the state of equity markets, since the best way for an investor to manage the risk surrounding their investment. Astute investors mitigate risks and help to insure operational success by adding value to the business model, and by filling gaps that may exist in any of the areas I mentioned in the opening sentence of the preceding paragraph.

I recently keynoted at a leadership summit held by a venture capital firm, who in a brilliant move, brought together all their portfolio CEOs for two days of collaboration about what is, and is not working in this economy. I had assumed that this firm did this regularly, only to later find out that this was the inaugural event. I probed further to ask if they considered holding similar events for the CFOs, CIOs, CSOs, CTOs, CMOs, etc. of their portfolio companies. The answer was interesting: “wow, we hadn’t thought about that.” Following are just a few representative non-financial questions that I recommend my clients ask of potential investors:
What can you do for my company besides invest in it?
How many professional advisers and consultants do you have on retainer, or on staff that I can leverage for my firm?
Will I have unfettered access to other CXOs within your portfolio companies?
What can you bring to the table that will expand my distribution, add velocity to my sales, increase my brand equity, open new markets, etc.?

The bottom line is this; I view one of the primary obligations of venture capital and private equity firms to be to drive collaboration and innovation across their portfolio companies. That being said, they also need to be actively engaged in catalyzing high impact sales, marketing, and business development activities with strategic and tactical partners outside the portfolio. The moral of this story is don’t get so hung-up on valuation that you fail to get the in the trenches expertise your company will need in future.

Examining Leadership Rhetoric

Examining Leadership Rhetoric
Posted on September 17th, 2009 by admin in Leadership, Rants

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth

There is nothing short of a voluminous amount of leadership information being published on a daily basis. The number of books, blogs, tweets, videos, webcasts, podcasts, etc., being pushed into the market is reaching truly overwhelming proportions. It’s been my experience that regardless of the subject, it is precisely when the noise becomes the loudest, that it’s most difficult for the consumer to extract quality and value from the market. The text that follows is not meant as a rebuke of my industry, but rather as a challenge to my fellow practitioners…It is my hope that this post stimulates vigorous discussion, and a great deal of thought on how we evolve the practice and discipline of leadership, not for our own glory, but for the good of our clients and society as a whole.

As leadership advisors and coaches we counsel our clients on the need for change and innovation, but have we become the proverbial shoe maker without shoes? We ask our clients ”why should anyone be led by you?” but a better question might be “why should anyone be advised by us?” When was the last time you read something new, groundbreaking, or significant with regard to the practice and discipline of leadership? Is it because everything valuable in regard to leadership has already been discovered? I think not…rather I believe that many among us are sadly lacking the innovative approach to our practice that we demand from our clients.

I believe our world is suffering greatly due to a lack of leadership. Examine any of the major problems of our time and you’ll quickly and clearly see a lack of leadership at the root of the issue. In fact, if you listen carefully you’ll readily hear a loud sucking sound that I refer to as the leadership vacuum. With all of us pushing leadership advice and counsel, why is it that our leaders are failing at such alarming rates? Are we as an industry fulfilling the mission of developing great leaders capable of handling great challenges and accomplishing great things, or are the majority of those entering our ranks just here to make a quick buck?

I would venture to say that there are literally tens of thousands of consultants and coaches who bill themselves as leadership subject matter experts. If you Google ”leadership development” more than 4 million search results are returned. How many of these practitioners are qualified? Who are the real leadership thought leaders? Spare me the slick info-product sales people, and give me authentic, professional practitioners of the art and science of leadership.

I have long believed in eating my own cooking. I simply don’t proffer what I don’t practice. I can’t help clients lead change if my business model is antiquated or static. It is simply not possible to develop leaders if you’re not one yourself. Let’s not create more trumped-up professional credentials to make unqualified practitioners feel better about themselves, but let’s focus on the real issue…being better practitioners of our craft, and delivering real value through actionable advice rendered to our clients.

I’m not interested in more tired rhetoric, but I am sincerely interested in welcoming dialogue with anyone passionate about the profession of leadership.

Why Do Businesses Fail? - 10 REASONS

Why Do Businesses Fail?
Posted on March 10th, 2010 by admin in Leadership, Operations & Strategy

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth


Why do business fail? Given the current state of the economy, I would say it’s a safe bet that many of you have pondered the answer to this question as we watch companies close their doors on a daily basis. The unfortunate reality is that well more than 50% of all new business ventures fail within the first three years, and especially during tough economic times, many mature, even once category dominant companies fail over time. In today’s post I’ll share my thoughts as to the real number one reason why businesses fail – It’s not what you think…

I don’t believe there’s too much debate among “the experts” that the most frequently cited cause of business failure is a lack of capital. While the recent events on Wall St might lead you to believe it’s true, capital while clearly a nice luxury, doesn’t make a large operating reserve a necessity (here I go picking on “the experts” again). You see, I have witnessed well capitalized ventures fail miserably, and severely under-capitalized ventures eventually grow into category dominant brands. A lack of capital can provide a socially acceptable excuse for business failure, but it is not the reason businesses fail.

Before we go any further, let’s just put a fork in the lack of capital excuse…While it may be every entrepreneur’s fantasy to launch their business with 5 years operating reserves in the bank, the reality is that this very rarely happens. Additionally, it is not really the amount of capital a venture secures, but rather the relationship between the amount of capital raised and identified capital requirements…as we’ve all watched in recent months, the real issue is not how much capital you have, but rather how effectively the capital is deployed and managed.

I would go so far as to say that well capitalized start-ups may have a higher mortality rate than their thinly capitalized counterparts. When capital is a scarce commodity, each spending or investment decision tends to be made with great care. A lack of capital forces entrepreneurs to prioritize their decisions, and to focus their efforts on high impact areas. Well capitalized ventures on the other hand often make ill-advised decisions, and frivolous expenditures that result in lower margins and increased commitments to overhead creating unnecessary operational burdens on the enterprise.

The reality is that you can ask 10 different people why businesses fail, and you’ll likely receive 10 different answers. While each answer could well be a contributing factor to the demise of a business venture, there is in my opinion one singular cause for all business failures…a lack of sound leadership. When I refer to leadership in today’s context, I’m pointing specifically to executive leadership as represented by the entrepreneur or CEO. In the 10 points listed below I’ll examine some of the more common reasons attributed to business failure, and I’ll likewise assess the roles and responsibilities of leadership as they pertain to the following reasons:
Lack of Vision: It is the role of the CEO to clearly define and communicate the corporate vision. If there is no vision, a flawed vision, or a poorly communicated vision, the responsibility falls squarely in the lap of executive leadership. Moreover, if the vision is not in alignment with the corporate values there will also be troubled waters ahead. No vision equals no leadership…
Lack of Execution: Everything boils down to execution, and insuring a certainty of execution is job number one for executive leadership. If as an entrepreneur or CEO you don’t focus on deploying the necessary talent and resources to insure that the largest risks are adequately managed, or that the biggest opportunities are exploited, then you have a leadership team destined for failure.
Lack of Capital: Raising, deploying, and managing capital is ultimately the responsibility of leadership. The amount of capital required to run a business is based upon how the business is operated. Therefore if leadership operates the business without consideration for capital constraints, or irrespective of capital formation issues, then the blame should fall squarely on the shoulders of leadership. Morever, if executive leadership squanders capital through irresponsible acts, there will also be severe consequences.
Lack of Management: It is the job of leadership to recruit, mentor, deploy, and retain management talent. If the management team is not getting the job done that is the fault off executive leadership.
Lack of Sales: A lack of sales is ultimately attributable to a lack of leadership. Pricing, positioning, branding, distribution, or any number of other metrics tied to sales force productivity all rest with executive leadership.
No Market: Good leadership pursues sound market opportunities. Pursuing the wrong market, or pursuing the right market improperly is also the fault of executive leadership.
Poor Professional Advice: Nobody has cornered the market on knowledge and wisdom. If leadership doesn’t seek out the best quality advice available to them, then they will likely not make the best decisions. All CEOs and entrepreneurs need top quality professional advisers.
The Inability to Attract and Retain Talent: Great leaders surround themselves with great talent. They understand that talent begets more talent. If your company doesn’t possess the talent it needs to achieve its business objectives no one is to blame but leadership.
Competitive Awareness: A business does not need to be the category dominant player to avoid failure. That being said, it is the leadership’s responsibility to understand the competitive landscape and navigate it successfully.
Obsolescence or Market Changes: If executive leadership is in touch with the market it will be difficult to be caught by surprise. It is the responsibility of executive leadership to make sure that the proper attention is given to innovation, business intelligence and market research to manage the risk of obsolescence and market changes.

Bottom line…the talent that it takes to operate at the C-suite level is matched only by the amount of responsibility that goes with the territory. If it was an easy job everyone would be a CEO or entrepreneur.

Facing Challenges

Facing Challenges
Posted on April 29th, 2010 by admin in Crisis Management, Productivity

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth

Regardless of where you are in your life and your career, I can promise you one thing; you will consistently be faced with challenges and obstacles along the way. You will face physical, mental, financial, relational, and resource challenges among others. Instead of beating yourself up or giving in, it is critical that you develop the ability to learn from setbacks. In today’s post I will take a brief look at the beliefs that cause some to succeed where others fail. In a nutshell, dealing with barriers, obstacles, and setbacks requires both attitude and aptitude. So my question is this; Do you have the skills and perspective to thrive under pressure and to succeed, or will you implode when faced with a challenge?

Sir Edmund Hillary was unsuccessful on three different occasions in his attempt to climb Mt. Everest before his successful summit in 1953. People who lauded the praises of his triumphent ascent said, “You’ve conquered the mountain,” and Sir Hillary said, “No, I’ve conquered myself.” The bitter experiences of the three failed attempts did not hold back Hillary from a fourth one. With strong will, and relentless enthusiasm, he pursued his goal and achieved it.

Anyone who has ever launched a new initiative understands the inevitability of running into numerous barriers over the life-cycle of any project. The difference between those who succeed, and those that fail, is their perspective on how to deal with the barriers they encounter along the way. People often stumble over even the smallest of obstacles, while all too easily considering these routine speed-bumps as rational excuses for their failures. Setbacks and difficulties are an inevitable part of life. While they will often challenge your skills and temperament, it is those who are willing to spend the time assessing the obstacles as they arise, and who refuse to submit to their various trials that will succeed. The ability to blow through barriers must become a passion if you want to achieve sustainable success in the business world.

I could certainly paint a more complex picture of what it takes to overcome challenges by citing esoteric theories, but the truth of the matter is that the only thing required to get beyond barriers is to stop complaining about the challenges and obstacles, and spend your time solving problems & creating outcome based solutions. If my objective is to get to the other side of the wall, I don’t really care if I go over the wall, under the wall, around the wall or through the wall…I just care that I get to the other side. While I might spend a bit of time evaluating the most efficient strategy for getting to the other side of said wall, it will ultimately be my focus on the tactical execution of conquering the challenge that will determine my success. A bias toward action is always a better path than falling prey to analysis paralysis. Generally speaking, there are only really two ways to address difficulties:
You can either change the circumstances surrounding the difficulty, or;
Change yourself to better deal with the circumstances or the difficulty itself.

You can deal with difficulties properly and leverage your experience (or better yet the experience of others) to enhance your confidence, or you can deal with them incorrectly and let them seriously damage your confidence, performance and ultimately your reputation. Following are 4 things to consider when setbacks do occur:
Be honest enough to acknowledge what has happened. Don’t hide from the reality of the situation at hand. Setbacks happen…don’t be discouraged, learn from them, deal with them, and move on.
Turn setbacks into development opportunities by asking positive questions such as: What are the positives surrounding this situation? How can I make the most of this situation? What can I learn from it? What are the facts underlying this problem? How can I avoid this situation next time?
Acknowledge the fact that setbacks occur to everyone and you are not being singled out.
View setbacks as a challenge to overcome rather than an issue or problem.

Just as a diamond cannot be polished without friction, neither can you fully develop your skills without them being tested by adversity. Use obstacles and failures as an opportunity to polish your skills. I think Winston Churchill said it best when he noted, “The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; the optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

Don't Recruit Next Generation Talent, Grow It

Don't Recruit Next Generation Talent, Grow It
By: Dan Heath and Chip HeathMay 1, 2010

It's Exciting to Acquire Talent, But... Disney nurtured homegrown stars the Jonas Brothers, a smart move worth emulating.
Dan Heath and Chip Heath explain why you should grow your next generation of talent, not recruit it.


The business world is obsessed with "talent" -- hiring it, retaining it, rewarding it. We're urged to "get the right people on the bus." (And, really, what better symbol of the high-performing enterprise than a bus?) The metaphor implies that good workers are portable units of competence. They can bring their talent to your bus or your competitor's bus, but ultimately, it's their prize to bestow.

What if talent is more like an orchid, thriving in certain environments and dying in others? It's an interesting question, full of nature-versus-nurture overtones; we could debate it endlessly. But Boris Groysberg, a professor at Harvard Business School, has spoiled the debate with an unsporting move. He's gathered some data. And what he discovered forces us to rethink the argument.

In his new book, Chasing Stars: The Myth of Talent and the Portability of Performance, Groysberg studies a group of professionals renowned for the portability of their talent -- Wall Street research analysts. Analysts are a hybrid of researchers and pundits; they study public companies and write recommendations about whether to buy or sell their stocks.

To do that, analysts need good research and writing skills, and more important, they need great relationships with top executives (to get the straight dope) and with reporters (to spread their conclusions). This would seem to be the ideal free-agent job because when analysts switch firms, they retain their skills and their network. In fact, there's a common saying on Wall Street: "When an analyst moves from one firm to another, the only thing that changes is the letterhead."

Analysts were a great target for Groysberg because everyone believes their talent is portable, and, even better, it's easy to track their performance. The magazine Institutional Investor ranks analysts based on both the opinions of their peers and customer polls, and these rankings serve as a kind of universally accepted scoreboard.

You can see the science shaping up here: If talent is portable, then the analysts' rankings should persist after a transfer.

So what happened? Groysberg reports, "Star equity analysts who switched employers paid a high price for jumping ship. Overall, their job performance plunged sharply and continued to suffer for at least five years after moving to a new firm." Worse, switching firms doubled the chance that an analyst would fall off the rankings entirely (32% versus 16%).

So talent is not, in fact, perfectly portable, even in a job that is one of the most independent around (except for, perhaps, janitors and NFL placekickers).

What gives? Wall Streeters mistakenly see analysts as solo stars, but in reality, Groysberg found that even the best analysts depend heavily on an array of resources inside their firms. They rely on junior analysts who do their number crunching, other analysts who give them feedback, and salespeople who promote their ideas to clients. Not to mention the systems and culture within the firm.

There was one fascinating exception to these findings, a group of people who didn't suffer the lag in performance after transferring: women. Groysberg contends that the alpha-male culture on Wall Street, which never fully embraces women, forces them to compensate by beefing up their external networks, which are more portable. (Either that, or women are superior. Take your pick.)

So what do these findings mean for the world outside of Wall Street? Should we conclude that there's no such thing as different innate levels of talent? Of course not. The Baldwin brothers alone are enough to refute that. But the only way to take control of your firm's talent pool is to create it yourself. (And you should definitely get your child on the Wall Street-analyst career track. A job that entails writing persuasive essays on trucking firms must surely be the world's most preposterous route to a seven-figure salary.)

For instance, Hindustan Unilever, the Indian subsidiary of the consumer goods giant, has developed a reputation as a talent factory. How? Its senior managers are expected to spend 30% to 40% of their time grooming leaders. And executives usually change roles every two to three years so that they learn different aspects of the business. These investments may seem costly, but they have helped HUL become a $4.4 billion company, which reported 5.4% net profit growth at the end of 2009 -- and the envy of other companies worldwide.

When you own the talent factory, you've created a permanent competitive advantage. So if one of your stars leaves, you can simply wish him the best of luck on his new bus. And then grow another star to take his place.

Dan Heath and Chip Heath are the authors of the No. 1 New York Times best seller Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, as well as Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.

7 Lessons for Navigating the Storm

7 Lessons for Navigating the Storm
Q&A with: William W. George
Published: October 13, 2009
Author: Martha Lagace

Executive Summary:

Leading in crisis requires a combination of skills and behaviors—personal and professional—that can be mastered, says HBS professor Bill George. A crisis, difficult as it is, also presents an opportunity to develop and grow. Q&A and excerpt from 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis. Key concepts include:
In a crisis, remember your internal compass of values: When one strikes leaders often look for an "at-any-cost" quick fix in attempting to save face, says George.
To ensure that economic recovery is long-lasting and that future business is sustainable, leaders must practice a clear set of principles.
It's OK, even necessary, for leaders to be open with others, admit mistakes, and look to trusted friends and associates for advice and support.
Use a crisis as an opportunity to reshape the market.

It is tough to think positively in a crisis. Yet one overarching lesson in a new book by HBS professor Bill George, 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis (Jossey-Bass), is exactly that: See crisis as a chance to develop and enhance your leadership skills.

"Optimistic, forward-thinking leaders are sitting on a rare opportunity, and they must be systematic in how they take advantage of it if they want to make positive changes," says George, a Professor of Management Practice at HBS and the former chairman and CEO of Medtronic, which develops medical technologies to treat chronic diseases.
"Crises offer rare opportunities to make major changes in an organization because they lessen the resistance that exists in good times."

"Leaders must be willing to ask for help," he continues. "They should rely on a mentor, an internal management team, and an external support group. No one can be an effective leader in a crisis by attempting to go it alone. Leaders must be the first to recognize this reality and plan accordingly."

The seven leadership lessons include:
Face reality, starting with yourself.
Don't be Atlas; get the world off your shoulders.
Dig deep for the root cause.
Get ready for the long haul.
Never waste a good crisis.
You're in the spotlight: follow your True North.
Go on offense: focus on winning now.

"Leaders must also remember that they are in the spotlight during a crisis," adds George, whose previous books include True North and Authentic Leadership. "Everyone inside and outside the company is watching what they do. It is imperative that they stay focused on their True North as it sets a standard internally for principled business behavior and will make their companies stronger over time."

George explained more in an e-mail Q&A with HBS Working Knowledge. (An excerpt follows from his new book, 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis.)

Martha Lagace: What leadership gaps do you see today in business and society?

Bill George: I wrote 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis to explore why so many leaders fail to step up and lead during a crisis such as the global economic crisis of 2008-09. I found that many failed to follow seven universal lessons for leading in crisis. I believe the root cause of the recent financial crisis was leaders who practiced short-termism. Many business leaders focused primarily on short-term results—the next quarterly report and the rewards that come from short-term success—while ignoring their responsibilities to sustaining and building the company's long-term fiscal health.

Ironically, it was the Wall Street leaders who put so much pressure on corporate America to play the short-term game who got hit with their own boomerang. As a result, many of these leaders have departed the scene, just as numerous corporate CEOs did in the wake of the Enron debacle earlier in the decade.

Some of these leaders failed to follow their True North, the internal compass of their beliefs, values, and principles that guide them through life. Breaking away from one's True North becomes particularly prevalent when a crisis strikes because leaders often look for an "at-any-cost" quick fix in attempting to save face. These leaders either could not handle the pressures of the crisis, or got caught up in the seductions of instant gratification that offered them money, status, and power. In either case, they failed to face the reality of the crisis and admit their mistakes.

There is a noticeable void today of principle-driven leadership in business and society. In the depths of a major crisis—much like the one we're in now—is where a principled approach to leadership and decision-making is most needed. The leaders who successfully navigate their organizations through crises are ones who focused on their leadership principles and stayed true to their values. Only by practicing a clear set of principles can we ensure that the recovery is long-lasting and that future business is sustainable. As a society, we need to get back to practicing values-centered leadership. That's the only way we can restore integrity to leadership.

We need fresh ideas to incentivize principled-centered leadership. How can we create a corporate atmosphere where principles are honored along with long-term, sustainable results? How do we prepare new leaders to abide by their True North, even in the most severe crises? What changes does a leader need to make internally to ensure that the company's values extend throughout the entire organization? These are the questions that need answering, and it's up to the emerging generation of leaders to answer them.

Q: It is a paradox that leaders must inspire confidence in others, yet to be effective they should also be self-reflective and recognize their own weaknesses. Please elaborate; you write in your book that "learning how to express your vulnerabilities on appropriate occasions is an emerging leadership skill."

A: One of the great myths of leadership in recent years is that leaders have to appear strong and invulnerable to mistakes and pressures. All of us without exception make mistakes and will capitulate under enough pressure. The key is being open with others, taking them into your confidence, admitting your mistakes, and looking to them for advice and support. Rarely does anyone turn down a leader who genuinely asks for help.

Yet we're exposed regularly by the media to the stereotype of the flawless leader who always has an answer and is never left questioning a decision. While most leaders know this is a fantasy, they still struggle with admitting their own vulnerability when a situation goes awry and crisis strikes. It's as if doing so is tantamount to admitting failure as a leader.

This tension is not necessarily surprising. Fortune 500 CEOs are some of the most driven, results-oriented people on the planet. Because their jobs compel them to demand a great deal from their employees, their companies, and their products, most demand the same from themselves. In so doing, they are at risk of letting their egos take over and letting their protective shells harden. When things go wrong—which they inevitably do—they assume the fault lies elsewhere. Yet in most cases the leaders bear a high degree of responsibility for the problems, often as a result of the direct or indirect pressures they put on their people.

Authentic leaders find ways to resolve this struggle. Expressing humility is a great skill because it not only brings leaders closer to their management teams and employees, but also encourages similar candidness and humility in others. By taking the first step in revealing their vulnerabilities, leaders encourage an atmosphere where concerns and doubts are voiced. Potentially unforeseen problems can be addressed sooner, and with a team focus. It's difficult to do, but expressing vulnerabilities appropriately will make leaders more effective.

Q: For emerging or future leaders, what lessons from your book would make them most effective in a crisis? Which most apply to seasoned leaders? Which lessons are most challenging or require the most practice and reinforcement?

A: Leaders are neither made nor born. Like great musicians and athletes, they are born with certain gifts that give them the potential to lead, but they have to develop their gifts in order to become effective leaders. There is no better way to do so than leading others through a crisis. I wrote 7 Lessons to help leaders learn about leading through a crisis. There they will develop much faster than they will in leading through good times, or studying how other leaders behaved in crises. As the military learned long ago, there is simply no substitute for being in the thick of a crisis and testing yourself.
"It's difficult to do, but expressing vulnerabilities appropriately will make leaders more effective."

In the midst of a crisis, Lessons #3 ("Dig deep for the root cause") and #4 ("Get ready for the long haul") can be especially useful for emerging leaders. Under the pressures of a crisis, there is a temptation for less experienced leaders to jump to quick-fix solutions that may mask the real problems. The only way to solve these problems is to understand their root cause and implement permanent solutions. Furthermore, when confronting significant problems, many leaders' first reaction may be that things can't really be that bad. As we learned in the financial crisis, things will likely get a lot worse. To survive the crisis, emerging leaders need to prepare for a long struggle to defend against the worst conditions so they will be prepared to pass through the eye of the storm.

For seasoned leaders, the most applicable are Lessons #5 and #7, "Never waste a good crisis" and "Go on offense: focus on winning now." So often the go-to strategy for veteran leaders when a crisis strikes is to buckle down and ride out the storm. They don't make any major changes. Instead, they wait until the climate is right to resume normal operations.

Crises offer rare opportunities to make major changes in an organization because they lessen the resistance that exists in good times. Leaders should move aggressively to take actions necessary to strengthen their organizations as they emerge from the crisis. Coming out of a crisis, the market never looks the same as it did going in. Leaders should see this as an opportunity to reshape the market to play to their strengths, while shedding their weaknesses. While others are licking their wounds, successful companies focus on winning now. These are often difficult lessons for veteran leaders to heed.

For many leaders, going on offense when they are in the depth of a crisis is most counter-intuitive, yet it is the winning strategy. Like the Chinese character for crisis that contains two symbols, danger and opportunity, crisis represents the best opportunity to transform your business and to win in the marketplace.

Q: What are you working on next?

A:I'm enjoying a new year of teaching at Harvard Business School. My Authentic Leadership Development (ALD) class has been phenomenal to work with so far. We now have four experienced faculty members teaching four sections with 240 students, yet there is still a long waiting list for the course.

I'm especially enjoying mentoring the next generation of leaders and having them mentor me. These young leaders are amazing people. I have great hope for the positive ways they will make a difference in the world as they step into important leadership roles. The financial crisis has a silver lining for them: Many are rethinking what they want to do with their lives and their leadership, rather than just "following the herd" into high-paying jobs that do not nourish or fulfill them. As painful as these adjustments are, this will be a healthy thing in the end.

I continue to sit on the boards of Goldman Sachs and ExxonMobil. Both boards require a considerable time commitment, but I am pleased to report that Goldman has grown stronger through the financial crisis, and Exxon has done the same in the precipitous drop in oil prices from $147 to $33 per barrel.

I have spent a lot of time recently with leadership groups and the media discussing the "7 Lessons" and applying them to the current economic environment. Most recently, I have immersed myself into social media, thanks to an amazing team I'm working with in Raleigh, NC, that is led by Zach Clayton (HBS MBA 2009). I'm learning how to actively use Twitter as well as Facebook and LinkedIn. I enjoy the interaction and dialogue that is sparked there. While I'm an old dog learning new tricks, I believe that new media is reshaping the way that human beings communicate, so I'm eager to spend more time engaging with people online.

Lastly, I look forward to spending even more time with my family. Penny and I just celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary with a four-day trip to Bermuda, and we're coming off a great summer in Colorado with our two sons, daughters-in-law, and two grandchildren, who live in Munich and San Francisco. There is nothing more fun or rewarding than the time we spend together.

Excerpt: 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis
By Bill George

How do you take the global economic crisis, or any other crisis, and turn it into an opportunity to transform your markets and your company? Here are 7 steps to keep your organization focused on winning the depth of the crisis:
Step 1: Rethink your industry strategy. To figure out what your markets will look like after the crisis requires a keen understanding of the changing needs of your customers. One example from the current crisis is the extent to which consumers have shifted from expensive luxury goods to more practical items. That's why high-end department stores like Neiman Marcus and Saks have fared poorly. Even fashion-forward discounters like Target have not done well. This doesn't necessarily mean consumers have lost their interest in upscale merchandise. Rather than returning to these same stores after the crisis, are consumers more likely to be attracted to chic low-cost items and trendy value-oriented merchandise? If this turns out to be the case, how can your company take advantage of shifts like these?
Step 2: Shed your weaknesses. A crisis presents the opening to eliminate your organization's weaknesses, especially if it is too bureaucratic or too slow-moving to be competitive. That's what CEO Anne Mulcahy did in cutting 28,000 jobs to enable Xerox to be competitive once again. Now she is refocusing Xerox, long known as the plain paper copier company, on the paperless, all-digital office. How can you use your crisis to shed your organization's weaknesses to prepare for future competition? You will never have a better opportunity.

Step 3: Reshape the industry to play to your strengths. The bold strategy coming out of a crisis is to move your entire industry to make your strengths the basis for competition while exposing your competitors' weaknesses. That's what IBM, Apple, and Medtronic did. What strategies can you deploy to expose your competitor's weaknesses? How can you shift the market to value your strengths? In recent years, we have learned that using size to be all things to all people doesn't work. To win in the emerging market, you need a highly focused strategy that builds off your unique strengths.
Step 4: Make vital investments during the downturn. Intel and Exxon offer evidence that you cannot wait to make vital investments you need to win in the emerging market. When it appeared growth was slowing in the pharmaceutical industry, Novartis CEO Dan Vasella made counterintuitive moves by expanding Novartis's generic drug, vaccines, and consumer health businesses in spending heavily on acquisitions to offer alternatives to patented drugs. Meanwhile, he focused Novartis's pharmaceutical businesses more on targeted specialty drugs. What investments must you make at the depths of the downturn to emerge as the leader? Can you think the unthinkable and invest in a new strategic thrust when you're on your knees? It takes courage to defy conventional thinking and launch a bold new strategy when business is bad.
Step 5: Keep key people focused on winning. During a crisis there's a risk that your entire organization gets so focused on keeping the ship afloat that no one is planning ahead. Therefore, you should assign a small team of highly talented people to devise the post-crisis strategy. It may seem risky to pull key people out of crisis management to plan for the future, but this is required to win. How will you reshape your organization's strategy to emerge from the crisis as the winner?

Step 6: Create your company's image as the industry leader. With public criticism of Wall Street mounting and the industry defending itself, emerging financial service leaders are envisioning changes needed in capital markets. In a major policy address in April 2009, Goldman's Lloyd Blankfein outlined industry-wide changes required to restore sound risk taking, provide appropriate regulation, focus accounting on marking-to-market, and establish long-term compensation practices that reward sustainable gains. How can you recreate your company's image to be the emerging leader that understands customer needs in the new environment?
Step 7: Develop rigorous execution plans. This final step is often overlooked by visionary leaders who devise new strategies but fail to underpin them with detailed plans for marketplace execution. Emergent strategies are only as good as their execution. Sound execution requires not only attention to detailed planning, but adaptability to changing market conditions to alter tactics to meet customer needs. How effective is your organization in executing its plans? Do you assign your best people to this task and measure them in minute detail? Are your plans flexible enough to adapt to changing market conditions, while still maintaining discipline? If the answer to all three questions is affirmative, then you are well positioned to come out of this crisis as the winner in your market.

Following these 7 steps with clarity and rigor will enable your organization to emerge from the crises you face as a leader in your field. By going on the offense, you can gain competitive advantage and build your market position to sustain your future growth and success.
About the authors

Bill George is a Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School and author of 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis, (with Peter Sims) True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership, and Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value. The former chair and CEO of Medtronic, he currently serves on the boards of ExxonMobil and Goldman Sachs and previously, Novartis, and Target. Read more at www.BillGeorge.org, or follow him on Twitter @Bill_George.

Martha Lagace is the senior editor of HBS Working Knowledge.

Excerpted with permission from 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis. Copyright � 2009 by Bill George. Jossey-Bass, 2009.