I recently sat down with Scott Alexander from Jairus Marketing for another insightful discussion about a topic that resonates deeply with both of us: shifting from a founder-led business to more sustainable business models. This is especially relevant for early-stage companies, particularly those in the healthcare sector where the CEO is vital as both the visionary and primary salesperson.
Sun, Sep 30, 2012 — The Eternal Conundrum. The sales executive comes to you and says that marketing isn't delivering qualified leads. The marketing executive responds that they are delivering qualified leads, but the sales people can't close them.
Sat, Sep 15, 2012 — Leaders of mid-sized companies are pretty impressive people. As leaders, they bring insight, determination and courage to work every day. So where do the great CEOs of these companies go to get better? Some 16,000 mid-market leaders worldwide have figured a way to get expert advice – from each other. As a Vistage member, a roomful of CEOs during any given monthly meeting may be directing their focus on your business. Over time, they’ve gotten to know how you tick. And they’re providing insights; offering their experience; even holding you accountable from one meeting to the next. That’s the core value that Vistage brings its members. Chair Leadership The concept of CEO peer groups isn’t unique. But it’s highly effective. And Vistage has honed the practice to an art. By recruiting top business leaders still in their prime into the role of Chairs, then assembling “boards” of CEOs of similarly sized non-competitive companies, Vistage orchestrates an environment that is unmatched by any other CEO peer group organization that we’ve encountered at Chief Outsiders. Patrick “Pat” Mulligan of Austin knows the value of Vistage inside and out. As a young CEO, he joined Vistage in 1987 and learned firsthand how a peer group of business leaders could improve performance. Now, Pat is putting his decades of experience to use as one of the founding Chairs in Austin, and leader of 3 peer groups. There are several dynamics in his peer groups that work together to ensure value for his members:
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 — Discipline is Good, Right? In Jim Collins’ “Great By Choice” this pyramid model provides a framework for his trilogy-logical discussion. I’ve read this book wearing two lenses – one, as a principal in our firm, and two as a marketing executive. As a business leader, I aspire to a higher level of discipline in my leadership as well within my personal work ethic. As a marketer, I recognize – primarily from the past 10 years of expanding digitally-dominated marketing and dynamic market ecosystems – that discipline is indeed the capstone of success. Goes Against My Instincts The 20 Mile March is “Jim Collins code” for consistent, methodical and metered execution. He correctly calls it out as a choice or decision, even a strategy, for securing sustained growth. The argument goes against several mantras ingrained within me – “strike while the iron’s hot” “leverage your opportunities” “capture the moment”. No, instead, his research observed that companies win (and south pole explorers survive) when they meter their progress. How might this apply to our business at Chief Outsiders? Perhaps we should add one new major market a year to our firm, regardless of the market conditions. If it’s a tough year, we add one new market. If the economy is rocking and highly favorable, we still add only one new market. Collins’ research tells us the benefits of steady pace outweigh the opportunistic instinct to lunge ahead in good times or hunker down in tough times.
Tue, May 31, 2011 — This week I attended a leadership event sponsored by the Greater Houston Partnership. One of the panelists was Dr. Ed Young, the Senior Pastor of Second Baptist Church in Houston. In addition to being a strong man of faith, Dr Young is also a very strong leader as evidenced by the growth of Second Baptist from 300 members to approximately 60,000.