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Are CEOs Really Necessary Anymore?

March 15, 2021/0 Comments/in Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

suit

Will Big Data and artificial intelligence ever make CEOs obsolete? Which human leadership traits, if any, are irreplaceable?

Today’s post is by Gerald Sindell, partner of The Identity Dynamics Institute

It seems like a ridiculous question to ask, somewhat like wondering whether cars really need drivers. Just imagine all the things a driver does every second in order to reach a specific destination: taking in vast amounts of inputs about current conditions of the vehicle’s motion, receiving thousands of changing data points from all the visual clues about lanes, traffic, signs, pedestrians, and all the other moving vehicles in the vicinity, then comparing all this information to a previously set route, and making all the complex choices necessary to arrive safely.

You could almost think about that driver as being on the receiving end of a firehose of data, sorting out the most important patterns and then turning all of that into a best course of action — the very definition of intelligence. And that’s why we’ve come so close to going from data that one human can process, to Big Data, which requires dozens of sensors to process.

With increasingly vast bodies of knowledge about experiences, one can see how business intelligence, with enough computing power, became artificial intelligence. And so, before too long, the taxi you’re about to hail in Phoenix shows up; Poof! No driver necessary.

Which brings us back to those folks in the corporate driver’s seat — the CEO. Doesn’t much of a CEO’s job consist of being on the receiving end of ever-increasing floods of data that can now be gleaned in real time from inputs around the globe? The tick of every sale quickly contributes to a pattern revealing how the marketplace is receiving our products at every given moment. Supply chains are linked to these inputs, as is every other variable the CEO needs to be concerned about, from available corporate resources to stock price.

And as AI begins to make choices based on mining Big Data, the role of the CEO as patchcord between data input and decision output seems destined to become smaller and smaller until, at some point, an organization is going to run autonomously. As futurist Ray Kurzweil observed in 2005, in the near future, machine intelligence is going to exceed human intelligence. He named that moment “the Singularity.” Will there be a moment when the Singularity arrives in the C-suite? It seems inevitable.

AI or Human Agency?

Or maybe not. Maybe great organizations are not really machines, like some automobiles or even spacecraft, that can complete their journeys without human intervention. To find out, it may be worthwhile to make some sharp distinctions between what Big Data driving AI can do and what it cannot. BDAI (for short) is excellent at making sense out of the current state. It’s also pretty good at making predictions about trajectories, given no black swan or other unforeseen circumstances. So BDAI is pretty useful for management to be able to see where we are and where we might be headed.

But what about agency, intentionality, or what today we generally call strategy? If we have enough past information of competitive successes and failures, BDAI is capable of helping leaders develop options. In some instances, in a large consumer products organization, for example, it is not difficult to imagine letting BDAI decide the optimal number of versions of a toothpaste brand, which will maximize performance in the marketplace, and even continue to optimize those decisions over time.

Yet what happens when there is a genuine disruption in a marketplace, when new inventions shuffle the whole deck? If BDAI had been in place at Olympus Camera on the day that Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, would the company’s management information system have warned leadership that the pocket camera industry, at that moment, was entering an irreversible swoon?

The CEO’s Role – Wisdom and Innovation

Finally, we come to the two basic responsibilities that a CEO can perform that, as yet, BD and AI together cannot. The first is to make wise decisions over time that express a coherent vision. The second is to lead innovation. Famously, Steve Jobs had no interest in market research when imagining where Apple needed to go next. He thought in broad terms about what human beings might do with powerful new tools and went about creating them. Sometimes it took a while for people to get what Jobs was giving them, but eventually, he re-ordered the world.

Same for Elon Musk. Musk’s long arc in guiding Tesla from highly-ignored sports car, which financed the luxury Model S, which, in turn, made possible the Model 3, is now crushing an entire global industry. And underneath it all, still not widely-perceived, is that Musk is also transforming the global electrical grid with a complete infrastructure of vast battery capacity.

Jobs, Musk, and other disruptive founders built their organizations to maximize the value-creating potential of their visions. Those organizations are no less than the living, breathing manifestations of their founders’ identities and are as unique as the founders themselves.

After the Founder

Once the founders have departed, subsequent leaders, in order to maximize the quality of their decision-making, will always need to be aware of the identity that still pulses at the heart of their organizations. Without this essential understanding, the dangers are ever-present that the easy persuasiveness of Big Data, married to the seemingly incontrovertible direction supplied by artificial intelligence will, eventually, lead even the most successful organization astray.

So are CEOs really necessary anymore? Yes, if they realize that their main job is to ensure that the identity of their institutions provides the center of gravity around which Big Data and AI are reliably deployed. Otherwise, companies are in peril of becoming driverless, autonomous vehicles, subject to an uncertain future fraught with potentially lethal hazards.

gerald sindellGerald Sindell is a partner of The Identity Dynamics Institute. He was the CEO of two New York publishing companies, Tudor and Knightsbridge. He has been instrumental in developing enterprise operating systems for EOS Worldwide, Accenture, and The Balanced Scorecard Institute.

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

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The 7 Aspects of High-Performing Teams

March 10, 2021/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Innovation, Leadership, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

team with laptops

Assembling a high-performing team involves more than just finding great talent. Follow this 7-step formula to develop the team of your dreams.

As a leader, one of your most critical responsibilities is to turn your team into what can be considered a high-performing team. And to do that, there are seven elements that you need to bring together to turn your team from one that just exists to one that’s considered high-performing:

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Challenge How Your Business Operates

March 3, 2021/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Entrepreneur, Innovation, Leadership, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

whiteboard sticky notes

Transform your business by completely rethinking how it works. Analyzing your business model, revenue, and costs can lead you to innovative solutions.

When you go to generate new ideas to run things better, you need to think critically about the way your business runs. I like to look at three things: a business model blowup, a revenue blowup, and a cost blowup.

On the business model blowup, fundamentally rethink how you go to market. And rethink what your market actually is. You’re going to challenge the entire business model for the way you deliver products and services. On the revenue blowup side, how do you dramatically expand the products, your pricing, the geography, and the reach of your business? And on the cost blowup, how do you fundamentally eliminate drag from the business to become more efficient?

Business Model Blowup: Skybus Airlines

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How to Help Your Team Contribute Better Ideas

May 18, 2020/0 Comments/in Communications, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership /by Ryan Shaw

Based on ground-breaking new research on innovation and problem solving, learn techniques to help your team bring you better ideas.

Today’s post is by Karin Hurt and David Dye, author of Courageous Cultures (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

When we share our recent research findings on what prevents employees from speaking up and sharing their best ideas, sometimes we get this reaction: “Oh, that’s not our issue. Our problem is these damn millennials can’t stop speaking up. They complain about everything.”

“And do you listen?” we ask.

“Some of the time, but after a while, you can only take so much.”

Which begs the question: and then what happens? After you’re tired and they’re ignored?

We imagine it’s only a matter of time until they stop trying, or leave. Like Laura, a fellow keynote speaker we met recently at a conference. She shared:

I’m so intrigued by this research you’re doing on FOSU (fear of speaking up) and the downstream consequences for employees and organizations. The truth is I’m one of those people. I had such a bad experience when I was 23, that I would never offer my opinion at work again.

I was just out of college and so eager to make an impact in my new role. I had tons of ideas and was always looking for ways to make things better. So I offered my opinion on EVERYTHING. Which as it turns out, was exhausting to everyone around me. I got fired and was completely devastated. After all, my heart was in the right place. I was gung ho. But, the truth is, I was committed, but clumsy.

Once I got back on my feet in a new job, I kept my head down, my mouth shut, and just did my job. I had this FOSU thing you talk about in a big way. And I was miserable.

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When Innovation Talk Turns Toxic

February 10, 2020/2 Comments/in Books, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership /by Ryan Shaw

20200210 Lightbulb

Innovation thrives on meaning, but superficial innovation talk can lead to stress and fatigue, and thus less creativity, in a company culture.

Today’s post is by Alf Rehn, author of Innovation for the Fatigued (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

It is common knowledge that talking the talk is easier than walking the walk. What we still tend to miss is that sometimes, the talk can actually hinder the walk, and in my research I’ve found that this holds particularly true in the field of corporate innovation. Here, excessive and repetitive innovation talk can trigger two issues that are harmful to organizations but have received scant attention: Innovation stress and innovation fatigue. Both can act as powerful barriers to take action on and engage with innovation, yet managers often respond to these by even more innovation talk. This can in turn create a vicious circle, one which can turn an organization’s creative culture toxic.

What, then, is innovation fatigue? In brief, it stands for a situation where invocations of innovation and exhortations for involvement with the same no longer creates engagement but rather tedium and tension. As an example, in one major corporation I worked with, a mid-level manager could easily recall at least 12 separate ongoing innovation initiatives in the organization, and when I asked him how many past such he could recall, he gave up after about 20, but insisted that there had been countless more. This was only the initiatives. He could also recall numerous innovation consultants, speeches from top executives about the importance of innovation, and various creativity workshops with “all kinds of silly games”. He grimaced throughout the listing of these.

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How Leaders Can Develop Innovative Cultures

September 30, 2019/0 Comments/in Books, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership /by Ryan Shaw

20190930 Brainstorming Design

Social design aims to create conditions in which the things you want to happen, happen more easily.

Today’s post is by Cheryl Heller, author of The Intergalactic Design Guide (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

Social Design is the design of relationships; the creation of new social conditions intended to increase agency, health, creativity, equity, social justice, resilience, and connection to nature.

In cities, corporations, or any type of community, if the culture is a creative one, innovative ideas are generated there. In a culture aligned by social values, those values drive action over time. In a culture where people have a sense of agency and possibility, possibilities are repeatedly found. These attributes become the norm. It is the inverse of a culture where only certain people or departments are viewed as innovative or dictate social values, dependent on isolated events or interventions to create lasting change. Social design aims to create conditions in which the things you want to happen, happen more easily.

When applied to specific issues and places, desired outcomes are defined with precision, as concretely and fully as possible.

The skills required for social design are a toolkit of sorts, the kind a very good carpenter might carry, filled with some favorite old implements with worn handles and patina, and some new ones that are shiny and sharp. A number of these skills have been part of the designer’s art forever: like synthesizing complex information and making it accessible; visualizing data and invisible systems so that insights and revelations and connections are available to everyone; reframing problems and questions to uncover root causes instead of symptoms; abductive reasoning and sideways creative thinking; giving ideas physical form or representation, and then making them desirable – engaging and delighting people with the beauty or functionality of whatever has been created.

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How To Be a Great Innovator in Your Field

February 11, 2019/0 Comments/in Books, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership /by Ryan Shaw

Innovation Poster

Innovation in today’s society can be a difficult idea to grasp and an even more difficult idea to implement.  In order to truly lead forward as an innovator there are a few key concepts to hold onto.

Today’s post is by Dr. Joseph Walker, author of No Opportunity Wasted (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

Lately, the term “innovator” conjures up the image of a young entrepreneur disrupting an industry with concepts like ridesharing, e-currency or meal-kit delivery. But it doesn’t have to. Whether you are 35 or 65, leading a start-up or a multi-generational business, you can be an innovator. In fact, you have to be if you’re going to keep succeeding. Being an innovator doesn’t just mean introducing a new idea; it also means tirelessly improving processes, finding solutions and refining techniques.

And to truly lead with an innovative mindset, you must change the way you think – about success, about yourself and about your team. It won’t be easy. But it can be done. Here are the basics:

Embrace Discomfort

One of the biggest roadblocks to innovative thinking is discomfort. People – particularly people who already are successful – tend to shy away from it. After all, you achieved so much, and things have been working fine for you, so why change? But tradition is frozen success, not a roadmap for future opportunity. You can’t maintain success unless you adapt. Things change quickly today – tastes, priorities, people and peoples’ needs. So let go of any illusions that what worked in the past will work just as effectively today. It won’t.

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Great Associate Experiences Start with Choice and Flexibility

February 4, 2019/0 Comments/in Books, Career, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership /by Ryan Shaw

Office Space

The biggest change in the office environment is choice and flexibility. People are finding different ways and spaces in which to work that make them happy.

Today’s post is by Ira Sharfin, CEO, Continental Office.

It’s not a question of if the workplace will change. It’s a matter of when. The days of mundane 8 to 5’s while stuck in a grey, uninspired cubical are rapidly becoming obsolete. Today’s workforce is finding different ways and spaces in which to work that make them happy and more productive.

People are always surprised when I tell them the biggest change I’ve seen emerge isn’t, in fact, the open office. The most notable change over the past decade has been the arrival of choice and flexibility in the workplace. Truth be told, the open office plan does happen to be a popular design given the amount of buzz in recent years. But what’s most important is giving people control over “where” and “how” they work. By creating dynamic settings, we can have the most positive impact on today’s workforce.

I’ve seen what the addition of choice and flexibility can do for both our clients and our own team. I remember when I first came to Continental Office. I wanted to change a traditional conference room by removing the large board room table and 12 chairs surrounding it. I enlisted the help of Nick, our EVP of Design. We brought in several new pieces, including couches and a white Eames lounge chair. We installed embedded LED panels in the wall and created a whole new environment. Some people thought it was a bit crazy. Others asked for the old furniture to be brought back in. Most believed no one would ever use the updated room.

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What has your experience been when working on a cross-functional team?

November 8, 2018/0 Comments/in Communications, Entrepreneur, Innovation, Leadership, Poll, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

EKG Pulse Graph with Glowing Blue Line

Our reader poll today asks: What has your experience been when working on a cross-functional team?

  • It’s been great every time: 17.3%
  • It’s been OK most times: 40.7%
  • It’s been hit-or-miss: 32.0%
  • It’s been horrible: 3.3%
  • I’ve never worked on a cross-functional team:6.7%

Cross-functional teams function — most of the time. Most of you have had good experiences on cross-functional teams. For those who have had it be hit-or-miss, consider the following culprits for the misses: team members aren’t fully committed to provide time and effort, they don’t have their supervisor’s support, goals aren’t aligned or there’s no clear charter for the team. These are some of the most common dysfunctions of a cross-functional team. All of these can be solved during the initial stages of forming the team. Do all you can to drive commitment, alignment and direction as soon as the project starts. Skipping that step can spell disaster.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post?  If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog.  It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!).  SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

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How structured is your approach to problem-solving?

October 4, 2018/1 Comment/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Innovation, Poll /by Mike Figliuolo

EKG Pulse Graph with Glowing Blue Line

Our reader poll today asks: How structured is your approach to problem-solving?

  • Very – we have clearly defined steps and output at each step: 19.5%
  • Kind of – we generally follow a repeatable problem solving process: 50.5%
  • Not very – our problem solving is a bit haphazard: 21.5%
  • Not at all – we never solve problems the same way twice: 8.5%

A weak structure means weak solutions. Problem-solving is a repeatable process with predictable end products for most common problems. A structured approach to problem-solving ensures you fully understand the problem and are comprehensive in your search for solutions. The structured approach is also efficient. If you can be hypothesis-based in your problem solving and focus on the highest opportunity solutions, you can save a lot of time by not chasing small ideas. For the 30% of you not solving problems with a structured approach, give structure a try. You might find you’ll come up with bigger and better solutions faster than ever before.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post?  If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog.  It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!).  SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

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Overcoming Impediments to Innovation

August 27, 2018/0 Comments/in Books, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Traffic Barricade

Innovation, or the lack thereof, is a function of how well leaders overcome common obstacles like insufficient time, effort, or risk tolerance. If you want to see the ideas start flowing, tackle the common obstacles to innovation first.

Today’s post is by Paul Sloane, author of The Leader’s Guide to Lateral Thinking Skills (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

Is innovation critical for your business survival and success? Are you dissatisfied with your ability to bring new products and services to market? Surveys show that most business leaders would answer both questions with a ‘yes’.

If you want to make your organization more agile and innovative where should you start?

You could launch a big initiative with grand statements, training classes and an idea generation scheme. But I believe it is better to begin with a brutally honest assessment of what is preventing innovation from happening today. Organizations unwittingly develop internal impediments to innovation in terms of their corporate culture and practices. There is no point in running supercharged brainstorms in order to fill the funnel with ideas if there are blockages which prevent good ideas from being implemented.

In my innovation master classes, we start by discussing what innovation is and what its benefits are. I then ask delegates what is impeding innovation in their businesses today. The most common answers I get include:

  • We do not have enough time to try new things
  • There is no budget for experimentation
  • We are risk averse
  • There is a fear of failure
  • Approval processes are long-winded and difficult with many sign-offs
  • It is not in our objectives or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
  • There are no rewards or incentives
  • Departments work in silos
  • There is no vision or strategy for innovation

I asked one delegate who ran his own business in entertainment, “What was impeding innovation for your firm?” He thought for a moment and then responded, “Nothing.” There was silence in the room. Most, if not all, of the impediments given by the executives and listed above are excuses. All of the cultural and process barriers can be overcome by determined and courageous leaders. We have plenty of people who talk the talk but not many who are prepared to tackle the people and process issues which are preventing entrepreneurial initiatives.

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Recognizing Innovation Right in Front of You

July 30, 2018/0 Comments/in Books, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Innovation Written on Wall in Tile

Breakthrough innovation virtually always builds upon other existing ideas or innovations. Your organization is full of ideas that simply haven’t materialized yet. Changing the way you look at and think about innovation can help unlock their potential.

Today’s post is by Dr. Kumar Mehta, author of The Innovation Biome (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

Establishing the conditions that encourage innovation is the best way for your company to consciously develop an environment that consistently lets you produce offerings with new and novel value – innovations in the eyes of your users. The most innovative companies do this instinctively – perhaps because of the culture instilled by superstar leaders, a conscious and successful effort, or the emergence of the right conditions after things just fell into place.

But the fact is that every company can develop this innate innovation capability – something I call an Innovation Biome. Companies are inherently innovative, and their employees often have great ideas that can become market winners. The problem is that companies do not have an environment to support, nurture and germinate the great ideas as they believe that the great ideas are “out there” somewhere. It is critical that your organization focus on innovation from within by recognizing the innovation in front of you.

One of the core assumptions about innovation that every leader needs to understand is that ideas always build on other ideas. Breakthrough innovation is never something that comes out of the blue. Nothing is independent. Progress breeds progress. Improvements lead to other improvements. Just like the Internet – everything is connected. Creativity and innovation are about improving on what is out there and connecting dots in an original way to create new value.

Innovations are rarely, if ever, unique breakthroughs with no history. They come from interconnected, networked ideas. They come from expanding on the lessons of the past. The one common truth across all innovations throughout history is that if an innovation had not happened as we know it, it would still have happened, only with a different set of players and circumstances. We would still have antibiotics if Alexander Fleming had not observed that mold kills bacteria, and we would still be flying had the Wright brothers not pioneered flight, and we would still have mass produced automobiles and light bulbs had Henry Ford or Thomas Edison not made the contributions they did.

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Storytelling for Salespeople
Storytelling for Salespeople

Create and deliver stories that will take your sales efforts to the next level. Connect with and convince buyers in all situations using memorable stories. These stronger relationships drive more sales.

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Leading through Change
Leading through Change
Leading through Change

Lead your organization through the most challenging times using a proven change management process. Get people through the change and back to driving performance quickly and effectively.

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Building Leadership Resilience
Mountain Climbing Expedition
Building Leadership Resilience

Prepare your body and brain to be ready for and recover from your biggest challenges. Build approaches for overcoming stress, managing reactions to difficult events, and leading more effectively.

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Compelling Executive Presence
Compelling Executive Presence
Compelling Executive Presence

Build your ability to connect with your audience and convey your ideas in a clear and resonant way. Create meaningful connections between you and your audience to build buy-in.

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Coaching for Impact
Plant Growing in a Hand
Coaching for Impact: Foundation Course

Coach employees for performance and development more effectively by helping them identify and pursue their own solutions. Create the right environment and conditions to help them grow.

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Building Personal Resilience
Boat at Sunset
Building Personal Resilience

Build the habits and learn the behaviors required to manage stress, deal with adversity, and maintain your physical and mental wellbeing. Personal resilience is a key to your ongoing success.

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Time Management Mastery
Watches
Time Management Mastery

Learn techniques to manage your time, delegate, say “no,” and be more efficient. Balance your limited supply of time with the overwhelming demands that are placed on you every day.

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Books You MUST Read

The Elegant Pitch
One Piece of Paper by Mike Figliuolo
Lead Inside the Box
10 Stories Great Leaders Tell
Getting Ahead
Sell with a Story
Lead with a Story
Mastering Communication at Work
The Hook
Innovative Leadership Fieldbook
Innovative Leaders Guide to Transforming Organizations
The Three Commitments of Leadership
The Littlest Green Beret
Storytelling in the Land of Oz
The Camino Way
The Inner Matrix book
The Vision Code
The Most Unlikely Leader
The Leader with a Thousand Faces
The Elegant Pitch
One Piece of Paper by Mike Figliuolo
Lead Inside the Box
10 Stories Great Leaders Tell
Getting Ahead
Sell with a Story - Border
Lead with a Story
Leading from Your Best Self
Mastering Communication at Work
The Hook
Innovative Leadership Fieldbook
Innovative Leaders Guide to Transforming Organizations
20120318 Three Commitments
Leadership Vertigo
The Littlest Green Beret
Storytelling in the Land of Oz
The Camino Way
Hijacked by Your Brain
Outthink the Competition
Driving Innovation from Within
The Inner Matrix
The Vision Code
The Most Unlikely Leader
The Leader with a Thousand Faces
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  • The Elegant Pitch
  • The Vision Code
  • The Inner Matrix
  • The Most Unlikely Leader
  • The Leader with a Thousand Faces

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Categories

Our Course Offerings

Leadership Skills

Creating Your Leadership Maxims
Leading Inside the Box
Leading With Influence
Leading Through Change
Structured Problem Solving
Deliberate Decision Making
High Performing Teams
Simplified Strategic Planning
Strategic Business Planning
Coaching for Impact: Foundations
Coaching for Impact: Applications
Building Leadership Resilience
Engagement Management
Project Management Reality

Communication Skills

Communications: Foundations
Communications: Applications
Principles of Chart Design
Strategic Client Engagement
Storytelling for Leaders
Storytelling for Salespeople
Compelling Executive Presence
Advanced Facilitation Skills

Individual Skills

Conflict Resolution
Everything is Negotiable
thoughtLEADERSHIP: Innovation
Building Personal Resilience
Time Management Mastery

Coaching & Consulting

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