Tag Archives: business

Posted on

An Introduction to the Rockefeller Habits

In 2002, Verne Harnish published his book “Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.” At the time, I was transitioning from “mega-project” management into business management and this book made a huge impact on how I run a business.

I never thought too much about it at the time but now as I reflect on how I have led organizations (businesses and not-for-profits), I constantly leverage all of the ten Rockefeller habits that Harnish outlines in his book.

I find it interesting that the organizations that “bought into” the “Rockefeller system” with me performed well over time even though we may have experienced some tough periods in the market. Conversely, the organizations that just could not get aligned around the system, were not able to experience the same levels of success.

So, what are these intriguing habits?

Posted on

Will it Fly

How to Test Your Next Business Idea So You Don't Waste Your Time and Money

This week’s book review is Will it Fly by Pat Flynn

Flynn takes his readers through the process of business ideation, validation, incubation, and eventual start-up and rollout. His writing style and methodology are simple yet powerful and he provides many anecdotes and useful examples to drive home the concepts that he is teaching.

My takeaway from this book is that I need to spend more time developing targeted user groups and working closely with them prior to creating and rolling out products or services. Remember the words of Joel Barker – “Speed is only useful if you’re running in the right direction!”

Spend time up front to determine the correct direction before you invest your organization’s money and resources!

Posted on

What is Effective Leadership?

Effective leadership can make or break your business. Are you an effective leader?

A few months ago, I wrote a post entitled “Are You an Effective Leader and Why You Should Care” Since that post, one of my Mastermind groups discussed each of the 23 aspects of leadership outlined in this post. This discussion revealed some very valuable nuggets of information! I took a lot of notes during these discussions and the key points I captured are shown below:

Mastermind Discussion on the 23 Elements of Leadership

Posted on

40 Things Your B2B Customers Value Most

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about the 30 Things Your Customers Care About Most. I summarized a study that was published in the August 2018 issue of Rotman Magazine where the authors presented “The Elements of Value” model for consumers and for business to business.

That post described the Business to Consumer model while this post summarizes the Business to Business Elements.

The B2B Value Pyramid

According to the authors and their research, there are 40 fundamental building blocks of value in the B2B model. These 40 elements organize nicely into a four level Maslow Hierarchy of Needs pyramid. They are shown in the diagram below and, for the most part, the model is quite easy to follow.

Posted on

Linchpin

Are You Indispensable?

The book review for this week is Linchpin by Seth Godin.

Godin is simply an outstanding author and this book proves it once again! Linchpin describes how each of us needs to approach how we deliver our unique genius to the marketplace. Linchpins are the mapmakers of society. They are the people who drive our world forward through the application of their skillsets and talents. Each of us needs to strive towards this mindset and build our organizations to create and develop Linchpins.

My takeaway from this book is that everyone can be a linchpin. Godin suggests that we need to do the following seven things in our quest to become an indispensable linchpin: