I concentrate better with music playing in the background. I especially enjoy dropping in the name of a song or artist on Pandora Radio and letting it find music with interesting similarities. Pandora happily plays whatever I’m in the mood for while I work away, until . . . I suddenly realize that the music stopped. “That’s funny,” I think. “When did I stop listening?” (more…)
There once was a Pharaoh who went out to inspect the progress of two pyramids. The first pyramid was a mess! The blocks were uneven, the ramps were unstable, oxen were milling about… The Pharaoh stopped a nearby worker and asked, “What is your job?” The worker replied, “I move stones from this pile to that pile.” At the next pyramid, the Pharaoh saw much greater progress. The blocks fit together perfectly. Teams of oxen were moving evenly up the ramps. This pyramid was really taking shape. When the Pharaoh asked a worker, “What is your job?” the worker replied, “I am building a pyramid!”
Congratulations! You just returned from your annual strategic planning summit. You gathered economic, competitor, and market data. You compared the strengths and weaknesses of your organization with external opportunities and threats. You decided where to tweak your services, how to reach new markets, and ways to generate higher profits. Now what? (more…)
Let’s face it. Most of us are terrible listeners. As we fought our way up the corporate food chain, our conversations were opportunities to prove our intellectual prowess. We wanted to get ahead and stay ahead, and that meant convincing others that our ideas were the best. (more…)
If you’ve made it to this first blog of our company, you’re probably looking for answers. What is the genesis of Center for Executive Excellence? How is it different from other, amazing leadership development and strategy consulting companies? How might the discourse on navigating organizations through the forces of the 21st century be served by its existence? In short, what is its purpose? (more…)