Your big upward rush has stalled, and somehow, despite all those sales and all the new people you’ve brought on, your margins are rapidly shrinking. How could that be? And who will shoulder the responsibility? This is when the finger pointing and frustration typically begin in the part of the business cycle I call the Avalanche. Administration—the back office—has been throwing a lot of people and a lot of money at all these symptoms. Executive [...]
Have you ever seen a tornado up close and in person? I promise you, it’s not something you can ignore or overlook. The sky goes black; the wind starts to blow, and suddenly the trees are bent over sideways. If you’ve been listening to the weather reports, you’ve probably already prepared for its impact as well as you can; grabbing your flashlight, taking supplies down into your storm cellar if you have one, or getting [...]
Change is challenging for everyone, and when you’re changing up a familiar IT system for something new, a lot of your people are apt to feel lost, and may even be resistant. In order to get everyone on the same page, you need to make them part of the process so that they can see from a holistic perspective the problem you’re trying to solve. How do you help them understand why change is necessary, [...]
Smart leadership is crucial to any business going through the series of peaks and valleys I call the Business Storm Cycle; the Tornado of rapid growth and expansion, followed by the Avalanche period of fast deceleration, which is followed by the consolidation phase. Without a steady hand at the helm, even the best employees can become burned out and dispirited – and the company may flounder, or even fail. Jim Crane is a good example [...]