Archives

Customer Value Proposition is like falling in love

By Richard Gerofsky Not long ago, I was working with a client to help them update, refine and focus their business strategy.  As is inevitable these days, we came to the subject of their Customer Value Proposition (‘CVP’). Five minutes


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When hiring, start with shared values

By Jan van der Hoop One-third of all hiring decisions fail, according to management guru Peter Drucker. No other aspect of business would ever be allowed to tolerate such a high failure rate… why do we accept it as a


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Lessons on Leadership

By Richard Gerofsky If there is one thing I have learned again and again – through direct experience on the “field of battle” and from the sidelines – it is the importance of leadership in organizations facing significant change. A


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Storm-proofing your business (or, ‘There’s nothing like a good recession’)

By Jan van der Hoop There’s another storm coming. I can feel it in my bones. I swear, it feels like the world is getting crazier every day. Between the fighting and the terrorism, H-bomb testing, China’s economy collapsing and


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A pile of manure? It’s all in how you look at things

By Richard Gerofsky Some time ago, behavioural scientists were locked in a debate about the nature of certain aspects of human personality. They could not agree on whether people are naturally pessimistic or optimistic, or whether it is developed through


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In your business, what’s the asset and what’s the commodity?

By Jan van der Hoop We’ve all been guilty, at one time or another, of chasing something we think is important, while totally missing something far more valuable right under our nose. It’s a classic story line in the movies


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Sales Management: Living and Dying by the Numbers

By Jan van der Hoop There are two steps to boosting sales in any organization: get the right person in the job, and then give them the coaching, incentives and support they best respond to. We often find ourselves working


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Is it Time to Scrap Training and Development?

By Fred Pidsadny Each year I meet with senior business leaders who are ready to throw in the training and development towel – once and for all. They lament about investing in pricey team-building exercises, work-style assessments and new systems


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Mentoring A Next Generation of Entrepreneurs

By Devin Kreuger I wish I weren’t here right now. I’m back, enduring the slightly-warmer March temperatures, having just returned from ten days enjoying the glorious, sunny beaches of Hawaii. It wasn’t just a vacation. In fact, I was there


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