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Newsletter

Enhancing Executive Effectiveness
Volume 2, Issue No. 3
March 2001

By

Dan Coughlin

This issue will cover four main areas:

  1. Last month's Question
  2. Hot Issue For This Month
  3. Question For Top Performers
  4. Resource Recommendations For Top Performers

LAST MONTH'S QUESTION

Here's last month's question:

You are the vice-president of a $2 Billion division of a major company. The economy looks like it may grind to zero growth. Other companies have laid off hundreds of thousands of employees. You need to decide where to invest your capital, much of which is just projected capital. What do you do? Do you invest in skill development, product development, marketing, innovation, new incentive programs or new pricing programs? What do you do? Do you lay people off, trim the compensation packages of top executives, go after a hot new idea? It's decision time. The go-go growth of the last few years has faded. So what are you going to do now?

I think this is decision time for most executives. No longer are stocks fueled by hope and imagination. Actual business results are starting to matter again. And that's good!!!

My recent experience is that growth is more about the psychology of business than the business of business. Executives seem to fall into two categories: those who button down their organizations and get incredibly conservative, and those that attack the market with renewed vigor.

Here is what I suggest to the executive described above:

  1. Take a vacation. That's right, take a vacation. Get away for 4-5 days and do nothing related to work. Clear your mind completely so that you can bring back the necessary energy to lead your organization successfully. When an athletic team is preparing for the championship game, they focus on reserving energy rather than on wasting it.
  2. Trim the fat. No wasted money on frivolous items or on things that can wait.
  3. Invest time in thinking, not reacting. Clarify your most important business objectives. Narrow the list to 2-3 top priority outcomes for short-term, medium range and long-term success. Then identify the issues that are keeping your organization from achieving better results in those areas. Then turn each issue into a clear, specific and value-driven question. Bring together your team and have each member give his or her answers to the question.
  4. Combine ideas together, select the best combination for each issue and move into action. In order to pull yourself out of a downward spiral, the key is to zero in on the priority outcomes and overcome the key issues in a pragmatic manner.

HOT ISSUE FOR THIS MONTH

This month's topic is "Building A Successful Business Engine."

Each month I read four issues of NewsWeek, four issues of BusinessWeek, two issues of Fortune magazine, one issue of Fast Company magazine and 8-10 issues of the Wall Street Journal. Partly I just want to stay abreast of current issues, but more importantly I search for the threads of ideas which I can weave together into a more powerful idea for enhancing the effectiveness of individuals and groups. Over the past several months, I have seen a common thread in several diverse stories. I'm calling this concept: Build A Successful Business Engine. Success takes more than an idea. It requires a sustainable framework that can take on many challenges and deliver at a continuously higher level. Here are some examples:

Fortune Magazine, February 5, 2001:
Henry Schacht, CEO, Lucent Technologies, "The single lesson you get out of Lucent is, 'Don't try to run the business faster than it's able to run.'"

Fast Company Magazine, March 2001:
Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft: "I like to tell people that all of our products and business will go through three phases. There's vision, patience and execution. It's the patience phase that's really not comfortable at all."

Fast Company Magazine, February 2001
Khari Villela, Chief Software Architect, NCR's CRM Division, "Once you improve the technical aspects of speed you'll eventually be able to go faster. Speed only comes after you know what you're doing."

In my opinion, these three comments are at the root of the current problem with the economy. Too many executives, and too many people who purchase stocks, forgot that a business needs more than just a great idea. There needs to be patience as the framework of the business is strengthened in order to take on more responsibilities. Coming up with big ideas is a critical component of success. But executing those ideas properly is just as critical of a component. Long-term success is based on improving execution as well as applying innovation.

QUESTION FOR TOP PERFORMERS

Here's the question I would like for you to consider this month:

"What am I doing or what can I do to strengthen the internal framework of myself and my team so that we can take on greater challenges in the future?"

If you want, send your e-mail responses to info@thecoughlincompany.com

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE OF THE MONTH

Since it's NCAA Basketball Tournament time, I recommend two wonderful books by two of my favorite coaches.

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