If you observe all major Federal political parties on both side of the Canada/US boarder, you will immediately see champions of cutting expenses on the right side of the political landscape, and champions of increasing tax revenue on the left side of the political landscape.

Who said these are the only viable options available?

The most viable option these days, especially after the major spending that took place in almost all jurisdictions is to increase the economic value-add activities. This means expanding the economic cycle beyond its current levels. Hint, focus on SMEs Human Capital Development tax incentives.

In order to compete in a commoditized environment, a company has to ignore the competitive forces … somewhat.

In order to compete in a commoditized environment, a company has to re-design its own business solution offerings (i.e.: creating a bundle offer, add value-add services, enhance brand image … etc.)

A successful CEO needs to focus on 3 main things:

⦁ Influencing communication of vision, mission & strategy set by the board

⦁ Lead by example (no super powers – practice what you preach)

⦁ Lead the organization through challenging times

Obviously, there are many other tasks a CEO can perform, but, should they?

The answer is yes, maybe and no depending on the situation. Certainly, organizations have to have some, not all, elements of democratic decision making. However, when it comes to crisis management, then speed should overtake democratic decision making. Having said this, societal democracies should protect all stakeholders rights, which unfortunately at this stage, most societies do not.

We have observed great benefits by organizations that have an Authority Matrix for each major decision making circumstance. For example, an HR Authority Matrix, an Operations Authority Matrix, Special/Capital Projects Authority Matrix … etc.

Each board (board of directors, board of advisors, board of governors or any board for that matter) should have a well defined Board Manual to guide them in performing their duties. The board manual should contain more details than the constitution/bylaws document and should be more adaptive to the current environment at hand.

Each committee/department should have a strategic Functional direction slide deck that offers guidance to its members and leaders alike to operate the committee/department effectively & efficiently.

Each committee/department should have a charter before it comes operational. A simple,easy to understand charter is the way to go, otherwise, you risk not staying true to the charter.

Board of Directors should focus committees creation on audit, governance, organizational development, strategic planning and new high-value and high-impact initiatives. Depending on circumstances, such as, major crises, temporary “operational” committees maybe needed but, they need to have a very narrow scope and limited timeframe.

Attendees in general and board directors specifically, tend to be guilty in coming to board meetings unprepared. This could have a devastating effect on decisions being made. Board Chairs/Presidents should be vigilant in identifying repeat culprits and calling them out.

Who should attend board meetings? Besides board directors, board meetings should be attended by the CEO/ED/MD as the head of the organization along with their top leadership team. Boards should not meet without the head of the organization and boards should also be exposed to the top leadership bench. Sounds straight forward, but, unfortunately, not always followed.

To stay true to the saying “Simplicity is The Ultimate Sophistication”, conflict of interest can be simplified into: influence that drive benefits. Certainly, this is an over-simplified definition and we have seen a very complex (legal) definition that took over a dozen pages to define.

The main role & responsibility of a board of directors is:

⦁ Set organization’s vision & strategy

⦁ Ensure good governance

⦁ Act as consultants & advisors to the leadership team

Boards tend to recruit directors that are similar minded rather than looking for diverse background to enrich the discussion beyond its current level and open the eyes of the current board to new possibilities. This seems obvious, right? Then why don’t all boards apply this rational approach?

Board of directors need to ensure that their selection process puts value for the following skills when searching for directors:

⦁ Finance, analysis and audit

⦁ Strategy planning & organizational development

⦁ Governance

⦁ Operational excellence

It is prudent for boards to select independent directors to ensure that it carries its fiduciary responsibilities to its fullest.

Why did Motorola, Nokia, Research In Motion (blackberry), Compaq and Gateway fail … Why did Apple, Samsung and Lenovo not only did not fail, they actually flourished. Its not external market forces, its internal management.

Very few companies have a small degree of influence on the overall market they operate within but, no company has the ultimate power to push overall market conditions in its favour all the time. This should be the lighting guide for leaders to be quick on their feet, honest with themselves and willing to adopt to evolving market conditions. Getting stuck on the historical legacies is what got the companies mentioned in the previous post in trouble to put it mildly.

Here are some reasons why business transformation may not see the benefits it was designed to reap?

• Internal biases influencing the direction of the transformation

• Lack of clear and open communication with the entire organization from the top to the bottom

• Poor planning

• Weak project management / execution

• Over-ambitious target

• Internal bickering – lack of cooperation

Think of a business transformation project as a journey with light at the end of the tunnel. View it as an evolutionary process rather than a revolutionary one. It needs to be methodical, well-communicated and precisely executed in order for it to succeed. It isn’t easy for sure. It takes an experienced practitioner to lead it to a successful conclusion.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”(Leonardo da Vinci)

This is absolutely true in the world of business today. Life is already too complex and the best and most elegant business solutions are the easiest to understand and simplest to implement.

• Clear, open, transparent and effective communicator

• Influencer (ability to mobilize for the cause)

• Learner (Listener & reader)

• Team builder

• Enabler of the success of others

• Visionary

• Stays calm & collected under pressure

• Empowers & delegates responsibilities

• Leads with “CONTROLLED” kindness & compassion

• Focuses on the big picture while able to put out tactical fires

• Out-of-the-box thinker

• Trust-worthy (leads with honesty & integrity)