Margaret Reynolds 
Change. Are you tired of that word? By now, we have realized that it is just another word for life. Another expectation of leadership. Things do not stay the same. While some changes may actually be welcomed, most are usually not. A change is typically one more thing that you have to understand, grapple with, …
The age-old question we all ask is “Why is company X growing but not company Y?”. Or maybe it is more personal and it is “Why aren’t WE growing?” The answer exists but you won’t learn it in business school. Some organizational leaders will go their whole career and never discover the reasons. It is …
Have you heard of the three-legged business stool? Price. Quality. Service. Most organizations have a model that defines how they approach each of these levers. One thing we sometimes forget is we can’t own them all (best price, best quality, best service). There are limited resources and choices to be made. Typically, we see examples …
Three times this week I have dealt with clients who are having internal strategic conflict. Perhaps that is not surprising in our culture where everyone seems polarized about everything, and no one is wrong. The truth is that most decisions and rationale are based on emotions and experiences not facts. Here are a few scenarios: …
One of the things we can count on is change. We have it in abundance right now, with market shifts responding to new government policies as well as AI taking off without us in a driver’s seat. What happens when leaders face a future that doesn’t look like the past? Often, they retreat to their comfort …
Every year at about this time I take a weeklong sojourn to a far-off place to ride horses. Then I come back and share something about what I learned that may apply to all of us. This year was the same—yet incredibly different in every significant way. The ride was called the Long Ride, advertised …
It is mid-February in 2025 and time to ask the question, are we where we wanted to be? Fourth quarter planning identified new opportunities, better ways to do things, high-potential projects and a path to growth. Are you on track? As I write this, it is actually still 2024. So, I am time traveling a …
One of the things we have covered a lot lately is the impact of AI. It is inevitable and we should all start to embrace it, play with it, learn what it can and can’t do, and figure out how to use it for our work as a resource, not a replacement. My favorite uses …
As we approach the next fiscal year, most of you are putting into place new programs, processes and practices that your organization believes will drive greater success. High performance companies are always thinking about how to improve. To do so requires great clarity regarding the long-term potential and direction of the company, or a strategy. Once …
In the last few years, in spite of, and perhaps in part because of, the increasing application of technology and even AI, the difference between top firms and the rest can feel narrowed. There just aren’t that many things that can separate your firm from the pack. But there is one thing that we have …
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