Margaret Reynolds 
I see this pattern all the time. A company reaches a point where what made them successful isn’t going to be enough anymore. Complexity has crept in. Growth feels harder. Decisions take longer. Leaders start talking about the need to “scale,” “professionalize,” or “be more strategic.” They do the right thing. They step back and …
It is the New Year, and we are all ready for a fresh start! Unfortunately, I spent the first 12 days on my back fighting the flu and then pneumonia. Needless to say, I watched more football than I thought possible. I am not an expert by any means but I have a basic understanding …
Welcome to the New Year, with all of its potential ahead of you. As you ponder how to dive into your strategy this year, see performance soar and outcomes imagined become realities, consider the role of your leadership team. Is your leadership team designed with strategic execution in mind or functional excellence? One advances the …
One of the magazines I look forward to reading for inspiration is Harvard Business Review. Typically, full of new strategic ideas, innovation, and best practice, it challenges my thinking and informs my consulting processes. The last issue was depressing. Its focus was on leading in a low-growth economy and covered topics like “subtraction” strategies and …
Sad, but true. In a world where seeking out modest growth isn’t always easy, high performance requires even more from leaders—boldness, innovation, and vision built on the confidence of market insights. Leaders work incredibly hard to provide those things and yet the results may miss the mark. What keeps so many of us in the …
This summer, I hardly had a chance to ride my horse. Last weekend I was blessed to ride 21 miles on Saturday and 13 miles on Sunday. They were very different rides. Saturday was a slow and steady pace. I had time to look all around me and even stopped to take pictures. I rarely …
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: …
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