Margaret Reynolds

Culture is a system of beliefs and values by which people interpret experiences and determine how to behave, individually and in groups. Culture makes things happen! An environment that is great at making things happen is a productive one and goes a long way toward success. I believe that is the reason behind Drucker’s quote. Strategy is inert; it is an idea or a vision. In itself, it has no power. But what strategy does is focus the action. It is an overarching concept that integrates the business and enables it to achieve its objectives. Without strategy there is a lot of trial and error and even conflicting agendas that set organizations back in time and money. So culture without strategy is chaos. Strategy without culture is hopeful thinking. Bottom line: You need both.

Certainly the challenges of 2009 have not been rivaled throughout modern history, and not only did they end the run for many businesses but significantly reshaped those left standing. That said, it was not entirely unexpected—the economy has cycles. And we are experiencing another one right now, although it is an upswing. Are we due for a correction? And if we are, are you ready? Every business that experienced the challenges of economic cycles will surely be prepared for the next cycle, right? The only question is when it will come, not if.

Your organization is not functioning in isolation. It functions within an economy, industry, and geographical area that influence the opportunities and challenges it faces. To maximize the value of your strategic plan, it is essential to be able to diagnose accurately the cause behind the symptoms of any hardship. Thus, it requires a macro or “big picture” perspective of the market served, as well as a closer inspection of the microfactors unique to the business or niche within which it operates.

In-depth market knowledge provides value in three important ways.

Almost every CEO wants to growth their business. After all, performance improvement is usually how CEO’s get evaluated. The question is, what solution do they use to accomplish it? Solution Option 1: Do it Myself Without question this is the most commonly deployed method for pursuing company growth. Unfortunately, it is the least successful. Statistics …

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Employee Engagement is a hot topic in business lately. That can be attributed to our recognition that for our businesses to thrive we need smart, active employees who deploy their considerable brain power making the company better day in and day out. It may be the best competitive advantage we have. The one thing others …

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Recent studies suggest business leader’s optimism is returning to pre-recession levels. The first survey, fielded by The Business Journals the day after the Presidential election, projected level of confidence in business success at 82%. A second survey by the American Institute of CPAs’ (AICPA) found that 62 percent of chief executive officers, chief financial officers, controllers …

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The holidays are right around the corner. For most of us it may be the only time of year where the traffic in and out of our office door lightens up and we can find some quality time to think about some strategic issues we have wanted to get to but never had the time. …

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Welcome to the club! As a leader you have the indubitable honor of working harder than everyone else, losing sleep at night, figuring out how to motivate and engage your workforce while striving to beat last year’s numbers. Leaders today face more game-changing decisions in a shorter time span making it harder than ever to achieve …

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It never fails. A this time of year I reflect on all that I am grateful for…my faith, family and friends as well as my colleagues, and clients. This year, my gratitude is off the charts. YOU are a big part of the reason! 2016 was destined to be an important year. My husband and …

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