Recent sudden policy changes related to tariffs and immigration are helping to exacerbate the widespread economic uncertainty that US businesses are currently weathering. With talks of a recession on the horizon and increased market volatility, many of today’s business leaders at organizations of all sizes have opted for a “wait and see” approach in their tactical operations and overall strategy. These business leaders are curtailing spending on everything from hiring and marketing to R&D and CAPEX to hold onto more cash for whatever may be coming next. The result is a survival-minded collective pause nationwide while they try to assess the lay of the land and wait out today’s unpredictability.

And while this cautiousness is understandable, it’s also counterproductive for long-term growth because a tactical pause of this kind can be a revenue strategy-killer. So, to answer our own question, no – your revenue plan cannot withstand a short-term pause!

Think about the last obstacle your company overcame. Now think about the last opportunity your company seized effectively. What do they have in common?

The answer could be any number of things really, but I would bet that one key similarity is how decision-making was approached in both scenarios.

Whether it’s making decisions to meet challenges or capitalizing on new prospects, asking the right questions plays an integral role – who you talk to, what you ask, how and when you ask, what the communication loop looks like as the topic is discussed, and what the outcome is after asking.

Questions play a vital role in every facet of an organization. Whether it’s marketing, sales, forecasting, finance, product research and development, operations, or overall strategic planning, questions are the cornerstone of running a successful business. Let’s discuss why and what you can do to improve your question asking to be a better leader!

Have you ever read a business article that talks about “the power of storytelling”? If you have, you probably felt like it was a little shallow that researchers and analysts tout the benefits of storytelling across everything from gaining followers to increasing sales to cultivating brand loyalists. I mean, of course telling a compelling story can potentially improve sales and marketing functions, but is it really necessary at the core of the organization itself?

A recent Harvard Business Review article titled Storytelling That Drives Bold Change flipped the entire idea of storytelling in business on its head! The article claims that storytelling is far more than a “nice to have” sales/marketing approach. It makes the case that storytelling is a fundamental leadership need across all organizations. The executive summary explains,

“When tackling urgent organizational problems, leaders usually work hard to identify underlying causes, tap a wide range of knowledge, and experiment with solutions. But once they’ve mapped out a plan, there’s one more crucial step they must take: crafting a story so compelling that it will harness their organizations’ energy and direct it toward change.”

Frances Frei and Anne Morriss highlight the fact that organizational problems don’t just need a proposed fix, they need a proposal that will win people over. The narrative that leaders craft is just as important to the organization’s ability to overcome challenges as the plan itself.

For the last 15 years I have worked as a content creator and copywriter, first for (what was then) the world’s leading ecommerce software provider and later for myself as a business owner. And today, I considered walking away from that to work for minimum wage at McDonald’s. Let me explain what happened...

An article in the March-April 2023 edition of the Harvard Business Review titled Beware a Culture of Busyness had a very strong message to share with readers: “Organizations must stop conflating activity with achievement.” It explains why busyness has become so valued in organizations these days as well as the significant damage that results from prioritizing and rewarding busyness. If you get a chance to read/listen to the article and want to share your thoughts with us, feel free to do so.

We would like to add our own thoughts based on what we have seen from helping B2B companies achieve strategic revenue growth for almost two decades. In our efforts to help move organizations away from a busyness culture we’re discussing the dangers of being busy, who is to blame for today’s busyness culture, and how to evolve to increase profitable revenue.

If there was one word to describe the state of work right now it would be this: complex.

Work got really complicated in 2021 and 2022 and it’s likely going to be even more complex in 2023.

Questions are flying at business leaders faster than they can answer them.

• How will we work this year and what will that work look like?
• How will we manage in world of new employee expectations?
• How will the best organizations do more, faster, better this year?
• What has changed since last year? What are we already seeing and what should we expect to see next?

There are many new factors to consider when it comes to hiring, managing, and retaining employees. And that’s just to find people to do the work that needs to get done for the business to operate. Then, there’s the whole aspect of the work itself! Strategizing around the kind of work companies do and how they do it will determine which organizations succeed this year.

Over a decade ago, an article in the International Journal of Management, Business, and Administration defined a change agent in the following way:

“A change agent is anyone who has the skill and power to stimulate, facilitate, and coordinate the change effort. Change agents may be either external or internal. The success of any change effort depends heavily on the quality and workability of the relationship between the change agent and the key decision makers within the organization.”

And in the time since, this definition has remained relevant while the use of the term “change agent” has become more widespread.

However, this term has not always been looked upon favorably. Back in 2016 Forbes published an article declaring change agents “a hoax” and setting the internet ablaze with well-articulated counter perspectives arguing the importance of change agents. In the years since, the business world has come to embrace the idea of change agents and understand the value that they can bring to organizations undergoing significant changes.

In more than 20 years as a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) I have seen the difference between effective and ineffective leadership first-hand. And while the names and organizations may vary, the professional attributes and character traits largely do not. There is a core set of characteristics that makes the top CROs the best at what they do.