Strat4 - Solutions for Growing Companies
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Strat4 - Strategic Solutions for Growing Companies
Monday Morning CEO
                                          
Week of December 13, 2010

Better Late Than Never - It's Still Morning- Somewhere!
Also - Hold the Date: December 22. See below for an important opportunity*

 

"Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it."

                                                               -William Durant, Founder General Motors


 

Special Bonus- What is the cost of Deliberate Leadership? Find out at www.blog.strat4.com


View our profile on LinkedIn                                                           Follow me on Twitter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
in this issue
Economic Update with Alan Beaulieu
Do You Know Your Own Strengh? Marcus Buckingham
Your Exit Strategies - Inside Moves and Common Mistakes to Avoid
Unlock Your Pipeline - Caryn Kopp
P Liebman Portrait
Greetings!

First, I apologize for a late-day publishing. A technical problem delayed the upload - and my first order of business today was attending to four CEO coaching sessions on the road. I don't know about you, but I am still finding I am working harder than ever and making still doing more with less. We may be easing out of recession - but this still seems to be the new normal. A good indicator, however, is that larger companies have accumulated a lot of cash - and sooner or later we are going to see that translate to an increase in spending. The question is whether you are poised to take advantage of opportunities as they emerge.

This weeks' issue begins with an expert insight on economic trends by Alan Beaulieu of Trends Research. You'll also learn some insider moves on developing your exit strategy and learn from Marcus Buckingham how to discover your strengths. These three topics were all direct from recent information available exclusively to Vistage CEO members. Lastly, I met a local expert with some timely and extremely valuable advice on advancing your company's position while most of your competitors are either sleeping or dancing the night away in the article "Fill Your Pipeline in December" by Caryn Kopp, Chief Door Opener at Kopp Consulting.

*As a reminder, If you are a CEO and are seriously considering Vistage membership - or membership in any CEO peer group, you should consider being my guest at my Vistage CEO meeting on December 22.  The morning CEO Workshop session is being opened to a few invited guests . "Make or Break Execution"- strategic planning that connects vision to performance- presented by Dan Barnett, one of Vistage's most sought-after subject matter experts.

Have a great week!
Cropped PL Signature
Philip R. Liebman
Managing Director, Strat 4
Group Chair, Vistage International

Economic Update:  Hiring, Inflation and Halting the Growth of the Deficit

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alan BeaulieuMost of you are working on budgets and 2011 plans.   Be sure you read the interview from the Vistage Website with Alan Beaulieu, Vistage Staff economist on what's ahead. No one has a crystal ball, but Alan and Brian Beaulieu come as close as anyone gets - and offers some relevant insight for CEOs of small and mid-size companies. Alan Beaulieu will be addressing the the Vistage regional member event this March in Fairfield NJ..   He'll be taking his 2011 and beyond forecast and driving it down to the key decisions that CEOs and senior executives will be making. 
Do you know your own strength?  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marcus Buckingham Marcus Buckingham wrote two business best sellers:  "First Break All The Rules" and "Now, Discover your Strengths."   He recently presented a webinar on the Vistage Village website for our members on how to know what your strengths really are.  While I can't share the webinar with you (access is available only to members), I have attached a brief interview with Marcus that captures many of his key points.

Exit Planning Strategies

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gift of Vistage Small and mid-size companies typically are ultimately sold to competitors or private equity firms (outsiders) or to family members or management teams (insiders).  Two articles from the Vistage website explore 3 Common Exit Planning Mistakes and The 5 Rules of Engagement of Structuring a Successful Insider Transaction. For most owner/CEOs, planning for a successful exit is one of the most important strategic initiatives you will ever undertake for your business - and is one of the more typical areas that Vistage members turn to their peer boards ( CEO Group) and Chair to for guidance. Most M&A experts I know suggest that a successful exit strategy be planned at least three or as much as five years out. If you are wondering how or when to best cash-out of your business investment, I suggest you consider joining Vistage.
Fill Your Pipeline in December
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unlock Opportunities Speaking about a week ago with Caryn Kopp, I was amazed how quickly she debunked the common myth that all business stops for the holidays. I have always preached that the the summer was a great time to prospect for business while your competition was off on vacation - but Caryn drives the argument that you can truly unlock real opportunities by strategically using the holidays to reach out to key decision makers in her article linked here.
Quick Links...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
See Testimonials from Vistage CEOs
Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
phone:845.782.0178
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Join Our Mailing List