Greetings!
The quote above is one of my favorites - and something I often reference to the CEOs I coach. It "pairs" well with another favorite - from W. Edward Demming, "It's not good enough to just do your best, you need to first know what to do." I think this sums up the greatest challenge of being the CEO of a growing company. Your people expect you to have the answers, and your job is to make decisions that are based on (hopefully) knowing what to do. But the truth is, most decisions are made with less than the desired about of information or full confidence that we are right. We lean on experience, turn to experts and in the end, rely on our gut - and hope to get it right. I don't want to continually beat the same dead horse, but this is one of the fundamental benefits of having a board of peers at your disposal. Getting the experience and unbiased feedback from a dozen or more of your peers adds a great deal of confidence and competence to decision-making - and is one of the primary reasons that Vistage members' companies tend to outpace the growth of companies without that edge. Mark Twain also wrote "I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one." This could easily be the greatest call-to-action today. As the economy begins to come back to life, there are opportunities that are emerging in every market and every sector of business. Unless you are prepared to seize the opportunities you can find, it is likely your competitors will and will ride the crest of the recovery right over you. One opportunity is to hire the talent you need to take your company forward or to the next level. The interview with Alan Beaulieu in today's issue speaks to when and the book suggestion below will give you sound and prudent guidance as to exactly how. Alan has become regarded as something of the "staff economist" for Vistage International. President Woodrow Wilson once remarked that " what this country needs is a good one-handed economist," noting that the advice of economists tend to begin with "on the one hand" and then hedge with "one the other hand." Alan and Brian Beaulieu seem to share just one hand between them, and the information from their firm, ITR, continues to provide valuable insight for our members as they have for many, many years. Incidentally, Alan will be the Keynote morning presenter at the Vistage New Jersey Regional All Cities Conference on March 8th in Fairfield, New Jersey. He will spend three hours explaining the present state of the economy in global, national and local terms - and what our members can and should do with this information. While this is a member-only event, there are some opportunities for prospective members to attend as guests, Please see below for details. There are also a pair of articles from the NY Times that are well worth reading, and a follow-up to the Technology Platform piece is last weeks Monday Morning CEO. You can find the last issue and all previous issues in our archive by clicking here. As always, wishing you a great and succesfful week ahead. 
Philip R. Liebman Managing Director, Strat 4 Group Chair, Vistage International P.S. I mentioned above the Vistage NJ All Cities CEO Conference on March 8th. This is an exclusive, member-only event that will be attended by more than 100 CEOs from the region. We have created an opportunity for a select group of invited guests to attend. There is a strict limit on the number of guests that may attend, and invitations are available only to CEOs that qualify for Vistage membership and are interested in learning more about the benefits of being considered for membership. Please contact me right away if you would like an invitation to attend as my guest. .
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I see plenty of indications that the economy is slowly coming back to life. The fact that a good many of the CEOs I work with are thinking about or in the process of hiring is one sure sign. For most small and even mid-size companies, effectively recruiting and hiring talent is largely a crap-shoot - and in many cases a perennially unsuccessful undertaking. The cost of a bad hire is often calculated at two to three times the annual salary of the position being filled. It's not a mistake anyone can afford to make. This book is an insightful and practical guide to how to do it right. It has in depth information on why and how to hire effectively, from determining what you need to look for to successfully hiring and onboarding talent. You can find the book at Amazon by clicking here: 
