The Building Business Value newsletter has one purpose - to assist midmarket business leaders in their never-ending quest to build better companies. Whether you are the CEO of your own company, a senior manager of a business unit, or a leader in a company that serves those in the mid market, you will find something in each newsletter to help you serve your stakeholders. Each month we will cover a variety of topics, all focused on leading in the mid market.
We are very conscious that you spend much of your day buried in e-mail, so it is with your permission that we send this newsletter your way.
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Kayaking 6,500 Miles Across the Pacific
"Commanders Intent" | |
Just for fun, bring up Google Maps and ask for directions from the USA to China. I know it sounds silly, but humor me. You'll notice around step 31, Google Maps suggests you paddle a kayak from Seattle, Washington to Hawaii and then again from Hawaii to Japan. That's about 6,500 miles of paddling and you're still not in China!
The US Army and Marine Corps have a doctrine called "Commanders Intent." Put simply, Commander's Intent is a clearly stated goal made at the beginning of an engagement that holds, no matter if the situation changes, and we know it will always change.
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Luke Garwood Joins Corsum Consulting
 Luke Garwood has owned and operated technology-based businesses for the past 21 years. He has professional experience in leading Information Technology (IT), Systems Integration, and Construction companies. His specialization is in operational excellence. He has been heavily involved in start-up and high-growth companies for most of his career. He has extensive experience in the overall development and delivery of technology-based solutions, services, and products to the commercial, federal, state, and non-profit sectors. Luke has performed many functions across the companies he has been involved with to include general operations, service delivery, product management, sales, marketing, strategic planning, leadership development and vendor management.
Luke is currently an Operations Executive with Corsum Consulting. He leads the Operational Excellence competency and is responsible for enabling customer organizations to achieve intended business results including profitability, growth, and client success.
www.corsum.com
 Visit Luke on LinkedIn
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| Good Reads .....
My Latest Favorites
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Reflections on Leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf's Theory of Servant-Leadership Influenced Today's Top Management Thinkers
by Larry C. Spears
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The Power of an Internal Franchise
What if all your employees clearly understood the purpose of your business and focused all their energies on making it successful? Imagine the possibilities if everyone in your organization started thinking and acting like an owner of the bussiness.
The Power of an Internal Franchise offers the tools and strategies to build an ownership culture, put it to work in your business, and share the rewards of ownership with everyone.
You'll discover how to
- Find and keep engaged and entrepreneurial employees
- Brand your workplace and create a destination for employees
- Define your company's operating model and then share it with your employees
- Link employee behavior with business performance
- Focus your entire organization on a business goal
"The Power of an Internal Franchise gives leaders another set of tools to grow their business, build a more engaged workforce, and create an environment where people can become the best version of themselves."
~ Matthew Kelly, New York Times best-selling author of The Dream Manager
Release the power of your people to make your business a raging success!
Order Your Copy Now
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What Can Egypt Teach Us About our Own Organizations?
Transparency is the Key!
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The newspapers were filled last winter with "How Cairo, U.S. Were Blindsided by Revolution". Doesn't that just floor you? Can any government really be surprised that a revolution is imminent?
I don't want to stretch the limits of comparison, but as a leader in your organization, do you really understand the sentiments of your workforce, the staff on your team, the folks meeting with the clients or building the products? Is there an honest alignment of your strategy and your workforce? I hope so!
We've always known that honesty is the hallmark of effective leadership. One of my favorite workshop exercises is to ask folks to rate how their company stacks up to the market and to their competition. We call the graphic representation of this ranking a contour map. There are often disconnects between how leaders and staff see these rankings.
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As a business operator, I have been in a position to lead a company during troubled times. Concerns over the direction of the company, sleepless nights worrying about debt and cash flow, high anxiety over closing a deal or a transaction - the challenges seem endless. But I've also experienced the highs of leadership - the real joy of meeting client needs, the fulfillment of shaping a team, and the satisfaction of watching a vision become a reality. As tough as it can be, there is really nothing quite like being a leader in the midmarket.
It is my sincere desire that this newsletter will support leaders in the midmarket as they navigate their way to building stronger, more valuable companies. I welcome your comments.
Sincerely,
Marty
Martin O'Neill
Corsum Consulting, LLC
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| | Marty O'Neill | Marty O'Neill founded Corsum Consulting, which focuses on one goal: helping companies build business value. He is a frequent speaker and consultant on leadership, corporate culture and building business value and is the author of The Power of an Internal Franchise (Third Bridge Press),
Building Business Value (Third Bridge Press) and the co-author of Act Like an Owner (Wiley). As a business operator, Marty started and sold a company, positioned another for an LBO, and helped a third sell for a significant premium. Marty lives on the Magothy River in Maryland with his wife and three children.
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Subscribe to Marty's Blog!
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"How do you know you have won? When the energy is coming the other way and when your people are visibly growing individually and as a group."
~ Sir John Harvey-Jones | ***********************************
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The first time I read "Reflections on Leadership" I was just beginning my journey into the leadership thoughts of Robert Greenleaf. The year must have been 1996 and I was grabbing everything I could put my hands on regarding Greenleaf. I had the occasion to speak recently on the topic of servant leadership and I reread this classic. If you are an ADD executive, you'll appreciated the short, well written essays on most of the servant leadership topics. I think if would be a great gift for a young leader who takes their role seriously.
