6.      Staying ahead of the competition.

In an increasingly small world, competition is everywhere.  To stay ahead of the competition, organizations need to move ahead.  In today's marketplace, status quo thinking can have dire consequences. "Keeping up with the Jones's" does not provide for sufficient differentiation.  The point is not to be like the competition, but rather to be different from them.  Focus on adapting best practices rather than simply adopting them.  Focus on what makes your organization unique and cultivating those attributes.

7.      Aligning vision, strategy, and behavior.

A story associated with the NASA era of moon shots involves the U.S. President visiting mission control in Houston, bumping into a janitor, and asking, "Son, what do you do around here?"  The janitor replies, "Sir, we put men on the moon."  A pretty powerful example of alignment, wouldn't you say?  Highly effective leaders make it a priority to link individual roles and responsibilities with work area or team goals and objectives, so that the organization's vision and mission are fulfilled.  What answer do you think you would get if you bumped into a front-line employee this afternoon and asked him/her, "What do you do around here?"

8.      Maintaining work and life balance.

Quality of work life is a major concern in American business today.  While the recent economic challenges have been very troubling, equally troubling is the sense that work has become the focus of our existence.  Leaders need to address this issue, recognizing that they are "architects" of the organizations they lead.  The concern here is with the organization's "other bottom line," its corporate culture.  What are the core values, practices, and assumptions that permeate the organization?  In simple terms, are you telling your employees that we "live to work" or "work to live?"

      9.   Improving internal processes.

If organizations are going to be adaptive and nimble relative to the external business environment, then they need to be operating with maximum effectiveness with regard to the internal business environment.  Individual and collective efforts must be linked and aligned.   Leaders can facilitate internal integration by attending to the "Three P's" of Purpose, Partnership, and Process.

10.    Stimulating innovation.

Restlessness.  Urgency today, regarding tomorrow's opportunities.  The perpetual pursuit of new ways, methods, techniques, etc.  The mindset that, "We don't rest on our laurels around here."  Reinforcement of experimentation and fine-tuning efforts.  All of these are elements of building a culture of innovation.  Innovation is the key to becoming and remaining a high performance organization.  This is a "staying great" perspective that moves beyond "good to great."  Ongoing organizational renewal must be the goal.

Our services are affordable and customized to your situation.  A limited example includes:

• Future planning - "What can be" vs. "What is"
• Revenue and growth strategies - "Rethinking sales and marketing"
• The "other bottom line" - Creating a positive corporate culture
• Pursuing "high touch" interactions - customer and employee alignment = profits
• Systems thinking- Making connections across work units and removing silos that inhibit performance
• Leadership Development - Leaders drive organizations...how's it going by you?
• Strategic thinking - examining the organizational life cycle, asking critical questions, and exploring "What if's"