Data breaches are all around us, as well as other cyber tragedies like WannaCry, Mirai and Petya. Household names like FedEx, Maersk, Deloitte, Equifax, Nuance and Sony have all been victims of recent cybersecurity breaches. The daily press is draining, but there is something that can be learned from all the facts that can help all those involved in security become more secure … [More]
Corporate Conservation Is More than Just a Box to Be Checked
Our nation’s and the world’s resources are increasingly constrained. Companies across the United States and here in Arizona can lessen their impact on the environment by reducing industrial byproducts as well as consumption of energy, water and raw materials. Businesses that incorporate eco-friendly practices remain competitive and see lower operating costs, ensuring long-term … [More]
Tools for a Changing Workforce
Why is change so difficult? First, people tend to naturally gravitate to the status quo. It’s familiar, there’s a comfort level associated with it, and so it feels “right.” Second, change can challenge people’s beliefs about their core strengths. Consider that many knowledge workers have spent years honing a particular skill or set of skills. When new technologies create … [More]
Crisis Communication Is Key for Businesses
The NFL’s regular season starts each September, but the preparation for battle is a year-round process: There’s free agency, the college draft, mini-camp, organized team activities, training camp and the preseason. Now, imagine the controversy and outrage from fans, sports radio and ESPN’s talking heads if teams walked into stadiums and stood on the sidelines of the first game … [More]
Successful Innovation — Technology vs People
The reason innovations fail is not because of technology. It’s never about the technology. Innovations fail because of people. The people who might employ a new technology may not be sold on it. Or they might be afraid of it. Or they might feel threatened by. Welcome to the dark side of innovation. However, the biggest threat to innovation a company is trying to develop will … [More]
Dos & Don’ts of Company Communication
In many cases, a company’s Intellectual Property (IP) assets, such as its patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, constitute the most valuable assets on the company balance sheet. To be sure, protecting the most commercially valuable of these IP assets is critical to establishing and maintaining a company’s marketplace advantage. Important as they are, these forms … [More]
Leadership: Take the Positive Advantage
Any business leader will submit that running a world-class organization is no easy feat. It’s challenging to work toward a vision and create a positive future for oneself and one’s team, especially given the challenges, adversity, negativity and tests of all kinds guaranteed to arise along the way. But in the face of these obstacles, one’s attitude makes all the difference in … [More]
Capitalizing on a Dashboard World
As the business world becomes ever more complex (and less and less forgiving), the ability to show data in a meaningful way — without overwhelming people or leading them to the wrong conclusions — has become a foundational skill for all leaders. The good news is there are a lot of tips and tricks you can use to create easy-to-understand, high-impact dashboards. Here are nine … [More]
The Game for Talent Has Changed – Have You?
Improvements in the economy have dramatically altered the game for talent. Today, employers have entered a situation where the script has flipped and it is now much more of a candidate-driven market versus the employer’s market of the Great Recession. Organizations need to consider whether they are responding to the new realities or still playing by the old rules. The following … [More]
Real-Life Scenarios – Real-World Advice to CEOs
Third-generation entrepreneur Jim Butler knows great buildings — and great companies — are nothing without solid support. His company, Tucson-based HJ3 Composite Technologies, manufactures, engineers and installs carbon fiber systems to repair the world’s corroding infrastructure. Since connecting with the Arizona Commerce Authority six years ago, HJ3 has scaled to 30 … [More]
Navigate Recent International Trade Policy Developments
Since the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States, U.S. international trade policy has undergone several momentous changes, and more developments are on the horizon. Most recently, the continued viability of international trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, has been called into question, as well as the U.S. … [More]
Core Motivators of Human Behavior
Human beings are more alike than we are different. We all yearn for deeper connection. We all want more time and less stress. We all desire health and well-being, freedom, adventure, revitalization and self-improvement, but most of all we crave significance — a sense of purpose. When companies connect with their customers’ deep emotional motivators, the pay-off can be … [More]
The Case Study Format – Valuable Lessons for CEOs
As the CEO of a mobile communications platform in the healthcare sector, Andrew Steele maintains a sharp focus on the rapid growth of his early-stage company, BeckonCall. Like many entrepreneurs, he is hard at work attracting capital, networking and managing a growing team. It’s the nature of the business for CEOs, he says, to have a strong emphasis on aggressively scaling a … [More]
Even Successful CEOs Need Peer-to-Peer Feedback
Patrick Stafford’s Phoenix-based business has a front-row seat to the global economy. His tower cranes are shipped all over the world — anywhere there’s a building boom and a need for a 300-foot crane to help change the skyline. His equipment has been on construction sites in Dubai, Ireland, Guam, Brazil, Uganda and Peru —to name just a few countries. Locally, Stafford … [More]
Impact Investing – Making a Difference in the Community
More jobs. Affordable housing. Sustainability. These are among the many areas in which impact investing has been put to use, not only in Arizona but also around the country and world. There has been a growing demand for this type of investment, as more people are looking for ways to not only earn a return on investment, but also to put their money toward making the world a … [More]
Business Fronts for 2017
It’s been a unique start to 2017. The first quarter brought us an interesting mix of uncertainty coupled with overall steady conditions and solid job growth. As we move into the second quarter, the opportunity for meaningful, dynamic gains is very real, and I advise business leaders to think boldly about growth. In fact, it’s time that they step on the gas as they examine their … [More]
Better Hiring and Recruiting
For employers and recruiters alike, there is no better feeling than finding and landing the perfect candidate whose skills are aligned with the open position and is ideal for company culture. However, it can also be extremely frustrating when hiring and recruiting don’t work out for the best. A company’s bad hiring choices can lead to costly mistakes that benefit no one. Bad … [More]
Death of the Performance Appraisal?
A growing body of data suggests that the traditional annual or twice-yearly performance appraisal may have outlived its usefulness. Today, information is both transparent and instantaneous, goals are mutable, and organizations of all kinds are ditching the paper trail. The problems with performance appraisals are wide-ranging. Not only do they frame the conversation in a way … [More]
