Beyond the entrepreneur: Building business intelligence Todd Ordal I’ve been fortunate to work with some great business leaders over the course of my career, many of whom are much smarter than I am. IQ, however, isn’t the defining characteristic that I’ve observed in successful leaders and managers. Moderate or higher IQ is necessary but not […]
Moving forward for success Todd Ordal “If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.” —Jack Welch Although Welch’s statement is simply put, it’s a brilliant message that we too often ignore. There are many examples of this on the public stage. If you’re […]
Fun is a crucial part of business “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” —George Bernard Shaw I’m testing the theory that if I don’t act my age, I won’t grow old. When I look in the mirror, it appears that my theory is bunk, but damn […]
Get it on the calendar by Todd Ordal My wife is an artist and works primarily in clay. The pieces are very creative, many bordering on bizarre. (When our children were young, they thought they had the coolest mom ever when she had a piece depicting a hyena devouring a zebra removed from a show!) Her […]
Is the problem your strategy, execution or both? Todd Ordal A friend expressed frustration with his company the other day. When I queried him about his frustration, he summed it up by saying that they had started to focus on “metrics over mission.” In this particular example, concern for improving the lives of their customers […]
Where will you compete, and why will you win? Todd Ordal “Why will people buy from you versus your competition?” I asked a CEO. He recently went through a “strategic planning” process, so the question seemed reasonable. He couldn’t answer it. Some of you reading this can’t either. More often than not, CEOs believe they […]
A friend expressed frustration with his company the other day. When I queried him about his frustration, he summed it up by saying that they had started to focus on “metrics over mission.” In this particular example, concern for improving the lives of their customers is starting to take a back seat to short term […]
Top four language barriers Todd Ordal I recently read that only 6 percent of teenagers check email daily. For those of us who are middle age and in business, it’s still a primary communication tool. I always wondered why my kids (in their 20s and 30s) respond to texts immediately but rarely reply to email. […]
“Ordering a man to write a poem is like commanding a pregnant woman to give birth to a red-headed child.” —Carl Sandburg Former Veterans Affairs chief Eric Shinseki was the whipping boy for the public issue of veterans waiting too long for health care. I believe he’s a very honorable man and a great American […]
Prayer recommended Todd Ordal A recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted the challenge J. C. Penney, Target and American Eagle are having in recruiting new CEOs. They are all large, well-paying, prestigious jobs. Why is this a problem? All three are experiencing significant declines. J. C. Penney recently fired its CEO, who had previously built the Apple […]