Corporate Culture: The Clover Food Lab Story

Posted on February 20, 2012 | 4 Comments

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Business in Vancouver, Ask the Expert: How do I turn my managers into leaders?

Posted on February 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

The key to helping turn managers into leaders is to ensure the process you use is simple and easy to implement; you can always layer on complexity later. Here’s a five-step approach for starting down the path of developing your managers into leaders:

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BIV Boardroom Strategy: how to executive corporate action plans effectively

Posted on January 4, 2012 | Leave a comment

The last step in the strategic planning process is often overlooked, and yet, it’s one of the most important: the action steps that will lead to the successful completion of your objectives.

But we need well-formed objectives before we can map out action steps.

Here are eight things we need to consider for solid action plans:

Ownership: one person must be responsible and accountable for tracing the progress toward each objective, keeping the team informed, ensuring timely action steps are occurring and adjusting the actions as reality teaches us what needs to shift.

Action steps: each objective needs to have a series of action steps that lay out a clear path throughout the year on how it can be achieved. If the objective is the “what,” then the action steps are the “hows.” It’s critical that the action steps are clear and actionable steps versus vague ideas or thoughts.

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Leadership Minute: the art of doing nothing, to boost creativity.

Posted on December 1, 2011 | 3 Comments

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BIV Boardroom Strategy: how to become more strategic with your time

Posted on November 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

I remember sitting in a productivity seminar in an Entrepreneurs’ Organization Conference in Chicago a few years ago when the speaker asked a series of interesting questions.

The first was: “Who in the room is habitually late for everything?” The second was: “Who in the room prides themself with being on time?”

Then he asked: “For those of you who are always late, what do you think the impression you leave with people is?”

The answers around the room were, “I’m busy, important, successful, value my time, etc.”

Then the speaker asked: “For those of you who are always on time, what do you think about people who are late for meetings?”

The answers they gave included: “rude, inconsiderate, poor planners, not very thoughtful, selfish, disorganized, etc.” You could have heard a pin drop.

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BIV Boardroom Strategy: Stocking your arsenal to win the war for talent

Posted on October 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

A 1997 McKinsey and Company survey coined the phrase “the war for talent.” It forecast a two- decade demographically fuelled net reduction in talent in the workforce due to baby boomers retiring.

The recent recession slowed that war, as boomers planning to retire saw their RRSPs, investments and pensions take a massive hit. As these investments begin to recover to pre-September 2008 levels, it’s again becoming attractive for boomers to consider retirement or early retirement.

“There can be as much as a 10- to 15-year experience gap between retiring leaders and high potentials.”

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Influencing Corporate Culture

Posted on August 24, 2011 | 3 Comments

I’ve spoken to a number of executives lately who are concerned about their corporate culture and who want to know the key areas for leveraging change. Here are four areas that influence culture directly and are in your control as an executive team:

  1. What behaviours we allow (we teach people what okay and not okay)
  2. What we reward (monetarily or through praise, promotion, and recognition)
  3. Who we hire, what we look for when we hire, and who we help “exit” the business
  4. The visible behaviours of the executive team we demonstrate to the rest of the company

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