Informed Decisions: Leadership Conversations and Q&A with Randall Craig (Video)

“Work smarter, not harder”, they say – but what does that mean exactly? Especially in growing businesses, leaders know what they know, but don't know what they don’t know…

 

Topics include:

↳ Is “getting ahead” a myth?

↳ How will AI impact how we work?

↳ How can we prepare for disruption?

Our 2nd segment on how and when to pivot. 

 

↳ Should organizations buckle down or take more risks when there is uncertainty?

↳ When is an “inspiration to pivot” wise vs a distraction from testing the current business model?

↳ Organizational pivot.... or create a new business?

In business, there is always change, particularly when you are chasing product-market fit. How do we decide to stay the course or look for new opportunity? 

Topics include:

↳ Proactive pivots vs reactive pivots

↳ The role of "weak signals", and how to identify them?

↳ Predicting the future vs creating it

Going deeper into work-life balance for leaders, including frameworks from Randall’s bestseller Personal Balance Sheet.

A perspective on work-life balance that incorporates the realities of leadership and team dynamics (finally!). 

Topics include:

• Managing by minute vs managing by objectives

• What should leaders share (or not share) with teams when trying to role-model work-life balance?

• Perceptions of work-life balance for younger employees who prefer a flexible schedule.

• And understanding the difference between work-life imbalance vs burnout.

We continue exploring digital strategy with live website feedback, questions on Google Adwords, and how to scale a tech startup.

One of the biggest drivers of business growth is Digital Strategy… so are your digital investments actually yielding the results you expect? Or is there a better way?

Let’s talk about:

• Is your tech working together to actually drive business? Or are there disconnected silos of technology?

• Will AI be just another “bolt-on”, like social media and other shiny digital objects from the past?

• And how does what you have now build your reputation as a thought leader, improve engagement, and improve trust in your brand?

We continue with more on delegation as a key skill for leaders of growing organizations.

Topics include:

• Making the decision to do it yourself or delegate to others

• Empowering your team and employee over-reliance

• Developing trust

• Letting go of the outcomes, and more.

This session will address delegation as a lever for business growth. Catch the full episode.

Topics include:

• Proper way of delegating

• Obstacles and the flip side of delegation

• Impact of delegating to managers and employees

• Setting boundaries and expectations, and much more.

We continue with more ideas on how to upskill your team and retain the learning.

Topics include:

• New Management Teams: What are good professional development topics to start with a new team coming together?

• Improving the impact of professional development for senior leaders.

• Professional Development Priorities: Build deeper expertise or train on skill gaps?

• When professional development topics are rejected by the team: Where is the disconnect?

New ideas on generating alignment while upskilling your team.

Topics include:

• ROI: Getting the most out of your learning and development budget?

• How to leverage (and improve the impact) of your team’s professional development.

• What is the most efficient and effective approach: external trainer, internal dedicated resource, or other?

More on how to set up an advisory board to successfully support organizational leaders. 

Topics include:

↳ Advisory board compensation: cash, or equity?

↳ Advisory board diversity vs “cohesive” culture?

↳ Building trust between board members (and with the leader).

Many leaders don’t fully take advantage of their Advisory Board… or even know why they should have one.

Topics include:

↳ Key considerations when setting up an advisory board.

↳ Recruitment, engagement, and Setting the meeting agenda?

↳ Keeping it fresh: board succession planning (and how to off-board “stale” advisory board members?

Wrapping up this three-parter on planning impactful conferences with a focus on lessons we can learn from our conference planning efforts. 

Topics for part 3 include:

↳ Reinvent the program anew or rinse and repeat what previously worked?

↳ How do we measure if a conference was a success?

↳ Conference post modems (and what if a conference falls flat…)

You are planning a conference and want it to be as successful as possible. This episode will offer some fresh ideas and insider perspectives to help you create a truly memorable conference.

Gain insights about:

↳ Who does it best? Association events vs the corporate world

↳ How long?: The one-day summit vs the multi-day conference

↳ Building the agenda: Networking time vs content

↳ Free Speakers vs Paid Speakers: Why pay when so many will speak for free?

Wrapping up with part 3 on creating change that sticks. 

Topics include:

• What is the appropriate timing and method of acknowledging the negative impact of a change?

• Incremental changes vs transformative change?

• Partner Dynamics: How can partners set up their relationship to avoid conflicts and allow for necessary change to roll out?

Continuing with part 2 of 3 on driving meaningful and sustainable change towards a more successful organization. C

Topics include:

↳ What happens to objectives and performance reviews when an organization pivots?

↳ Incremental changes vs transformative change?

↳ When and how should an organization communicate change?

How can we drive impact throughout the organization, and have it stick? Let’s go beyond traditional change management, and explore a number of additional concepts. 

Topics include:

↳ The impact and role of a multi-modal approach to change management: Communication/Coaching/Training/Monthly reinforcement/Events/etc.

↳ Internal vs external execution: When to use – and not use – external resources.

↳ Getting to neutral vs getting ahead: Using change management to drive competitive differentiation, impact, and growth.

 

Does this sound like you: “Are my rates too low… or too high?” “Is it too soon to raise my fees?” “How do I justify my rates?…. And should I have to?”

Topics include:

↳ Pricing per participant

↳ Subcontracting

↳ The connection between pricing strategy and marketing strategy, and

↳ How to communicate that your organization is a high-end brand (and worth high-end pricing)

Does this sound like you: “Are my rates too low… or too high?” “Is it too soon to raise my fees?” “How do I justify my rates?…. And should I have to?” 

Topics include:

↳ Demystify pricing strategies

↳ Explore the tactical parameters, and

↳ Getting clear on the value your organization offers

More fundamental marketing frameworks to focus your business development strategy. 

Topics include:

↳ How to measure the success of your business development initiatives, and when change may be needed?

↳ Is the juice worth the squeeze when it comes to your bus dev investments?

↳ How might an emphasis on (or lack thereof on) in-house training investment impact the firm brand?

↳ DEI, ESG, and other trends on bus dev.

Building from last week, more fundamental marketing frameworks to focus your business development strategy. 

Topics include:

↳ Business development goals and accountability.

↳ Client experience, client touch points, and referrals.

↳ New geographies, virtual offices, and cultural fit with clients.

↳ The Price/Expertise/Trust Model, and

↳ How IP and thought leadership collateral can be used within the business development process.

Continuing on with more ways to design, market, and host a stand-out conference. 

Topics include:

↳ Conference marketing: Attracting the right audience

↳ Panel discussions: Is there a way to make them more engaging?

↳ Conference profits: Reinvest in the conference… or a honeypot for other purposes?

↳ Conference Speakers: What should you be asking speakers to find best-fit talent?

Firms are built through relationships and thought leadership, but can we be more strategic with our efforts? 

Topics include:

↳ Growing your firm through thought leadership

↳ The time investment required to create thought leadership vs billable hours

↳ The shared responsibilities of Marketing, HR, and IT in the bus dev process, and

↳ Business development training opportunities for professional services

Completing our Q&A on corporate culture and work-from-home teams.

Topics include:

💡The impact that recordings of virtual meetings have had on working relationships.

💡Repurposing the “savings” from work-from-home employees to employee perks.

💡The impact and ethics of “moonlighting” by both employees and organizational leaders.