“I’ve Got a Camera”
Recently in our narrow streets: A package delivery-service driver can’t make the uphill curve in one shot with his van, so he has to back down the hill. Meanwhile, a bicyclist emerges behind the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ready, Set, Grow! This Week: Be Seen
There was once a much-derided concept called “management by walking around.” These “management by” techniques fell short because a good, growth-enhancing management- and leadership style is marked by...
View ArticleWhat Stands Between Private-Equity Firms and Their Companies, Part 5: PI...
This is the fifth and final part or our short series about increasing the potential in the relationship between private-equity firms and their portfolio companies. The other articles are available by...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ready, Set, Grow! This Week: Don’t Forget the First Sale While Thinking About...
In sales, there is a principle that basically gets it right: “First, think about the fourth sale.” I first heard this from my coach, and the saying made it apparent to me that salespeople are always...
View ArticleClik here to view.
You Know You’ve Got a Great Team . . .
. . . when in celebration of your company’s anniversary, they give you something,that they spent a lot of time working together on. I had such an unexpected pleasure on the 18th of June when, in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ready, Set, Grow! This Week: When You Have to Set Priorities, Do It in Sales
All of us have to set priorities. The “setting” accomplishes little by itself if subsequent actions don’t align with the priorities. In a company, with its mesh of relationships, with its often murky...
View ArticleHairdressers and Motivation
I still hear, over and over, that you need to motivate employees with good wages. Repeating this proposition ad infinitum doesn’t make it any more correct. Motivation comes from within. Management must...
View ArticleGuido’s Personal View: Professional Politicians
More and more, the job description “professional politician” is becoming a reality. Increasingly in elected legislatures, we find those who have no profession other than that of politician. Just have a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ready, Set, Grow! This Week: A/The Hole in the Brand
On the autobahn, we overtake a car towing a trailer, which has a cover that advertises patio awnings. In the cover, a big hole. Trust in awnings needs to be built in some other way. Hartmut Jenner,...
View ArticleGuido’s Personal View: Dubious or Hypocritical?
In city traffic: An electric car attracts my attention. It sports eco-bumper-stickers and “Nuclear power? No, thank you!” I ignore the two stickers (while asking myself which wind farm supplied the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ready, Set, Grow! This Week: Lead Consistently
Leadership themes continue to be a component of our projects to create profitable growth. It is systematically managed weakly, inconsistently, or not at all. In particular, inconsistency is what leads...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ready, Set, Grow! This Week: The Carrot in Front of Your Nose
From time to time during a conversation about a possible project, especially with potential client companies of a certain size and complexity, we hear this: “Mr. Quelle, do you take into account at...
View ArticleThe Prophet in His Own House DOES Count!
“A prophet counts for nothing in his own house.” You may know this saying from the Bible. It is often only too true—and it doesn’t apply to your own company alone. How often in our projects do we...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ready, Set, Grow! This Week: The Messi Effect
Before I am innundated by a flood of emails: Yes, Lionel Messi is an outstanding soccer player, with this proviso: Messi also makes mistakes. And Messi plays badly from time to time. But during the...
View ArticleMarriott and RitzCarlton: When Ordinary Tarnishes Luxury
During my most recent stay at the RitzCarlton in Naples, Florida, it had become obvious what happens when an average brand—Marriott, in this case— takes over and dominates a luxury brand like...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ready, Set, Grow! This Week: The Surest Way to Leverage Growth is . . .
. . . to concentrate your efforts on straightening out your weaknesses. As prelude: If you or your company has weaknesses that fundamentally inhibit growth, straighten them out. And quickly. Examples:...
View ArticleThe So-Called “Round Table”—The Appearance of Equality Doesn’t Guarantee...
Are you among participants in negotiations where you sit at a “round table?” The “round table” is convened whenever the aim is to discuss something free from the constraints of hierarchy. The seating...
View Article
