If you’re reading this, you’re either leading your firm or would probably like to be leading it someday. Effective leadership is the single most crucial asset a firm must have to succeed. Firms that need money can borrow; firms without enough business (if there are any these days) can boost their marketing; but firms that [...]
The dawn of a new year is a terrific time to take a step back and gain perspective on where your firm is going. By that, I mean you should review your firm’s vision or—if your firm doesn’t have a written vision—by all means take the time to develop one. Some design firm leaders tend [...]
Strategic planning can bring out the best or worst in a firm, and sometimes in its leaders. One of the most widespread, damaging, and avoidable patterns I see is a leadership gap between the current CEO (or president or managing partner) and the next level. The symptoms of this gap can be seen from both [...]
When I work with a firm to help develop its strategic plan, I especially enjoy meeting one-on-one with management and staff to listen to their thoughts and concerns. While each company has its own unique issues, I tend to hear one particular question a great deal: “Where is our firm going?” Upon noticing this comment [...]
When I first began making presentations to industry groups about strategic planning (a couple of decades ago…) I would open with an audience poll asking which firms actually had a strategic plan. At the time, about half the hands went up. I hardly have to ask that question today, because in my experience almost every [...]