Purpose Driven Leadership: A Better Leader, Better Business

It used to be that business was for-profit or non-profit, and never the twain shall meet. Companies were profit-driven or purpose-driven, but not really both. A survey of Fortune 1000 CEOs and C-suite executives found that 51% believe there is an inherent tension or conflict between a company being profit- or purpose-driven. Such thinking is now becoming outmoded and has reached something of a turning point.

This departure from long-held economic thinking could be a revolutionary change for shareholders, however, many investors are coming to see greater employee purpose and personal “why” working to support long-term success for the company, and in an altruistic sense, the world. Corporate America has taken a look around and some conscientious players noticed that resources were being stripped at an unsustainable rate and decided to alter the way they were doing business. Now, it’s commonplace for a company to have a defined corporate social purpose beyond generating a profit.

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Remove the Monopolies and Step Toward Innovation

The great thing about playing the board game Monopoly as a kid was that you could buy up everything, collect rents all over the place (or get slaughtered if say your older sister was just a better player) but when the game ended, it was over.

We’re now living a real life monopoly game that’s crept up on even the strongest free markets.

In 2017, 75% of the beer market was cornered by three monopoly companies and one, Anheuser-Busch, held more than 40% alone. In the online search industry, one company monopolized the market and held 91% of market share and 98% of the cell phone market is concentrated among the four largest companies, with 70% being split between Verizon and AT&T alone. Even seemingly trivial things like peanut butter, coffins, and adult websites are all controlled by only a couple of firms.

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How CEOs Drive Growth & Capture Markets With Interim Executives

Modern-day CEOs are taking on a barrage of new responsibilities in the age of rapid technological advancement and global expansion. Industry disruption seems to be an everyday occurrence and businesses are transforming at the speed of light. These new realities can pile never before seen challenges on a CEO’s plate that already runneth over.

How does a CEO conquer a growing list of to-do’s from establishing a strong organizational culture to developing growth strategies, and managing delicate political and stakeholder relations while forging ahead in this modern era? Opportunities to enter new markets and continuously innovate are top of mind in this day and age where technology has led to more competition and rapid change. The catch-22 is that a CEO is an army of one yet still are, charged with responding with agility and confidence to seize growth opportunities while ensuring organizational stability.

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The Healthcare Industry Leverages Interim Executives To Navigate Disruption

Modern healthcare is as complex as physiology inside our own bodies. The healthcare industry is now waist deep in an era of extreme disruption. The breakneck pace of technological innovation coupled with the increasing aging population and chronic diseases is a recipe for historic changes in healthcare.

In the healthcare ecosystem, some organizations will sink, and some swim as disruption occurs. From hospitals to clinics, to patients to pharmaceutical companies, to insurers to medical technology businesses no entity will be unaffected.

Leaders in healthcare say legacy providers must respond swiftly to the changes. The abrupt exit of critical leadership, gaps in capacity and expertise, or old systems that no longer work can quickly become problems. Because these factors are interwoven, health care organizations can find themselves unraveling if they don’t act fast.

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Needs Assessments & Mentors Are Vital To Your Organization’s Future Success

It is likely that every organization will reach a crossroads where they must decide to grow, transform, or stagnate. No business opts to stand idle but by default, many do. In fact, when it comes to achieving sustainable growth, only 20% of organizations find success. How do organizations find themselves in a standstill? Usually, leadership has their hands tied — whether they are at a loss as to which direction the organization should go, are bound by layers of bureaucracy, or do not have the capacity to drive much-needed organizational change.

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An Interim Executive Helps Native American Economic Development

Native American economic development is critical for tribes seeking to effect a positive long-term impact on their communities. Federal 8(a) programs have been a great resource for Native American owned business, but tribal communities have evolved with an increasing focus on sustainable strategic economic development.

Tribal nations not only focus on the importance of cultural preservation and protected lands, but aspire to overcome big challenges facing their communities. From poverty to limited access to high-quality education, minimal healthcare resources, and inadequate workforce development, tribes work to solve these problems through economic growth. Tribes that thrive economically can better support funding for education, housing, and a multitude of crucial basic services.

Some tribal nations have excelled in the face of these challenges. Tribal economies have had a profound economic impact by growing Native American enterprises, increasing revenue, and acquiring operating companies. Prosperous tribes have also developed strong internal and external business partnerships.

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Warfare at the Top: CEO vs Chairperson Battle Royale

We just experienced possibly the largest wave of CEO departures in recent history. Was it due to falling profits? Poor succession planning? Or is there more drama behind the scenes? Think firings, hurt egos, politics, and personal infighting. Author Isabelle Nüssli uncovers one of the big reasons for turmoil at the top ― the fractious relationships between egos at the executive level, particularly between CEO and chairperson. Hence the brilliant title of her new book, Cockfighting: Solving the Mystery of Unconscious Sabotage at the Top of the Corporate Pyramid.

“When you read the news, usually the reason [given for the CEO leaving] was strategy misalignment or different leadership style or different chemistry, etc. But the story that is not put out to the public is that there was a relational conflict, which apparently is the case most of the time,” says Nüssli.

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Interim Management Helps Businesses Plan for Brexit Uncertainty

The UK — and everyone else – are anxiously awaiting March 29 when Article 50 will either be extended or revoked. If neither occurs, the UK must leave, deal or no deal. Only a few weeks away, one thing is certain. Everything will change. Brexit could turn UK trade on its head.

Brexit is forcing organizations to cope with immense uncertainty. How does a business strategically plan with an unknown number of unknowns? The anxiety of Brexit has halted UK companies’ transformative efforts in their tracks.  Many experts are hypothesizing just what consequences will result, from ports unable to process inbound or outbound shipments, to decreased operational inefficiencies, to economic stagnation.

“Scenario planning in today’s 24-hour information culture and the dynamic global nature of business means that CEOs are being pressured by investors, the business media as well as the increasingly influential special public bodies, to explain their strategic direction and the benefits this will bring to customers as well as shareholders. This was challenging before Brexit but is now more so and a lot of CEOs are struggling with this,” explains Gaby Weidlich, a UK-based interim CEO.

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InterimExecs RED Team Member Appointed to Lead Colorado State Department

RED Team Member, Michelle Barnes, was recently appointed by Colorado Governor, Jared Polis, to lead the Colorado Department of Human Services as Executive Director. With an annual budget of over $2 billion, the state department oversees programs ranging from the state’s child welfare division to youth corrections and mental hospitals.

A four year government appointment, the assignment has many parallels to Michelle’s work as an interim executive, where she parachuted into many challenging situations. As a expert Interim CEO, Michelle has led many non-profit and mission based organizations going through change, transition and transformation across a variety of industries from environmental, to outdoor industry, health and medical, youth leadership, entertainment, affordable senior housing, and human service.

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How to Prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another”, says Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Innovation has been accelerating for the past 300 years, but with today’s pace of technological advances, Schwab says the speed of current breakthroughs has no historical precedent. We are now entering a 4th Industrial Revolution where when compared to previous industrial revolutions, we are evolving at an exponential rate rather than linear rate.

Schwab describes: “The First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanize production. The Second used electric power to create mass production. The Third used electronics and information technology to automate production. Now a Fourth Industrial Revolution is building on the Third, the digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century. It is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.”

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