Issue #51: People, Presence, and Priorities I spent this past week in the United States. It was the first time I had been back for business for more than two years. My goal was pure business development, and the two events I attended (Restecher Capital Markets Day and IIEX NA Conference) did not disappoint. The advisory work I do is not an easy sell. I am not a growth hacker or brand whisperer or a traditional coach. Instead, I know how to help businesses do the hard things that are needed to grow profitably and create value for their shareholders. The work I do is invariably transformative—commercially, operationally, technically, and organizationally—which means it is complex and risky. It invariably requires multiple teams to align around a vision that emerges from uncertainty and work together to build the new while still operating the old. It is invariably, therefore, about people. Because of this, it is very difficult for me to both sell what I do and do what I do working remotely. I say this despite having been successful working remotely for seventeen of the past twenty years, during which I have accomplished some very large, very complex projects. I certainly don’t lack experience. The difficulty I face highlights one of the real challenges of the post-Covid workplace. In reducing the debate around remote work to an emotive question of freedom versus control, we lose sight of an important fact. While complex work can be done remotely, the odds of success increase dramatically when you bring people together, especially in larger companies. Presence signals priority. In an age where time is punctuated by Zoom/Teams meeting notifications, presence focuses our attention. Presence allows us to communicate fully. Presence enhances our understanding of what must be done. Presence accelerates the creation of trust. This past week has been a reminder of these truths. As I reflect on the past week, the emerging lesson seems to be that, while my writing brings people to the top of my funnel, my ability to “convert” them and deliver value is greatly enhanced by physical presence. People, stuff, travel, reading, and more
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On the convergence of execution and leadership. Where doing beats dreaming and integrity drives impact.
Issue #53: Creating Clarity in Complex BusinessesRead this on my website Most of you reading this operate complex (and probably complicated) businesses. Technology, go-to-market, operations, finance, legal—each function has its own priorities and ways of working, yet all must operate in synchrony if the company is to execute well. This is hard enough in stable markets; in uncertain ones, it can be practically impossible. To stitch these pieces together, you need a clear view of the business...
Issue #52: The Importance of FrictionRead this on my website Note: You may have noticed my absence for a few weeks. I've been dealing with a really difficult personal situation, which I reference in today's newsletter. Friction is bad. This is the message that is drilled into us in both professional and private contexts. Friction is inefficient. Friction blocks progress. Friction is something we must strive to remove or overcome! (Ideally with technology, according to large technology...
Issue 16. How Do You Compensate Customer Success People? The advisory work I do on Customer Success almost invariably begins with a process review. We look at what the team is doing and how it is doing it, and then talk about what their goals and ways of working should be. Compensation then follows and is structured to create incentives for desired behavior. But that’s rarely the way these things are set up in the first place. More often than not, the CS team’s goals and priorities are the...