“The growth of a company is limited by the growth of the leader.” 

Randy Nelson
Vistage Member and author of The Second Decision: The Qualified Entrepreneur

The Low Cost Path to Profits

When CEOs focus on profit improvement, they first look at raising revenue and lowering expense; but these are the outcomes of a profit improvement initiative, not the “how to” part. Profits are driven directly or indirectly by productivity which in turn is driven by employee engagement. Research in the UK showed that the drivers of engagement are clear and not expensive to implement. This infographic (accompanied by a link to the research) summarizes a list of management behaviors that lead to a low cost path to profits. How many would your employees say are part of YOUR management style? And it doesn’t cost very much!

This is Your Brain on Mondays

It was back to the salt mines yesterday. You might therefore think that Monday, right after a fun and relaxing weekend, is not the best day to make decisions. But according to research reviewed in Wired Magazine, “Mondays represent a fresh start. And as it turns out, there are subtle clues in our Monday behaviors hinting that our brains our better primed to make decisions on that day than most others. Here’s how to tap into that power anytime you need it.”

Econ Recon:

Most executives are interested in economic forecasting, but most forecasts stop short of concrete action steps that a business can use. ITR Economics will be hosting a webinar (at a nominal cost) in conjunction with TalenTrust, a strategic recruiting firm, combining ITR’s consistently accurate economic forecasts with TalenTrust’s tactics for staffing.

This will be recorded for those who register but cannot attend the live version.Get your team in front of a monitor and  check it out on Thursday, August 11.  2017 will be here before you know it; get ready for it!

Shameless Self Promotion Department:
Better CEOs, Better Human Beings

Many readers of this newsletter are CEOs who are also Vistage members. With the help of their Chair and their Vistage Group, they are taking their business to a new level by taking themselves to a new level first. While Vistage has a clear impact on its members, the impact that Vistage Group can have on the Group’s Chair is also significant.

To wit: a long time TEC-Midwest Chair, Dennis Ellmauer, stepped down as the leader of his group after 21 years to take a CEO position. (TEC Midwest is the original founding organization for what today is Vistage Worldwide and recently became part of the latter.)

Dennis reflects on how what he learned from working with CEOs for two decades as their Group Chair is helping him in his new gig as a CEO. Check out his short article in the Milwaukee Sentinel, “Better CEOs, Better Human Beings:  Lessons Learned from TEC” (Vistage).

Dr. Peter Drucker is quoted as saying that the “bottleneck is always at the top of the bottle.”  If you want your company to go to the next level, you have to go there first. Contact me at [email protected] for more info about Vistage, including comments from local CEO members.