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You Can’t Afford Not to Plan
Everyone has heard of at least one time management tool to help focus on priorities, schedule tasks and events or delegate assignments. These all focus on today and this week’s tasks.

Hidden Truths about Your Business, Employees, and Related Performance
Truths worth talking about that can impact your organization and it's success. 1.Your workforce is changing. 2.Your leadership capacity is finite. 3.Your strategic plan only works if you use it regularly. 4.Accountability does not happen on its own. 5.All of your employees are connected to sales.

Swimming Naked
In a 2001 Berkshire Hathaway Chairman's letter, Warren Buffett declared "You can only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out." Depending on the context or your specific situation, one can derive a variety of different meanings from this metaphor. Naturally, I see it from a business perspective and wonder how many companies have been "swimming naked" for so many years.

Ships without Rudders Eventually Hit the Rocks
Company direction and strategy. What are your plans for 2010??

Cash Flow Forecasts

Companies with strategic business plans enjoy greater revenue and profit growth than companies that don't have one! In 1993, AT&T commissioned a study of small businesses. The survey found that companies that had a business plan were far more likely to succeed than those that did not. Notably, only 42 percent of the businesses surveyed in the AT&T study had a formal business plan - a statistic that hasn't changed much in the past 10 or so years. Yet according to more recent studies, companies with a strategic plan enjoy greater revenue and profit growth than companies that don't have one, and their failure rate is much lower.

Performance Management: The Individual Strategic Plan

Performance management has become an ever-increasing critical tool to success for businesses. Within the last year we have experienced both a booming economy as well as a recession; a historically low unemployment rate combined with massive layoffs and business closings. But the bottom line to all of this is people! AND, we are human and as such are typically much more productive when we have clear goals, expectations, and feedback.

Strategic Planning...Goal Setting...Are You Still on Track?

Do you remember how much time and energy you put into setting goals for yourself and/or your business earlier this year? Do you even remember what those goals were? What actions have you taken toward accomplishing them? Each year, January 1 is a milestone that forces me to establish both my personal and business goals for the year. Whether you have a strategic plan for your business/department or personal goals/resolutions, it is exciting and motivating to set them but very easy to put them on the shelf and forget about them until next year. According to research by Tom Terez, only about one in five individuals make a resolution each year AND actually keep it. Why do so few actually realize their goals?

When Setting Policy and Procedure, Proceed with Caution

Many organizations adopt a policy and procedure only after years of operation. Sometimes viewed as broad guides to action, policies are never formally adopted, merely understood. Procedures on the other hand, are quicker to be adopted in order to make the process of action quicker. Everything from dealing with employees, customers to the process of manufacturing should be examined. Essentially these are a large part of the goals of the organization and the strategic plan for obtaining and using resources to achieve goals more effectively.

Don't Let Strategy Puzzle You

We sometimes have a tendency to try putting our strategic plan together without having a real picture of where we want to go, and what we really want the business to become. It's like driving in the dark or putting that puzzle together with no reference at all. Often times action plans are even written, segment and product initiatives are developed and the management team attends a retreat where they come up with fifty four grand ideas, drink the same Kool Aid and sing the same motivational song. Six months later they have accomplished very little, and they can't figure out why they aren't achieving great success.

A, B, C's of Execution

The anchor of any execution plan is your organization's strategy; it informs and drives every tactic and activity that people are engaged in. I see too many organizations executing a number of tactics with no strategic plan or context to give them meaning. So, before describing what 'good' execution looks like, make sure you have a strategy to lean on. If not, go back to square one and create one. In addition, when creating your strategy, spend significant time on thinking through implementation. Avoid the trap of spending 80% of your time on the essence of your strategy and 20% on execution. Reverse your focus and spend 80% of your time on executional planning.

Sharpen your Focus with Goals
There is no question that effective goal setting can improve the performance of your department. Top performing leaders in all fields use goals to increase confidence, extend vision, and stay motivated. Use Demand Metric’s downloadable Department Goals & Individual Goals templates to break your high-level strategic plan into smaller, manageable chunks.

Grinding Out Success: How Kroc Made McDonald’s A Golden Triumph
“We provide food that customers love, day after day after day,” said Kroc. “People just want more of it.”

Lesson #1: Build a Brand with No Bounds
Simon Fuller’s specialty is not that he finds particularly outstanding talent and introduces it to the world. Rather, Fuller’s gift is that he is able to take almost anyone and build them up into a brand – a brand that the world cannot resist.

A Guide to Franchising Abroad

Since there are a variety of cultures, customs, and societies around the world, it can be difficult to grow your brand internationally. Nevertheless, a plethora of franchises – such as SUBWAY, Papa John’s and The Zoo Health Club -- have made the transition and effectively developed abroad. While larger companies have more success because of their brand awareness worldwide, smaller companies can also thrive internationally with an innovative concept and strategic plan.

Day in Life of a VC-Backed CEO
A day in the life of a VC-backed CEO, via PE Hub. Oh, ouch.

Tearing Up Your Campaign Competition

When launching a campaign, make sure that you include all the details and focus on the most important points to ensure success. You should also keep a watchful eye on your competitors and what their main strategies are. You have to edge them in the best points so that you can take advantage and capture the biggest market share. Here are some tried and proven tips from the industry leaders on how to beat the competition.

Strategy Execution: Why We Fail At Strategic Implementation

Why do so many organizations fail at strategic implementation? The quality of an organization’s strategic plan is not the primary determinant of success in goal achievement. No, the primary factor is that success hinges on execution. This article is part 1 of a two part series and examines some of the most common root causes of organizations and their leaders to miss the mark on strategic implementation. In part 2 of the series we map out an approach for successful strategic execution.

Your Strategic Plan in 7 Days?
Is it possible to create a corporate strategic plan in a week? The answer depends from where you are starting. Are you starting from the most current plan? What results are wanted out of the process this time around? What are the definitions you want to attach to “strategic plan”, and to “done”?

Strategic is "Pounding on the Basics"
The Strategic Action category is replete with mergers, acquisitions, new products, new markets and partnerships and alliances, but taking care of the Basics 24X7X365 always seems to get left out....

Two Steps to a Winning Strategy
Before considering a Strategy, you need to know what you're trying to accomplish. Think about the Priorities facing your business n0w and select one or more SMART Goals, with a target date for achieving each one of them. I find it's easiest to work in 90 day (quarterly) planning segments. Creation of a Strategic Plan involves only two basic steps: analyze pertinent information and make decisions.

A Clear Vision Sharpens the Focus
A clear vision sharpens the focus. It says, â€œHereâ€™s our direction, hereâ€™s where weâ€™re going, hereâ€™s how weâ€™re going to change the world.â€

A Strategic Vision Exercise
Hereâ€™s an exercise that Iâ€™ve found helps people think about vision.

How Long Should It Take To Complete A Strategic Plan?

Given the opportunity to better leverage the art and science of strategic planning, organizational leadership should strive to better understand strategic planning and unlock the competitive advantages it can bring them. This article examines the process of strategic planning In the corporate world and explores the required effort the process takes to accomplish the organization’s go-forward plan for the future and accompanying desired outcomes.

Do You Really Want to Build a Faster Strategic Plan?
How long should the process take to create your corporate strategic plan and get the job done right? Even if the plan is created in a week’s time (and it won’t be), is the job really done? Has everything that needs to be done to support the strategy roll-out been addressed?

In Corporate Strategic Planning, Leave Your Perfectionism at the Door

The pace of change and uncertainty in today’s economic and business environments require that business leaders define and evolve their plans while the organization is in full motion. Leaders must be able to react to risks and opportunities as they appear, while making choices that support a consistent corporate strategy. And while it’s tempting for organizations to strive for perfection in every strategic plan, this approach can result in serious missed opportunities and lost market share. Embrace the imperfection that is inherent in any corporate strategic plan. After all, without clairvoyant powers nobody has perfect information upon which to plan and act -- and that’s okay.

The Positive Impact of Strategic Thinking and Planning on Your Success

All of the tips in this article can help you to formulate a great strategy. However, there is no guarantee that your brilliant strategic plan will work. I'm sure you have heard the expression, "learn from your mistakes." As we move forward and make progress on our journey, we will have many experiences to learn from. Use them to your advantage. Apply strategic thinking and planning in your life and increase your success.

How Planning the Work (and then Working The Plan) Can Catapult Your Marketing Success
A marketing plan is vital to the success of your business. Without a plan, even the best intentions may never be realized. You must plan the work and then work the plan, or your goals will not be accomplished. They key is to not only have a plan but to implement that plan. Here’s how.

Get Prepared for the Upturn
Tips to get your ready for the upturn in the economy

Top 11 Ground Rules for Conducting a Strategic Planning Session

Conducting a good strategic planning session is critical to the success of a solid strategic plan; one that includes specific and measurable goals and objectives, providing a clear direction for the organization. To ensure that the actual planning retreat is as productive as it can be, ground rules should be established and discussed prior to commencement. This article provides a list of 11 ground rules I believe are imperative in managing a successful planning retreat.

Preparing for the Strategic Planning Retreat - A Checklist

Every nonprofit organization should conduct strategic planning on a regular basis, as strategic plans outline what action steps the organization will take in the future to sustain and grow their operation, while adhering to their mission. Many organizations focus attention on conducting the strategic planning session and developing a plan, but don't allocate sufficient time to prepare for the planning retreat. Taking time to adequately prepare for a strategic planning session can help the actual event to run much more smoothly and efficiently, resulting in greater productivity. This article provides a checklist of items to consider in preparing for your next strategic planning retreat.

Top Five Responsibilities of Nonprofit Board Members
I have seen effective and ineffective boards of directors. Good boards of directors are clear about their roles and responsibilities versus those of the Executive Director, and they don't overstep their boundaries. This article highlights what I consider are the five most important responsibilities of board members.

Time to Update Your Strategic Plan

Feeling caught in a no win situation? Don't feel bad, no one anticipated the economic trauma we've recently gone through. The economy has changed, people aren't buying, you have opportunity but can't get credit to take advantage of it, and your existing client base is slowly melting away into retirement, bankruptcy or sale. If you’re in react mode, you'll never get ahead of the changes taking place - things are moving too fast. It's time to re-evaluate your opportunities and update your strategic plan.

What You Should Consider Before Entering Into A Collaborative Agreement

Collaborative efforts with other agencies are valuable and can have many advantages. However, there are some items you need to consider prior to entering into any type of collaborative relationship. You'll want to ensure that when you enter into a collaborative relationship, it is a win-win situation for your clients, your organization, other stakeholders, and for your collaborative partner. This article addresses some questions you need to ask and issues you need to consider before establishing a collaborative relationship.

The most important thing to know about your strategic plan.

As part of the product development process for RapidInfluence we had numerous sessions with individuals both inside and outside of our target market. The purpose of these discussions were to work through the premises of our Strategic Planning Manifesto and to preview the first version of our product. One of the more insightful sessions we had was with Ian Smith of Portfolio Partnership and the author of The Smith Report, a must read for growth companies. In our session we discussed the need for companies to create strategic plans and more importantly to implement them. During our discussion, Ian rightly pointed out that success in strategic plan implementation was largely dependent on knowing what the status of various action items are within the strategic plan.

Does Your Title Box You In?
Too many people, when introducing themselves to new contacts, are allowing potential prospects to box them into a preconceived belief about what they do based on their title. Learn how to use a vague title to solicit deeper interest and a highjacking of your brand.

An Uncertain Trumpet Makes Only Noise and Will Not Deliver Your Business Results
Blowing an uncertain trumpet makes only a noise and not beautiful music. Theodore Hesburgh noted this when he said: "It's got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet."

The Power of Excellence
The one ingredient that turns the ordinary to extraordinary is merely a commitment to excellence

Use Creativity when Generating a SWOT
A part of the Strategic Process is a SWOT analysis ( It stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). Many groups do a perfunctory job of this analysis, and this is a big mistake. This article shines a light on some best practices in doing a SWOT.

Three Trends Facing Future Business Strategic Planning
Where does time go? What seems like just yesterday you were planning this year's goals and now it is 6 months or heaven's forbid 2 years later!

Getting An Outside Look
Working with a team over time can create "group think" and rob the ability to be objective. Soliciting feedback from the outside can help overcome this. Read this article to find out how.

Online Business Success: Does Your Business Need An Upgrade?
Do you know how to upgrade your business for increased business attraction? Read this article and learn seven quick and easy ways to get started now.

Which Business Plan Software is For Me
I received a call this afternoon from a guy out in the New England area asking which program works best for raising investment capital. After a fairly long conversation explaining the key differences between the programs I decided to recap them here for your use:

Critical Success Factors
The Critical Success Factors are those components of your strategic plan that must succeed if the overall plan is to succeed. It is from the Critical Success Factors that you identify your 30/60/90 Day Focus.

What’s Your Compelling Purpose?

All of us are in search of a clear and driving purpose for our lives; we want to contribute to something bigger than ourselves. The world of work offers a great opportunity for people to connect with a purpose. The reality is that people care less about working for a company and much more about working for a compelling cause. Without a purpose, our teams are just putting in time. Their minds might be engaged, but their hearts will not be. A team without a purpose is a team without passion. They might achieve short-term results, but they won’t have the heart to go the distance.

4 Steps to Guarantee Business Survival
Could a proven Success Framework be all that's needed for your survival in today's economic conditions?

Who Protects Your Greatest Vulnerability?
Build a foundation to stand upon ... so you have the liberty and security necessary to take risks and chase your dreams.

Strategic Planning - Business Executive Essentials - Part 5 of 12

The article series began with recognition of the ongoing quest business executives endure trying to improve their company's performance by laying out a better business plan and strategy. This segment is part five of an series that describes the components of a comprehensive business strategic plan and provides a checklist for evaluating strategic planning process effectiveness. Last week’s post (part 4 of this article series) began a continued exploration of the layers of the strategic planning model ecosystem analysis. This model (shown again below for your convenience) was introduced several weeks ago and depicts a graphical representation of the key elements of strategic planning. In this week’s edition, we will continue examining those layers of the graphical model relating to the “business ecosystem”.

Building A Firm Foundation For A Strategic Plan
Executives almost always overlook the fact that a strong organizational foundation must first be laid within the company in order for a strategic plan to be effectively implemented. Otherwise, the process of strategic change is like a skyscraper built over a swamp - it won’t take long to sink under its own weight.

Executing a strategic plan requires heavy lifting
The importance of executing a strategy to achieve a goal

Strategic Planning – Planning for Success using your Strategic Roadmap.
So what is a business strategic plan? Basically it is a combination of what you want your business to be and a roadmap to get. Here’s how to get your company focused, stable and profitable.

Small Business Growth Quiz – 7 Market Focused Questions You Must Ask To Help You Grow
Stop thinking like a small business owner... here are 7 Questions to think about and respond to when planning for Business Growth

How To Protect Your Online Business And Website From Disaster

Everyone who is in business should be doing business online. The potential is just too great to pass on. Even if you have nothing up but a virtual business card posted on a domain name that you own and control you need to have a business presence online. The cost to do so is too little to ignore, and the cost to not do so is too great to ignore. That is vital step number one. Vital step number two. Protect Your Online Business From Disaster by following a few simple common sense steps detailed herein!

Unemployed? Plan Your Career Now
Our economy is a mess, and we are in uncharted territory. Most everyone is feeling the pinch, especially if they now find themselves unemployed or wonder if they are the next one to lose their job. Unfortunately, most people put more planning into their next vacation than they do their career or more realistically their “careers.”

End of Year Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach: Looking to Success in 2009 and Beyond

As we enter the month of December each year, we often wonder where the year has gone, how quickly it has passed and what we did or did not accomplish. He end of each year finds us thinking about holidays, gifts, parties and friends, as well as the closing out of another business year. The end of the year is a time to look back on the previous year and look forward to the next. And while reflecting on the past year, Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach would like to suggest that you take time to remember and to give thanks for the great things that happened in your business. And to build on all of the positive things that you accomplished this past year and carry that positive momentum into next year.

Have You Defined Integrity within Your Business Values or Business Ethics Statement?
Integrity is a much often quoted word within the values statements for many businesses. How do you define this word may separate you from your competitors

Can’t Afford Customer Relationship Management Program Try Auto Responder to Increase Sales
You understand the importance of customer relationship management, but you can’t afford a customized program. Consider using an auto responder as an affordable substitute.

Time Management Tip - Make an Appointment with Yourself
Are you losing minutes and hours? Learn a simple technique to enhance your time management.

Can We Trust Our People To Execute?
Our entire executive team is usually very involved in the creation of the strategic plan, so they most likely “get it”. Presumably, they are vested. But what about the levels below the execs?

Small Business Tips - Energy Conservation Isn't Just For Light-Bulbs And Water

One thing that most small business owners forget with all of this focus on the environment is their own personal energy conservation. It is nothing for a business owner to try and cram in a few hours after the kids are asleep – even if their eyes need superglue to remain open. But when you are a business owner your personal energy conservation is vital. In most cases without you there is no business. Unless you conserve your own energy, your body will eventually exhaust itself and force you to slow down, usually at the most inconvenient times when you have clients on a deadline.

Small Business Tips – It's Never The Perfect Time

Many people wait for things to be “perfect” before they pursue their dreams and goals. They wait for the perfect conditions, the perfect attitude, and the perfect time of year. They really want to achieve their goals … but the time just isn’t right. In business they wait to take action on things they need to do to grow their business until they have their strategic plan in place, until staff turnover settles down, until they stop being so busy, until they get a few more clients. They really want to get around to taking the actions they need to do to grow their business … but the time just isn’t right.

Small Business Tip: Your Self Esteem Determines Your Profits

Money is the last great taboo in society. These days you can ask someone their political views and you will generally get an answer. You can ask someone their religious affiliation and they will tell you. You can even ask them their favourite sexual position and most people will giggle and then come up with an answer. But ... ask them what their credit card debt is or how much they earnt last year and you will get embarrassed mumblings or silence.

Personal Strategic Planning
Improve your effectiveness and your time management too. Focus on the few things that will make a BIG difference

Shared Vision
As a small business leader, one of the most important things you can do is develop a mechanism to include all employees in the vision of your organization. Some of the benefits of a shared company vision include...

Get Tuned In by Leaving the Office

I just started reading an advance copy of "Tuned In", a new book by David Meerman Scott, Craig Stull and Phil Myers that is due to hit stores in July. Tuned In offers up an in-depth six step process that helps businesses understand and connect with markets in order to provide products and services that customers really want. The first step in the process flushes out a point that I feel is very important to small business owners and managers: "The critical first step to becoming tuned in is to understand, in great detail, what existing market problems your organization could solve. The only way to accomplish this is to get out of your office."

7 Essentials for MASSIVE Success!
Check out this acrostic for the "7 Essentials for MASSIVE Success!"

Which is it - Strategic Plan or Strategic Plan of Action?

We've heard the clichés about planning and failure. So, what is the major obstacle for people to simply jot down what's already in their mind? My view is that the act of writing things down makes the idea concrete and attached to commitment and responsibility. In our CYA (cover your assets) culture, one understands the anxiety that can be attached to writing out a plan. Here are several strategies to help you break that cycle and move forward. If procrastination and commitophopeia aren't your issues, congratulations.

The Need for Problem Solvers
The need for business problem solvers is increasing daily. The need to reach out for help when problems occur is a natural occurance.

How to crystalize business growth options through Strategic Planning

What is it? Why do strategic planning? When is the right time for strategic planning? Strategic Planning is a tool to formulate high level business strategy. It sets the table to allow preparation of detailed business plans. Strategic planning is undertaken to define the precise mission of the organization, prioritize opportunities and help manage growth. It is also a very useful tool in satisfying succession planning needs. Most strategic planning is undertaken to establish base guidelines for a business plan. It also provides the benefit of helping maximize resource utilization and prioritize growth options.

Achieving Successful Business Growth
Successful business growth is not a miracle. It is the result of business owners directing all their talents and energies to the single purpose of building a bigger business. Through our work with successful businesses we have identified 6 key actions that business owners must do if they are to successfully grow their business.

My Dear Franchisee…
My Dear Franchisee provides an introduction to a new franchisee of exactly what it is they've bought, what is included and what isn't as well as defining what are the roles of the franchisee and the franchisor. In short, everything you wanted to know about franchising but had been unable to ask!

Would Your Strategic Planning Process Survive Reality TV?

If your strategic planning process was put in front of a panel of experts, would it be ridiculed and sent home, or would it be given a ticket straight to Hollywood? If it’s like the more than 85% of strategic plans that fail to deliver the intended results, its chances are not great. It takes a very good process to result in a strategic plan that is realistic and can be executed. Too many plans end up full of content that is cerebral and fluff, adding little or no value to the organization. So before you send it into the limelight, ask yourself these questions to objectively evaluate your planning process and identify potential issues and risks that may exist in your organization's current planning world. Considering these questions now can avoid potentially devastating results later.

Ten Top Business Tips From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Recently I was preparing for a strategic business coaching presentation to a group of business owners and senior management staff members. I had been asked by the host to make sure I had a list of ten top business tips to pass along to the attendees. Reflecting back over the past several years, I tried to recall what I would select as ten of those top tips. After remembering some of the most highly successful people I have worked with as a strategic thinking business coach and/or an executive coach, I thought of what they had told me were some of the most impactful tips I had shared with them. Here are the ten top business tips that I recalled as having the biggest impact on past clients.

10 Strategic Steps To Take To Achieve Your Business Vision, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Highly successful businesses today have developed visions for their organizations and have the vision integrated throughout the company. However, far too many businesses, even some that may be considered successful, have no clear vision and no real plan for the future of the company. There are some people that have a great fear of strategic planning and of developing a clearly defined vision. And sometimes the fear stems from the lack of knowledge of strategic planning and/or confidence that the people and the organization can actually succeed in developing and implementing a sound strategic plan. This fear and the lack of confidence can be minimized by following strategic steps I have used and that my clients have used through strategic thinking business coaching. Here are 10 recommended strategic steps to follow.

How to take Strategy and Turn It into Results
Nothing great has ever been achieved without strategy. Strategy is what builds skyscrapers, wins super bowls, launches space shuttles and puts companies on the Fortune 500 list. Yet if you were to ask many business owners to define strategy, they would fall short of being able to tell you what it means. The word probably exists as one of the most misunderstood words in business language.

Strategic Planning: Key Reasons Why Strategic Planning Is A Must
You're a busy entrepreneur and small business owner. You have heard a lot about strategic planning, but figure it's for big business. Besides you just don't have the time and/or resources to spend on planning. You have a business to run and right now things are going okay. So why must you have a strategic plan?

Tips On Making Good Decisions

Throughout our lives all of us are faced with making tough decisions. Do I take this new job? Do I move out of state? Do I marry her/him? Do I have this surgery? Obviously some are more important than others, some are life threatening and some are less critical. Some decisions must be made quickly and some have the luxury of time. In making these decisions how do we know we are making the right choices? How do I make good decisions? Is there a process that can help me? The answer is yes. Below are some tips to guide you through the process.

Guess Who's Living the American Dream and You Can Too!
Can you guess who this is? He came to this country as a young man and has risen to the very top in his profession. He then went on to succeed in three other fields, real estate investing, acting and politics. Here is his master plan and a check list to help you create your own master plan.

So Whats Your Strategy
When a serious attempt is made to transform any organization, the return on investment in the building and linking of strategies to accomplish the mission and vision of the organization will be substantial. Strategic thinking and planning will allow the organization to both sustain itself and grow. Strategy is where the rubber meets the road. Great strategies begin with solid leadership!

Checklist for Setting up a Strategic Plan -- To Win
What factors make for a strategic plan that you and your company actually will do? Here are key questions to ask yourself to avoid the most common planning mistakes:

Are you DisNavigated?
The DisNavigation Quiz will tell you whether you’ve got “Personal Strategic Vision" for your life, need a push or are totally stuck in DisNavigation City

The Six Essential Steps to Having Your Business Achieve Its Goals

It has become stale at this point to discuss goals and achieving goals. Everyone knows what it takes to set and achieve goals, and there is no shortage of acronyms (e.g. GOALPOST) to help managers remember that goals are time bound, measurable, significant, etc. This begs the question of why – if everyone knows how to set and keep goals – so many businesses fail to achieve their objectives. Goal setting is sort of like New Year’s resolutions: easy to make, hard to achieve. A business coach and advisor can help ensure that you and your leadership team set appropriately aggressive goals and achieve them. There are six steps to the process.

A Strategy That Dominates the Competition (And Actually Gets Put Into Action!)

The problem with most strategic planning exercises is that they result in a beautiful written document, but nothing ever gets done. In my experience, executives fail to implement strategy because they fail to complete a comprehensive strategic plan. There are three parts to strategy in any organization, and each is crucial. Most organizations skip one or more of these components, and that is why strategy rarely gets implemented properly.

How To Make 2008 Your Best Business Year Ever
Start your year with specific and measurable business goals. For example: I want to earn $200,000 in 2008. Or, I want my newsletter distribution to double.

Do You Know the Top 7 Reasons Why Business Coaches Real Estate Agents Share Similar Failure Rates
Are you a business coach or real estate agent? Then read on to learn what you have in common with each other?

How to Become the #1 Author in an Internet Article Marketing Category in 7 Steps
Internet article marketing demands a combination of strategies beyond just submitting articles. Learn how you can become number one in a given article writing category.

Making A Strategic Plan Work For You
Most successful companies have a strategic business plan. This plan provides a frame work that the senior executives use to move their company forward. Wikipedia defines strategic planning as " an organization's process of defining its strategy and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including capital and people. "

Doing, Doing, Done! - Finishing that Big Project

During a large project it's easy to become distracted. Procrastination sets in, you lose focus, you become frustrated, and you check email 47 times a day. You doubt your competence and ability to do what you set out to do. These factors pull you away from the task at hand. What is needed to stay on track, feel good about your progress and finish? In this article, you will learn two perspectives on tackling the project along with 7 ways to ensure increased productivity and completion.

Functional Leadership Teams
The leadership team is the heart of every successful organization. Learn how to develop a highly functional and cohesive team that will work for your organization.

The pros (and a few cons) of hiring independent business auditors

Professional auditors take confidentiality seriously, and help to ensure that proper agreements are in place both internally and externally as part of the audit process. While it may take a little time for the external auditor to get up to speed on your company, it is that very process, as the objective external auditor learns the workings of your business, that enables the auditor to see opportunities, risks, and solutions that may not be as easily viewed by people closer to your company.

Do you have a STRATEGIC Audit Plan to guide your business?
Internal audit functions are essential to good business because the right auditing system and team can save money, find your business blind spots and provide much needed perspective. But a STRATEGIC Audit Plan is critical to using your audit team for the best results.

Does Your Company Have a Brain?

Coming up with the right game plan offers the best chance at success. If innovation is the heart of a technology company, then the game plan is the brain. One cannot succeed without both. Flaws in innovation are rare in the United States, but game plans are always flawed, and they are usually fatally flawed-which accounts for the high rate of failure for start-up companies. A dictum originating in the Harvard MBA training program is that “a company that prepares and follows a good game plan has the best chance for success.” Rigorously following the game plan-while continuously searching for the flaws and applying corrective action-offers a small company this best chance to succeed.

Strategic Planning Must Include a Strategic Action Plan Filled with WAY SMART Goals
Strategic planning is a given for many organizations. Yet, executing or implementing a strategic business plan continues to be a challenge for many small business owners to corporate 1000 CEO’s. Possibly the answer is about creating a strategic action plan.

Do You Have a Strategic Lifestyle Plan?
Every business has, or should have, a strategic plan. It endows the business with the fundamentals from which to exist and grow. In its simplest form, a strategic plan means realizing an organization's ultimate goals. Does this plan apply only to business? Absolutely not! Let's look at individuals.

Time is Money: Strategic Lifestyle Planning and Return on Investment
I have always advocated that people should create Strategic Lifestyle Plans for themselves. What is a strategic lifestyle plan? Very much like a business’s strategic plan, a strategic lifestyle plan is a way to develop a thoughtful design for your life that delineates what you most want out of life.

Developing a Strategic Plan
Developing a specific Strategic Plan is fundamental to organizational progress. Once an organization has a concrete set of values, a vision, a mission, and a set of behaviors, it is time to document the strategic plan with tactics. This article gives a brief outline of the process.

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