[2003-02-08] Downsizing Lessons Learned
Since the 1980s, about 10 million jobs have been eliminated and the downsizing trend continues as organizations hope to cut costs and improve performance. Yet, research has shown that most of the anticipated economic and organizational benefits of downsizing are not achieved. Downsizing is a chaotic and uncertain experience at best. Unfortunately, there are few guidelines on the best way to achieve the desired results. Below are a few things that we have learned about downsizing:

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[2003-02-08] Business/Executive Coaching Is Emerging But All That Glitters is Not Gold!
Just as shamans, snake doctors and financial folks once freely dispensed unregulated advice and wares to the public, business coaching currently requires no specific training, experience or credentials. Any organization or individual, including your neighbor, bartender or hairdresser, can legally profess to be a coach.

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[2003-02-08] Employee Turnover is Detrimental to Profitability
A telecommunications company recently calculated the cost in replacing an operator. After considering the exit interview, administrative activities, replacement and training costs of education, and coaching, the cost exceeded $6K. In addition, there were indirect costs associated with employee turnover including increased workloads and strains as coworkers pick up the slack until new employees are hired and trained.

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[2003-02-06] The 10 Qualities of a Good MLM Lead
Leads are the lifeblood of Network Marketing. Whether it's a warm market list, leads you've generated through your own advertising, or leads purchased from a third party source, it takes leads to make your network work.

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[2003-02-04] Looking To Sustain High Performance? Start in the Board Room
When you survey business and management publications and listen to Wall Street and other business analysts, most of the attention is focused on what the senior management team of the organization is doing to generate earnings and to build and sustain high performance. The spotlight continues to focus on CEO performance, and CEO turnover continues to rise. In fact, the average tenure of CEOs in the S&P 500 today is slightly over six and a half years. Pressure is applied with fervor by investors who still feel entitled to double-digit growth in performance.

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[2003-02-04] Your Board: Proactive Partnering or Reactive Interference?
In the first article in this series, Your Board: Dynamic, Difficult or Detrimental, boards are described from the CEO perspective as either adding value, preventing the organization from optimizing opportunities or in some cases, just tiresome in their dealings. One way boards develop the difficult or detrimental characterization is created by how the board views and fulfills its role. By role we mean the big picture contribution or “fit” with the organization as a whole. In using the term role, we do not mean responsibilities, such as ensuring a succession process. The board’s responsibilities (what boards do) will be the topic of the next article.

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[2003-02-04] Your Board: Dynamic, Difficult or Detrimental?
A board can make or break a CEO just as weak internal management can take the CEO down "into the weeds" by having to perform the functions of his/her direct reports. Our experience is that in most organizations the CEO must lead the board AND internal management to understand and effectively fulfill their respective roles and responsibilities. However, an effective board adds real value to strategic leadership and frees the CEO to do his/her job with optimal effectiveness.

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[2003-02-04] A Visit with FindWhat.com CEO, Craig Pisaris-Henderson
The Chairman and CEO of FindWhat.com (http://www.findwhat.com), Craig Pisaris-Henderson, recently attended a chat session and visited with Academy students regarding the FindWhat.com performance-based advertising network.

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[2003-02-04] The New Economy and Partnering
The new economy is opening borders and boundaries, enabling and requiring more interaction and information exchange among people and organizations. Such interaction requires organizations to develop effective partnerships and partnering competencies.

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[2003-02-04] The Alliance Age: How Partnering Skills are Emerging as the Key to 21st Century Business Success
Few business leaders today would debate the importance of partnering for practical and strategic advantage. Yet understanding the value of partnerships is a far cry from successfully developing and sustaining these crucial alliances. In "Partnering Intelligence: Creating Value for Your Business by Building Strong Alliances" organizational consultant Stephen M. Dent shows how to develop the power of partnerships in any organization and take the lead in 21st century business.

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