“But how best to accomplish transparency? It’s a delicate balance — you want to keep employees in the loop, but you also want the company to function smoothly.” – TinyPulse Many modern companies, particularly tech startups, have transparency as a core value. Transparency as a core value for all stakeholders including employees, customers, partners, vendors […]
Vision, Values & Culture
Accountability and Transparency: Keys to SaaS Culture
As the CEO of martech SaaS ion interactive, I was big on accountability and transparency. My co-founders and I managed the organization around the ideas that everyone pulls their own weight and everyone else is entitled to see that. Of course when someone or some team didn’t make it happen, it was obvious to all. […]
How to Implement a Meeting-Free Week at Your Company
I’ve written about how important it is to be deliberate about your company’s meeting culture, and how debilitating it can be to your staff when you aren’t. One of the ways I like to “reset” a company’s meeting culture is to institute a company-wide meeting-free week every six months or so. It’s like a vacation […]
The Value of Process
Documentation and process are the keys to proving performance, maintaining deal momentum and mitigating risk. Claims made in a book or business plan become the basis of valuation, conditional bank approval or terms.
A Framework For Running Your Growing Company: Wheels On, Pedal Down
My framework for running a growing company is “wheels on, pedal down”. Both ‘wheels on’, and ‘pedal down’ activities are important. I need to do just enough things that keep the wheels on, and I also need to push the pedal down constantly. Within those categories I also have to consider if it is a ‘must do’, or a ‘nice to do’—is the activity/task/idea likely to have high impact or low impact?
Should You Cut a Difficult Employee Loose?
Should you cut a difficult employee loose? You can skip reading this and I will give you the answer now: YES. Stop debating this and agonizing over the decision, because you already know the right thing to do.
What’s Your Sales Culture?
Think it’s not important to define your sales culture? Think again. Culture shapes how people work together and independently, reinforces norms of behaviors and sets expectations. Left unchecked, it may not help you attain your goals.
Be Deliberate About Your Meeting Culture
Meetings can make or break your culture. It’s really hard to untangle established patterns in a company to reshape the number duration, and frequency of meetings you have. But you can make significant improvements if you are vigilant. It requires fortitude, and sometimes really putting your foot down to stop the insanity.
My Keys for Managing Creatives
Know that they often believe in what could be more than what is. And swinging for the fences is why they get up in the morning.
Balancing Working IN the Business Versus ON the Business
Working on the business means focusing on the big-picture strategic stuff. Working in the business means…well, it means working in the business. Spending time in the day-to-day running the company. As a leader, you need a balance of both.
