Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Why do some young companies become unicorns ( a privately held startup company with a value of over $1 billion) , while others don’t?    The book, What a Unicorn Knows , offers a field-tested approach to delivering superior customer value and reaching unicorn status by removing the potential inhibitors to organizational scale and speed.    Those inhibitors include these four primary forces:   Drag Inertia Friction Waste Drawing on a mastery of lean-based methods for achieving maximum effect with minimum means, private equity operators Matthew E. May and Pablo Dominguez provide readers with a powerful framework of universally applicable principles that enable any company to effectively accelerate its ability to scale and grow. Called The Unicorn Model™ and built on five foundational principles , the authors deliver a compelling narrative of stories and experiences in an easy-to-remember mnemonic:   S trategic speed C onstant experimentation ...

One of my favorite articles from a 2014 issue of   Inc.  magazine  featured a fascinating list of  35 questions  from business owners, entrepreneurs and management thinkers. Each offered  the one question  they would ask  to move a company forward . From the list,  my favorites are : Are we relevant? Will we be relevant five years from now? Ten? What prevents me from making the changes I know will make me a more effective leader? Are we changing as fast as the world around us? Who, on the executive team or the board, has spoken to a customer recently? And, my most favorite is : How can we become the company that would put us out of business? What question do you ask to help move your company forward?

Alex Goryachev ’s latest book teaches you how to go beyond the buzzword of innovation to continuously drive growth, improve your bottom line and enact change. The book is,  Fearless Innovation . It’s a down-to-earth guide that provides advice and actionable steps on how to: Get teams to embrace innovation beyond empty slogans. Focus on execution of innovation to showcase ROI. Break down organization silos by empowering effective, diverse, and inclusive teams. Communicate the value of innovation. “Innovation isn’t a  thing , it’s a mindset and attitude made up of clear principles that help individuals, organizations, and societies adapt to change, survive and grow, and prosper,” explains Goryachev. “Innovation is more art than science, but its principles can easily be put into practice.” Alex Goryachev Goryachev recommends you continually: Pay attention to current social, economic, and technological transformations that may be affecting your organization and understand their im...

“Making small changes to reach big goals is the answer,” says entrepreneur and bestselling author  Michael Alden  in his book,  5 % MORE: Making Small Changes To Achieve Extraordinary Results . “If you just put 5% more effort into any aspect of your life, you will not only achieve your goals, you will surpass them,” he explains. The book will be available in late August. “Far too often, people become paralyzed when they want to improve their lives, because the effort to reach their goals seems overwhelming,” adds Alden. “Or the opposite occurs. They decide to dive into something one hundred percent, but then quickly lose steam.” Therefore, Alden demonstrates that long-lasting success is based on small increases in effort. “Five percent is almost unnoticeable in terms of effort—but it accrues quickly, with each step boosting the baseline,” he declares. Although much of Alden’s advice is based on personal experience, observation, and common sense, he is care...

When you start reading Mark Thompson’s and Brian Tracy’s book,  Now…Build a Great Business! , you may feel like you are reading 200 pages of Blog posts, but the bite-sized approach to providing tools, practical steps and ideas, rather than theory, is precisely the authors’ intended approach. The book thoroughly explains the  seven keys for how to achieve business success : 1.  Become a great leader 2.  Develop a great business plan 3.  Surround yourself with great people 4.  Offer a great product or service 5.  Design a great marketing plan 6.  Perfect a great sales process 7.  Create a great customer experience You’ll find a checklist at the end of each step (each chapter) where you can write down your action plan for applying what you’ve learned. Particularly interesting is the chapter on  strategic planning , where the authors recommend you should  ask yourself these important questions before you...