November 28, 2022
Good morning! Of the thousands of things that could have gone wrong, most didn’t. There are thirty-six of us now and we hadn’t been together in more than three years — due primarily to the plague. Over an eight-days period, different sons and daughters and grandchildren arrived at different times from different places for the Feast of Giving the Thanks. In the annual arm wrestling competition, the young Alaskan daughter defeated her much-embarrassed older brother for the championship. By various planes, trains, automobiles — and ubers — each of the 36 has now safely returned to his/ her primary domicile. Leaving just the two of us — much richer and happier for the experience.
- This coming Saturday will mark the 30-years anniversary of the very first text message.
- Are we better off?
- When you think about the Middle East — and who doesn’t in this era of the FIFAs? — is it part of Africa, Europe, or Asia?
- Dawn Gilbert (2022) has crunched numerous data within an algorithm — to conclude the best airport in the United States, from among the twenty largest, is…
- …San Francisco… with Minneapolis ranking a not-too-distant third.
- I think Atlanta was second? Have you ever navigated that airport?!
- Asking prices are tumbling in the luxury mansion market — homes for the top one-tenth of one percent — so, if you’re interested, this might be a good time.
- Homes previously listed in the $60,000,000 range are now going for $40,000,000 and less!
- “Major growth is the result of many seemingly minor turns.” (Grant)
- There is a cumulative effect to all of our behaviour and we will want to take great care it accumulates in the correct column.
- What are you reading?
- If you’ve read one hundred books about Abraham Lincoln (what’s his middle name?), you will want to make this the 101st:
- Meacham’s And There Was Light… (2022) is a brilliant, scholarly focus on WHY Mr. Lincoln did what he did when he did it.
- (More than 150 pages of source notes, small font — and 70 pages of bibliography, small font!)
- It was always said Carl Sandburg was the quintessential Lincoln biographer, but has he been overtaken?
- It seems the macro economic forces might win the day, but if only we would have applied more English!
- “With economic troubles mounting, it’s a time to tighten belts and put on hard hats. But, don’t forget the jet pack to accelerate into the next phase of growth.” (Hatami, Segel, et al.)
- (The following is informed extensively by McKinsey) — If an executive had fallen asleep in 2019 and just woke up, she wouldn’t recognize the business world of 2022. The plague rewrote the rules, and now a new and potent disruption seems to arrive every other day. You know the list of issues; we won’t go through them here. Suffice to say that managing complex organizations is much harder today than it was just a few years ago. And, the hardest task of all for CEOs is to decide what needs to be done now and what can wait.
- In short, what matters most today? We’ve spoken with hundreds of leaders and found six priorities that feature prominently on CEO agendas worldwide. They’re the moves leaders are taking to shore-up defenses and gain ground on rivals — which is very different from the purely defensive agenda many companies are following.
- Resilience
- Courage
- Look for new opportunities; stay entrepreneurial
- Technology
- Rebuild (or sustain if A+) the employee experience
- Stay the course; do not abandon what got you here
- Continuing our series on the effectiveness of Boards… if you missed the last several, take a look back at them.
- A model of governance is a framework within which to organize the culture, thoughts, activities, structure, and relationships of governing boards.
- A good model of governance: (Carver)
- Facilitate diversity and unity — address the need to speak with one voice without squelching dissent or feigning unanimity;
- Define relationships — where do consumers, neighbors, staff, Etc., fit into the scheme?
- Define a common basis for discipline;
- Define the Board’s role in common topics — who does what, when, where, how, why?
- Determine what information is needed to govern effectively — not too much, not too little, not too late, not irrelevant or redundant;
- Clarify over-control vs. under-control — rubber stamper vs. meddler — and aim to be neither;
- Use Board time efficiently, respect each other…
- This concludes what has been a multi-week discussion on Board effectiveness. If you would like a document summarizing this topic, just click me back with an ask.
- Searching for your next CEO? Without A Vision’s Twelve C’s and Six More will help guide this most important decision.
