What does it take in 2016 to be successful? Just a few short years ago, to be called a CEO brought with it automatic prestige. Today, however, that position needs to be backed up with more than just the title. In today’s world, people put CEO on their card and,...

In the early 1990s, Borders was a revolutionary company. It offered more books under one roof than any other retailer. But Borders filed for bankruptcy in 2011, while its rival Barnes & Noble continued to thrive. Both chains boasted gigantic retail space and provided many of the same products. They...

Companies today risk extinction 10 years from now because they fail to maintain and establish profitable, sustainable markets. They fail because they are losing grasp of the essential data that drive the digital economy rising around them. Businesses (and their CEOs) usually have adequate funding, vision, and assets at their disposal....

CEOs typically operate with a high-level vision of the company, understanding the basics of each department without deep insight into day-to-day operations. So as your company’s leader, you may have signed off on the overall marketing strategy and budget, but you probably don’t have a true understanding of how the...

The way we shop nowadays is completely different to the way in which we shopped 20 years ago. It’s even quite different to the way we shopped 5 years ago, and we will be saying the same thing in the next 5 years. As is common practice now, it’s hard...

Sales is a magnificent profession. Yet how many parents dream of their child becoming a salesperson? What did your parents say when you chose this profession? Did you really choose it? Or did you rather adopt it by default? How do you feel doing it? Are you proud? If, like...

If you were asked to define yourself with just one word, could you do it? Maybe you’re a mother, a runner, an entrepreneur, a dog-walker or a gardener. Maybe you’re all of these things. The point is who you are extends well beyond a single word. Complexity is what makes...

During this week’s Adobe Summit in London – Adobe’s annual European digital marketing conference – Adobe continued to push the boundaries of marketing with digital marketing technology innovations to help organizations expand marketing capabilities and break down silos between departments. Although technology touches every part of an organization, it doesn’t...

As a leader in a competitive industry, you are tasked with increasing your market share and growing revenue. The clock is counting down and you feel the constant pressure to achieve this year’s goal. Winning means outselling and outsmarting your competition day-in and day-out. To bring home that win, you...

Can your high potential leaders handle the pressure of a new position? Are you doing everything possible to set them up for success? Jon Theuerkauf, a Chicago-based executive, offers a vivid example of what can happen when an individual has not been prepared properly to manage the pressure that's unique...

I am an artist—data is my palette: the art of automated personalization I’ve always thought of what marketers do as an art form—we create, after all, and manifest consumer experiences in the same way an artist, in the traditional sense, is inspired to create. When creating a work of art,...

When students of leadership consider the key attributes of top business leaders today it would be unusual for any student to initially characterize any top leader in terms of how much compassion they have for their followers. In a December 2012 Forbes Magazine article listing the top ten qualities of...

Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication, so said Leonardo Da Vinci. The world realizes this and is constantly striving to achieve it. Corporations, institutions; world bodies and even the governments – everyone is in pursuit of simplicity. This craving is driven by the premise that simplicity leads to sustainability and makes...

Ironically, beneath all the debauchery there are a number of lessons investors should take from Martin Scorsese film, The Wolf of Wall Street? The first is that movie was an incredibly funny, entertaining, tons of sex,  drugs, cars, yachts, money -  really enjoyable!!! The most valuable lesson: How people who lack...

World is changing at the speed of light and so is changing the business canvas. CEOs and Boards are constantly worried for that ambiguous period between the last light and the first light, next day. They are worried as to what might change during this intervening period. There are successions,...