Blog

How email damages your Personal Brand

November 6, 2010

I recently asked a favour of a business acquaintance to provide me a referral. We traded a few emails and he was very willing to go out of this way to help me. A few weeks later, having arrived at an outcome as a result of his referral, I sent him a quick note to …

Change Management in SME

November 3, 2010

This is the last installment in my series on Change Management:  Chapter 1: Leading Change – Part 1 of a Series Chapter 2: Leading Change – The Art of Change Management Chapter 3: Leading Change in a Perfect Storm Chapter 4: Leading Change – The Need for Speed Chapter 5: Leading Change – Putting it …

Hiring Senior Talent – Part II

November 1, 2010

In my last post, I asked "are you ready to make your next senior hire?" and promised some tips on how to land great people. In the mid-1990's, PeopleSoft was on fire. Our stock price was rising, our culture was cool and our customers generally loved us. There was an "underdog being successful" feeling around …

Software Pricing – What message are you sending your customer?

October 31, 2010

At a recent breakfast meeting, I asked a CEO to explain what he charges for his SaaS based solution. His company is an early stage start-up and is still testing its value proposition and pricing.  Early prospects for the solution have ranged from mid-market size companies up to a few large multinationals with thousands of …

Hiring Senior Talent

I was recently coaching a friend through their search for a new job. He is a professional service exec looking for a VP role in a small tech company.  He had narrowed his choice down to two companies and was meeting with the CEO of his #1 choice.  He had met the entire management team …

Six Characteristics of a Technology Juggernaut

October 27, 2010

If you are an entrepreneur, looking for funding and you haven't read Howard Gwin's post on Digital Puck entitled Six Characteristics of a Technology Juggernaut, read it now. It is a sobering recipe for what it takes to get funded. It is also a scorecard that every Board and CEO of a start-up should be using before they …

Leading Change – Putting it all together

This is the fifth installment in my series on Change Management:  Chapter 1: Leading Change – Part 1 of a Series Chapter 2: Leading Change – The Art of Change Management Chapter 3: Leading Change in a Perfect Storm Chapter 4: Leading Change – The Need for Speed By the end of 2003, PeopleSoft's Global Services Group …

Leading Change – The Need for Speed

October 14, 2010

This is the fourth installment in my series on Change Management:  Chapter 1: Leading Change – Part 1 of a Series Chapter 2: Leading Change – The Art of Change Management Chapter 3: Leading Change in a Perfect Storm In 2000, I moved from software VP Sales to Managing Director of what was to become PeopleSoft Global …

Leading Change in a Perfect Storm

October 5, 2010

This is the third installment in my series on Change Management:  Chapter 1: Leading Change – Part 1 of a Series Chapter 2: Leading Change – The Art of Change Management From when I joined PeopleSoft in 1996 through to the end of Q3, 1998, we were on a tear. When PeopleSoft went public in 1992, …

Leading Change – The Art of Change Management

October 4, 2010

This is a continuation of my previous blog: Leading Change – Part 1 of a Series I am currently working with a few small companies that are introducing significant changes in their business. The drivers forcing these strategy changes are unique to each business; some being driven by external forces such as markets, technology advancement or …