Recent Articles Published by Linda Finkle
Succession Planning: Is it Necessary?
Many of my clients are business owners and entrepreneurs, and we often discuss succession planning. If you don’t have a family member who is the obvious heir apparent, what do you do? I think the question of succession planning isn’t just for entrepreneurs, though. It’s certainly a topic of discussion in board rooms and at meetings. Yet I don’t often... Read more »
Employee Accountability: Is It a Lost Cause?
Executives and business owners ask me about employee accountability all the time. They want to know how to make employees accountable. I’d like to give you a resounding yes! Yes, you can improve employee accountability! But unfortunately I can’t tell you that. I don’t believe employee accountability is a lost cause, but so many factors have an impact on the problem... Read more »
Change Management Issue: Thinking Planning Isn’t Possible
Companies face many change-management issues: technology, people, customers, company focus, and benefits, to name just a few. Yet I don’t often hear people talk about thinking differently as a change-management issue. Yes, we discuss corporate culture changes, but what I’m referring to here is changing people’s thinking that planning isn’t possible. Even leadership starts with the construct... Read more »
Good Leadership Skills Means Being Prepared
Last week I found a website on business preparedness launched by the SBA. The website indicates that roughly 40-60 percent of small businesses never reopen their doors following a disaster. They defined disaster as long-term power outages, hacker disruption, fire, earthquake or other catastrophes. I’m confident many of you reading this post have disaster recovery plans for your technology and... Read more »
Creating a Sales Culture
Sales are the driving force behind any company. Let’s face it, without sales there won’t be a company for very long. Because sales are so vital to an organization, how does one create a sales culture that works? Culture is the sum of the values, customs, traditions and beliefs that make a company unique. Basically... Read more »
How to Overcome Resistance to Change with Employees
Change happens every day in business and in our personal lives. The same person who adapts well to personal change may not adapt well to change in their professional life. As a leader, how do you overcome resistance to change with employees? I think it depends on the nature of the change. Changes that personally... Read more »
To Secure Investor Funding Improve Your Presentation Skills
For the last several years YPO (Young President’s Organization) has held a “Raising Capital Conference” to teach entrepreneurs and CEOs who want to raise venture capital how to make successful pitches to investors. They firmly believe that if you improve your presentation skills, you will increase your chances of getting investors to say ‘yes.’ Your... Read more »
How Do You Change Corporate Culture?
I just finished a strategic planning meeting with one of my client organizations. They wanted to know if it is possible to change corporate culture. Interesting question, since I always thought theirs was one that worked for them. Apparently I was wrong because they wanted, as part of their strategic plan, to figure out how... Read more »
Leadership in The Workplace Means Using the ‘F’ Word
Got your attention, didn’t I? Now I don’t mean what you are thinking; I mean the ‘F’ word FAILURE. Leadership in the workplace has to recognize, embrace and accept failure. Sure, we all want things to go smoothly, but truth is they often don’t and thus it’s no wonder that people see failure as bad,... Read more »
Improving Listening Skills: The First Step in Better Communication
I work with a lot of people and companies on improving their communication skills. Whether a company or individual hires me because there is a serious problem or they recognize that poor or ineffective business communication skills are hindering them in some way, the root cause is always the same: They don’t listen, but they... Read more »
