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Jim Blasingame

Business futurist, award-winning author, speaker and columnist

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Archives for June 2018

The CEO Question: Where is my company going?

June 25, 2018 by Jim Blasingame

In my last column I stated that every business, including small ones, have assignments that can only be performed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Plus, I revealed:

  1. CEO strategic responsibilities are not optional.
  2. Small business CEOs have to periodically transport themselves from the operating trenches to a 30,000-foot strategic orbit.
  3. The CEO’s three Big Pictures: Where have we been? Where are we now? Where are we going?

The third Big Picture is the sole domain of the CEO, and that’s what we’re going to cover now. A handy way to find answers to “Where are we going?” is to apply what I call the Big Four Factors: Bricks, Clicks, People, and Capital.

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Filed Under: Ethics / Trust, Leadership

Who’s doing the CEO’s job in your small business?

June 17, 2018 by Jim Blasingame

Every business has specific assignments that must be performed by the Chief Executive Officer, a.k.a CEO. Not the founder, owner, or manager; the CEO.

It’s not difficult for a small business owner to understand the role of general manager, because that assignment comes preloaded with day-to-day operation stuff, which is always chock full of actions and reactions. But it’s another matter to get that same person to isolate a CEO’s strategic foresight assignments from a manager’s tactical tasks required to open the doors and serve customers today.

A CEO’s job is to carve out and commit to the time, energy, and assets to develop the strategies that make sure the business’s doors are still being opened next year and the year after. Let’s look at the three focal points of the job of CEO.

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Filed Under: Ethics / Trust, Leadership

Change will happen, with or without your guidance

June 12, 2018 by Jim Blasingame

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every purpose under heaven.”

On its face, this well-known King Solomon wisdom from the 3rd chapter of Ecclesiastes delivers hopeful encouragement. But implicit in this passage is a somewhat hidden, and often troublesome, paradox: A time for everything also implies nothing can be forever, and therefore, change is inevitable.

In the abstract, we accept the reality of change, but in practice we regard it like the medicine we know we need, but don’t want to take. And knowing change is inevitable doesn’t make the pill any sweeter.

In the marketplace, it was challenging enough to implement a change when we had the expectation of not having to do it again anytime soon. But in the 21st century, the bitter pill of change has acquired an unfortunate new characteristic: a frighteningly short duration.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized

What’s love got to do with your business?

June 3, 2018 by Jim Blasingame

In her second-most-popular song, Tina Turner sang, “What’s love got to do with it?”  Out here in the Main Street Marketplace, the answer is a lot. 

Indeed, love is the reason people start businesses. We love to make and sell things: shoes, tires, hamburgers, cars, soap, computers, bread, air conditioners – you get the picture. You love your business; I love my business. Starting and running a business is a love story. 

Yes, I know. Sometimes our businesses are not easy to love. In fact, our business is often like our teenagers: You may not always like it, but you always love it. Which is a good thing, because if you didn’t love your business you wouldn’t come back the day after it gave you the worst day of your life. 

[Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Ethics / Trust, Leadership

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