Art Petty, Author at Management Excellence by Art Petty

More Challenges for the Technical Leader-Choosing a Successor

In my posting: Leadership Development and Technical Professionals, I talked at length about the challenges of moving from an individual contributor role in a technical environment to that of leader. The combination of lack of support/mentoring afforded these early career leaders and the personal growth that it takes to recognize that the skills that got you here are not the skills you need for success going forward, make this one of the toughest and most mismanaged transitions in business. Over coffee with a valued associate and accomplished technical professional who has moved beyond the early-awkward phase of being a new leader, we talked about a new leadership challenge that she was facing—finding her replacement.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:52:07-05:00January 11th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

Merger Reality-Trust Your Gut, Not the Press Release

If your company is involved in a merger, there is one certainty. Everything will change. Regardless of the carefully crafted words in the press release. (Unless of course your company is being purchased by Warren Buffett, who is famous for only buying well-running companies and leaving them alone to run well.) During the past few days, I talked with two associates going through mergers in very different industries, and both were attempting to convince themselves that things would be fine following the merger. They both cited the "no expectations for layoffs" verbiage in the press releases announcing their deal, and both engaged in some self-rationalization about the importance and "safety" of their respective departments. My instinct was that neither individual truly believed what they were saying. They should trust their gut on this issue.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:52:08-05:00January 9th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

Does the Lack of A Clear Vision Mean Your Firm Is Flying Blind?

s a strategy consultant, I see clients wrestle with the exercise of creation or articulation of a "Vision" for their business on a regular basis. In some environments, the exercise of clarifying or creating a vision is motivating and galvanizing, and for others it is futility personified. My question for the day: How important is it for an organization to have a shared vision--a view as to what the future desired state of the organization will look like?

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:52:09-05:00January 8th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

In support of the Product Manager as MVP

Few roles in B2B and technology organizations carry loftier expectations or face more challenging tasks than that of the Product Manager. This position tends to be backed by a job description with responsibilities that makes many executive roles look tame by comparison. The right person in this important role can mean the difference between wild success and mediocre performance for the business. And while organizations commonly under-staff (both in number and in power/experience) and over-describe (expectations are excessive), it is a thing of beauty when you latch onto a professional Product Manager that understands how to build value through this role. This super-employee operating in this tough role consistently gets my vote for MVP.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:52:10-05:00January 7th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|11 Comments

Marketing versus Sales and Corporate Tribalism

With apologies for doing a poor imitation of Jerry Seinfeld, "What is it about Sales and Marketing professionals that they just can't seem to get along?" These two functions have battled for years and I fault the leaders of both functions as well as senior management for failing to create the conditions required for collaboration and success.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:52:11-05:00January 3rd, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|1 Comment

Is Your Organization Strategy-Fueled or Strategy-Starved? Part One

While some organizations are consistently high performing, the gross majority of firms operate in phases ranging from excitement and growth to malaise and meandering. If you are growing and changing, that is good, but the trick is how to sustain and even improve. If you are meandering or worse, declining, the challenge is how to break out of a challenging slide. Over the course of the next few weeks or months, I am going to develop the concept and benefits of what I describe as Strategy-Fueled Leadership. Step one in the introduction of this externally aware, results-focused approach to leading, winning in the market and developing others, is recognizing whether your own leadership style and culture are adversely impacting your organization's performance.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:52:13-05:00January 1st, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

Seven Key Questions for the Ambitious Aspiring Leader

The Seven Key Questions for the Ambitious Aspiring Leader are powerful conversation starters to support a manager's leadership development activities. They are not intended to be delivered in machine-gun style, but rather to be used in concert with an approach to helping individuals discover and explore the profession of leadership. Not everyone should lead, yet someone motivated by advancement might believe that leadership is the best or only way to achieve this goal. An effective mutual discovery process is the leader's best friend in helping identify leadership talent and in helping individuals come to their own conclusion on whether leading is a good choice for their own careers.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:52:14-05:00December 28th, 2007|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

Is it time to expect more from your Marketing function?

Too many top executives in B2B organizations still equate the function and value of marketing with marketing communications. While the field of marketing has advanced considerably in the last two decades, the view that marketing equals leads, tradeshows, press releases and a web site is still fairly commonplace in the B2B world. This narrow view of marketing leaves money on the table in terms of what organizations should be deriving from a properly conceived approach to marketing. It all starts with setting the right expectations.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:52:15-05:00December 27th, 2007|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|1 Comment

Our future leaders are at your kitchen table.

We all probably remember our teachers telling us at some point early in grade school that we are the future leaders of our country. I remember hearing those words and thinking of what it would be like to hold national office or serve as a judge on a high court. What I didn't realize at the time was that the teachers held a broad view of leadership, knowing full well that most of their students may never hold national office, but that they will almost all have a leadership role to play in their communities, churches, charitable organizations, and of course with their families. Great leadership habits are formed in youth through observation and participation. The next time you sit down to dinner with your family, take the time to offer encouragement to your future leaders. You might just have a prospective President or Supreme Court Justice asking you to pass the mashed potatoes.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:52:16-05:00December 24th, 2007|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

Leading the Generations-An Example of What Not to Do!

I attended the family holiday party this weekend and while munching on too many cheesy ryes and catching up on the lives of the out-of-town relatives, I was stopped in my tracks by the story of the job change that my Gen X second cousin described. It was a stark description of the gross mismanagement of the generations at a unique time in history when we have four very distinct generations in the work force.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:52:17-05:00December 17th, 2007|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

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