As an agile business owner, there’s never been a better time to harness web technology. Turn any corner and you are faced with better and brighter ways to handle your finances, manage client relations, and even beef up your marketing – a veritable cornucopia of possibilities. Ahhh, if only it were that simple …

Which ones will deliver real bottom-line value? How can you identify the best types? Which ones are just hype? With the sheer volume of information to sort through, not to mention opinions and options, simply ignoring the whole idea of web tools can actually seem rather appealing.

Let’s have a look at one of the latest – and practically effective – types of web tools, and how it has the potential to deliver real value. continue reading »

Scenario: You are the owner of a company. You thought at one time that you would wish to hold on to your business forever. You now find yourself appreciating that “forever” is a very, very long time.

And with the competitive pressures of globalization and industry consolidation squeezing many businesses out of the market, you and your board find yourselves more frequently discussing the pros & cons of selling your business. continue reading »

Honesty & Justice 義

Be acutely honest throughout your dealings with all people. Believe in justice, not from other people, but from yourself. To the true Samurai, there are no shades of gray in the question of honesty & justice. There is only right and wrong.

Polite Courtesy　礼

Samurai have no reason to be cruel. They do not need to prove their strength. A Samurai is courteous even to his enemies. Without this outward show of respect, we are nothing more than animals.
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Fancy logos and brochures no substitute for delivery on your promise

When people think about branding, most think of brand leaders such as Coca-Cola or Nike. The reason? They have a sharp logo, a catchy slogan, and a powerful mission statement coupled with big-time advertising and lots of buzz. But is that all there is to branding?

Naturally, logos, slogans, and PR help communicate your message to the marketplace, but they alone do not a brand make. In fact, a brand is simply what people think about you based on the promises you make. And these promises are made real through the countless positive interactions between you and the market, delivered by your people, products and services. continue reading »

Leadership Development and ROI: inextricably linked, or mutually exclusive?

Unsung are the legions that have attempted to tread the middle ground between these two concepts, only to find themselves later mumbling incoherently in commiseration with some phantom associate: “I don’t understand…it should have worked!…”
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Part II of Leadership Development and ROI: inextricably linked, or mutually exclusive?

The second pitfall inherent in status quo approaches to Leadership Development:

Trying to avoid the risk of being politically incorrect – a.k.a. ‘Old School’ – by advocating 360-Degree Leadership under the auspices of being “egalitarian”.

Potential Consequences
Espousing the ideal that leadership is about accepting & executing responsibilities, every individual in the organization must inevitably find the amorphous responsibilities of being a ‘leader’ thrust upon them at one time or another. When everyone is leader, however, no-one is, so the responsibility for business performance will weigh heavily upon your staff. The resulting pressure to lead will create extreme tension & pressure among them, said pressure being transmitted back to the leadership in the form of either incompletely or unsuccessfully executed initiatives, low morale and the increasing incidence of unresolved conflicts.
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