Ian Ferguson
CEO Rants and Raves
CEO Perspective: Finding Star Performers
A critical job of managers is to find the next person to supercharge the team.
Ian Ferguson
CEO Rants and Raves
CEO Perspective: Do Not Hire
Tough times uncover poor hiring processes that cost us major inefficiencies.
Ian Ferguson
CEO Rants and Raves
CEO Perpspective: Bad times are Good for us !
Time to consolidate the recent growth period at a time when we can afford to get it right.
Ian Ferguson
CEO Rants and Raves
CEO Perspective: Broad Vision - Laser Mission
How to maintain a broad Vision without becoming unfocused.
Ian Ferguson
CEO Rants and Raves
CEO Perspective: The Pitch
The Pitch can make or break you so get it right.
Ian Ferguson
CEO Rants and Raves
CEO Perspective: Expanding into the US
What are the options to expanding into the US Market with a local presence?
Ian Ferguson
CEO Rants and Raves
CEO’s Perspective: To Go or Not To Go
In these cost conscious times here are some thoughts on when to spend the money and attend a meeting in person versus trying to do in on the phone or videoconference.
Ian Ferguson
CEO Rants and Raves
CEO Perspective: Ignore Culture at Your Peril !
You may have had the chance to visiting foreign lands or at least travel across Canada and if you are like me you are curious about the differences and the similarities in culture and business practices. It is in my opinion Very important to observe and understand these differences and be prepared to respond to them lest you pay the penalty of a failed business or at least irate customers.
This article could be a novel so to keep it short and illustrate the need to focus on this aspect of business here are a few admittedly over-simplified, real-life personal examples.
Ian Ferguson
CEO Rants and Raves
CEO Perspective: Where are all the Product Managers?
I think that you would agree that there is a perception that Canadian businesses are often weaker than their American counterparts in Marketing. This may be generally true but I am sure there are important exceptions in Consumer products and other areas. My experience in hi-tech says yes we may be weaker than some and stronger than other countries but more than anything else the weakness lies in the Product Management area; again a few examples exist of excellence in Product Management even in hi-tech.
When trying to hire Product Managers I find it hard to find even a few that can actually recite something close to the job description. The key job of a product manager is to take his or her product/service and develop/exploit it in every way possible to gain the greatest return for the company (channel and product overlaps not withstanding). This includes all of the classic activities such as Pricing, Positioning, Promotion, etc. but boils down to absolute, passionate ownership of the P&L for the product through its entire life cycle. In response companies must value this position and give the Product Managers the backing he/she needs to make it happen (like being alert to R&D hijacking the product direction).
Ian Ferguson
CEO Rants and Raves
What other CEOs have learned !
In my experience CEOs love meeting each other and comparing notes. The encounters are often infrequent but like most I always appreciate finding out what someone else with the same job has discovered. To this end I polled some old buddies, board members and bosses who have held either CEO positions or senior executive positions in large and small firms. I was looking to see if they were able to identify some of the key lessons they learned along the way. Some of them actually took the time to respond so please feel free to comment with your critique or your own lessons learned.