Every sales team is made up of individuals with different strengths and weaknesses, but too many sales managers try to run their teams as if they're a standardized block.

It's easy to understand why. Sales management is a high-str...

No more excuses.

The pandemic's first year gave leaders some slack: The situation was novel, the challenges unique. Everyone was flying blind.

Those days are over. We're still confronting the crisis, but the adrenaline...

The time is right for smart businesses to plan for life after quarantine. COVID-19 vaccination rates are up, infection rates are down, and states are launching more plans to re-open the economy.

While it's liberating to consider the...

I deeply believe in being customer centric when it comes to selling. Really understanding the needs of buyers usually leads to a good outcome for both parties and to the kind of relationship that results in repeat business.

But there...

There's nothing like a global pandemic to force a reimagining of one's business. The pharmaceutical industry can't keep doing what it's been doing for years.

The global impact of a pandemic has revealed the opportunity and limitations...

If anyone hoped for a quick thaw in China relations under President Joe Biden, they've already been disappointed.

The early rhetoric on China coming from the White House has remained tough. The Biden administration is in no hurry to...

Almost every company claims to put the customer first, but the reality is that this business promise gets a lot of lip service.

Despite clear evidence showing that customer-centered businesses grow faster and out-perform competitors,...

Until a crisis erupts, cybersecurity issues don't get a lot of attention in many corporate boardrooms. The topic is often viewed as a box to be checked while directors devote their real focus to the business's core financial numbers and goals...

There are few things that trouble me more than organizations claiming they can't find diverse talent because there's a "pipeline problem."

All one needs to do is look at the facts. By 2030, Hispanics will represent 21% of the...

Salespeople face great pressure to focus more on the competition than the client. It's an unforgiving business world out there, and sales reps have quarterly sales targets to meet and market share to gain. We all want to win, right?

The 2020 pandemic sent many businesses scrambling to protect their employees and pivot their operations to retain their customers. This crisis presented more challenges and opportunities over the course of a few months than most businesses see in...

The Biden administration may be less than a month old, but its early words and actions have provided clear signs of where trade policy is headed and what that means for businesses.

Washington politics and policy are lining up to creat...

It's surprising how often we see professional services firms get in their own way when it comes to driving new business and deepening partnerships with existing clients.

A primary culprit for this is outdated compensation practices...

By any measure, 2020 was a disastrous financial year for U.S. healthcare providers.

As the COVID-19 pandemic overwhelmed their emergency capacity, hospitals and health systems saw their most profitable revenue pipelines dry up as pati...

Setting strategy and keeping the organization on track to meet its goals is critical for a leader. As a matter of fact, it's probably what any leader will be evaluated against at the end of the year.  But a true leader needs to take a wide...

In a prescient farewell address 60 years ago, U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower predicted the rise of America's military industrial complex. Yet as visionary as he was, Eisenhower missed the rise of another complex - one that is arguably mo...

Ten months into the pandemic, customers are edgy. Maybe it's cabin fever. Maybe it's the challenging business environment. But make no mistake: Buyers are expecting more and more from sellers - and the pressure is on to deliver.

You're an organizational leader, and like most in your role, you pivoted in June to focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) efforts. But fatigue is starting to set in. This work is uncomfortable, and you're not sure what pr...

Empathy for your team is more important than ever.  

People are juggling work and kids with life during the Covid-19 pandemic, and many of us are buckling under the pressure. An estimated 865,000 women dropped out of the workforc...

About fifteen years ago, I hired a young man for a junior-level sales role. He didn't have much experience, but I saw a promising amount of potential in him.

Over the years, he delivered on that potential by reaching his sales goals q...