Middle market CEOs get advice built for Fortune 500 problems. It nearly kills them. “Build a 10-year strategic plan” Most middle market companies can’t plan 10 quarters, let alone 10..

I’ve spent most of my career being underestimated. I recommend it. I’m not the loudest voice in the room. I don’t have the pedigree people expect from someone who runs..

Early in my career a CEO I respected invited me to sit in on his weekly leadership meeting. I expected strategy. What I got was a 45-minute ruthless review of..

I’ve written multiple bestsellers. People ask me how I find the time. The honest answer: I don’t. I make the time because it’s the highest-return activity I do. Books are..

I’ve led enough turnarounds to know this: the first 100 days decide the next three years. Most CEOs spend them the wrong way. What most CEOs do They listen. They..

Every company I’ve run, bought, or advised needs three kinds of leaders at the top: a Visionary, a Prophet, and an Operator. Most have one. The great ones have all..

I’ve closed more than 100 acquisitions over my career. Most industries measure careers in deals closed. I measure mine in leaders I’ve met — and the patterns that show up..

Revenue is vanity. Profit is sanity. Cash is reality. I didn’t invent that line, but I’ve lived it. The companies I’ve turned around all had one thing in common: they..

Thirty years in, I’ve watched more companies stall out because of the CEO than any other reason. Including mine. Early in my career, I ran a division that was growing..