Seth Kahan on Leadership // Monday Morning Mojo
Success Rules
Everyone loves to win. I have had the good fortune to work with 60+ exceptional companies in the last ten years, including 30 where I worked hand-in-hand with the CEO or executive director. Here are some of my key takeaways from the best initiatives I have been associated with:
  • Successful leaders know who to create positive inflection points, dramatic and defining shifts in relation to the market that move their offerings decisively forward - they capture ground. They do it regularly, consistently, and systematically.

  • In each of these decisive moves they aim for one of four targets:
    1. Growing their base
    2. Getting a bigger buy, claiming more of their customers' spend
    3. Improving loyalty
    4. Increasing market prominence.

  • They carefully manage the three forces that can bring down a company: 
    1. Operational pressures - what it takes to keep the doors open and put out inevitable fires
    2. Innovation stress - the forces that new ideas bring to bear on business as usual
    3. Changing market forces - you know these can turn on a dime or a headline

  • Winning leaders work intentionally with three components of their innovation foundation; i.e., the platform that turns continuous improvement into market success:
    1. Leadership - they communicate their vision clearly, engage others in robust discussions to develop ideas, surround themselves with people who excel at their respective jobs, and spend significant time building partnerships
    2. Talent management - they develop existing staff, get rid of people who won't grow, and aggressively recruit people who are capable of leading them into the future
    3. Idea management - they have clear, explicit ways of identifying good ideas, growing them into exceptional efforts, and moving them out into play where they are studied and modified for increased success in the marketplace.
The best part about success is that it builds upon itself. Once you begin to exhibit market gains you attract players and partnerships that inject power into your best efforts.  That is why success rules.

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Getting Innovation book linkIn 2013 my next book, Getting Innovation Right: How Leaders Create Inflection Points that Drive Success in the Marketplace, will be released. 

If you book conferences, contact me for a special deal in 2013 - I will be offering copies of the book for your audience. All arrangements to take place through my representative, Tom Neilssen, at BrightSightGroup.com.
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