Recent Articles from Laurence Valant
Best of CoBiz: Are you working for passion or a paycheck?
(Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from business performance improvement expert Larry Valant’s book, “Stop Breaking These Rules! 100 Hard-Hitting Truths for Business Integrity and Performance.” ) Truth is the grand simplifier. “f you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything. – Mark Twain Have you ever noticed how some people seem to […]
Best of CoBiz: It’s hard to look smart with bad numbers
(Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from business performance improvement expert Larry Valant’s book, Stop Breaking These Rules! 100 Hard-Hitting Truths for Business Integrity and Performance.) Measure progress to plan with regular reviews of key and defined milestones. A plan is the means by which obstacles are overcome to achieve the objectives. A good plan […]
Best of CoBiz: Get the elephants off the conference room table!
It has been my experience that the most frequently ignored elephants are clearly apparent yet unresolved people, management and organizational issues. It follows then that these people centered issues, which management refuses to identify and address, inevitably lead to other weaknesses, and are t...
Can you pass the Hallway Test?
When confronted with making assignments, measuring and appraising performance and then determining merit or promotional increases, an arbitrary approach to compensation will feel like walking through a mine field. And if you try to save pennies when awarding salary increases, you will suffer highe...
Best of CoBiz: I love you but you make me crazy
(Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from business performance improvement expert Larry Valant’s book, Stop Breaking These Rules! 100 Hard-Hitting Truths for Business Integrity and Performance.) The 80/20 rule says that even those we like best make us crazy 20 percent of the time. We as humans tend to be demanding and exacting, especially of […]
If you pay peanuts, you’ll get monkeys
(Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from business performance improvement expert Larry Valant’s book, Stop Breaking These Rules! 100 Hard-Hitting Truths for Business Integrity and Performance.) RI is the superior predictor of long term company value. The University of Chicago graduate school of business has done extensive research on residual income as a predictor of […]
Leadership & management: So misunderstood
(Editor’s note: Here is another valuable excerpt from the Laurence B. Valant/Gayle W. Hustad book, “Lead and Manage! The definitive guide for getting the results you want.”) One would think that Fortune 500 companies would be comprised of individuals who exemplify superior leadership and management. The presumption? The ability to pay large salaries should assure […]
The sixth leadership fundamental
Editor’s note: Here is another valuable excerpt from the new success book by national business consultant Laurence B. Valant and partner Gayle W. Hustad, “Lead and Manage! The definitive guide for getting the results you want.” Leadership Fundamental #6 – Formalizing the vision in a written statement Leaders must understand the power of their vision […]
The fifth leadership fundamental
Editor’s note: Here is another valuable excerpt from the new success book by national business consultant Laurence B. Valant and partner Gayle W. Hustad, “Lead and Manage! The definitive guide for getting the results you want.” Leadership Fundamental #5 -Create a Compensation Strategy The primary objective of the leader is to grow the value of […]
The fourth leadership fundamental
Editor’s note: Here is another valuable excerpt from the new success book by national business consultant Laurence B. Valant and partner Gayle W. Hustad, “Lead and Manage! The definitive guide for getting the results you want.” Leadership Fundamental #4 – Selecting appropriate management Once the decision had been made that the supreme commander for Overlord […]
The next two leadership fundamentals
Editor’s note: Here is another valuable excerpt from the new success book by national business consultant Laurence B. Valant and partner Gayle W. Hustad, “Lead and Manage! The definitive guide for getting the results you want.” Leadership Fundamental #2 – Outlining the overarching strategy for achieving the vision Valuable examples of solid strategic planning are […]
The first leadership fundamental
Having played college basketball and later being blessed with two sons who were athletically gifted, I did my share of coaching basketball during their school years. As anyone who has coached children knows, a coach receives young players with a mix of skills and abilities. I was assigned very few naturally gifted basketball players. Typically […]