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Recent Articles from Todd Ordal
CEO Challenges: I’m on my heels and winter is coming! Now what?
Take a day out of the office and away from Zoom and ponder these. Perhaps do it with your senior team. You’ll be a better leader as a result and a bit less anxious.
This Dog Don’t Hunt!
In business, like in Afghanistan or Vietnam, it’s not rational thought that keeps the fight going beyond reasonable investments — it’s emotion. Whether it’s a product line, a geographic region or your business model, when do you reasonably say, “This isn’t going to work”?
Co-CEOs? A look at the argument for two leaders
A recent piece in Harvard Business Review asks, “Is CEO a Two-Person Job?” Once in a great while, the soulmate, mind-meld situation might exist in nature and perhaps a company will be better off for a short time if there are two leaders. With some good thought, the job of CEO can be structured like Goldilocks’ porridge; not too little, not too much.
CEO Coaching: A shocking look at strategy
Significant changes to company strategy (e.g., “Where do we play, and how do we win?”) are frequent in startups but less so in established companies. Why would you radically change a working formula? You shouldn’t! CEO Coach Todd Ordal is always looking out for good examples of what a significant change in strategy looks like.
CEO Coaching: Coach, Quarterback or Offensive Lineman?
As CEO, you probably have plenty of expertise in many areas. However, if you run an organization, you shouldn’t play a functional role beyond CEO. So how should you be “on” the team?
Organizational Effectiveness: Why are teams sometimes so painful?
In the business environment, having no skilled leader or facilitator is a surefire way to waste time and increase your failure rate. Talking about the objective(s), agreeing on responsibilities and rules of engagement, and getting to know one another seem ponderous, but I guarantee that this allows for faster and better results.
CEO coaching: do you get into and allow good trouble?
Most of the talented executives I’ve coached had to make some noise and get in good trouble sometime in their career. Some even got fired. If you routinely run from the good fight, you end up being a shallow leader.
The CEO’s Toolkit: Alignment, Not Agreement
As a CEO, one of your primary objectives is to align the company behind a set of ideas. Whether it’s purpose, values, vision, strategy, operating plan or budget, everyone should be pulling in the same direction.
CEO Coaching: A success story in the time of COVID-19
Most of us are not having that much fun in the time of COVID-19, but looking for success stories can be informative and inspirational
What risks should CEOs take?
Leaders who move towards greater transparency, vulnerability and collaboration generally produce better results. Their people are more committed, turnover is lower, decisions are more thoroughly vetted, and they have stronger teams.
The ultimate CEO toolkit
Effective facilitation takes some methodology and practice. If you (and your people) think your meetings suck, you’re probably not facilitating well. That’s fixable.
How leaders can choose between caution and courage
As the clock speed of business and disruption both continue to ramp up, is it time for you to institutionalize more courage?
