Martin Harshberger

What do small business CEO’s read?

In my effort to learn about the efforts going on in small businesses to resolve issues I occasionally search the Internet to see what small business CEO’s are reading. I did that this morning and there are literally thousands of books, magazines, membersh... Read >

What will you change in 2011?

Everyone makes new years resolutions, lose weight, be nicer, whatever. Research shows almost nobody meets those new goals. Businesses are no different, after the holidays everyone comes back to work energized and committed to starting the New Year with... Read >

Barriers to Strategy Execution

Recent studies have shown that organizations that have gone through the effort of developing a written strategy fail miserably at execution. According to Paul Niven in his book "The Balanced Scorecard": • Only 10% of organizations execute their strategy&... Read >

Where do you look for cash in your business?

One of the top issues for the majority of businesses large and small is cash. There is never enough whether in the form of credit availability or cash flow. So where do you look fore cash within your business? What do you really have control over that ... Read >

What is effective leadership?

What constitutes effective leadership? If you ask ten people you’ll probably get a variety of answers. During my leadership development programs we spend a great deal of time defining what leadership means to the individuals in the session. The simple ... Read >

How\\\'s the government doing on job creation?

Everyone is talking about the stimulus package and job creation. Depending on which side of the political fence you’re on it’s either a great success or a total flop. Unemployment is at 9.5%, some say it’s higher than that but somewhere in the neighbor... Read >

Is there any leadership left in large companies?

Everyone is familiar with the horrible public image projected by BP's CEO during public talks on the gulf oil disaster. For an educated, experienced executive I don't see how he could have come off any worse than he did. And that was his public image. I w... Read >

Top ten mistakes small business owners make

I've been a business owner, a mid-sized business CEO, and now I'm a business coach. I've had thirty-five years experience in my own businesses and with those of clients. I have recognized patterns regarding the top mistakes business owners and CEO's make.... Read >

Is there a best practice for strategic planning?

I've done a lot of research into the subject of strategic planning. There are many theories about what is the best way to develop a plan. There is the "basis" method, scenario planning, organic planning, and bottom up planning, among others. There are eve... Read >

How can you create value without funding?

I read in today's Bloomberg Businessweek Report that the chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben S. Bernanke said that small business is having trouble getting access to credit needed to keep the U.S. recovery going. The article referenced Bernanke atten... Read >

Invent your future with better strategic planning

I read a quote somewhere a few years ago that really made me think. The author said "the future is an invention anyway, you might as well invent a good one". If you stop and think about it, it's really, true the choices and decisions we make throughout... Read >

Strategic planning for the real world

Strategic planning has gotten a bad rap, and probably deservedly so. If you believe the research more than 50% of organizations don't have a documented strategic plan. My view is, of those that do the majority aren't worth the paper they are printed on. ... Read >

What’s the difference between a business coach and a consultant?

I get asked this question often, and it's confusing because some people use the terms interchangeably. The best way I can describe the difference is to explain what I do with my clients. A consultant is hired to study a process or specific issue wit... Read >

WIIFM for better leadership results

In order to get the most from your employees, and from your staff you need to learn and communicate WIIFM. (What's In It For Me). In order for employees to embrace organizational goals they must view them as their own. To do that they must clearly underst... Read >

Where should you use a return on investment criteria?

When most executives think about return on investment they think about a formal justification for a large capital investment. Usually in a large company it's expenditure over a preset limit of say $25,000. My experience has taught me that much more mo... Read >