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StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 20a – An Interview with Gary Cohen, author of Just Ask Leadership, part 1 of 2

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StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.

Special Edition 20a – An Interview with Gary Cohen, author of Just Ask Leadership, part 1 of 2 explores how leaders can enhance their organization’s alignment and accountability through question-based leadership. During part 1 of our discussion, Gary Cohen, Partner and co-Founder of CO2 Partners and author of Just Ask Leadership: Why Great Managers Always Ask the Right Questions shares his insights regarding:

  • what question-based leadership is
  • quantitative and qualitative benefits realized by those using question-based leadership
  • how question-based leadership drives organizational alignment and accountability
  • importance of identifying the decision-maker for a given situation

Additional Information

In addition to the invaluable insights Gary shares in Just Ask Leadership and this special edition podcast are the additional resources accessible from his Just Ask Leadership website (www.JustAskLeadership.com) and the CO2 Partners website (www.CO2Partners.com). The values assessment discussed during the podcast can be accessed at www.CEOTest.com. Gary’s book, Just Ask Leadership, can be purchased by clicking here.

Final Request…

The strength of our community grows with the additional insights brought by our expanding member base. Please consider rating us on iTunes by clicking here. Rating the StrategyDriven Podcast and providing your comments online improves our ranking and helps us attract new listeners which, in turn, helps us grow our community.

Thank you again for listening to the StrategyDriven Podcast!

About the Author

Gary Cohen, author of Just Ask Leadership, is Partner and co-Founder of CO2 Partners, a Minneapolis based executive coaching and consulting firm. Gary is renowned for his work as the President and co-Founder of ACI Telecentrics, a company he took from 2 to 2,200 employees and a peak of $32 million in annual revenues. Under his leadership, ACI grew at an average compounded rate of over 50 percent for almost 13 years and was recognized as one of Venture Magazine’s Top 10 Best Performance Businesses and Business Journal’s 25 Fastest Growth Small Public Companies. Gary is frequently interviewed on leadership issues by many of today’s leading publications including USA Today, the Washington Post, and Business Week. To read Gary’s full biography, click here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:29 — 43.3MB)

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Celebrating Our First Year… Looking Toward a Bright Future

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Today marks the first anniversary of the StrategyDriven website and what a year we have enjoyed! From a modest beginning on July 1, 2007, we have been joined by 344 registered members and have grown to:

  • 3362 unique monthly visitors – from 54 different countries
  • 10,434 monthly site visits – over 3 visits per visitor
  • 74,993 monthly page views – over 7 pages viewed per site visit

Our website has grown too, now offering insights on strategic business planning and tactical execution through:

  • 147 principle, best practice, and warning flag postings – covering 24 management and leadership categories
  • 19 episodes of the StrategyDriven Podcast
  • 5 whitepapers and
  • 7 models

As a community, we are fortunate to have had several of our members share their insights with us through posted comments including:

Finally, we have been complimented by many reviewers and websites linking to us including:

  • Small Business Trends Radio (www.SmBTrendWire.com)
  • EatonWeb (portal.eatonweb.com)
  • Cision (baconsblog.typepad.com)
  • Podcast Alley (www.PodcastAlley.com) – ranked number 2 or 3 of over 2000 business podcasts in four of the first six months of 2008
  • and over 100 other websites linking to StrategyDriven

Goals for Our Second Year

Seeking to be strategy driven, we have established the following series of goals for our second year. In addition to maintaining the high level of quality you, our readers and listeners, have come to expect, we are committed to providing:

  • 2 new members’ only categories
  • 4 new whitepapers
  • 4 new models
  • a templates area with 4 new templates

Additionally, we will heighten our focus on tactical execution, namely, the management and leadership practices needed to effectively execute the organization’s strategy on a day-to-day basis; creating a more aligned and accountable organization. Management and leadership focus categories will include:

with at least 5 new postings or podcasts in each category

To expand the depth of experience and breadth of perspective offered, we’ll incorporate the insights of additional business leaders through:

  • periodic podcast interviews with management and leadership experts – at least 10
  • 3 articles written by each of at least 2 new contributors

Finally, we’ll seek to grow our community; helping an increasing number of executives and managers create aligned, accountable, and successful organizations. This growth will be reflective of:

  • 1000+ registered members
  • 7500+ unique monthly visitors
  • 25,000+ monthly site visits
  • 200,000+ monthly page views
  • Podcast Alley ranking of 1, 2, or 3 from among all business podcasts for at least 8 of the next 12 months

Thank You!

The StrategyDriven family would like to thank you, our readers and listeners, for helping to make our first year a successful one! We truly value the time you spend with and the insights you offer to us and look forward to the continuing journey ahead.

All the Best,

Karen Juliano
Editor-in-Chief and
Director, Communications and Marketing

StrategyDriven Podcast Episode 1 – What is a Strategy Driven Organization?

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StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.

Episode 1 – What is a Strategy Driven Organization? introduces the StrategyDriven Podcast series by examining…

  • what makes an organization strategy driven
  • do strategy driven organizations really exist
  • what actions can executives and managers take to create a strategy driven organization
  • why should an organization work to become strategy driven

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (20.7MB)

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About the Contributor

Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Principal is a StrategyDriven Principal, and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.

3, 2, 1… StrategyDriven Podcast Coming Tuesday, November 27

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Less than three days remain until the StrategyDriven Podcast launch! In our first episode, Nathan and Howard explore the question: “What makes an organization strategy driven?”

The StrategyDriven Podcast series elaborates on the best practice and warning flag postings on the StrategyDriven website; offering rich examples and additional insights. We believe this podcast series offers tremendous value for executives and managers at all levels of the organization.

The StrategyDriven Podcast will be available for download to your favorite mp3 service, such as iTunes, Yahoo! Podcasts, PodcastAlley, and BluBrry, or can be listened to directly from the StrategyDriven website. Why not schedule time today to subscribe to the StrategyDriven Podcast on Tuesday, November 27?!

StrategyDriven Organizational Accountability Forum

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Accountable organizations are unique creatures; standing out from others because of their superior performance, greater employee loyalty, and higher customer satisfaction. Although the rewards are great, many companies will not embark on the journey to accountability because attaining and maintaining high levels of organizational accountability is extremely difficult.

Organizational accountability exists when all members of the workforce individually and collectively act to consequentially promote the timely accomplishment of the organization’s mission. Examined more closely, this means that:

  • all members of the workforce: Includes executives, managers, and individual contributors. Executives and managers are responsible for holding their subordinates accountable for the effective and efficient conduct of activities supporting mission achievement. Subordinates, through their actions, set an example by which positive pressure is applied to their peers and seniors for greater accountability.
  • individually act: Enough individuals throughout the organization must act accountably in order to achieve the critical mass necessary for the existence of an accountable organization. Some individuals, such as the chief executive officer, must exhibit and reinforce accountable behaviors for the organization to be truly accountable.
  • collectively act: Often, groups of executives, managers, or individual contributors make and execute the organization’s decisions. Under these circumstances, it is critical that the group act in accordance with the organization’s values to accomplish its mission and avoid easy outs and the tendency to fall into a mode of group think.
  • consequentially promote: Accountability cannot exist without both positive and negative consequences. To consequentially promote the organization’s mission implies that individuals and groups will not only act in ways that seek to accomplish the mission but will recognize and reward those who do so exceptionally and appropriately act to minimize behaviors less supportive of the organization’s goals.
  • timely accomplishment of the organization’s mission: For accountability to exist, one must know what is to be accomplished and within what time frame. No one can be accountable for accomplishing an undetermined goal for there is no basis against which to measure their accomplishments. Likewise, a goal that is not bound by time can never be considered to be incomplete or have insufficient progress because the individual or group working toward such a goal has an infinite amount of time to reach it.

Focus of the Organizational Accountability Forum

Materials in this forum explore the key attributes of accountable organizations and why many executives and managers intentionally or unconsciously avoid raising their organization’s accountability. We identify the programs, processes, and actions that can be taken to help promote increased accountability. Finally, we’ll examine the many benefits that accompany higher levels of organizational accountability and why accountable organizations realize them while others don’t. The following articles, podcasts, documents, and resources cover those topics critical to establishing a highly accountable organizational culture.

Articles

Principles

Best Practices

Warning Flags

Resources

Books