Strategic Business Group, LLC

Tag: culture

  • Are you a “Leader” or a “Manager”?

    Are you a “Leader” or a “Manager”?

    I’ve recently found myself in discussions with CEOs and Owners about the difference between being a “leader” versus a “manager”.   And that is the subject of today’s Lessons Found.

    According to Merriam-Websters, to “lead” is to “guide on a way especially by going in advance; to direct on a course or a direction.”  This is in contrast to the definition of  “manage”: “to handle or direct with a degree of skill such as to exercise supervisory direction of; to make and keep compliant.”  Considering both at their extremes, leadership takes a broad, future-focused (more…)

  • Hiring: Looking Beyond the Obvious

    Hiring: Looking Beyond the Obvious

    Did you know the inspiration for the N95 Mask was a molded bra cup?  That is where today’s Lessons Found start.

    Sara Little Turnbull was an unlikely candidate to become one of the nation’s top industrial designers.  With a flair for interior design, Sara Little (her preferred professional name) was an editor at House Beautiful magazine before forming her own company in 1958.  At about the same time, she wrote an article, “Forgetting The Little Woman”, in which she took major manufacturers to task for ignoring end users when designing products.  And the corporate giants of the time took notice.  That is how she found herself in front of 3M’s all male executive team (more…)

  • The Millennial Solution

    The Millennial Solution

    Two weeks ago, I pointed to the perils of taking listening for granted.  But what happens if there is a generational schism in how we communicate?  That is where this Business Lesson Found begins.

    When used in an email, what does an ellipsis, “…”, mean?  How you answer reveals your age.  Boomers and Gen Xers use ellipses at a sentence’s end to indicate their thoughts trailing off.  Millennials interpret ellipses differently.  As one millennial put it, “the dot-dot-dot is the height of passive aggressiveness.” (more…)