Robert Beauchemin
Fractal Image by Roger Jonhston

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Got to love it…

I was fortunate to be invited to a fabulous event hosted by the Ted Rogers School of Management of Ryerson University. Entitled CEO Outlook, the event gathered some of Canada's most successful entrepreneurs and business executives. First, tribute goes to the leadership of Ken Jones, the Dean of the Ted Rogers Scholl of Management for his vision and dedication to serving the school's body of students in such a visible and tangible way. Thanks also go to Prof Diane Francis, who so masterfully organized the event and moderated the panel discussions.

As I listened to the panelists, I realized that [...]

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Resistance to change – really?

I was reading a post at LeadershipNow entitled Getting the Information You Need. It referred to an article written by Mark Ronald and Robert Shaw from the Leader to Leader institute entitled Developing Peripheral Vision.

They warn to watch for signs of resistance to change:

Silence: In leadership teams, members who don't support the trend of a decision often simply disengage from the dialogue and remain silent rather than pose a contrary point of view—particularly if the leader appears to support the decision or the group is moving quickly to closure. Who has checked out? Non-answers: People can opt out [...]

Continue reading >> Resistance to change – really?

Personal Characteristics of a Great CEO

In a previous post I talked about what would make a Great CEO and concluded that a Great CEOs, those in the top 2% of the Bell Curve, would have had a broad experience. Well, there is more to it than just a broad experience. A Great CEO for me has some personal characteristics uncommon on many people. I know that, as a CEO, I was certainly conscious about improving these aspects of my personality. So here are the top characteristics I would consider an exceptional combination:

Stamina – Not age. Ideally your looking for someone in its 50's [...]

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Believe it or not

We all know the power of the brain. No one would argue that humans can achieve the seemingly impossible when they apply their collective brain to a problem. Since the beginning of human kind, countless proofs of the power of the human "belief engine" can be found in everything that surrounds us, from harnessing the power of fire, to the invention of the wheel, to landing a spaceship on a moving planet traveling at 87,000 km/h, 36 millions miles away.

Beliefs shape how we act in our everyday life. Albert Einstein had beliefs, despite his Cartesian approach to science, [...]

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Nothing else Matters until the Big Picture is Clear!

When all you are allowed to see are the two beige pixels, it is hard for anyone to get a good perspective of the task at hand.

Are these two beige pixels part of a bigger picture, the sole of a shoe perhaps? Even knowing that this is the sole of a shoe is not all that enlightening. The second picture gives more details: the shoe belongs to a child sitting on the ground scribbling on a piece of cardboard. That still, you guest it, does not give the full picture – because you've seen there is a more [...]

Continue reading >> Nothing else Matters until the Big Picture is Clear!