My clients face many different challenges, but let me share the top three with you and how I may recommend you resolve them.

The first challenge is that they don’t implement their strategies effectively. This seems to be a constant problem as great strategies are developed but never implemented successfully. In order to implement these strategies successfully you need to involve employees in the strategy development process. Create internal champions who will help everyone see how they fit into the bigger picture. You need to provide clear accountabilities and measurements so people know what success will look like and how they can help get there.

The second challenge my clients face is that they don’t collaborate enough with their customers and suppliers on improving performance. You must engage employees, customers, and suppliers more often in identifying new performance improvements. Look at your best customer relationships and determine why that is. Look at how your suppliers are working with their best customers. What can you learn and build into your own organization?

The third challenge my clients face is that they move too slowly. Organizations often spend a lot of time on activities that are not adding any value to the organization. You need to assess your operations and stop performing activities that don’t increase profit, improve attraction and retention of top people, improve customer service or improve the sustainability of the organization. I help my clients focus on value added activities and if you ask yourself those four questions and you can’t answer yes to any of them you need to stop doing the activity.

Research In Motion (RIM) is a classic example of a company that moved too slowly and now they are struggling for survival in the cut-throat cell phone and tablet markets. They developed some very good products but became complacent and they are now losing market share rapidly to companies like Apple and Samsung.

Speed is a key component to the success of any company. What are your biggest challenges and how are you tackling them?

In a conversation with a client recently we were discussing what are the attributes of successful leaders? I believe that there are four key ones.

The first attribute is adaptability, which means that a leader must be able to lead in varying environments whether it be a crisis, a boom, moderate success, ambiguity. A leader must be able to understand and then adapt to the environment around them.

The second attribute is being perceptive. Leaders must know what is going on around them, the different personalities of the teams they lead, the different agendas people may have and how the leader is perceived by others and use that information to determine how to best achieve their goals and objectives.

The third attribute is being decisive. This means balancing the desire for consensus with the required speed of decision-making. It also means that in most cases some action is better than no action.

The fourth and final attribute successful leaders have is being humble. We often read about leaders who give most of the credit to the people around them when things go well but shoulder most of the blame when things go awry. A leader needs to recognize that he/she needs smart people around them and that they can’t do everything on their own.

I will also let you in on a little secret. Great leaders aren’t always at the top of their organizations. There are many great leaders we have never heard of yet show all of the attributes I have just discussed. Do you know who those people are in your organization?

It is new month, the flowers are blooming, the grass is growing and golf season has started. It is a time of change. But when isn't it a time of change? The most successful companies are always changing, yet most of us have a habit of procrastinating. We even procrastinate those things we know will make us feel better or help us grow our businesses. Before tackling how to stop procrastination, we need to look at why we procrastinate. Here are seven reasons:

1. Fear of rejection-We fear that if we try something, we will be turned down. No one likes to hear the word 'no.'
2. Fear of success-We worry what will happen if we become successful. We might feel like an imposter waiting for someone to discover the truth about us (see Lack of confidence).
3. Fear of the unknown-We always worry about what we don't know and how people will react and this causes us to freeze up.
4. Complacency-We get comfortable with our routines and are hesitant to change because we know change is difficult, so we take the path of least resistance-status quo.
5. Lack of confidence-We have low self-esteem and don't believe what we are doing will be valuable to others.
6. Not knowing where to start-We think of things in such a broad sense that we get over-whelmed and don't know where to begin.

Often there is a simple solution to breaking through the reasons mentioned above: just start moving. If we spend some time breaking down the initiative into digestible chunks, it becomes more manageable. Once we actually take the first step towards that goal, we can overcome all of our fears.

There is an ongoing discussion on how to increase and encourage innovation. This is especially prevalent in the risk-averse Canadian healthcare space. In order for innovation to prosper in a marketplace, these conditions must prevail:

Understanding what innovation is

Innovation doesn't have to be a brand new technology or process, it could be an enhancement of something that already exists. By looking at the definition in a different way, it makes the activity of encouraging innovation easier to digest. Let's think about how we can make improvements. Some will be brand new and game-changing and others will be small improvements on what currently exists. Both are innovations.

Having a system that incents innovation

This requireds governments and industry organizations to create incentives for companies that innovate. These incentives could take the form of grants, funding, lower barriers to market access, tax credits or relief, or many other options. The key is that companies are incented to improve upon what is currently in the marketplace. This can also extend to those organizations that have the ability to discourage innovation-media, lobby groups, funders. These organizations often publicly punish organizations who are trying to innovate but may not have been successful, thus discouraging others from trying.

Having an appetite for risk

Organizations that are in the marketplace need to have an appetite for the risks required when chasing innovation. Not every innovation is going to be a success, so companies need to recognize this when embarking on an innovation. Listen to the marketplace, listen to customers and fulfill a current or future need to increase chances of developing successful innovations.

Developing a roadmap for success

Whenever you try to go from one place to another, you need a map to show you how to get there. Innovation is no different. What are the processes that need to be in place? What stakeholders need to support the initiative? What are the steps required to effectively develop, commercialize and implement new innovation? Without a common roadmap, organizations will falter at various stages by developing their own way of operating.

Understanding and taking the first step

One of the biggest roadblocks to new innovation is that organizations don't know where or how to start. To talk about innovation as a concept is a daunting task, so we need to break it up into manageable chunks. Understanding the first step in this initiative will go a long way to creating some forward momentum. Don't think of the whole journey, just think of one thing your organization can do to start the journey, then let the laws of physics take over (something in motion tends to stay in motion).

Thinking big means:

- Getting out of your comfort zone, conquering self-esteem issues and recognizing that you can't grow by doing more of the same, but only by changing your world view
- Acting instead of thinking about acting and being more assertive in going after what you want. Taking a single step in the right direction will help overcome fear and procrastination
- Being a thought leader by thinking bigger and more boldly, using big words (breakthrough, dramatic, extraordinary) and setting the pace for others
- Realizing that no idea is too big
- Collaborating and innovating with clients to develop game-changing ideas, not just solving problems
- Not waiting for an excuse to reward yourself and doing what you want to do, the way you want to do it
- Surrounding yourself with the best and the brightest people and eliminating people and things that don't align with your personal and professional development

Are you approaching your business by thinking bigger?