In the highly competitive world of high value, complex, B2B selling many companies waste training dollars and most sales reps sell to the wrong people. It's ironic that return on investment is so low when the stakes are at their highest.

We know from research that high performers sell 289% more than average sales people. That’s huge. For almost two decades we have helped clients build high-performing sales organizations; clients report double the close rate on “must win” sales using PLAYER MAP™. Read how. 

Leaders in new roles are expected to rapidly, and effectively, size up their operations – and are typically given little guidance in doing so. A new culture assessment tool – Culture Snapshot – provides newly-placed leaders with a comprehensive, easy to understand assessment of their new operation’s performance climate. More information.

Read the latest postings at our Executive Insight Blog. Dialog, breaking news and important developments in organizational strategy, talent management and global business management. Other thought-leader papers:

Developing the organization to deliver strategy Top performing companies successfully leverage their organization more effectively than rivals and derive over 64% more profit per employee than next-tier performers. Few companies though look at their organization as strategically and holistically as they might - which is surprising considering the extent to which organization capabilities and performance drive business value today. Read more…

What should the role of the board be in CEO succession planning? A checklist.

Achieving and sustaining the strategic logic of the merger Following an acquisition or a merger, management is under intense pressure to address challenges such as defining integration priorities and quickly identifying and capturing synergies. In addition, special attention has to be paid to addressing cultural change and controlling business risk in the new organization. Read more…

Changing the way we change. We’ve all read the statistics - 41% of change projects fail and of the 59% that “succeed” only half meet the expectations of senior management. But we don’t need studies to tell us this. We have the scar-tissue; we know how hard it is to mobilize an organization to take a different path.The bottom line? We need to look at change differently. Read more...

What keeps CEOs up at night? “Leadership”, answered the President of one of India’s largest business conglomerates recently. “Do we have the right skills and capabilities to pull our strategy off,” reported a Global 500 CEO. “I worry that the current management team will not be able to take us where we need to go to next,” answered a third corporate leader. Most CEO’s are satisfied with their strategies. Many are less satisfied with their performance. Leadership capability development is increasingly a vital business priority. Read more...

Why new executives fail. Sixty four percent of new executives hired from the outside won’t make it in their current jobs. So says one recent study of executive transition. Forty percent will fail within the first 18 months, reports another. What seems to be causing the derailment of these leaders? Are there patterns? Why should your organization care? And, more importantly, what can it do to ensure the success of the newest members of its leadership team? Read more...

We recently co-authored a report for The Conference Board that examined the impact of the new SEC policy on CEO succession planning. In an early review, The Wall Street Transcript called it, “a must read for anyone interested in CEO succession and its implications for corporate governance and corporate performance.”

In its release the SEC reframes CEO succession as a risk management (and policy) issue and places its responsibility firmly in the boardroom. No longer can boards let management run CEO succession planning without tight oversight, including setting more specific standards and requirements, taking responsibility for results, and exercising discernible independence in the process. The policy change heralds a new wave of corporate governance scrutiny, as regulators and shareholders increasingly focus on CEO succession practices.