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It's easy to be blinded by the allure of large-scale change, a drastic change that promises to revolutionize an industry overnight. But my experience has taught me that the real game changers often lie in the less obvious, incremental innovations. These small, strategic changes can pave the way for big wins and have ripple effects throughout the organization, impacting everything from operational efficiency to customer satisfaction. Think for a moment about your last big success at your company. Was it the result of a monumental change? Or was it an accumulation of smaller, more manageable improvements that led to big…

Unfortunately, almost all public company boards have limited working hours. The only thing standing between a company's directors and a messy proxy fight is strong financial performance, but the standard for “consistent financial performance” is constantly changing. Company directors should expect that when their company's stock price experiences double-digit declines, activist investors will begin to take notice. Directors should understand that some of these activists are “professional takeover artists” who firmly believe they can achieve better financial performance than their target boards, and they have the resources and experience to make a compelling case that they can do so. Sometimes…

According to the latest Crist Kolder Volatility Report, roughly 15% of current CFOs have worked in investment banking and 8% have engineering degrees. What percentage hold multiple engineering patents? Anand Govind is a rare breed among CFOs because he ticks all three boxes: “I think I'm one of the few CFOs who has multiple patents and published papers as an engineer,” he told StrategicCFO360. “But the analytical skills and rigorous training I gained as an engineer translate very well to the world of finance.” A technology background also comes in handy when building a finance team's tech stack from scratch:…

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are a key component of corporate growth and exit strategies, and M&A deals could fall by half this year, according to a Morgan Stanley study, with increases expected across a range of sectors including banking and real estate. Rising business confidence and easing inflation have already driven a 36% increase in global deal value in the first quarter of 2024, but these deals are increasingly being threatened by activist investors who could block, delay or test boardroom activity. Diligent research found that the number of contentious cases increased 20.8% in 2023, with activist arbitrage being just…

The best leaders minimize mistakes by empowering, then applying just the right amount of control to ensure employees don't stray too far from the company's goals and values. On a day-to-day basis, this can be difficult. The best CEOs use a variety of metrics to monitor and maintain the balance between control and autonomy. The challenge here is to create an environment that provides both psychological safety and accountability. This is another polarity that leaders must master. On the one hand, a safe environment cannot come at the expense of accountability. This can lead to a culture of complacency, avoiding…

From a CFO's perspective, the company is profitable, has positive free cash flow, and is growing sales, so the credit risk may be reasonable. However, a banker has a different perspective. Every financial institution will have customers they like and customers they don't like based on their growth strategy, revenue goals, market share objectives and opportunity costs. Economic and credit conditions also play a role. U.S. commercial banks, once eager to lend to businesses, have been less willing to lend recently. Higher funding costs, rising operating expenses, and declining deposit balances have kept banks' lending targets more modest. A cut…

At the MIT Business for Inclusive Local Thriving (BILT) Lab, we study how business coalitions can leverage their leadership strengths – developing a vision, making sense, and convening – to drive inclusive local economic development and a clean energy future. The starting point is a clear North Star vision that includes energy, an opportunity sector that is growing faster than the entire U.S. workforce and contributing as much to U.S. GDP as artificial intelligence. The P33 Chicago Business Coalition is driving a larger regional strategy of quantum tech, semiconductors and biomanufacturing enabled by decarbonized technologies and infrastructure. In Minnesota, Greater…

Would you say you can trust 95 percent of your customers, employees, and suppliers?The answer to this question defines everything about your organization. It establishes the engagement platform for your employees. It defines the relationships you have with your customers. And it defines the quality of work you do with your suppliers.If the answer to the question is yes, then your processes and procedures should demonstrate that. Your processes and procedures should assume that customers are not liars and your employees are not cheaters. These processes should focus on empowering the majority of customers and employees and making them feel…

Seven years ago, I had a nearly fatal experience at work. I had just received a promotion and wanted to prove I was worthy of the job. I had an overwhelming number of clients and it had been exhausting for a while, but as a black woman working in corporate America, I've always been told, “You have to work twice as hard to get half as much done.” One early afternoon, I was driving about an hour from a client's site, and one moment I was driving, and the next thing I remember is waking up on the side of…

All seven independent directors of DNA testing company 23andMe resigned this week following major disagreements over the CEO's plans to take the company private, in what some may see as a sign of good fiduciary duty. Disagreements between company directors and management are common, but this dispute led to a board revolt. When a significant number of directors decide to resign at the same time, an investigation into the reasons for the disagreements may help other company boards avoid a similar fate. 23andMe once had a market cap of $3.5 billion, according to reports. The company's stock price has fallen…