Posts by Chad Haldeman
Of Turtles on Posts, and the Leaders Who Put Them There
“If you see a turtle on a post… don’t blame the turtle.” When deregulation lifted in the 90s, the media industry experienced a lot of consolidation. I was with Clear Channel radio at the time, and as the largest major market operator, we took the opportunity to buy up surrounding smaller markets. One of our…
Read MoreWhy Your Business Needs A Second Growth Engine
Because, “What got you here won’t get you there.” If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard that phrase during my tenure in business, I could retire early. But the old adage is more relevant today than ever. With new technologies undercutting businesses and disrupting industries at every turn, CEOs have their head…
Read MoreFree Up the Bottleneck in Your Mind
In business, as in life, I have found that my progress is often determined in great part by my willingness and ability to change. As a less experienced manager/leader, not knowing what I didn’t know, I was open to the voices of those around me who had experience, wisdom, and perspectives I was often lacking.…
Read MoreDoes Your Team Disagree Enough?
There aren’t many people who would argue against the impact the health of a company’s leadership team has on the overall company culture. If you believe that team health and culture are as connected as I do, you can get on board with the idea that team health can directly impact culture as measured by…
Read More4 Steps Towards Building Great Processes
One of my all-time favorite mentors, Lindsay, was an organizational development academic as well as an experienced operator of small and medium-sized businesses. He was passionate about how critical systems and processes were to the long-term health, growth, and value of a company. On more than one occasion, Lindsay would raise his voice, pound the…
Read MoreAchieve More with Less
I am often inspired by the teams I have had the pleasure of leading and serving. I’ve seen countless examples of selfless loyalty, of commitment above and beyond expectations and of tireless work ethics. When I think about some of the highest performing teams I’ve been a part of, I am always reminded of what…
Read MoreHow Strong Teams Rise to the Occasion
Isn’t it often true that, under stress, a person’s core characteristics come out? I’ve experienced this in my personal and professional lives in both positive and negative ways. I’ve also seen this in the behaviors and performance of a number of leadership teams we work with. Even with sincere and dedicated efforts, change is difficult.…
Read MoreGo Big or Go Home with a Powerful Vision
When it’s time to build a company’s growth plan, goals are often created in a vacuum by its leader(s) and based on his or her financial goals. Or, plans are built primarily based on historical facts and performance using a simple percentage increase. Both of these approaches have merit as a part of the process,…
Read MoreUsing Culture to Drive Performance
It was a classic David vs. Goliath situation. We were part of a larger company but in our market, we were a distant second in terms of organizational size and market share. Our competitor had dominated the market for many years with legacy brands and tenured sales and operations teams. As we evaluated our options…
Read MoreAdjusting Your Succession Planning Mindset
As a young division leader of a large media organization, I had assembled a strong team of managers who had performed together at a very high level for some time. We were making it happen! However, there was one manager, a fairly recent hire, who had strong technical knowledge but was out of step with…
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