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Jordan, Gretsky, Williams (Ted), Ewing, Borg… Are you the best of the best at what you do? Can you relate to the stars above? I hope that you can. I bet, plainly put, that you kicked ass and took names all the way to the top to get to the winners' circle just like they did. Congratulations on your success. Let's talk about what comes next. Each one of the above generational talents (and many more) were disappointments, at best, and failures, at worst, in the second a

Hello and welcome back to the land of the living to all our CPA firm cousins! Today’s Corner Talk is about surviving, thriving, and deciding your way through the M&A feeding frenzy currently going on in the world of Accounting & Consulting. Last month I was invited to speak to the members fo the CPA Learning Institute about the lessons I learned while a CMO at one of the industries most acquisitive firms. I hope that you find it helpful. There are ten tips to turn the tide in

What if I told you that Wile E Coyote’s ability to walk on air is (sorta) based in scientific fact? (It is) And, then, what if I told you that there are two important business marketing lessons to be learned from it? (There are) I was recently revisiting one of my favorite radio pieces and was struck by how we at Chief Seconds can apply the lesson in the fabulous Radiolab’s “What A Slinky Knows” to our clients’ success (btw, if you want to feel the joy of discovery and learn

This week's Corner Talk is about the way we think about technology! Here's the brief: 1. Tech work for you...not the other way around 2. What works is what's important 3. Who cares about what's hot...we care about outcomes Check out what Lefty and I have to say about technology live from the Chief Seconds gym…

Let’s switch it up - This week’s corner talk blog with be a vlog! I’ve been talking to a lot of folks about our coaching options (which we call Personal CMO Services) so I wanted to a moment to dispel the most common (and corrosive) myth about who at your company needs a coach and who doesn’t. Have a watch and let me know what you think. Let’s hear it for these quiet geniuses of the coaching game. Here’s the decoder for the Cornermen/Chief Seconds tribute in the video: Angelo

What to do…What to do. Chief Cattle Officer, Lefty, and I had a dawn ideation session today at the local dog park. It was a tundra-like experience but I like the air and the quiet and she's in it for the tennis balls. Balls are scarce at the park and competition is fierce for the right to be the keeper of the most fetching. As usual, I threw, they chased. I threw, they chased. I threw.....nothing happened. No return trip from any of them. So, I walked out in the field to see

When I was CMO I once had a really challenging meal with a marketing consultant who pursues new clients with the tagline "YOUR MARKETING SUCKS." Aside from them ordering oysters and caviar (on our dime), it was the negative pitch that really irked me. Why did we have to "suck" for them to be of value? Could we have learned new things from someone outside the firm? Sure. Could we have used a coach to get us to the next level? Of course. But, it wasn't going to be from any comp

Too many of us (and I do include myself) are too proud to be “super fixers.” We boast about how good we are in a crisis and how we get s#$t done when it is all on the line. But, what I’d like us to ponder this week is: Is that always a good thing? Let me share a story from my personal life to illustrate what I mean. My daughter was turning 16 and had scheduled her driving test for her birthday morning. Obviously, this was a huge deal to her. She needed her social security car

wobble, wobble… Relationships between leaders and teams can feel unsteady and uneasy. Remote work, the “Great Resignation" and a changing generational workforce has created soft-footing for bosses, hiring teams and operational leaders. There are many schools of thought about how to build productive and trusting working dynamics and, certainly, at least some of them must be right. But, I think there’s an easier way. Let’s talk it out here and review possible tactics. Tactic#1:

Is Your Firm’s Marketing Culture Limiting Its Growth? Final: Carts & Horses Bruce Ditman — November 19, 2021 This Corner Talk is the final installment in a series in which we explore marketing cultures common in professional services and how they may be limiting your growth. Today, we’re going to pivot and examine what it takes to build a Working Marketing Culture. Before we begin, let’s start by giving ourselves a pass. There is no blame to assign here—not to leadership and