Blog

Revenue Leads Expenses

By Peter DiGiammarino

Most leadership teams know the problem. They set an annual revenue target, build spending around it, and move forward as if the planned revenue inflow is already on its way. If revenue later develops more slowly than hoped, the organization is forced to pull back, delay hires, cut initiatives, and explain why the original plan … Continue reading Revenue Leads Expenses

Before You Build, Get Clear

By Peter DiGiammarino

Before You Build, Get Clear AI makes it easier than ever to build, prototype, and automate. It does not make it any less important to think. When the cost of building drops, the cost of building the wrong thing rises. Remember Peter Drucker’s aphorism that ends wtih “… are you doing the right thing?” That is … Continue reading Before You Build, Get Clear

Finding the CEO for What Comes Next

By Peter DiGiammarino

An IntelliVen Insight by Eric Palmer. AI is not a feature cycle. It is a reset of SaaS economics. Eric Palmer, a highly successful Senior Operating Partner with more than 30 years of experience leading private, public, private equity-owned, and venture-backed companies, recently shared what he is seeing across  software businesses. Eric uses and has … Continue reading Finding the CEO for What Comes Next

Time Horizon Discipline

By Peter DiGiammarino

Leaders often say: “We don’t have enough time.” “We’re far from our goals.” “Everything feels urgent.” Most of the time, the issue is not time. It is a mismatch between the decision and the planning horizon. Manage to Lead is built on clarity and disciplined change. Time horizon discipline is part of that clarity. Different … Continue reading Time Horizon Discipline

When Attention Is the Constraint, Focus the Work and the Reviews

By Peter DiGiammarino

Most things go wrong because leaders are spread too thin, not because the work is impossible. When the volume of initiatives outstrips reviewer capacity, important items get little or no attention. Meetings slip. Mental presence drops. The fix is to match what we take on to the attention we can invest, and to raise the … Continue reading When Attention Is the Constraint, Focus the Work and the Reviews

The Architecture of Resilience: How Early Labor Silences Fear in High-Stakes Leadership

By Peter DiGiammarino

By: Richard Block From a very early age, working was a given. It was simply what you did. In reflecting on these early experiences and contrasting them with the lives of my children and grandchildren, I see a significant divide. The loss isn’t just in the paycheck; it is in the “patterns of behavior” that … Continue reading The Architecture of Resilience: How Early Labor Silences Fear in High-Stakes Leadership

From Tool to Teammate: Six Practices That Make AI Work for Us

By Peter DiGiammarino

At IntelliVen, we work from a defined body of leadership and management practice: the Manage to Lead (MtL) System. It is documented in our text, taught in our classes, and organized into more than sixty tools and templates and 70 insights and tutorials. We use these tools every day with clients and trainees and we are … Continue reading From Tool to Teammate: Six Practices That Make AI Work for Us

When there’s no right answer: get input, get commitment, then decide

By Peter DiGiammarino

Calls about who the team counts on for what are hard. Leaders worry about making valued people feel overlooked or diminished. Direct reports mostly want clarity, fair reasoning, and as much scope and recognition as they can reasonably earn. This post offers a way to handle those tensions: get input one-on-one, secure commitment to support … Continue reading When there’s no right answer: get input, get commitment, then decide

Say the Same Words. Mean the Same Things.

By Peter DiGiammarino

Walk into almost any leadership meeting and you will hear the same words: Vision. Strategy. Mandate. Values. Culture. Everyone nods. Everyone is confident they understand. Then you listen a little longer and realize something important: People are using the same words to mean different things … and different words to mean the same things. That … Continue reading Say the Same Words. Mean the Same Things.

Steering Committees: Engaging Stakeholders for Guidance, Commitment, and Growth

By Peter DiGiammarino

Note: A complementary reading for MtL Module 8 Get Help Leaders who “get help” know success comes not from going it alone but from surrounding themselves with structures that strengthen thinking, accountability, and action. In Manage to Lead, we emphasize the value of an Accountability Board, Advisory Board, Coach, and Peer Group. There is another … Continue reading Steering Committees: Engaging Stakeholders for Guidance, Commitment, and Growth

“Extra Revenue” vs. “More Revenue” … Read all about it!

By Peter DiGiammarino | June 18, 2014

Refer to additional revenue and additional profit to make clear it is more than expected but never more than enough!

Advice and Lessons from Women Leaders Who Drive Change

By Peter DiGiammarino | May 1, 2014

On April 29, 2014 IntelliVen sponsored the San Francisco Bay Area Organization Development Network (BAODN) panel discussion on the topic of Women Leaders Who Drive Change. BAODN President Steve McGee facilitated the discussion in front of an audience of over 40 people at Big Heart Pet Brands Headquarters, One Maritime Plaza in San Francisco. Panelists: … Continue reading Advice and Lessons from Women Leaders Who Drive Change

Women who Drive Change : IntelliVen Sponsors Bay Area Organization Development Network Panel Discussion

By Peter DiGiammarino | April 25, 2014

On Tuesday April 29, 2014 IntelliVen will sponsor the Bay Area ODN Panel Discussion: Women who Drive Change. All are welcome to attend at no charge.  Register and plan to come to the venue provided by Big Heart Brands from 6 – 8:00 pm in their offices at One Maritime Plaza, San Francisco, CA.

Idea-to-Benefit Cycle

By Peter DiGiammarino | April 18, 2014

There are many ways to provide value to leaders who seek to turn ideas into benefits. Leaders of services firms  need to get and stay clear about how they help leaders in order to perform and grow to their full potential. Click the figure below to view a presentation on how to think about helping … Continue reading Idea-to-Benefit Cycle

Manage to Lead Immersion Program: Seven Truths to Help You Change the World

By Peter DiGiammarino | April 5, 2014

 Session Excerpt Program Flyer

Manage yourself to lead others.

By Peter DiGiammarino | March 9, 2014

Leaders use the IntelliVen Manage to Lead system content, work problems, cases, and templates to communicate how their organization sees itself, where it is headed, how it will get there, and what it will do to ensure plan is achieved. Those who read, study, and practice Manage to Lead: Seven Truths to Help You Change the World know and appreciate that … Continue reading Manage yourself to lead others.

Bi-weekly One-on-One Executive Meetings

By Peter DiGiammarino | January 15, 2014

Leaders whose direct reports submit regular (e.g., monthly) status reports on progress, problems, and plans should consider re-working their approach to include more frequent (e.g., bi-weekly), one-on-one, real-time meetings to discuss progress and to collaborate and align on how things are going, priorities, and next steps. Specifically, top leaders ask each direct report to prepare and … Continue reading Bi-weekly One-on-One Executive Meetings

How leaders can get clear about whose problem their organization solves.

By Peter DiGiammarino | November 21, 2013

Any organization that performs and grows, exists to solve a problem in organization for a customer.  Its mission explains why it exists and its vision explains where it is headed but neither, individually or together, necessarily explains the solution (WHAT) it provides customers (WHO) and the problem their solution solves (WHY) for those customers. While … Continue reading How leaders can get clear about whose problem their organization solves.

National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Washington, DC Capital Area Chapter to Host Manage to Lead presentation.

By Peter DiGiammarino | October 23, 2013

National Association of Corporate Directors On November 13, 2013 IntelliVen CEO, Peter DiGiammarino, will present Manage to Lead: Seven Truths to Help You Change the World at the monthly meeting of the National Association of Corporate Directors  Click the figure at left to register. Venue: Hogan Lovells LLP 555 15th Street, NW Washington, DC 20004 6:00 PM – 7:30 … Continue reading National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Washington, DC Capital Area Chapter to Host Manage to Lead presentation.

How to think about and work with outsiders to systematically get help in a way that increases the odds of success.

By Peter DiGiammarino | October 23, 2013

Learning to Get Help or to work with outsiders is one of the top two factors that account for success in maturing a start-up into a credible organization on track to long term growth and performance according to a plan. Early stage CEO’s at first often think it is a sign of weakness to need help and … Continue reading How to think about and work with outsiders to systematically get help in a way that increases the odds of success.

Leesburg, VA Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) to host Manage to Lead dinner presentation.

By Peter DiGiammarino | October 22, 2013

  On November 12, 2013 IntelliVen CEO, Peter DiGiammarino, will present Manage to Lead: Seven Truths to Help You Change the World at the monthly dinner meeting of the Leesburg Society for Human Resource Management.  If you would like to attend, please click the figure at left to register. River Creek Country Club 43800 Olympic Blvd. Leesburg, VA … Continue reading Leesburg, VA Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) to host Manage to Lead dinner presentation.

How a services firm can discount its price without compromising hourly rates.

By Peter DiGiammarino | October 13, 2013

When a professional services firm contracts to perform a big project, it is common for it to get a request to work at reduced hourly rates.  While it may be tempting to discount to lock in the deal, doing so also sets a precedent with the customer and those it talks to, making it more … Continue reading How a services firm can discount its price without compromising hourly rates.