Advising, Consulting and Mentoring Greater Houston area business since 1986
November 2013
 
   

 

Welcome to the Silver Fox Advisors monthly newsletter, "The Silver Fox Advisor" has been developed as informative reading material for business owners and managers.

 

We hope you will find this newsletter to be interesting and valuable to your business.  

 

Silver Fox Advisors

Mediate First - Let's Try To Avoid Legal Fees 

"I'm willing to fight. It's the principle of the matter." Ah, music to an attorney's ears. But you're not in business to teach people lessons. You're in business to make money. And there are few bigger drains on business than protracted litigation.

So how can you avoid this scenario? The answer can be a Mandatory-Mediation provision in your contracts.

(By the way, I am writing this article at the risk of really angering my litigator-brethren. As a matter of background, I am an attorney. I've spent lots of time in courtrooms. I've also participated in arbitrations, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. I've even been an arbitrator for the NASD. I still litigate. But now I mostly work to keep my clients out of court in the first place.)

Mediation is basically an informal settlement meeting. In it, both sides to a dispute sit down with an unbiased third-party - the mediator - to try to settle a dispute.

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Learning And Leading           

 By Lane Sloan - Silver Fox Advisor

You will never become a leader without getting into the fray of trying to lead. Likewise, you will become a much better leader by continuing to learn how to do so.

Leadership has many similarities to sports activities. I learned how to swim on my own in a small lake because I wanted to water ski. While I can swim, I can't compete with individuals who practiced swimming daily taking lessons from a coach. And then they go to competitions watching and talking with fellow swimmers on how to improve their style before, during, and after the race. Their learning is just far greater than mine.

Like swimming lessons, there is a lot of academic and experiential information on how to improve your leadership. That is why in my book, Develop a Leadership Plan: Become a Great Leader, has a chapter on Leadership Insights. Here is a brief summary from the book on what I think are leadership essentials.

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Where Are All Of The High Potential Leaders Going?  

A recent Forbes article by Korn/Ferry states that over 50% of C-Level executives will retire in the next 5 years. This exodus of leaders will cause a major shortage in talent. Now, more than ever, companies must focus on the importance of growing leadership & talent at all levels of the company. Not just C-Level talent.

So how do you fill your organization up with high potential leadership?

In the article from our last issue: How to go from good to great! High Potential Leadership, we discussed some key attributes that great leaders possess. (If you missed this article, please contact us and we will send it right away)

In this article, we will discuss some "best practices" in the development of your high potential employees.

Please note that leadership development is demanding and challenging. And that is why we have a shortage. If it were easy, we would not have a shortage.

Continue reading...
Silver Fox Advisors

 

Silver Fox Advisors are current and former business owners, entrepreneurs and executives dedicated to assisting business owners to improve their enterprises through mentoring and consulting. Advisors have been sharing their knowledge, experience and skills for more than twenty-five years.

To work with a Silver Fox Advisor, please visit our website at  www.silverfox.org and select your advisor.

Books by
Silver Fox Advisors
  

Several Silver Fox Advisors have written books sharing their business experiences and expertise. These books contain information that you may find helpful to you and your business. We encourage you to visit our web site and click on the Resources link to find a listing of all books that are available.

 

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Silver Fox Advisors  713.467.5900  executivedirector@silverfox.org