Leaders Should NOT Be Cowboys
March 30, 2009 by Miki Saxon
One of the hardest things that growing companies face is the need to stop shooting from the hip.
I hear the reasons not to all the time, from startups, small biz, entrepreneurs, et al:
It will ruin our culture.
It stifles creativity. It’s for larger companies.
It’s bureaucratic. It’s too time consuming.
“It” refers to the underpinnings of all successful companies. “It” includes the following in order of importance:
Financial controls that include
monthly statements of revenues by product;
discounts;
costs by department;
cost of goods sold;
inventory;
receivables aging;
stock issuance;
cash flow;
manufacturing yields;
hiring by department
Annual operating plan …read more