Categories
Change and Transformation
“The Beacon Group’s program proved to be a transformational experience for our staff, and has created a new, more open culture of creativity and collaboration that has given The Globe and Mail a marked and measurable competitive advantage.” — Phillip Crawley
“The Beacon Group’s thought provoking curriculum utilizes best practice tools and interactive media for evaluation, assessment and overall learning. It has helped us raise the bar on our calibre of talent.” — Ernst Lieb
“The Beacon Group was able to handle our 360 reviews across 9 offices in a manner that brought significant value to our partners, the firm and ultimately our clients.” — Judson Whiteside
“The human capital programs provided by The Beacon Group are best in class.” — Tye Burt
“The Beacon Group acted as a strategic partner and was instrumental in helping us raise the bar on candid dialogue and team performance.” — Robert Courteau
“The Beacon Group approaches very serious and difficult topics in an accessible and insightful way.” — Eric Siegel
“We engaged The Beacon Group when we needed to bring two cultures together after our first major international acquisition: the evidence of their success lies in both the subsequent growth in our business and our presence in more than twelve countries on five continents.” — Rupert Duchesne
“The Beacon Group excels in facilitating open & candid dialogue that has fostered superior team performance.” — Mary Ellen Carlyle
“Top-level thought leadership, combined with practical, cost-effective solutions—that’s the real value the Beacon Group team brings to bear on Foresters talent challenges.” — Suanne Nielsen
“The Beacon Group delivered cutting edge perspectives on many human capital topics that were tailored and customized to our company in a way that we could not have obtained at more generic, cookie-cutter advising shops.” — Doug Lord
“Doug Williamson and his team were of invaluable assistance in helping our organization navigate through a completely new strategic planning process and emerge with a three year plan resoundingly endorsed by our Board. Doug’s global perspectives and ability to drive consensus was an integral part of our success.” — Don Forgeron
“The Global HR & Communications senior team engaged the Beacon Group in shepherding us through a unique strategic planning process that involved an outside-in view of our current and future workforce and how this aligns to our business strategy. Thanks to Doug and his team it was a thought provoking process that sharpened our strategic thinking and, in the end, made our strategy stronger.” — Sylvia Chrominska
“The Beacon Group’s customized and personalized approach fit our needs perfectly. From the initial self-discovery phase all the way to recommending solutions, the work they have done has been consistently world-class. They combine strong analytics with a wealth of real world experience. They are focused, targeted and are experts at taking theoretic concepts and making them real. We look forward to working with Doug and his team as we continue to elevate our business and improve our internal performance.” — Don Romano
“I have had the pleasure of working with The Beacon Group and Doug Williamson for several years across several organizations and have always been impressed with their professionalism, work ethic and customer orientation. Doug's own highly energetic and highly customized approach to the specific needs of our business and our leadership team sets him apart from other strategic facilitators and objective "thought provokers" I have experienced. I am always grateful and impressed by the tangible results his interventions tend to produce.” — Lloyd A. Perlmutter
“The big contribution was The Beacon Group challenged our culture and our comfort level. We then arrived at a clear plan of concise deliverables that we needed to execute to move forward on our vision.” — Tony Ambler
“SKF approached The Beacon Group to develop our Talent Management program. The process implemented by Doug Williamson and his team was extremely important for us in determining how to execute the program on a clear, organized and systematic way. This was one of our most important projects that will enable us to ensure our sustainable growth.” — João Ricciarelli
“Through its sound and strategically practical business knowledge and experience The Beacon Group has and continues to assist SCI in better understanding and enabling our organization to build engaged teams and leadership capability to help make our supply chain clients more competitive.” —John Ferguson |
Provocative PropositionsIn the hyperactive and challenging world in which we all live, it is becoming harder and harder for business leaders to find time to read, reflect and gain insight from the many valuable sources at our disposal. In "Provocative Propositions", The Beacon Group attempts to fill that void by offering our opinion, often rather pointed, on a wide array of issues we believe are relevant to leading a modern organization. The articles are catalogued into 12 categories so you can quickly and easily find a topic of particular interest. We then offer three easy steps under the heading "In Our Opinion" to help business leaders take action on the key themes. Simply click on the category and read away. The Power of Vigilance
This tragedy could have, and should have been prevented. The Titanic had been dubbed unsinkable and, therefore, there weren’t enough lifeboats on board for all of the passengers. In addition, reports of icebergs in the vicinity hours earlier had been ignored. This is the very same sort of arrogance, and denial of common sense that author Jim Collins says happens every day in business.
Before tragedy hits your organization, you should be on the lookout for the predictable pattern that often traps companies, and ultimately leads to their doom. The Fact is - if you’re lucky, your company is or has been successful. The Problem is - in many cases, this success can create a sense of invincibility and false optimism that can ultimately erode the foundation of your company. The Outcome is - a culture that falsely believes success will continue indefinitely. Ego begins to take over from common sense on key business decisions. The Solution is - to constantly monitor your organization for signs of overconfidence, and a decline in the rigour with which you made decisions in the past. Too Great To Fall Like those at the helm of the Titanic, it’s easy to believe your company is too great to succumb to failure. Collins argues, however, that this sort of mentality is exactly what gets companies into trouble. Perhaps Intel Chairman Andy Grove had it right when he said “only the paranoid survive”. While success is nothing to be ashamed of, and certainly worth striving for, it is important to keep your proverbial head screwed on tight, in order to ensure the long term success of your company. It Starts At the Top In his book “How the Mighty Fall”, Jim Collins studied a number of companies that rose to monumental heights only to collapse years later, including Bethlehem Steel, Zenith, and Scott Paper. He found that, in each case, not only did they follow a predictable pattern overall, they also displayed similar dysfunctions at the Senior Team level. Remembering that Collins is also the author of “Good to Great”, it’s important to note that great organizations were the by-product of humble, company-focused Level 5 Leaders. In the “fallen” companies, Collins found that they lacked, in many cases at all levels, any Level 5 Leadership whatsoever. Climbing Back Up The good news is that today’s tough economic events are allowing those fortunate enough to have a second chance time to truly evaluate their organization. If you sense that your organization’s head has begun to swell, it’s not too late. Caught early enough, and, with great leadership and perseverance, your organization can “right itself” in time to sail for years to come. In Our Opinion The Beacon Group’s Key’s to Recovery and Renewal Strive for Greatness - If your organization has strayed from it’s roots, take time to ensure your leaders have the best interests of the company in mind, that you have select the very best people, and that you focus on the things you can do better than anyone else. Keeping these things front and centre is key. Don’t Read Your Press - While success is never a bad thing, never let it go to your head. There is always another company out there trying to unseat you. Worse yet, poor decisions and laziness internally can cause your own downfall. Have Plenty of Lookouts - If you have the right people at all levels in your company, they will keep their eyes on the horizon, constantly on the lookout for “icebergs” that may harm you. Trust them when they bring items to your attention. The more eyes you have looking for trouble, the less likely you will be to run into it. |
|
About Us | Services | Press Room | Resources | Subscribe Home | Blog | Contact Us | Site Map |
|
