Published in ClearPurpose·PinnedMember-onlyWhat Is Your Vision?How to set the direction forward for your business — Great business leaders are often described as visionary. But what does that even mean? And how do you develop that capability? I believe there are three forms of vision that are essential for today’s business leaders: Global Vision: How is the world changing and how will that impact our business? …Strategy Tools11 min readStrategy Tools11 min read
Published in ClearPurpose·5 days agoMember-onlyCash Matters!What leaders need to know about financial reports — Cash is the lifeblood of any business. One of the most common reasons businesses fail is because they run out of cash. A company can consistently report a profit and yet still go out of business because it runs out of cash. …Strategy Tools10 min readStrategy Tools10 min read
Published in ClearPurpose·Jan 18Member-onlyBook Brief: Financial IntelligenceA Manager’s Guide to Knowing What the Numbers Really Mean — Brief Summary Title: Financial Intelligence: A Manager’s Guide to Knowing What the Numbers Really Mean Authors: Karen Berman and Joe Knight with John Case Published: 2013 by Harvard Business Review Press What It Teaches: Financial Intelligence teaches non-financial managers what they need to know about business finance to be able to intelligently apply financial principles…Strategy Books4 min readStrategy Books4 min read
Published in ClearPurpose·Jan 10Member-onlyBook Brief: Unleash Your Cash Flow MojoThe Business Owner’s Guide to Predicting, Planning, and Controlling Your Company’s Cash Flow — Brief Summary Title: Unleash Your Cash Flow Mojo: The Business Owner’s Guide to Predicting, Planning, and Controlling Your Company’s Cash Flow Author: Sandra S. Simmons Published: 2012 by Money Management Solutions What It Teaches: Cash Flow Mojo teaches the author’s system for financial management as embodied in her software product. When To Use It: Ms. Simmons…Strategy Books3 min readStrategy Books3 min read
Published in ClearPurpose·Jan 2My 10 Most Referenced BooksWhich books have most helped me understand and explain the business world — As regular readers know, I like books. I often write brief reviews of books I’ve recently read. Those reviews are usually pretty positive — likely due to selection bias, I tend to only finish books that have some value. …Strategy Books2 min readStrategy Books2 min read
Published in ClearPurpose·Dec 31, 2022Top Articles of 2022Which Stories Did You Read and Which Did You Miss? — So far in 2022, I’ve written 61 articles here at ClearPurpose. Since launching the publication in 2020 I’ve written approximately 300 articles in total. It’s always interesting to me to see which stories are most popular with you, our readers. …20222 min read20222 min read
Published in ClearPurpose·Dec 30, 2022Member-onlySouthwest: The Wrong BenchmarkDon’t Hide Behind Bad Industry Performance — Over 45,000 flights were cancelled between June 1 and August 31 of 2022. American Airlines had the worst performance with more than 10,000 flights cancelled (4.55% of all their flights). Comparatively speaking, Southwest Airline didn’t perform so badly with “only” 6,296 cancellations (1.81%). In the midst of that crisis for…Strategy Tales4 min readStrategy Tales4 min read
Published in ClearPurpose·Dec 26, 2022Member-onlyBook Brief: Redeeming Your Time7 Biblical Principles for Being Purposeful, Present & Wildly Productive — Brief Summary Title: Redeeming Your Time: 7 Biblical Principles for Being Purposeful, Present & Wildly Productive Author: Jordan Raynor Published: 2021 by WaterBrook What It Teaches: Redeeming Your Time teaches seven principles for redeeming your time drawn from the life or commands of Jesus. For each principle, the book teaches a few very practical ways…Strategy Books5 min readStrategy Books5 min read
Published in ClearPurpose·Dec 19, 2022Member-onlyBook Brief: Get BackedHow to Raise Money for the Venture of Your Dreams — Brief Summary Title: Get Backed: The Handbook for Creating Your Pitch Deck, Raising Money, and Launching the Venture of Your Dreams Authors: Evan Baehr and Evan Loomis Published: 2015 by Harvard Business Review Press What It Teaches: Get Backed teaches entrepreneurs what they need to know to raise money from investors to fund their startups. When…Strategy Books5 min readStrategy Books5 min read
Published in ClearPurpose·Dec 5, 2022Member-onlyBook Brief: Category CreationHow B2B SaaS Companies Can Create and Dominate New Industries — Brief Summary Title: Category Creation: How to Build a Brand that Customers, Employees, and Investors will Love Author: Anthony Kennada Published: 2020 by Wiley What It Teaches: Category Creation teaches companies (especially SaaS providers) how to create a new category. The core of the book is a chapter each on the “Seven Principles to Create…Strategy Books6 min readStrategy Books6 min read