Mighty Midsized Companies
Here’s the recording from our conversation with Robert Sher, author of Mighty Midsize Companies – How Leaders Overcome 7 Silent Growth Killers.
Book’s Purpose: Mighty Midsized Companies fills a gap in today’s business literature while offering much-needed and highly-actionable advice for midsized organizations as well as those knocking on the midsized door.
These problems grow out of sight (and frequently out of mind) in the dark recesses of the midsized organization, unrecognized by management in their daily routines until they emerge as full-blown crises that can threaten the future of the business.
Most midsized company leaders want their businesses to become mighty growth machines. Unfortunately, sometimes that growth slows, stops, or goes the other way, and their leaders don’t know why. In Mighty Midsized Companies, Robert outlines seven silent growth killers affecting midsized companies along with strategies for detecting and surmounting each growth killer.
Author Bio: Robert Sher is founding principal of CEO to CEO, a consulting firm of former chief executives that improves the leadership infrastructure of midsized companies seeking to accelerate their performance. He was chief executive of Bentley Publishing Group from 1984 to 2006 and steered the firm to become a leading player in its industry (decorative art publishing). Robert speaks frequently, and has published extensively on the successful leadership traits and skills of CEOs of midsized companies. He is a regular columnist on Forbes.com, authored his first book, The Feel of the Deal; How I Built a Company through Acquisitions (1toPonder, 2007), numerous posts for Harvard Business Review online, and articles for many other publications. He also publishes his own newsletter, The CEO Insomnia Factor.
Approach: Drawing on his own experience as CEO of a midsized company as well as interviews with leaders of more than 100 midsized organizations, Robert points to seven insidious killers that erode growth and can drive even successful companies into extinction. Using case studies of companies ranging from Jamba Juice to NetApp and industries as diverse as education and environmental consulting, Robert offers practical insight into how to detect and survive the silent killers. What’s more, he introduces a playbook for creating the leadership infrastructure necessary to grow an organization from meek to mighty.