Category: Business

Cramming strategic planning into a short time frame at the last minute may be a common approach, but it forces us to rely on opinions about market conditions, not solid facts. Start the planning process early to avoid a puddle deep strategic plan. Company leaders who are drowning in day-to-day emergencies often don’t take the…

When moving from executing tasks to managing others, leaders find themselves one step away from “the action” and risk becoming detached. Unless they get regular, honest feedback from their followers about their abilities as managers, leaders can’t expect to become stronger leaders. They can get it by asking… How can I improve? When a startup…

As a female entrepreneur, you are probably already playing in the generative zone at the intersection between business self-interest and the common good.  Generative Minds You enjoy a large supportive network of fellow entrepreneurs, belong to several communities, and amplify positive effects in the culture and your environment. Sometimes however you may have the persistent,…

WRITTEN BY OLIVIA VERHULST Rather than seeing it as a quick fix, maybe we should start thinking that networking is like gardening? Networking is like gardening – it takes time and effort in order to make the relationships grow, they don’t just spring up overnight.  Years ago, as I was telling a mentee my way…

WRITTEN BY PATRICIA ZEEGERS When clients ask me to help them with the challenges they face in their business, they will more often than not hear me say: “Can you show me your business plan?”  It’s a question that is usually answered more with body language than with words. Hands go up in the air, eyes are rolled, eyebrows are…

An initiative to assist women in Venture Capital and improve diversity was launched last week in The Netherlands by a large group of investors with the aim to increase the percentage of women in start-up/venture capital management positions. The investors, which include private funds like Inkef Capital and TIIN Capital, as well as public funds…

These days it’s easy to find examples on LinkedIn and other social media of articles being proudly shared about female CEO’s being appointed in major firms. This is all great progress, of course, but there’s still a long way to go as a recent article in Harvard Business Review makes clear. The writers point out…

by Mario Christiner In the spring of 2014 I left Zurich and moved to magical Barcelona. I arrived without a job and just enough savings to last me a few months. A year later I finally started working as a freelance English teacher. This taught me how to live off my natural skills, yet my…