A. Understanding the business
5. Business insight
The following resources are also located at the back of each chapter in Korn Ferry's FYI® for your improvement book:
- How to become more business-minded. Chron
- The importance of networking. Business Insider
- How to see the big picture, without losing sight of the details. Chief Executive.net
- Build a better understanding of customers, get a competitive advantage. Entrepreneur
- How to find a mentor. Forbes
- What is a strong general business acumen? Chron
- How Walmart and G.E. are leading a transformation in the energy market. Forbes
- 5 Ways to know what your customers want before they do. Inc
- Understanding your customers’ minds [Video file]. Harvard Business Publishing
- A program helps sharpen the business acumen of those on the rise. The New York Times
Additional resources
Read all about it...
Sharpening your business acumen
Ram Charan, business consultant, speaker, and writer, provides a six-step guide for incorporating external trends into your internal strategies:
- What is happening in the world today?
- What does it mean for others?
- What does it mean for us?
- What would have to happen first (for the results we want to occur)?
- What do we have to do to play a role?
- What do we do next?
11. Customer focus
The following resources are also located at the back of each chapter in Korn Ferry's FYI® for your improvement book:
- Why every organization needs a standard response time policy. Forbes
- Here’s how to actually empower customer service employees. Harvard Business Review Blog Network
- How to get past your customers’ lies. Harvard Business Review Blog Network
- Listening to customers yields success. Forbes
- Here’s what happens when you don’t listen to your customers’ complaints. Business Insider
- The best way to understand your customers. Harvard Business Review Blog Network
- Employee satisfaction key for customer satisfaction. Psych Central
- Connect with your customers. Entrepreneur
- Nurture your most profitable customers. Inc
- 5 Ways to improve your customer service. Forbes
Additional resources
It's been said...
“The best customer service is if the customer doesn't need to call you, doesn't need to talk to you. It just works.” – Jeff Bezos, American business magnate and founder and CEO of Amazon.com.
Watch and learn...
Six differences between customer-focused companies and operations-focused companies
New York Times best-selling author Shep Hyken shares six key differences between companies that are customer-focused and those that are operations-focused.
17. Financial acumen
The following resources are also located at the back of each chapter in Korn Ferry's FYI® for your improvement book:
- Budget forecasting techniques. Chron
- The dismal financial IQ of US managers. Harvard Business Review Blog Network
- 12 Best tools for budgeting. Inc
- Financial literacy is every business’s responsibility. Forbes
- Presenting financial reports: Turning numbers into information. For Dummies: A Wiley Brand.
- Numbers you need to know to grow your business. Entrepreneur
- 12 Things you need to know about financial statements. Investopedia
- Understanding accounts: Basic finance for non-financial managers. Mind Tools
- The fallacy of financial statements. Harvard Business Review Blog Network
- Beginners’ guide to financial statements. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Additional resources
It's been said...
“A budget tells us what we can't afford, but it doesn't keep us from buying it.” – William Feather, American publisher and author
35. Tech savvy
The following resources are also located at the back of each chapter in Korn Ferry's FYI® for your improvement book:
- The advantages of new technology for businesses. Chron
- Embracing digital technology. MIT Sloan Management Review
- On becoming an IT savvy CEO. Ivey Business Journal
- Technology re-emergence: Creating new value for old innovations. Forbes
- The flow of technology adoption reverses. Fast Company
- Can technology optimists and pessimists get in the same room? Harvard Business Review Blog Network
- There’s a big misconception about how companies become tech savvy. Business Insider
- 3 Free apps to make you a tech-savvy business professional. The Huffington Post
- Leverage technology for business transformation [Video file]. Harvard Business Review Blog Network
Additional resources
Read all about it...
Why tech-savvy CEOs rule the world
Aaron Skonnard, President & CEO of Pluralsight explains why today’s most successful CEOs are tech savvy. He describes five key reasons for pairing tech savvy with key leadership traits and exceptional vision, regardless of the nature of the organization.
B. Making complex decisions
8. Manages complexity
The following resources are also located at the back of each chapter in Korn Ferry's FYI® for your improvement book:
- Einstein’s problem-solving formula, and why you’re doing it all wrong. Fast Company
- Darden prof: Tap outside resources to rev your innovation cycle. CBS News
- Creative problem-solving strategies to test your business idea. Entrepreneur
- You make better decisions if you ‘see’ your senior self. Harvard Business Review
- The 4 most effective ways leaders solve problems. Forbes
- Perfectionism is the enemy of everything. Forbes
- How to be a creative problem solver. The Wall Street Journal
- John Wooden: The difference between winning and succeeding [Video file]. TED
- Nine steps to effective business problem solving. Business Insider
Additional resources
It's been said...
“It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It’s that they can’t see the problem.” – G. K. Chesterton, English journalist and author.
Competencies in action...
How good is your problem solving?
A quick quiz to help you identify your approach to dealing with problems. A variety of tools is provided to help you increase your effectiveness in managing the complexity of problem solving.
12. Decision quality
The following resources are also located at the back of each chapter in Korn Ferry's FYI® for your improvement book:
- Stop worrying about making the right decision. Harvard Business Review
- How are really great decisions actually made? Forbes
- How to establish open communication at work. Chron
- 15 Ways to make much better decisions. Forbes
- Problem solving ideas that work. YouTube
- Preventing ‘Analysis Paralysis.’ Bloomberg Businessweek
- How to minimize your biases when making decisions. Harvard Business Review
- Nine steps to effective business problem solving. Business Insider
Additional resources
It's been said...
“If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.” – Benjamin Franklin, American inventor, politician, and one of the founding fathers of the United States
32. Balances stakeholders
The following resources are also located at the back of each chapter in Korn Ferry's FYI® for your improvement book:
- How can stakeholders negatively influence a project? Chron
- Leadership beyond bounds. Forbes
- How to win loyalty from others. Business Insider
- How deeply engaging stakeholders changes everything. Forbes
- Improving stakeholder engagement increases productivity, profit and sustainability. The Huffington Post
- How to deal with multiple stakeholders in organizations. Chron
- Want project success? Engage stakeholders. CIO
- Implementing a stakeholder strategy. Harvard Business Review Blog Network
- Stakeholder analysis: Winning support for your projects. Mind Tools
Additional resources
Competencies in action...
Stakeholder Management Toolkit
An interactive toolkit to help you manage your stakeholders. This step-by-step guide takes you through how to identify, prioritize, and understand your stakeholder group. Including videos and downloadable tools, it’s simple and fun to use.
C. Creating the new and different
18. Global perspective
The following resources are also located at the back of each chapter in Korn Ferry's FYI® for your improvement book:
- Sheikha Al Mayassa: Globalizing the local, localizing the global [Video file]. TED
- The 10 trends you have to watch. Harvard Business Review
- The world is not global, it’s local. Forbes
- The best sales leaders are trend hunters. Harvard Business Review Blog Network
- Explaining the pain in emerging markets. Bloomberg Businessweek
- International assignments: Who’s going where and why? Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
- Hofstede’s cultural dimensions: Understanding workplace values around the world. Mind Tools
- How to avoid cultural missteps when doing business with other countries. Entrepreneur
- Top recruiter to CIOs: Time to broaden your background and show some charisma. Forbes.
Additional resources
It's been said...
“The trick to forgetting the big picture is to look at everything close-up.” - Chuck Palahniuk, best-selling American author of Fight Club, Survivor, and Lullaby
19. Cultivates innovation
The following resources are also located at the back of each chapter in Korn Ferry's FYI® for your improvement book:
- Five ways to innovate faster. Harvard Business Review Blog Network
- TEDxBerkeley – Carl Bass – The new rules of innovation [Video file]. TED
- Is your status quo killing your business? Entrepreneur
- Sparking creativity in the workplace. Psychology Today
- Apple’s secret employee training manual reinvents customer service in seven ways. Forbes
- How to innovate – without a miracle. Forbes
- 7 Steps to a culture of innovation. Inc
- Free your frontline workers to innovate. Harvard Business Review Blog Network
- 5 ways to promote creativity in the workplace. The Business Journals
Additional resources
Watch and learn...
How schools kill creativity [Video file]
Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity. An insight into the challenge that the education system presents in terms of developing creativity in ourselves and in others.
It's been said...
“Innovation is hard. It really is. Because most people don’t get it. Remember, the automobile, the airplane, the telephone, these were all considered toys at their introduction because they had no constituency. They were too new.” – Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, Inc. and widely considered to be a founding father of the video game industry
33. Strategic mindset
The following resources are also located at the back of each chapter in Korn Ferry's FYI® for your improvement book:
- Becoming more strategic: Three tips for any executive. McKinsey Quarterly
- What’s keeping you from being strategic? Forbes
- The best sales leaders are trend hunters. Harvard Business Review Blog Network
- Strategy ain’t what it used to be. Forbes
- The key to growth. Ivey Business Journal
- 7 Steps to become an authority in your industry. Entrepreneur
- More companies include retreat time to innovate. The Boston Globe
- The key to corporate fitness: Agility and flexibility. Bloomberg Businessweek
- Does your business stand out in the marketplace? The Business Times.
Additional resources
It's been said...
“The two worst strategic mistakes to make are acting prematurely and letting an opportunity slip; to avoid this, the warrior treats each situation as if it were unique and never resorts to formulae, recipes or other people’s opinions.” – Paulo Coelho, Brazilian lyricist and novelist
