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New! Fast-Lane Innovation Booklet

Friday, August 13th, 2010

Fast-Lane Innovation.indd

I am delighted to announce the publication of my new booklet, Fast-Lane Innovation: How To Accelerate Growth And Leave The Competition Behind.

This 43-page booklet helps business leaders make innovation a way of life. It provides insights, case studies and models to help CEO’s and their teams lead innovation, source new innovation ideas and build innovative organisations. The booklet includes sections on the top 5 innovation killers, how to get over your fear of failure, how to steal new ideas with integrity, and how to build a simple innovation process, and has 15 powerful lessons and 45 actions for you take away.

Fast-Lane Innovation is the second in my series of strategy guides for business leaders. The first booklet, The CEO’s Strategy Handbook, is still available, and, as announced on Wednesday, will be turned into a 250-page book for publication by Global Professional Publishing in 2011.

For more details, to download the free PDF version or to buy the hard copy of either/both books, simply click here.

Enjoy!

© Stuart Cross 2010. All rights reserved.

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Announcing Stuart’s New Book

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

I’m delighted to let you know that I’ve entered into a publishing agreement with Global Professional Publishers to create a provocative, practical, pragmatic and priceless book on creating and delivering high-value business strategies!

Our working title is The CEO’s Strategy Handbook: How To Lead, Develop and Deliver High-Value Strategies! It will be the go-to book for CEOs and business leaders who want provocative insights and pragmatic advice to setting strategy and turning winning strategies into great results.

Over the next few months, I will keep you up-to-date with progress, give you exclusive extracts and - of course - let you know how you can buy it!

I’m very excited about this. Very. Excited. Now all I have to do is write it…

© Stuart Cross 2010. All rights reserved.

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Happy Birthday To Us!

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

This blog is one year old today!

Thank you for all your comments, feedback and insights. I look forward to your continued involvement in our second year.

Very best wishes

Stuart

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Client Success Story: Creating High-Growth Strategies For The Bristan Group

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

bristan-logo

I have recently been working with the executive team from the Bristan Group, the UK’s largest supplier of bathroom and kitchen taps, showers, shower enclosures, decorative heating and bathroom accessories, helping them to develop new growth strategies for the business.

Here is a summary of what we’ve achieved.

Client Challenge:

  • New CEO, Jeremy Ling, reorganised the Bristan Group (itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of Masco Corporation in the US), establishing four trading divisions
  • Jeremy, together with Lance Gillett (CFO) asked Morgan Cross Consulting to lead and facilitate the development of compelling growth strategies and plans for each of the divisions

Our Role:

  • Create a robust and pragmatic process for each of the divisions to use in developing their strategies
  • Facilitate key strategy off-sites involving over 30 of the Group’s top executives
  • Establish high levels of commitment, enthusiasm and passion to the delivery of these strategies from each of the four leadership teams
  • Develop the strategy development capabilities of the divisional executive teams

Results:

  • The creation of a high-growth and high-profit strategy for Bristan Group and its four divisions, together with clear performance targets for the next five years
  • A group-wide leadership agenda with specific strategic objectives embedded into each executive’s performance contract
  • Sign-off to the strategy and associated plans by the Masco Corporation executives
  • The complete project was delivered within eight weeks

What The Clients Say:

“Stuart delivered against my high expectations. Our leadership team unanimously believe that Stuart’s involvement has been instrumental in helping us develop a set of strategies for growth that are ambitious, robust and fully-owned by each divisional executive. I would definitely recommend other leaders looking to develop compelling and robust strategies for their companies or organisations to speak to Stuart.” Jeremy Ling, CEO, The Bristan Group

“Historically, our strategies and high-level plans have been developed by a small group of directors, distant from the some elements of the business. Stuart’s integrity, openness, pragmatism and professionalism enabled us to involve over 50 senior executives and key managers in a way that has transformed their level of engagement with the company’s future strategy.  I now have real confidence that we have the strategic clarity, the specific plans and the executive ownership that will enable us to drive dramatic and sustainable growth for our business.” Lance Gillett, Chief Financial Officer, The Bristan Group

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Mark Turrell Testimonial

Monday, June 7th, 2010

For the past few months I have been helping Nelsons Natural Healthcare to identify major new sources of sales and profit growth. I’m grateful to UK Managing Director, Mark Turrell, for sharing his assessment of the results we have achieved.

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Master Mentor Announcement For Private Roster Mentor Programme®

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

Stuart Cross, founder and director of Morgan Cross Consulting has been accredited as a Mentor Master in the world-wide The Private Roster Mentor Program® founded by Dr. Alan Weiss, consulting guru and creator of the Million Dollar Consulting® program. Cross was presented with his certificate in London, England, in February.

“Stuart is an expert in strategy, an expert in entrepreneurialism and an expert in helping other people to grow their businesses,” says Weiss.

The Private Roster Mentor Program® is intended to significantly accelerate the success of entrepreneurs, consulting service providers, professional speakers and trainers, as well as small business entrepreneurs. Ideal participants would include those who are new to the profession, or who are committed to taking their business to the next level of success and who want to provide high value for their clients and customers.

“I created a successful, thriving business in a very short time,” says Cross, “and there’s simply no way I would’ve been able to do this without Alan as my mentor and the community of professionals from around the world that he has created.” Cross has worked with Dr. Weiss since 2007.

In addition to working with Stuart one-on-one to improve marketing, mastering the language of the sale, business vision and goal-setting, writing proposals, creating client relationships and more, program participants will have 24/7 access to a global network of consultants via a value-rich online forum. Additional benefits include opportunities to attend free yearly mentor summits, discounted workshops and other professional development events.

Click here for more information about the mentor program, fees and available spots. Call 01636-526111 to schedule a free initial consultation with Stuart.

And, to find out a bit more about Stuart click here to listen to an interview Stuart gave to fellow consultant and Master Mentor, Seth Kahan.

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Seth Kahan interviews Stuart Cross

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
 

Subscribe via iTune

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New Testimonial - Nelsons Natural World

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

I have recently completed a project with Nelsons, the natural healthcare company, helping them to identify  and deliver new opportunities for growth. Their COO, Najib Fayad, kindly gave me the following testimonial (and UK Managing Director, Mark Turrell, has given a video testimonial, which I will upload soon):

Stuart rapidly identified material and real profit growth opportunities for our UK business. He is focused on results, commercially pragmatic and delivers a lot of value - quickly!”

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Stuart’s Strategy Tweets (Part 2)

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

A few weeks ago I shared my first 50 strategy tweets with you. Here are the next 25. You can follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/stuart_cross

  1. Identify the major disagreements of your team. Resolve them, don’t hide from them.
  2. Meet more regularly to drive your big ideas forward. Amazon’s leadership team meets weekly, for example.
  3. Respond to all investment requests by saying, “And how will this help us achieve our vision?”
  4. When are you really at your best? Understanding what drives your success helps you better exploit it.
  5. Make your planning future-back. To hit your 3-year goals, what must you do in 2 years, 12 months, 90 days?
  6. Just because you’re the boss doesn’t mean you’re right. How much time do you spend listening vs. telling?
  7. Selectively prune in the good times and selectively invest in the bad to avoid a ‘boom and bust’ strategy.
  8. Exploit successful rule breaking. Where are your teams winning by ignoring the rulebook?
  9. Experiment, experiment. Version #1 is bound to be wrong, so get it over with and get onto version #2, #3 and #4.
  10. Take time to dream. Many breakthrough ideas came during some downtime. Look at Archimedes and Newton.
  11. The risk with plans and targets –you might hit them. What could you achieve with a more flexible approach?
  12. What preventative and contingent actions have you set to reduce the risk of your strategy?
  13. Continue to raise the bar for your business by having goals that sit above your immediate targets.
  14. Build on your strengths. Too many companies focus on correcting weaknesses, not exploiting their advantages.
  15. Yes, you want to drive profits, but does your strategy explain how you improve the lives of your customers?
  16. First decide on your objectives, then the best route to get there. We often mix and confuse these decisions.
  17. Can your front-line colleagues articulate your strategy? If not, how can they make good decisions?
  18. If you’re clear on where your going you can usually find a way to get there. What’s your #1 objective?
  19. Separate objectives from tactics. Be fixed on the vision but flexible on the route.
  20. The #1 business success factor is agility. How quickly and how well can you exploit new opportunities?
  21. Tesco’s had the same 4 strategic goals for 10 years plus. What are the consistent themes of your strategy?
  22. What split of your time is spent on external vs. internal issues? New growth is out there, not in here.
  23. Are your managers clear on their decision rights, or is everyone stepping on each other’s toes?
  24. For every decision you make, are you clear about how it will move your business towards its strategic goals?
  25. Are there hidden capabilities in your organisation that could take you into new market opportunities?

© Stuart Cross 2010. All rights reserved.

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Speaking Engagements Update

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

I am speaking at the following sessions in the next few months:

May 5: Warwick Business School – Successful Service Strategies (Full Time MBA course)

May 11-20: IGD Leading Edge Masterclass Events – Perfect Pitch: How to develop compelling business proposals. For more details click here, but the specific dates are:

  • May 11: Derby
  • May 12: Manchester
  • May 13: Bradford
  • May 18: Reading
  • May 19: Northampton
  • May 20: Central London

May 17: Nottingham Business School – Strategy On The Front Line (Executive MBA Course)

October 19: Bathroom Manufacturers’ Association Annual Conference – Customer Service As A Strategic Weapon. For more details click here.

I will keep you updated with further dates and engagements.

© Stuart Cross 2010. All rights reserved.

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