Joel Myers founded the company 53 years ago and has grown it steadily since then into a highly reliable weather-information concern and one of the strongest brands in the business, serving hundreds of thousands of customers.
The key to AccuWeather’s half-century of growth and prosperity, Myers said, has been “compounding” its improvements. “If you improve performance even slightly every day, or every month, no one can beat that company.”
But to succeed today, Myers said, business leaders also need to be able to adapt to “constant growth, change and disruption”—and to the fact that each of those is occurring ever more quickly, in a truly transformative age.
Here are 6 insights offered by Myers for how CEOs can stay at the forefront in this era of transformational change.
1. Have a flexible mindset. “Recognize that rapidly accelerating change is the new mantra,” Myers said. “Don’t be afraid to develop partnerships with companies that you thought were unthinkable just a few years ago.”
2. Don’t get over-confident. Momentum can work against leaders who become too set in their ways, leading to “the loss of flexibility and imagination that created the original success.”
3. Encourage intrapreneurism. Employees should constantly become “more entrepreneurial and creative” to create “compounding” improvement.
4. Embrace new ideas. Whether it’s products, technologies or trends, Myers said, “embrace” them: “Many will seem radical—give them a chance to work.”
5. Provide value. In this arena, make sure you best your competitors because, in the digital and social world, he warned, “If you are not the best, people will measure it and quickly recognize it.”
6. Get nimble. “As the world changes faster than ever,” Myers said, “nimbleness will be more important than ever.”
Myers also underscored the speed of change that all business leaders—much less the human race—faces these days. About 90 percent of all data in the history of humanity has been generated just over the past two years, he said, and by 2020 humanity will have a quadrillion times as much data as we have now. For such a truly transformational age, successful CEOs will need to have the tool set he describes—and even more.
Chief Executive Group exists to improve the performance of U.S. CEOs, senior executives and public-company directors, helping you grow your companies, build your communities and strengthen society. Learn more at chiefexecutivegroup.com.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
