Patrick Thean's Personal Blog

Team Planning: How to do Team Planning for Team Focus & Alignment

It’s time to slow down and develop a world-class team execution plan for next year. When we don’t slow down to plan our execution, our..

Recruiting A Players: How to Find and Develop Topgrading "A Players"

If you have ever downloaded any tools or other resources on our site, you know that we usually ask you about your Biggest Business..

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

4 Ways to Improve Performance Culture

When things aren’t going right and your business is in a slump, most people look to new ideas, adjust their KPIs (key performance indicators

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

The Test of True Accountability (Updated for 2022)

This happens all the time. You are holding someone accountable to get something done. Yet you find yourself checking in and chasing for an..

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

4 Signs Your Culture Is Affecting Performance

When things aren’t going right and business is in a slump, most people look to new ideas, adjust their KPIs (key performance indicators) or..

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

Lack of Alignment Leads to Million Dollar Mistakes and Rework Waste

Rework is such a pain and such a waste of resources. It costs you time, energy and emotional distress. Nobody likes to clean up their..

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

How to Build a Great Company with a High Performance Culture

We had a wonderful Breakthrough Conference this year that helped hundreds of middle market managers and CEOs achieve breakthrough..

Breakthrough Execution: What Top Performing Companies Do Differently

Sean K., one of our lucky Valentine's contest winners, asked, "What are the Top 3 characteristics of the companies you work with or study..

Use Your Core Values and Job Scorecards In Your Hiring Process

Having a set of documented core values that you live daily is a powerful Execution Tool for your company. Let's start with your hiring..

How Simms Fishing Engages Their Employees

We are proud to announce that Retail TouchPoints recently featured two of our long-time clients, Simms Fishing Products, and luxury..

Why CEOs Must Solve People Issues to Achieve Breakthroughs

My previous blog shared about how people issues might be mistaken for execution issues. There are a number of reasons why it is difficult..

How CEOs Should Diagnose the Root Cause of Missed Growth Strategies

Jack asked me to review his execution plan. His team was missing their profit and revenue goals, and he wanted to figure out the..

Strategic Storytelling Inspires Results [Video]

Storytelling may seem like an old-fashioned tool, today — and it is. That’s exactly what makes it so powerful. Life happens in the..

Your Leadership ETHIC Drives Predictable Results

I was pleasantly surprised and wonderfully rewarded by the success of launching our new book, Predictable Results. I find it curious that..

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

Calling for Performance-Oriented CEOs

People ask me all the time, "What is so special about Rhythm? Why do your customers have so much success?" I jokingly reply, "I don’t know,..

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

Five Key Leadership Skills Every Leader Must Master

I was going through some materials and came across a file that one of my good friends and mentors had given me in a training session a..

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

3 Action Steps to Leverage Stress for Success

No matter who they are or what they're doing, every person and organization experiences problems, difficulties, unexpected reversals and..

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

Annual Planning: 9 Tips to Focus & Align Your Team With a Great Plan (Annual Planning - 2017)

It’s time to slow down and develop a world class execution plan for next year. When we don’t slow down to plan our execution, our teams..

Skate to Where the Puck is Going During Annual Planning (Annual Planning - 2017)

We are getting into Q4. It is a good time to begin thinking about what the plan for the next year is going to be. Consider how you will..

Budget for Leadership Development in Your Annual Planning Process (Annual Planning - 2017)

John Maxwell's Law #1 is the Law of the Leadership Lid (in his book "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership"). This law states that a..

Annual Planning: Consider the Greatest Business Decisions of All Time (Annual Planning - 2017)

As you think about 2013 and plan for a great year, learn from the greatest business decisions of all time. After all, your company is a..

Use Your Think Rhythm to Grow Your Top Leaders

Do you have a Think Rhythm to work on the future success of your company? And, do you do it with your leadership team? Take an hour each..

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

Our First Breakthrough Execution Conference

For the past five years, we've been dreaming of hosting a conference. This week our dream came true, and it was better than anything I..

How Frederique Contstant Keeps Their Employees Engaged

We are proud to announce that Retail TouchPoints recently featured two of our long-time clients, Simms Fishing Products, and luxury..

Marriott's Secret Weapon

Typically, I am on the road between 20 to 30 days per quarter. Between speaking events and visiting my clients, it’s safe to say, I travel..

As CEO, How Much Space Should You Take in the Room?

Many CEOs I work with struggle with this same issue, and some don’t even know that they have a challenge. They present an idea to their..

How to Connect Execution to Your Strategy

You may have a company purpose, but do your employees know why they do what they do?

Have you heard the famous story of Sir Christopher..

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

Why Quarterly Plans Fail: When You Don’t Listen, You Get Rewarded with Bad Execution, Rework and Waste!

Most people think of “listening” as a leadership skill. Leaders need to listen to their people. Yes, it is a leadership skill. And it is..

4 Pitfalls That Slow Down Execution and How to Fix Them

How do you know if your company is set up for great execution? Most people would say that they want an environment that allows and..

Are You Part of the Top 8%? 5 Tips to Create 3 Successful Resolutions for the Year

“It’s a new year, that means a blank slate, a new beginning! Last year is behind me and this year is ahead of me.” Jack tells me..

It Takes Great Execution to Deliver World Class Customer Service

It takes great execution to deliver world class customer service. I experienced it this past week at John DiJulius’ Secret Service Summit...

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

How Do You Coach and Develop Your Team to Manage a Company Twice the Size?

How do you grow and develop your team as your company grows? Are you grooming your people to play key leadership roles in a business twice..

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

Is Your Team Building Skills to Manage a Company Twice the Size of Your Current Company?

Life was great. I was experiencing explosive growth. It felt like we were on a rocket going to the moon! Everything felt great. Then one..

4 Tips to Executing Well as a Team when a New Team Member Joins

When you bring on a new team member, you do not have a new team member. You have a new team. The effectiveness of your team can go up or..

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

Does Your Customer Service "Take Off" Under Pressure?

"Where is he?"

"Seat 7A!"

"Sir, I am going to need you to get off the plane... now! And if you resist, I will have to call security."

..

Budget for Leadership Development in Your Annual Planning Process

John Maxwell's Law #1 is the Law of the Leadership Lid (in his book "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership"). This law states that a..

Skate to Where the Puck is Going During Annual Planning

We are getting into Q4. It is a good time to begin thinking about what the plan for the next year is going to be. Consider how you will..

Annual Planning: Consider the Greatest Business Decisions of All Time

As you think about 2013 and plan for a great year, learn from the greatest business decisions of all time. After all, your company is a..

Remembering Stephen Covey - Thank you for your 7 Habits

Stephen Covey passed away this week on July 16th, 2012. I was very sad to hear of his passing. Hewas one of the great all time authors...

Taipan Masterclass 2012 - Business Execution with Topgrading

I just came back from speaking at the Taipan Masterclass 2012, held in Manila Philippines. We had a blast! My hosts in Manila were such..

Business Execution: A Disciplined Meeting Rhythm

Greg Slamowitz, a long time client, has done a great job implementing a strong and disciplined meeting rhythm that works well for his..

Get Aligned! Don't let Elephants Derail Your Business Execution!

Q2 has already started. We should all be off and running on our 13 week race. Strong business execution needs a good rhythm. I like to..

Leadership for Strong Business Execution

Leadership is often one of the surprising missing elements in business execution. You can have the best ideas and a strong desire to..

Do You Create "Yes" Or "No" Players On Your Leadership Team?

This came up during the webcast last week when I was discussing what to say no to in order to stay focused and execute faster each..

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

Build A Depth Chart For Your Key Execution Seats

NFL teams have a depth chart for their positions. If the starting quarterback is lost to injury, the backup takes over. If the backup is..

New Year Resolution: A Better Version of Yourself

Daniel Pink's book Drive talks about what really motivates people. His research shows that people are motivated by these 3 things:..

Continuing On Daniel Pink's 3 Things: Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose

Last time I wrote about Dan Pink's three things: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose. Let's talk about Autonomy!

Do You Have A High Performance Team?

I recently heard Daniel Pink, author of Drive, speak at the Fortune Growth Summit. Pink shared how the best way to motivate your team is..

When And How Do I Know I Can Fire With Minimal Business Impact?

Jack Welch, was the CEO of GE that made Topgrading famous. He hired Brad Smart and they worked together to hire the top guys at G.E. He..

Where Were You When Steve Jobs Died?

Where were you when you found out that Steve Jobs passed away? I was on a plane on my way to Milwaukee to deliver a keynote for..

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

Efficient Communication - Stop Duplicating Work

Right People, Right Things, Right Results. Weekly focus on Weekly Priorities

Stephen Covey says "Begin With the End in Mind." Covey,..

Invest And Coach Your "A Players" For Stronger Business Results!

People Lessons # 402

A few months ago I introduced our 2xPeoplePlan tool in a webcast. I asked everyone on the webcast to pick one person..

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

How Would You Increase Leadership Team Urgency Around A Red Critical Number

So... What do you do if your critical number goes red? How do you increase team urgency?

How To Execute With Autonomy

Daniel Pink, author of the best selling book Drive, shared his insights on how we are really motivated on more complex things. The key, he..

Fire To Protect Your Core Values

So you have an employee who really does not live your core values … he or she just does not seem to fit in. You have discussed with him.. Read More

Topics: Strategies for Growth, Strategy Execution, Accountable Leaders & Teams

Got Rhythm? Ford (Alan Mulally) Certainly Does!

Rhythm. Execution Rhythm. Rhythm builds momentum. When you have momentum, it is much easier build on your momentum and succeed... Read More

Topics: KPIs & Dashboards, Strategy Execution, Accountable Leaders & Teams

2X People Plan

I received some questions via email after the webcast regarding the 2X People Plan tool. Here are some questions and my thoughts on it...

Mid Year Checklist Webcast - Link To Recording

Thank you for attending our webcast on your Mid Year Checklist. Here is a link to the recording of the webcast.

Mid Year Webcast Link

I..

Topics: Accountable Leaders & Teams

ROP Tip #2 - Measure Output Not Hours

Are you focused on how many hours your team is working or how much output and value they deliver? The true measurement of ROP is about how.. Read More

Topics: Strategies for Growth, Strategy Execution, Accountable Leaders & Teams

Measure The Return On Your #1 Expense - Your ROP (Return On Payroll)

Do you measure your return on payroll (ROP)? For most of us who run knowledge-based companies, payroll is the largest expense on our..

Thank you for attending our webcast on your Mid Year Checklist. Here is a link to the recording of the webcast.

Some leaders who are very driven and competitive plan goals that are often unreachable. This is the optimistic guy. Some are very..