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| © 2006-2010. Sigrid Caroline Schroder. All rights reserved. CORNER OFFICE CONFIDENCE®  Situational Strategies Organizational Dynamics Conflict Resolution Transition Succession Exit Next Act BALANCE YOUR BUSINESS IN THE WORLD. FIND A PERSONAL PATH THROUGH BUSINESS DILEMMAS.
 IT'S A CONFIDENCE GAME: To win or simply finish, you have to look ahead to where you are going but also know where you have been and where exactly you are. You have to look to where you are going or you will never get there. And you have to be prepared for what you are going to do next--if one of an infinite number of what ifs happens ... To ride is to risk a fall, but you will never join the race unless you take the risk. You will never win if you overthink the risks. Risk. Ride. But always wear a helmet. BUSINESS IS A RACE
After Image © FiFranck.Fotolia The faster the technology transfers, information moves, and the wave spreads, the harder it is to pace the business or oneself. The vanity which makes social networking insidious marketing on the sly, creating noise, generating activity, originating sentiment out of relationship facsimiles or vestiges of relationships, can also wreak havoc in hours with a pair of rogue employees YouTubing a product scandal or a CEO blogging misreps--or trade secrets...The tech your transfer or let leak abroad today is tech you will see coming back at you tomorrow. Crisis can compound crisis in hours. Pretty soon no quarter, no week, or no hour goes as you suspected, let alone as you hoped, expected or planned. This can leave your team and your own mind in a whirl. Get control and begin to reprioritize this not very brave new world. Image © Saniphoto.Foltolia
 IT GETS BRUTAL
It's not just Bank of America's Ken Lewis talking about going for the jugular. Wall Street to any street, this has become the new philosophy. Willie Loman complained of mere terminal boredom by comparison. Even as companies have commitment of only the latest hour to their people and delayering is the answer to analysts' disappointment with the quarter, the stakes have gotten so high in compensation and power that people are willing to let even friends' blood on the floor. You push the envelope, edge technology and the mirage of technology, and try to force something to stick. And everyone is chasing the China deals even knowing that no deal's a deal there. And all around you people want to know that you are getting it right. Right fast. Get some perspective and get a grip.
Image © Damien Bert.Fotolia AFTER THIS HURDLE COMES ANOTHER
It's one thing after another. The pace never stops, the demands never cease. On the other hand, the money doesn't cease. And if you can just keep up the pace, the achievements will keep coming. And so will the money. But the hurdles are coming too fast, too close together, and you know that you are going to crash. The business, project, unit or entity, may go on without you, or you may crash down together. Let's analyze the pace and get you balanced with the rhythms and heights again. You may be out of position or have skill set weaknesses which leave you off balance; your business may be moving too fast or too the outside forces may be too strong for you to get control as you are-- or the hurdles may simply be too high and too close for any of your skills. You may have to redefine success -- around and in spite of -- the hurdles which have been set. Image © Rognar.iStockPhoto DEALING WITH THE REFUSAL
Sometimes things just won't go. The deal won't work, the customer won't budge, the product won't sell, or you get down to the field and your board, your boss, your bank or your peer just says "no." Where you had planned to do it, could do it, were prepared to do it and wanted to do it all while being promised you'd do it, far more than disappointment results. Shock, blame, humiliation and confusion result with absolute pain. Before the refusal comes to define you or saps your ability to prepare and try again, let's analyze the cross-currents and get you moving again. And perhaps exact some retribution. Image © Clarence Alford.Fotolia  GETTING OVER THE WALL
We all hit the wall at some point. We come to an impasse as too much happens at once or are becalmed by the sensation of there being nothing to do at all. We isolated ourselves amidst too much work and suddenly have no resources supporting and generating new momentum. We feel isolation when we actually have been detached by alienation. Sometimes we are stymied by fear of the unknown. Other times we are frozen by a cascade of complexity and conflicting decisions. All too often we feel hamstrung by legal or moral conflict. Overwhelmed by too much data, too much feeling, too many external demands and too complex internal dilemmas, you have hit a Wall of varying penetrability and duration. The higher one is in an organization, the more complete the isolation feels. In today's competitive environment you do not feel free to discuss your wall, your impasse, your paralysis, with peers or team because they ultimately have become your personal competitors. Even your friends seem to place themselves in a peculiar competition with you. The results of your discussing, or, deeper, soul searching with peers, friends and even family are unpredictable. They may learn too much and dislike your thoughts. The disclosure of weakness to peers, friends and family can evoke a very personal power play. They may accost you with your weakness, blame you for your quandary, revel in your setback. You need an advisor on your side who understands the tensions. What do you do when your model hits the wall? What do you do when you can no longer see the path for the trees? Will the forest eat you up? I help you sort through the facts, factors, costs and benefits to find out what you want and what you don't, what works and what doesn't, what is being done and what is not. Together we ask the questions, the pertinent and the impertinent. We help you decide what should be done and why. We help you prioritize your action and make sure you get things done right, in the right order, peeling off one item after another until you are up over the wall and on to the action on the other side.
Image © Margo Harrison.Fotolia
 WHEN IT'S OVER: NEXT ACT OR NEW GIG
Sometimes a path runs its course, and it's over. There is no new path. You sell, merge, close up shop. Other times, try as you might, the forces, the times, the economics, are against you. You worked hard and lost. You walk away. You grieve. And then it is time to turn your attention to something else. But what? Some people walk away for good or ill and never go back to business. Others fantasize while still at work about turning it all in for the vineyard on the coast, the B & B on the hill, the vanity shop which takes them traveling across the world. Or you could take your skill set across to another industry sector. But how? And why? And which? I know the people who have done it, the people who have moved across sectors or across the world. I know the people who have chucked it and bought the vineyard, bought the ranch, opened shop or put a half price bid on the B & B and wound up the accidental innkeeper on the hill. There are actually quite a few. What about you? What do you do for your next act? Image © Igor Sokolov.Fotolia
Copyright © 2006-2010. Sigrid Caroline Schroder. All rights reserved. Sigrid Caroline Schroder (888) 317-1364 Unlike other consultants, large and small, I don't slide you off on staff or a network. Who you meet is who you get.
What Can I Do For You? Clarity at the Highest Levels® Critical Guidance Corner Office Confidence® See Around Corners Reconnaissance Relativity & Revival® Develop Your Model Clear Counsel® Special Notes for Counsel Competition & Setback © Damien Bert.iStockPhoto   © eric26.FotoliaI KNOW WHAT WAKES YOU UP AT NIGHT, . . . OR WILL. STRATEGIES Subscribe to my free quarterly newsletter “Strategies” by emailing SCS@Sulgrave-LLC.com. 
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