Back in 2011, I was Director of Sales and Business Development (including retail), which morphed into a Director of Retail position for the World's Largest Bicycle Brand, a $2bn brand. The branded store model was growing rampantly in the cycling space and we were falling behind, so I was asked to travel the world and write a white paper on the future of retail in the next five years (2012-2017). 

After working with some key associates in some of the world's biggest and best retailers in my network, I was confident that I had nailed the 6 Key Success Factors for retail, but after presenting them, outlined below,  I was heavily criticized by the Global President and the U.S. General Manager that it was "pie in the sky"  and "wasn't grounded in reality." 

I wasn't ready to take the loss on it, but it was one of many "trigger moments" in my relationship with my manager and the mentoring I was receiving from the Global President, eventually leading to my departure...

Will your company survive and even thrive in the Post-COVID-19 economy? Think again, the data is not in your favor.

In a 2010 article in Harvard Business Review titled “Roaring Out of Recession” authors Ranjay Gulati, Nitin Nohria, and Franz Wohlgezogen provide insight into how companies faired 3 years post-recession for the past three recessionary periods (1980 crisis, 1990 slowdown, and 2000). After researching 4,700 companies, the data showed that 17% of companies didn’t survive, resulting in bankruptcy, being acquired or forced to go private. In fact, 3 years post-recession, 80% did not regain their prerecession growth rates for sales and profits, while only 9% flourished!

What was the difference between those that flourished and those that didn’t? The companies that flourished were found to effectively balance between cost-cutting and investing to grow after the recession, but it isn’t that simple.

It comes down to the psychology of the...