Catalyst Strategic Consultants

Last night at a celebratory dinner at Mercato West, Al, Nona, Elaine and I got onto a revealing topic. And a great treasure and potential loss came into view. We are all baby boomers so this is unique to our generation – perhaps. Actually the more I think of it, there are likely newer citizens […]

Gerry Faust was just here, speaking to our TEC 217 group. Gerry is one of the greats in our venerable institution. Despite being in his 70’s, he continue to add new spark. Strategic Planning – now there’s an old activity if there is one. The logic of “how to do it” is so ingrained that […]

There are occasions when we can fill up our tanks at the filling stations of the spirit. The wedding of my daughter, Jane, last Thursday, was one of those. Now she was never one for making a fuss. least over herself. She had met Dennis in Panama, of all places, last winter. She and her […]

New President, Emerging President, Practised President – OK, I’m there. Lots of people are prepared to spout about how I’m supposed to be. You know, tough, courageous, a good listener, a visionary – all that. Some holders of the office find their way to us questioning – “Yeah but, What am I supposed to do?” […]

There are functions of Presidents I spoke of in an earlier post this month. Then there are functions a company as a whole must get right. Of course these should totally preoccupy the Head of the House as she/he is focuser of company attention. And what interests the President should just fascinate the hell out […]

When folks solve a problem these days, they get through the immediate situation with a fix, then move on to the next activity. In their wake, there is …. nothing. I was revelling in my new Iphone 5S and wandered into the office. There was no connection. I hit “settings”. Called up the office wifi. […]

“When you enter a mindset, you enter a new world. In one world – the world of fixed traits – success is about proving you’re smart or talented. Validating yourself. In the other – the world of changing qualities – it’s about stretching yourself to learn something new. Developing yourself.” – Carolyn Dweck: Mindset: The […]

Our intense TEC 217 retreat has just concluded.   Members left with a year of firm intent loaded into their guns. We are at the Post Hotel in Lake Louise and readers will know what that means. Time for me to extoll the virtues of the Post – a beacon of superbness in the Rockies – […]

“Escaping the Man Cage” – that’s what Martha Beck [a professed Life Coach] calls her workshop on the West Coast US. Ken Martin and I call it “essence Recovery”. Whatever you call it, the trap men fall into is a deep one and getting out is life itself. “Many men were assuming they had to […]

Catalyst is just completing another transformative project.  To the great satisfaction of the sponsors who ended up with ‘way more impact than they thought they’d get at the outset.  The afterglow is wonderful, making all the effort worthwhile. You see, the presenting issue is seldom where the real value is.  It is, well, the tip […]