JDoehring

Choosing Action in Uncertain Times

JohnBusiness Development, Business Improvement

If you follow our work, you may know that I’m reluctant to speak of recessions. I find the prognosticators all too predictable, chicken little types seeking attention and a stage. And I’ve long thought too that recessions might just be self-fulfilling prophecies – the result of our collective anxiety and hand-wringing. That said, we must pay attention to the real-world uncertainty we face today. The stock market is off, interest rates are up, and the dollar has weakened. Trade wars on many fronts may rapidly reshape global supply chains – and global trade philosophy. In the AEC space, construction material […]

A Season of Change, Arriving Just Now

JohnUncategorized

The first quarter of 2025 is closing, and (depending on where you are) Spring has either already sprung, or it’s teasing its approach. Change, too, is everywhere: advancing, arriving, arrived. I’ve been out on the road a lot this month – working with clients on the things we do (strategic planning, leadership development, improving operational results). We’ve been in retreat centers and executive conference rooms, had lively discussions with mid-level managers and staff, and conducted a bunch of individual, personal interviews with principals and shareholders. Concurrently, I’ve also been immersed in research – the background work we do to better […]

The Elevation of Leadership and Business Success

JohnUncategorized

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of leading a session of our Management Essentials Program (MEP) with the senior management team of a client firm. This intense, full-on, two-day immersive workshop is always energizing – and usually exhausting. MEP is the foundational piece of our larger, fully comprehensive leadership program XLD! The Extraordinary Leadership Development Experience – laser-focused on principal level management and leadership, personal growth, and elevated business performance. XLD is a highlight of our practice and professional work – and central to our mission of supporting professional services firm leaders to plan for the future, grow their […]

Rise, Strive, and Thrive – in 2025

JohnUncategorized

Two days after Christmas, lights flickered on quite early at our home. It was 3:00 am when we all arose, and after ferrying my older son James to Logan airport for an extra-early flight back to Texas, Megan and I drove to the local hospital to check me in for a ‘TKR’ – a total knee replacement – scheduled for that morning. Everything went as planned, I was out of surgery by mid-morning, and after a one-night stayover I was home, on the couch, and beginning the journey back to normal. This was my second TKR (I’m now out of […]

Our ‘Be Extraordinary’ Short Clip

JohnUncategorized

Recently, I traveled to Los Angeles – and then on to the hills of Malibu– to join up in an annual in-person retreat of professional peers, mentors, accountability partners, and close friends – for a couple of days of big ideas, mind stretching possibilities, and success planning for our future. [You do have, yourself, at least one of these groups, right?] While we were there, one of these friends – the amazing Chris Cummins [find him here] – shot a short, handheld phone video of me (and others) simply walking around the amazing retreat property. It was nothing more than […]

We’re Thankful for Hard Things

JohnUncategorized

In the US, we’ve just finished our National Thanksgiving – and kicked off the end-of-year rush into the holiday season. Along with the busy, this season also offers its own complexities: celebrations and losses; slowing down, and racing forward; important endings, and new beginnings. Most of us have a lot to celebrate – beginning with acknowledging the extraordinary life lottery we’ve won by simply living here, in this country, and in this time. Indeed, it’s far from perfect, always an ongoing work in progress, and with unlimited opportunity for improvement nearly everywhere. And yet, still there are millions and millions […]

‘Some Time for Me?’ (Asks the VIP)

JohnUncategorized

One thousand plus executives. Over the last twenty years, I’ve worked – as a business consultant and strategic adviser – with more than a thousand top executives (CEOs, Presidents, Partners, Owners, Managing Principals). A hundred or so of these leaders have become clients for an extended term. A couple of dozen have become close friends. “On a 1 to 5 scale – I give John a six!” (President, Engineering Firm) Along the way I’ve found something strikingly similar in nearly all of these people: they’re often quite alone. There are, of course, many benefits to being in charge: autonomy, authority, power, […]

Bigger Impact, Greater Value, Higher Fees – All Good, Or Not?

JohnUncategorized

Do you have professionals on your team who have trouble asking for more – in scope, value, and fee? In recent client sessions, I’ve been reminded several times just how difficult this really is for many. Most of these client firms are quite well run – with strong, focused, and talented leadership. Still, and as one client CEO puts it “we have a lot of smart people here, but some of them don’t know how to make a buck.” Technical talent, yes – but business acumen (and professional courage) – are different. There are a number of issues – and […]

A Golden Age or Overwhelming Overwhelm?

JohnUncategorized

Recent conversations with firm executives echo a familiar refrain. What’s up, they wonder, in this disconnect between the success of business today, and how so many on staff just don’t see it? A consensus has been building (now for a while) that these are indeed very good times for architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental firms. Business demand is hot, the economy is strong, talent is in short supply, and backlogs are busting. If this isn’t a “golden age” for the professions – well, it’s pretty damn close. But ask the larger team beyond these executives – general managers, project managers, […]

Leadership is the strategy ahead

JohnUncategorized

Not long after I began consulting to professional services firms (eighteen years ago now) my focus coalesced around two important (and even existential) questions: 1.) Who will get the work for us today? and 2.) Who will lead the firm tomorrow? In my view, these two questions precluded most everything else (nominally) important to the business. Growth and leadership. I still believe this today. But the truth is, today you can’t get many to focus on the first question. With strong client demand, talent in short supply, a heated economy, and record backlogs – there just isn’t much interest in improving business development. I […]