WPO Chicago Member of Interest: Shelly Sun, CEO and Co-Founder of BrightStar

WPO Chicago Platinum member Shelly Sun, CEO and co-founder of BrightStar, is a longstanding member of the Women Presidents' Organization and has won numerous awards, including but not limited to:

... selected as the International Franchise Association’s (IFA) Entrepreneur of the Year for 2009, becoming not only the youngest recipient of this impressive award, but also only the second female recipient. In 2011, Shelly and BrightStar were featured on the hit CBS series “Undercover Boss.” She was also recognized by the Women Presidents Organization and American Express Open as #1 in their Top 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Led Organizations in 2011, moving up from #2 in 2010.  Read more ... here.

Her most recent accomplishment is authoring, "Grow Smart, Risk Less (as shown at right)," which I am about to read this week.  Read what others have already said about the book. Order yourself a copy here.

We are very proud of Shelly and wish her continued success with her business and in her life.

Illustration credit (top) here.

Related post here.

Article of Interest: How to Stay a Step Ahead in Business

Here's a glimpse of the thinking behind some of the major steps I.B.M. has taken under Samuel Palmisano’s (pictured) leadership, based on two interviews with him conducted at the NYTimes.com. He boils it down to four questions you must ask:

1. “Why would someone spend their money with you — so what is unique about you?”
2. “Why would somebody work for you?”
3. “Why would society allow you to operate in their defined geography — their country?”
4. “And why would somebody invest their money with you?”

Mr. Palmisano has stepped down as Chief Executive of IBM, turning the baton over to Virginia M. Rometty (pictured) who becomes the ninth chief executive in the company’s 100-year history.

Read the entire article here.

Hat tip to WPO Chicago member Mary Bahr for turning us on to the article.

Blog Post of Interest: CEO Blindspots

What do CEOs misunderstand the most about how their management teams think? Take a guess. As President of your firm, do you know your management team very well?

The blog post below offers three major ways in which teams definitely do not see themselves as the CEO does.

Top Three CEO Blindspots brought to you by The Build Network (from the creators of Inc.)

Article of Interest: Promotion Predictions for 2012

How will you be grabbing attention for your business in 2012?  Will it be all serious or do you plan to bring in a little comedy this year to promote your brand?

According to a recent WSJ article:

Still, a flair for technology won't be enough to stand out amidst the stupefying ad clutter. To grab attention, some ad executives expect to see more comedy in the mix while others foresee an uptick in raunchier promotions, peppered with f-bombs.

Find out about all the advertising predictions in 2012 here.

Posted by:  Women Presidents' Organization Chicago

Article of Interest: Peering Into the Future

What surprises should we expect over the coming year?  Your guess is as good as mine.  According to The Wall Street Journal columnist David Wessel, his response to that very same question is this:  "If I anticipated them, they wouldn't be surprises."

More importantly:  Where is the conventional wisdom most likely to be wrong?

Wessel tackels that question and provides a consensus forecast for 2012.  

An Economics Columnist Peers Into the Future

Be sure to click on the reader's comments.  They can be more telling than the actual opinion piece.

Gear up, prepare your business as best you can and let's hope the economy performs better than we expect in the new year.

Happy 2012 from WPO Chicago!