The Alternative Board - Worldwide

The Alternative Board - Worldwide Providing business owner advisory boards and executive coaching services to business owners, CEOs & For more information visit www.TheAlternativeBoard.com.
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The Alternative Board currently operates in 22 countries, including the United States, bringing together owners of non-competing businesses in half-day monthly board groups of up to 10 members. Each meeting, under the guidance of a TAB Certified facilitator, is conducted in a confidential "think-tank" atmosphere, and additional one-on-one business coaching is provided as well. TAB delivers real-wo

rld advice to help business owners stay focused on what matters most. Since its inception in 1990, more than 20,000 businesses have benefited from The Alternative Board services. Follow us! Twitter:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/the-alternative-board-worldwide-

Through a combination of advisory board meetings, executive coaching, and proprietary tools, TAB members benefit from the expertise of one another by having a confidential group to focus with while working on creating and sustaining a real strategic business advantage. http://thealternativeboard.com/explore-board-membership

http://thealternativeboard.com/franchise-opportunity/make-a-difference

Performance gaps between departments within a company is rarely about strategy alone. More often, it comes down to how w...
06/11/2026

Performance gaps between departments within a company is rarely about strategy alone.

More often, it comes down to how well people are led, developed, and aligned behind that strategy. According to McKinsey, organizations with strong talent and people management practices are 1.5x more likely to outperform their peers financially.

That’s not a marginal lift, that’s a meaningful advantage. And yet, people management is still treated as a secondary priority in many businesses. It gets attention when something breaks, when turnover spikes, or when performance becomes inconsistent across teams. By that point, the cost is already showing up in the numbers.

Strong management is not just about oversight, it’s about creating clarity around expectations, building accountability that teams actually respond to, and developing managers who can navigate both performance and people challenges at the same time. When that foundation is in place, things start to change.

Decisions move faster because alignment is clearer. Teams operate with more ownership because expectations are understood. Leaders spend less time reacting and more time thinking ahead.

This is where the connection between people and performance becomes visible. At The Alternative Board (TAB), the focus is on helping business leaders strengthen that connection. Through peer advisory boards and coaching, leaders gain the perspective and structure needed to improve how they lead, not just what they decide.

Because financial performance is not separate from people leadership; it’s a reflection of it.

What is the difference between leadership training and management training? The confusion doesn’t show up in program tit...
06/10/2026

What is the difference between leadership training and management training? The confusion doesn’t show up in program titles, it shows up in role expectations.

Ask someone to define the difference between leadership and management, and you’ll usually get a confident answer. Watch how those roles play out inside a business, and the lines start to blur quickly. Managers are expected to lead. Leaders are expected to manage. Training often tries to cover both, and ends up doing neither particularly well. This creates a quiet but significant disconnect.

Teams receive direction, but not always clarity. Performance is tracked, but not always developed. Conversations focus on tasks when they should be addressing thinking, ownership, or alignment. Over time, this affects how people engage with their work and with each other.

Understanding the distinction between leadership training and management training has direct implications on how teams operate day-to-day. One focuses on ex*****on, structure, and consistency, while the other shapes vision, culture, and decision-making. Both are necessary, but they serve different purposes and require different skill sets.

This blog explores where those differences matter most. It also challenges the assumption that one type of training can fully replace the other. For decision-makers, that insight becomes especially important when investing in development programs or evaluating internal capability.

There’s more depth to this than what typically gets discussed. You can explore the full breakdown through the link in the comments.

Jumping into a franchise without understanding the model is where costly mistakes start. On paper, many opportunities lo...
06/09/2026

Jumping into a franchise without understanding the model is where costly mistakes start. On paper, many opportunities look similar. Strong branding, established systems, promises of support, but the day-to-day reality of ownership can be very different depending on the structure, expectations, and level of involvement required.

That gap between perception and reality is where many professionals get caught off guard. Before making a decision, it helps to step back and look at the bigger picture:
• What does ownership actually look like in practice?
• How do you evaluate whether a franchise aligns with your strengths?
• What questions should you be asking before you commit capital and time?

This is exactly where a well-built guide becomes useful. TAB’s Franchise Ownership Guide breaks down the key considerations that don’t always show up in initial conversations. It gives you a clearer view of what to expect, how to evaluate fit, and how to think about long-term sustainability, not just initial entry.

For professionals considering a shift into business ownership, this is a practical starting point. Download the guide and take a more structured approach to evaluating your next move. Link in the comments.

Gallup research shows that 70% of team engagement is directly influenced by the manager. That number tends to land hard ...
06/08/2026

Gallup research shows that 70% of team engagement is directly influenced by the manager.

That number tends to land hard once you connect it to what’s actually happening inside many organizations. A very real example may look like: deadlines slipping, accountability becoming inconsistent, and feedback being either delivered too late to matter or avoided altogether. None of that usually traces back to effort, but more often comes down to how well managers are equipped to lead people.

The hard truth is that strong strategy cannot compensate for weak management.

HI-MAP (High Impact Manager Accelerator Program) by The Alternative Board (TAB) was built around this exact problem. It focuses on the real, day-to-day situations managers face like handling difficult conversations, setting clear expectations, and addressing issues before they escalate. These are the moments that define performance, not just the annual plan.

This white paper outlines how developing practical management skills directly improves team output, working relationships, and overall business health. It also makes a clear distinction between holding a title and actually leading people well.

If you’re responsible for building or improving a management layer, this is worth your attention.

Download the white paper and see how stronger managers drive better outcomes. The link can be found in the comments section of this post.

A lot of people don’t ask this question until it’s too late. They focus on the brand, the model, the opportunity, but th...
06/04/2026

A lot of people don’t ask this question until it’s too late.

They focus on the brand, the model, the opportunity, but they don’t take a hard look at what happens after they sign the agreement. That’s where the real work begins.

So, let’s address it directly. What training and support is actually provided as a TAB franchise owner?

TAB delivers more than 70 hours of structured training upfront. This isn’t surface-level onboarding; it covers the core areas that determine whether a franchisee can build a sustainable business:
• Client acquisition and how to build a pipeline.
• Product knowledge so you can confidently deliver value.
• Business management to run your operation effectively.

But what matters more is what happens after that initial phase. Support doesn’t taper off, it expands.

Franchisees receive weekly coaching from TAB HQ, access to proven marketing collateral, CRM tools, and sales scripts that remove a lot of the guesswork early on. There’s also TAB Connect, a global network of franchisees sharing insights, challenges, and solutions in real time.

That combination matters, because building a business is not a one-time learning event, it’s an ongoing process of refining how you operate, how you sell, and how you lead.

If you’re evaluating franchise opportunities, this is one area worth digging into deeply. The right support system can change the trajectory of your entire experience.

As a business leader, you can usually sense a problem before you can name it. It might look something like: projects con...
06/03/2026

As a business leader, you can usually sense a problem before you can name it. It might look something like: projects continuing to move forward, but progress starting to feel uneven, feedback loops becoming inconsistent, strong employees starting to disengage quietly, while underperformance lingers longer than it should. Nothing is breaking outright, yet something isn’t working the way it could.

This is often when management gaps show up. Not in dramatic failures, but in small, repeated moments. Over time, these patterns compound and begin to shape team culture in ways that are hard to reverse.

What makes this challenging is that many managers are doing exactly what they were taught (focus on output, solve problems quickly, keep things moving), but leadership requires a different layer of awareness. It calls for the ability to develop people, address tension directly, and create clarity where there is ambiguity.

This blog breaks down 15 specific signals that point to a need for leadership development. Some are obvious while others are easy to overlook unless you know what to watch for. Together, they offer a clearer picture of how management capability directly impacts team performance and long-term business health.

This is a useful read for anyone responsible for building, coaching, or evaluating managers. Especially if you’ve had the sense that something is slightly off but haven’t been able to pinpoint exactly what.

Take a closer look at the signs and what they reveal. The link is in the comments.

The fastest way to lose a deal is to talk about yourself too early. Not because your experience isn’t valuable, or becau...
06/02/2026

The fastest way to lose a deal is to talk about yourself too early. Not because your experience isn’t valuable, or because your solution doesn’t work, but because the person across from you is still trying to answer a much simpler question:

“What changes for me after this?”

In this episode of The Leadership Exchange Podcast, Jason Zickerman sits down with Andy Bounds to unpack a shift that sounds small but changes everything in how leaders sell, communicate, and build trust.

Most conversations start with “what we do.” Andy makes a compelling case for starting somewhere else entirely.

He introduces the AFTERS framework, a way of communicating that focuses on outcomes instead of inputs. Because clients are not evaluating your capability in isolation, they are picturing their future and deciding whether you belong in it.

The conversation dives deep into what this looks like in real situations, like:
How to reframe sales conversations so they actually connect
• Why credibility comes from proving outcomes, not stating expertise.
• What most leaders miss when they rely on information instead of clarity.
• How intentional referrals outperform nearly every other growth strategy.

There’s also an important leadership layer here. The way you communicate externally is often a reflection of how you lead internally. Teams mirror what they hear. If your messaging is unclear, your ex*****on usually is too.

What stands out in this discussion is how practical it is. This is not about scripts or tactics, it’s about changing how you think before you speak.

And once you hear it, it’s difficult to go back to the old way.

Watch the full episode using the link in the comments (or wherever you listen to podcasts).

A company can invest heavily in growth and still struggle if management capability doesn’t grow alongside it.That’s the ...
06/01/2026

A company can invest heavily in growth and still struggle if management capability doesn’t grow alongside it.
That’s the challenge many organizations quietly run into as they scale. The technical expertise is there, the operational knowledge is there, but managing people effectively requires a different set of skills, and those skills rarely develop by accident.

The leadership team at Rayment & Collins, recognized that reality early on.

The company evolved from a small pre-press operation into a full-service marketing and print business with nearly 50 employees. As the business expanded, so did the complexity of communication, accountability, team development, and decision-making across the entire organization.

That’s when they made a deliberate investment in strengthening management. Kevin Collins had spent years growing inside the company, moving through departments ranging from shipping and fulfillment to IT, sales, and operations. He grew to understand the business deeply. What HI-MAP helped him develop was a more structured and intentional approach to leading people.

What stands out in this case study is how practical the transformation was. In one instance, the clarity created through HI-MAP helped an employee recognize that a promotion path was not the right fit for them, ultimately saving the company significant time and resources. That’s the part of management development that often gets overlooked.

Strong management is not just about improving morale or communication. It directly impacts performance, operational efficiency, hiring decisions, and the long-term health of the business.

Kevin’s story is a strong reminder that leadership development works best when it’s tied to real business challenges and applied consistently over time. There’s a lot here for leaders thinking about how to strengthen their management bench and create more intentional leadership inside their organization.

Read the full case study using the link in the comments.


It’s easy to commit to a strategy. It’s much harder to follow through on it consistently. Priorities shift, urgent issue...
05/28/2026

It’s easy to commit to a strategy. It’s much harder to follow through on it consistently.

Priorities shift, urgent issues take over, and before long, the initiatives that were supposed to drive growth get pushed to the side. Not because they weren’t important, but because there was no real structure holding you accountable to them.

That’s where executive accountability groups change the equation.

So, do they actually improve business outcomes? Yes, but not in a vague or theoretical way.

Executive accountability groups, like those facilitated by The Alternative Board (TAB), are designed to create consistency in how leaders think, decide, and act. Members aren’t just setting goals, they’re revisiting them regularly, pressure-testing their decisions, and being held accountable by a group of peers who understand what’s at stake.

The impact is measurable.

The results speak for themselves. TAB members achieve revenue growth averaging 2.5x higher than the national average. But beyond the numbers, the real shift happens in how leaders operate day to day (more focused, more disciplined, and more intentional about the decisions they make).

When you’re surrounded by other business owners who are willing to challenge your thinking, share their own experiences, and hold you to your commitments, you stop operating in isolation. And that changes the quality of your outcomes.

If you’ve been setting goals but struggling to maintain momentum, it may not be a strategy issue, it may be an accountability gap.

Learn how executive accountability groups work and what they could look like in practice. Check out all TAB has to offer.

“Cultural fit” sounds like the safe choice. It’s often framed as the key to building cohesive teams, protecting company ...
05/27/2026

“Cultural fit” sounds like the safe choice. It’s often framed as the key to building cohesive teams, protecting company values, and avoiding friction. But taken too far, it can quietly limit one of the things your business needs most to grow: diverse thinking.

When everyone approaches problems the same way, agrees too quickly, or shares similar backgrounds and perspectives, innovation tends to stall. Not because your team isn’t capable, but because the environment isn’t challenging enough to produce better ideas.

This blog, “Does Hiring for Cultural Fit Thwart Growth and Innovation?”, explores the tension many leaders face between maintaining alignment and encouraging new perspectives.

It raises an important question: are you building a team that reinforces how things have always been done, or one that pushes your business to evolve?

The distinction isn’t always obvious, and getting it wrong can impact everything from decision-making to long-term growth potential.

If hiring has felt “comfortable” lately, this might be a conversation worth revisiting.

Read the full blog using the link in the comments.

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11031 Sheridan Boulevard
Westminster, CO
80020

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Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

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(303) 839-1200

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