CONRAD HILTON at a gala celebrating his career
CONRAD HILTON, at a gala celebrating his career, was called to the podium and asked, “What were the most important lessons you learned in your long and distinguished career? ” His answer …
“Remember to tuck the shower curtain inside the bathtub. ”
Tom Peters’ ! Excellence Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Auckland/20 February 2019 (This presentation/10+ years of presentation slides at tompeters. com; also see our annotated 23 -part Monster-Master at excellencenow. com)
36 YEARS 6 WORDS
GOOGLE GETS A SURPRISE I “Project Oxygen [data from founding in 1998 to 2013] shocked everyone by concluding that, among the eight most important qualities of Google’s top employees, STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics] expertise comes in dead last. The seven top characteristics of success at Google are all SOFT SKILLS: being a good coach; communicating and listening well; possessing insights into others (including others’ different values and points of view); having empathy toward and being supportive of one’s colleagues; being a good critical thinker and problem solver; and being able to make connections across complex ideas. Those traits sound more like what one gains as an English or theater major than as a programmer. … Source: Valerie Strauss, “The surprising thing Google learned about its employees —and what it means for today’s students” ( Washington Post, 20 December 2017)
Hard (numbers/plans) is Soft (relationships/culture) is Hard.
MORAL RESPONSIBILITY
“Almost half of U. S. jobs are at high risk of computerization over the next 20 years, according to Oxford academics Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne. ” —CNBC, 9 March 2016 “The intellectual talents of highly trained professionals are no more protected from automation than is the driver’s left turn. ” — Glass Cage: Automation and Us
70%, 85%, 87%* = Shame on Us!! *% of people who dislike their job, are not engaged at work, unhappy, “sleepwalking, ” etc. (These numbers are extraordinarily consistent around the world. ) Source: Inc. , Gallup, Washington Post, etc.
Given/Axiomatic … THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR NOT MAKING ANY ORGANIZATION OF ANY SIZE IN ANY BUSINESS A … GREAT PLACE TO WORK EVERY LEADER/2019 HAS A MORAL OBLIGATION TO DEVELOP PEOPLE SO THAT WHEN THEY LEAVE THEY ARE BETTER PREPARED FOR (CRAZY) TOMORROW THAN THEY WERE WHEN THEY ARRIVED.
“BUSINESS HAS TO GIVE PEOPLE ENRICHING, REWARDING LIVES … OR IT’S SIMPLY NOT WORTH DOING. ” —Richard Branson (#1/4, 096) “The role of the Director is to create a space where the actors and actresses can become more than they have ever been before, more than they have ever dreamed of being. ” —Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance speech “[Business has the] responsibility to increase the sum of human well-being. ” —Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Good Business
CULTURE IS THE GAME
CULTURE: IT IS THE GAME
“If I could have chosen not to tackle the IBM culture head-on, I probably wouldn’t have. My bias coming in was toward strategy, analysis and measurement. In comparison, changing the attitude and behaviors of hundreds of thousands of people Yet I came to see in my time at IBM that culture isn’t just one aspect of the is very, very hard. game —IT IS THE GAME. ” —Lou Gerstner, Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance
PUT PEOPLE !!) (REALLY FIRST
Employees: Customer #1
“YOU HAVE TO TREAT YOUR EMPLOYEES LIKE CUSTOMERS. ” —Herb Kelleher “What employees experience, Customers will. The best YOUR CUSTOMERS WILL NEVER BE ANY HAPPIER THAN YOUR EMPLOYEES. ” marketing is happy, engaged employees. —John Di. Julius, The Customer Service Revolution IF YOU WANT STAFF TO GIVE GREAT SERVICE, GIVE GREAT SERVICE TO STAFF. ” —Ari Weinzweig
Hiring
1/7, 500 “May I help you down the jetway …”
“We look for. . . listening, caring, smiling, saying ‘Thank you, ’ being warm. ” — Colleen Barrett, former President, Southwest Airlines
Training = Investment 1! #
If you don't believe that training is “INVESTMENT #1, ” ask an admiral, general, police chief, fire chief, orchestra conductor, football coach, archery coach, movie director, actor (age 22 or 62), prima ballerina, surgeon, ER or ICU chief or nurse, nuclear power plant operator. . . (or me). Train ’em and they’ll leave. ” Or … “TRAIN PEOPLE WELL ENOUGH SO THEY CAN LEAVE, TREAT THEM WELL ENOUGH SO THEY DON’T WANT TO. ” —Richard Branson
>> 8 of 10 CEOs, in 45 -min “tour d’horizon” of their biz, would NOT mention training. Bet #4:
“Train ’em and they’ll leave. ” Or …
“TRAIN PEOPLE WELL ENOUGH SO THEY CAN LEAVE, TREAT THEM WELL ENOUGH SO THEY DON’T WANT TO. ” —Richard Branson
st 1 -Line Leaders = Asset #1
If the regimental commander lost most of his 2 nd lieutenants and 1 st lieutenants and captains and IF HE LOST HIS SERGEANTS IT WOULD BE A CATASTROPHE. The Army majors, it would be a tragedy. and the Navy are fully aware that success on the battlefield or at sea is dependent to an extraordinary degree on its Sergeants and Chief Petty Officers. Does industry have the same awareness?
Front-line Chiefs (Full Complement of): Principal determinants of … enterprise productivity. Principal determinants of … employee retention. Principal determinants of … product/ service quality. Principal carriers/embodiments of … corporate culture. Principal visible “spear carriers” for … Excellence. Principal champions/enablers of … sustained employee development.
Women Are the Best Leaders
For One (BIG) Thing … “Mc. Kinsey & Company found that the international companies with more women on their corporate boards far outperformed the average company in return on equity and other measures. Operating profit was … 56% higher. ” Source: Nicholas Kristof, “Twitter, Women, and Power, ” NYTimes, 1024. 13
“Women are rated higher in fully 16 12 of the competencies that go into outstanding leadership. And two of the traits where women outscored men to the highest degree — taking initiative and driving for results — have long been thought of as particularly male strengths. ” —Harvard Business Review/2017 “Research [by Mc. Kinsey & Co. ] suggests that to succeed, start by promoting women. ” —Nicholas Kristof/New York Times
“Research suggests that to succeed, start by promoting women. ” [by Mc. Kinsey & Co. ] —Nicholas Kristof, “Twitter, Women, and Power, ” NYTimes
“People First”/“Bottom Line”: E-Cubed/Extreme Employee Engagement
Extreme Employee Engagement/EEE/“E-cubed” Extreme Employee Engagement/EEE maximizes the quality of customer engagement. EEE maximizes customer retention. EEE turns “customers” into “fans. ” EEE makes it safe to take risks and make mistakes—which in turn generates and maximizes innovation at all levels of the organization. EEE radically improves individual and organizational learning. EEE underpins and spurs teamwork. EEE enhances co-operation and communication which in turn increases productivity and quality.
EEE reduces friction throughout the organization which dramatically improves all-important crossfunctional communication and innovation and efficiency associated therewith. EEE improves the quality of joint ventures. EEE dramatically improves execution. EEE is the best defense against the AI tsunami— and by and large makes AI a partner/ally rather than enemy. EEE spurs humanization of everything—which is by and large not copy-able by AI in the foreseeable future. EEE reduces turnover and stabilizes the work force.
EEE makes it possible to recruit top talent. EEE means top employees are far more likely to stay with the organization. EEE improves the reputation of the company as viewed by all stakeholders. EEE improves community relations. EEE is a contribution to humanity EEE makes coming to work a pleasure—not a pain. EEE is the only sane and honorable response to the forthcoming radical changes in the global workplace.
EEE makes it possible for leaders to look in the mirror without barfing. EEE makes it possible for leaders to look in the mirror and smile. EEE is hard to copy. EEE is Competitive Advantage #1 EEE is the bedrock of EXCELLENCE. (No EEE, no excellence. That simple. ) EEE (beancounters take note!!) is a peerless/the best/sustainable profit-maximization tool. EEE makes consistent wage and benefits growth possible. EEE = $$$$/Money (lots of) in the bank for one and all.
INNOVATION
WTTMSW+
WTTM W* *Whoever Tries The Most Stuff Wins
“We made mistakes, of course. Most of them were omissions we didn’t think of when we initially wrote the software. We fixed them by doing it over and over, again and again. We do the same today. While our competitors are still sucking their thumbs trying to make the design perfect, we’re already on prototype version #5. By the time our rivals are ready with wires and screws, we are on version #10. It gets back to planning versus acting: We act from day one; others plan how to plan—for months. ” —Bloomberg by Bloomberg
WTTMSASTMSUT W* *Whoever Tries The Most Stuff And Screws The Most Stuff Up The Fastest Wins
“EXPERIMENT FEARLESSLY” Source: Business. Week, “Type A Organization Strategies: How to Hit a Moving Target”—TACTIC #1 “RELENTLESS TRIAL AND ERROR” Source: Wall Street Journal, CORNERSTONE of effective approach to “rebalancing” company portfolios in the face of changing and uncertain global economic conditions
VALUE-ADDED STRATEGY #1: DESIGN
10 AUGUST 2011/APPLE>EXXON “We don’t have a good language to talk about this kind of thing. In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. … But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. DESIGN IS THE FUNDAMENTAL SOUL OF A MAN-MADE CREATION. ” —Steve Jobs “STEVE AND JONY WOULD DISCUSS CORNERS FOR HOURS AND HOURS. ” —Laurene Powell Jobs “Every business school in the world would flunk you if you came out with a business plan that said, ‘Oh, by the way, we’re going to design and fabricate our own screws at an exponentially higher cost than it would cost to buy them. ’ BUT THESE AREN’T JUST SCREWS. LIKE THERMOMETER ITSELF, THEY’RE BETTER SCREWS, EPIC SCREWS, SCREWS WITH, DARE I SAY IT, DEEPER MEANING. —Tony Fadell, Nest
Extreme Humanization/Radical Humanization Epigraph/The Excellence Dividend EXCELLENCE: THE TRIUMPH OF HUMANITY “Janet Dugan, a healthcare architect, took inspiration from her recent experience having an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Image) scan. While she was lying still and waiting, she noticed a small mirror that had been placed below the head support piece. It was angled so that she could see through the barrel to the radiology technician and make eye contact with him. ‘What a small thing, ’ she told me. ‘And yet what a difference it made. I felt less alone. I was connected to another person at the very moment I needed support. And even though I’m not claustrophobic, it calmed me some to be able to see out of the barrel … I [saw] that the technician was friendly and that the nurse went out of her way to make me laugh. … I firmly believe in the power of design to contribute to the healing process—that architecture can shape events and transform lives. But that day, in that experience, the thing that really gave me comfort was a tiny mirror about as big as a Band-Aid. ’” —Tim Leberecht, The Business Romantic: Give Everything, Quantify Nothing, and Create Something Greater Than Yourself
Extreme Humanization Radical Humanization
LOSERS AND WINNERS
AND THE WINNERS AREN’T/ARE
“Mr. Foster and his Mc. Kinsey colleagues collected detailed performance data stretching back years for 1, 000 found that U. S. companies. 40 They NONE of the long-term survivors managed to outperform the market. Worse, the longer companies had been in the database, the worse they did. ” —Financial Times
Joseph Bower (and Lynn Paine) on the globally destructive perils of “maximizing shareholder value” and failing to manage for the long term: “The Error at the Heart of Corporate Leadership” “Managing for the long term”: Long>>>Short Revenue Earnings per share Profit Market capitalization Job creation Source: HBR/May-June 2017/COVER
AND THE WINNERS AREN’T/ARE
SME MASTERS OF EXCELLENCE Jim Penman Jim’s Group Jungle Jim Bonaminio Jungle Jim’s International Market Vernon Hill Commerce Bank/Metro Bank
Jim’s Mowing Canada Jim’s Mowing UK Jim’s Antennas Jim’s Bookkeeping Jim’s Building Maintenance Jim’s Carpet Cleaning Jim’s Car Cleaning Jim’s Computer Services Jim’s Dog Wash Jim’s Driving School Jim’s Fencing Jim’s Floors Jim’s Painting Jim’s Paving Jim’s Pergolas [gazebos] Jim’s Pool Care Jim’s Pressure Cleaning Jim’s Roofing Jim’s Security Doors Jim’s Trees Jim’s Window Cleaning Jim’s Windscreens Source: Jim Penman, The Story of Jim’s Group : What Will They Franchise Next? (3, 800/$400 M)
JUNGLE JIM’S INTERNATIONAL MARKET, FAIRFIELD, OH: “An adventure in ‘shoppertainment, ’ 1, 600 1, 400 12, 000 $8 -$8, 000 4, 000 begins in the parking lot and goes on to cheeses and varieties of hot sauce—not to mention wines priced from this is brought to you by a bottle; all vendors. Customers from every corner of the globe. ” Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores in America Source: George Whalin, Retail
“AMERICA’S BEST RESTROOM” —Sixth Annual competition sponsored by Cintas Corporation, a supplier of restroom cleaning and hygiene products
“BE THE BEST. IT’S THE ONLY MARKET THAT’S NOT CROWDED”
Duffy/Sir Duffield Upends the (USA/UK) Establishment * (*May the Cost-slashing/Headcount-butchering / ! MBA-holding Addicts Roast in Hell )
The Commerce Bank/Metro Bank Model “WE WANT THEM IN OUR STORES. ” Source: Vernon Hill, Fans! Not Customers. How to Create Growth Companies in a No Growth World
Commerce Bank/Metro Bank: Get ’Em Away From the ATM and Into the Branches: 7 X: 730 AM 8: 00 PM Fri/12 A Source: Vernon Hill, Fans, Not Customers
“YESBANK”: “When we had a processing problem with Master. Card, it came to our attention that a customer couldn’t pay for their airline flights. A Metro Bank team member stepped in. SHE PUT THE CUSTOMER’S FLIGHTS ON HER PERSONAL CREDIT CARD so that the customer could still take advantage of a good deal, and later—with their permission, of course— transferred the money from their account. ” Source: Fans! Not Customers. How to Create Growth Companies in a No Growth World, Vernon Hill with Bob Andelman
2, 0000, 000 8. 6 17, 000
The Commerce Bank/Metro Bank Model “COST CUTTING IS A DEATH SPIRAL. OUR WHOLE STORY IS GROWING REVENUE. ” “ARE YOU GOING TO COST CUT YOUR WAY TO PROSPERITY? or … ARE YOU GOING TO SPEND YOUR WAY TO PROSPERITY? ” “OVER-INVEST IN OUR PEOPLE, OVER-INVEST IN OUR FACILITIES. ” Source: Vernon Hill, Fans! Not customers. How to Create Growth companies in a No Growth World
Michael Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed: THE THREE RULES: How Exceptional Companies Think* … 1. Better before cheaper. 2. Revenue before cost. 3. There are no other rules. (*5 -year study/Deloitte: From a database of over 25, 000 companies from hundreds of industries 45 years, the authors uncovered 344 companies that qualified as statistically “exceptional, ” and finally winnowed the list to 27 firms, including Thomas & Betts, Weis Markets, Hartland Express. ) covering Jeff Colvin, Fortune: “The Economy Is Scary … But Smart Companies Can Dominate” … They manage for value—not for EPS. They get radically customer-centric. They keep developing human capital.
Hidden Champions* of the 21 st Century: Success Secrets of Unknown World Market Leaders/ Hermann Simon (*1, 2, or 3 in world market; <$4 B; low public awareness) Baader (Iceland/80% fishprocessing systems) Gallagher (NZ/electric fences) W. E. T. (heated car seat tech) Gerriets (theater curtains and stage equipment) Electro-Nite (sensors for the steel industry) Essel Propack (India/tooth paste tubes) SGS (product auditing and certification) DELO (specialty adhesives) Amorim (Portugal/cork products) EOS (laser sintering) Beluga (heavy-lift shipping) Omicron (tunnel-grid microscopy) Universo (wristwatch hands) Dickson Constant (technical textiles) O. C. Tanner (employee recognition/$400 M) Hoeganaes (powder metallurgy supplies)
SEVEN LEADERSHIP COMMANDMENTS
MBWA+
MBWA (Managing By Wandering Around)
“I’m always stopping by our at least a week. stores— 25 I’m also in other places: Home Depot, Whole Foods, Crate & Barrel. I try to be a sponge to pick up as much as I can. ” —Howard Schultz Source: Fortune, “Secrets of Greatness”
“Most managers spend a great deal of time thinking about what they plan to do, but relatively little time thinking about what they plan not to do. As a result, they become so caught up … in fighting the fires of the moment that they cannot really attend to the long-term threats and risks facing the organization. So the first soft skill of leadership the hard way is to cultivate the perspective of Marcus Let me put it bluntly: every leader should routinely keep a substantial portion of his or her time—I would say as much as Aurelius: avoid busyness, free up your time, stay focused on what really matters. 50% —unscheduled. … Only when you have substantial ‘slop’ in your schedule—unscheduled time—will you have the space to reflect on what you are doing, learn from experience, and recover from your inevitable mistakes. Leaders without such free time end up tackling issues only when there is an immediate or visible problem. Managers’ typical response to my argument about free time is, ‘That’s all well and good, but Yet we waste so much time in unproductive activity—it takes an enormous effort on the part of the leader to keep free time for the truly important things. ” there are things I have to do. ’ Dov Frohman , Leadership The Hard Way — (Chapter 5, “The Soft Skills Of Hard Leadership”)
Enterprise Core Value 1 #
“The doctor interrupts after 18 … seconds!* *Are you an “ 18 -second manager”?
(An obsession with) Listening is. . . the ultimate mark of Respect . Listening is. . . the heart and soul of Engagement. Listening is. . . the heart and soul of Kindness. Listening is. . . the heart and soul of Thoughtfulness. Listening is. . . the basis for true Collaboration. Listening is. . . the basis for true Partnership. Listening is. . . a Team Sport. Listening is. . . a Developable Individual Skill. * (*Though women are far better at it than men. ) Listening is. . . the basis for Community. Listening is. . . the bedrock of Joint Ventures that work. Listening is. . . the bedrock of Joint Ventures that grow. Listening is. . . the core of effective Cross-functional Communication* (*Which is in turn Attribute #1 of organization effectiveness. )
Suggested Core Value #1: “We are Effective Listeners—we treat Listening EXCELLENCE as the Centerpiece of our Commitment to Respect and Engagement and Community and Growth. ”
Part ONE: LISTEN* (pp 11 -116, of 364) *“The key to every one of our [eight] leadership attributes was the vital importance of a leader’s ability to listen. ” (One of Branson’s personal keys to listening is notetaking—he has hundreds of notebooks. ) Source: Richard Branson, The Virgin Way: How to Listen, Learn, Laugh, and Lead
Acknowledgement: The Rule of Thirty Thousand
The “ 30 K Rule” The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated. ” —William James “Employees who don't feel significant rarely make significant contributions. ” —Mark Sanborn 4 most important words: “What do you think? ”
“LITTLE” >>> “BIG”* (*Again!!!) 30, 000 HANDWRITTEN ‘THANK YOU’ NOTES to employees during the CEO Doug Conant sent 10 years [approx 15/work day] he ran Campbell Soup. Source: Bloomberg Business. Week
TASK #1
CULTURE/CEO JOB #1 /THE RULES: CULTURE COMES FIRST. CULTURE IS EXCEEDINGLY DIFFICULT TO CHANGE. CULURE CHANGE CANNOT BE/MUST NOT BE EVADED OR AVOIDED. CULTURE MAINTENANCE IS ABOUT AS DIFFICULT AS CULTURE CHANGE. CULTURE MAINTENANCE: ONE DAY/ONE HOUR/ ONE MINUTE AT A TIME. CULTURE CHANGE/MAINTENANCE MUST BECOME A CONSCIOUS/PERMANENT/PERSONAL AGENDA ITEM. CULTURE CHANGE = AN “OUTSIDE-THE OFFICE JOB” = MBWA/MANAGING BY WANDERING AROUND. CULTURE CHANGE/MAINTENANCE IS MANIFEST IN “THE LITTLE THINGS” FAR MORE THAN IN THE BIG THINGS. REPEAT/CULTURE CHANGE/MAINTENANCE: ONE DAY/ONE HOUR/ONE MINUTE AT A TIME. FOREVER. AND EVER.
SPEED. NOT.
Speed. NOT Excellence. Thinking. Culture. Listening. Relationships. Design. Etc.
“Personal relationships are the fertile soil from which all advancement, all success, all achievement in Real life grow. ” —Ben Stein
XFX = #1 LUNCH > SAP/ ORACLE
“If I had to #1 pick the failing of CEOs, it’s that …
“If I had to pick one failing of they don’t read enough. ” CEOs, it’s that …
OPPORTUNITY/ LEGACY #1
MANAGING: AS A PAIN IN THE ASS. Somebody’s got to do it; punching bag for higher ups on one end, grouchy employees on the other; blame magnet if things go wrong, big bosses abscond with the credit if things go right. MANAGING: AS THE PINNACLE OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT. The greatest life opportunity one can have (literally); mid- to long-term success is no more and no less than a function of one’s dedication to and effectiveness at helping team members grow and flourish as individuals and as contributing members to an energetic, selfrenewing organization dedicated to the relentless pursuit of Excellence
THE TEN “#1 s”
The Ten “#1 s” *CEO JOB #1: CREATE/MAINTAIN A CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE/ EXTREME EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT *INVESTMENT #1: TRAINING *ASSET #1: CADRE OF 1 ST-LINE CHIEFS *VALUE-ADDED STRATEGY #1: DESIGN EXCELLENCE/RADICAL HUMANIZATION *SUCCESS CREDO #1: “ARE YOU GOING TO COST CUT YOUR WAY TO PROSPERITY? OR ARE YOU GOING TO SPEND YOUR WAY TO PROSPERITY? ” “OVER-INVEST IN OUR PEOPLE, OVERINVEST IN OUR FACILITIES. ” “COST CUTTING IS A DEATH SPIRAL. OUR WHOLE STORY IS GROWING REVENUE. ” *INNOVATION STRATEGY #1: WTTMSW/WHOEVER TRIES THE MOST STUFF WINS. *CORE VALUE #1: LISTEN. *ACTIVITY #1: MBWA *TASK #1: READ *AXIOM #1: HARD (NUMBERS, PLANS, ORG CHARTS) IS SOFT (RELATIONSHIPS, CULTURE, LISTENING, EXCELLENCE) IS HARD.
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