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. ”
EXCELLENCE 2019 THRIVING AMIDST THE TECH TSUNAMI/ EXTREME EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT/ EXTREME HUMANIZATION Tom Peters World Business Forum/ Bogota/6 June 2019 tompeters. com; also see our annotated 23 -part Monster-Master at excellencenow. com) (This presentation/10+ years of presentation slides at
EXCELLENCE 2019++ THE BUSINESS OF BUSINESS IS … PEOPLE (LEADERS) SERVING PEOPLE (EMPLOYEES) SERVING PEOPLE Tom Peters World Business Forum/ Bogota/6 June 2019 (CUSTOMERS)
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.
“BUSINESS HAS TO GIVE PEOPLE ENRICHING, REWARDING LIVES … OR IT’S SIMPLY NOT WORTH DOING. ” #1/4, 096 —Richard Branson ( )
“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
MANAGING: A PAIN IN THE BUTT. 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: 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
Les Wexner: FROM FASHION TRENDS GURU TO JOY FROM PICKING/ DEVELOPING PEOPLE!* *Limited Brands founder Les Wexner queried on astounding (>>Jack. Welch) longterm growth & profitability: It happened, he said, “I got as excited about developing people” because as he had been about predicting fashion trends in his early years.
PEOPLE (LEADERS/MAMAGERS) SERVING PEOPLE (EMPLOYEES) SERVING PEOPLE (CUSTOMERS)
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.
2, 000 17, 000 8. 6 B
The Commerce Bank/Metro Bank Model “WE WANT IN THEM 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. 7: 30 A-8: 00 P. Fri/12 A. 7: 30 AM = 7: 15 AM. 8: 00 PM = 8: 15 PM. 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 SHE PUT THE CUSTOMER’S FLIGHTS ON HER PERSONAL CREDIT CARD SO THAT THE CUSTOMER COULD STILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A [time-sensitive] GOOD DEAL, and later—with Bank team member stepped in. 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
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 hundreds of industries covering 45 25, 000 companies from years, the authors uncovered 344 companies that qualified as statistically “exceptional, ” and finally winnowed the list to including Thomas & Betts, Weis Markets, Hartland Express. ) 27 firms,
2, 000 dog biscuits 17, 000 (good) jobs $8. 6 billion/TD
The Excellence Dividend’s “poster child”/Commerce The human touch can prevail (thrill customers and Bank-Metro Bank: create jobs and earn big bucks and embarrass the cost-cutting job destroyers) circa 2019!
“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
SME Strategy #1 “BE THE BEST. IT’S THE ONLY MARKET THAT’S NOT CROWDED. ” From: Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores in America, George Whalin
JUNGLE JIM’S/“Shoppertainment”: “The props can also be a bit bizarre. Two men’s and women’s Porta Potties situated in the front area of the store look as though they belong on a construction site rather than in a food store. But they are false fronts, and once through the doors, customers find themselves in beautifully appointed restrooms. These creative facilities were recognized as … ‘AMERICA’S BEST RESTROOM’ … in the Sixth Annual competition sponsored by Cintas Corporation, a supplier of restroom cleaning and hygiene products. …” From: Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores in America , George Whalin
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 (speciality 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)
37 Years/18 Books/ 2, 500+ Speeches/63 Countries = 6 Words “Hard is soft. Soft is hard. ”
Hard (numbers/plans) is Soft (relationships/culture) is Hard.
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)
The “Hard-Edge-First” Logic “Far too many companies invest too little time and money in their soft-edge excellence. … The three main reasons for this mistake are: 1. The hard edge is easier to quantify. 2. Successful hard-edge investment provides a faster return on investment 3. CEOs, CFOs, chief operating officers, boards of directors, and shareholders speak the language of finance. ” finance. Source: The Soft Edge, Rich Karlgaard
Soft-Edge Advantages “ 1. Soft-edge strengths lead to greater brand recognition, higher profit margins, … [It] is the ticket out of Commodityville. “ 2. Companies strong in the soft edge are better prepared to survive a big strategic mistake or cataclysmic disruption … “ 3. Hard-edge strength is absolutely necessary to compete, but it provides only a fleeting advantage. ” Source: The Soft Edge, Rich Karlgaard
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
“The ultimate filter we use [in the hiring process] is that we only hire NICE people. … When we finish assessing skills, we do something called ‘running the gauntlet. ’ We have them interact with 15 or 20 people, and everyone of them have what I call a ‘blackball vote, ’ which means they can say if we should not hire I believe in culture so strongly and that one bad apple can spoil the bunch. that person. There are enough really talented people out there who are nice, you don’t really need to put up with people who act like jerks. ” —Peter Miller, CEO Optinose (pharmaceuticals) “When we talk about the qualities we want in people, EMPATHY is a big one. … If you can empathize with people, then you can do a good job. If you have no ability to empathize, then it’s difficult to help people improve. Everything becomes harder. —Stewart Butterfield, founder/CEO Slack, Flickr
Observed closely during Mayo Clinic employment interviews (for renowned surgeons as well as others): The frequency of use of “I” or “We ”. Source: Leonard Berry & Kent Seltman, chapter 6, “Hiring for Values, ” Management Lessons From Mayo Clinic
USE THESE WORDS LISTENING. CARING. SMILING. SAYING “THANK YOU. ” BEING WARM. NICE. EMPATHY. “We. ”
TRAINING = INVESTMENT 1! #
In the Army and Navy, 3 -STAR GENERALS/ ADMIRALS obsess on training. In most businesses, it's a “ho-hum” mid-level staff function.
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).
Gamblin’ Man >> 5 of 10 CEOs see training as expense rather than investment. Bet #2: >> 5 of 10 CEOs see training as defense rather than offense. Bet #3: >> 5 of 10 CEOs see training as “necessary evil” rather than “strategic opportunity. ” Bet #1:
>> 8 of 10 CEOs, in 45 -min “tour d’horizon” of their biz, would NOT mention training. Bet #4:
Step #1 Is your CTO/Chief Training Officer (Do you even have a CTO? ) your top paid “C-level” job (other than CEO/COO)? Are your top trainers paid/cherished as much as your top marketers/ engineers?
#1 ASSET ST 1 -LINE LEADERS
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?
Employee retention & satisfaction: “Overwhelmingly based on the first-line manager!” —Marcus Buckingham/Curt Coffman, First, Break All the Rules “People leave managers not companies. ” —Dave Wheeler
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. (Or not. ) Principal champions/enablers of … sustained employee development.
Promotion Decisions/2 per Year = Legacy “life and death decisions” Source: Peter Drucker, The Practice of Management
! WOMEN RULE
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
“Women are rated higher in fully 12 of the 16 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
Lawrence A. Pfaff & Assoc. — 2 Years, 941 mgrs (672 M, 269 F); 360º feedback — Women: better in 20 of 20 (leadership) categories; 15 of 20 with statistical significance, incl. decisiveness, planning, setting stds. ) — “Men are not rated significantly higher by any of the raters in any of the areas measured. ” (LP)
“Research suggests that to succeed, start by promoting women. ” [by Mc. Kinsey & Co. ] —Nicholas Kristof/New York Times
Women’s Negotiating Strengths *Ability to put themselves in their counterparts’ shoes *Comprehensive, attentive and detailed communication style *Empathy that facilitates trust-building *Curious and attentive listening *Less competitive attitude *Strong sense of fairness and ability to persuade *Proactive risk manager *Collaborative decision-making Source: Horacio Falcao, Cover story/May 2006, World Business, “Say It Like a Woman: Why the 21 st-century negotiator will need the female touch”
“TAKE THIS QUICK QUIZ: QUIZ Who manages more things at once? Who puts more effort into their appearance? Who usually takes care of the details? Who finds it easier to meet new people? Who asks more questions in a conversation? Who is a better listener? Who has more interest in communication skills? Who is more inclined to get involved? Who encourages harmony and agreement? Who has better intuition? Who works with a longer ‘to do’ list? Who enjoys a recap to the day’s events? Who is better at keeping in touch with others? ” Selling Is a Woman’s Game: 15 Powerful Reasons Why Women Can Outsell Men, Nicki Joy & Susan Kane-Benson Source/from the back cover:
PORTRAIT OF A FEMALE INVESTOR 1. Trade less than men do 2. Exhibit less overconfidence—more likely to know what they don’t know 3. Shun risk more than male investors do 4. Less optimistic, more realistic than their male counterparts 5. Put in more time and effort researching possible investments—consider details and alternate points of view 6. More immune to peer pressure—tend to make decisions the same way regardless of who’s watching 7. Learn from their mistakes 8. Have less testosterone than men do, making them less willing to take extreme risks, which, in turn, could lead to less extreme market cycles Warren Buffett Invests Like a Girl: And Why You Should Too, Louann Lofton, Chapter 2, “The Science Behind the Girl” Source:
EEE/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.
BUILDING/ MAINTAINING A “PEOPLE (REALLY) FIRST” CULTURE
“CULTURE EATS STRATEGY FOR BREAKFAST” —Ed Schein “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 is Yet I came to see in my time at IBM that culture isn’t just one aspect of the game very, very hard. —IT IS THE GAME. ” —Lou Gerstner, Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance
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.
WHAT THE _____ ELSE IS THERE TO TALK ABOUT?
The Excellence Dividend Book Tour* (*Time & Time Again) “Tom, you always talk about people. ” Interviewer: “What the ____ else is there to talk about? ” Me:
INNOVATION WTTMSW
WTTM W* *Whoever Tries The Most Stuff Wins
“We made mistakes, of course. 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 #5. #10. It gets back to prototype version By the time our rivals are ready with wires and screws, we are on version planning versus acting: We act from day one; others plan how to plan—for months. ” —Bloomberg by Bloomberg
“You can’t be a serious innovator unless and until you are ready, willing and able to seriously play. ‘SERIOUS PLAY’ is not a contradiction; it is the essence of innovation. ” —Michael Schrage, Serious Play
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
“THE BOTTLENECK IS AT THE … “Where are you likely to find people with the least diversity of experience, the largest investment in the past, and the greatest reverence for industry dogma … TOP OF THE BOTTLE” — Gary Hamel/Harvard Business Review
Diversity: Board of Directors 2018 Consider a 10 -person Board of Directors fit for 2018. Here are my compositional “rules” (categories not mutually exclusive)*: At least two members under 30 At least four women One IT/data analytics superstar One designer One or two entrepreneurs (and a VC? ) One person with a “weird” background— artist, musician, shaman, etc. No more than two over 60 No more than three with MBAs (*Partial inspiration: W. Ross Ashby’s “Law of Requisite Variety. ” The diversity of the board should roughly match the diversity of the context/environment. )
VALUE-ADDED DESIGN/ EXTREME HUMANIZATION
10 AUGUST 2011/APPLE>EXXON “We don’t have a good language to talk about this kind of thing. To most people, design means veneer. … But to me, nothing could be further from DESIGN IS THE FUNDAMENTAL SOUL OF A MAN-MADE CREATION. ” —Steve Jobs the meaning of design. “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 BUT THESE AREN’T JUST SCREWS. LIKE THE [NEST] THERMOMETER ITSELF, THEY’RE BETTER SCREWS, EPIC SCREWS, SCREWS WITH, DARE I SAY IT, DEEPER MEANING. ” —Tony Fadell, Nest cost to buy them. ’ “It is fair to say that almost NO NEW VEHICLE IN RECENT MEMORY HAS PROVOKED MORE SMILES. ” —review of the MINI Cooper S, reported in Donald Norman, Emotional Design
“ In some way, by caring, we are actually serving humanity. People might think it’s a stupid belief, but it’s a goal—it’s a contribution that we hope we can make, in some small way, to culture. ” —Jony Ives
SUGGESTION For every engineer and marketer on the “Experience Design & Development Team, ” you need an artist, psychologist, musician, theater director—and perhaps a shaman.
“Forget CHINA, INDIA and the INTERNET: Economic Growth Is Driven by WOMEN. ” — Headline, Economist W> 2 X (C + I) “Women now drive the global economy. Globally, they control about $20 trillion in consumer spending, and that figure could climb as high as $28 TRILLION in the next five years. Their $13 IN AGGREGATE, WOMEN REPRESENT A GROWTH MARKET BIGGER THAN CHINA AND INDIA COMBINED—MORE THAN TWICE AS BIG IN FACT. Given those numbers, it would be foolish to ignore or underestimate the female trillion in total yearly earnings could reach $18 trillion in the same period. consumer. And yet many companies do just that—even ones that are confidant that they have a winning strategy when it comes to women. …” —Michael Silverstein and Kate Sayre, “The Female Economy, ” HBR
THE LIMITS OF “ENGINEERING”: MY “EXPERIENCE” PROBLEM I’m having some (biggish) trouble with the “experience marketing” idea. The possible implication, as I see it, is that you can “engineer” an excellent experience. Certainly an excellent experience has supportive systems lying beneath the surface. But when the systems Experiences that stick are about emotional engagement. And emotional engagement is about intangibles, about artistry, about surprise, about those smiles the MINI Cooper S engenders. rulethe roost, the trouble starts. The experience fetish has, alas and all too often, gone metric. “Metrics” for this, metrics for that. Metrics metrics. I recently went to my car dealership for a regular checkup. They did a fine and job. But no less than three times the service boss reminded me to fill out my on-line assessment of the visit—and asked me if he could do anything more that would improve my assessment. All the emotion was drained out of the “experience” in a flash—the whole “experience” was tainted and the emotion was drained therefrom. .
Customers describing their service experience as “superior”: 8% Companies describing the service experience they provide as “superior”: 80% Bain & Company survey of 362 companies —Source: , reported in John Di. Julius, What's the Secret to Providing a World-class Customer Experience?
DESIGN: SMALL >>>>> BIG “Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart. ” —Henry Clay "Let's not forget that small emotions are the great captains of our lives. " —van Gogh
Las Vegas Casino/2 X SLIGHTLY CURVED “When Friedman the right angle of an entrance corridor to one property, he was ’” amazed at the percentage who entered increased from ONE-THIRD TWO-THIRDS. ” TO NEARLY —Natasha Dow Schull, Addiction By Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas
Design mindedness pervades (EVERYTHING) … * The reception area * The restrooms!! * Dialogues at the call center * Every electronic (or paper) form * Every business process “map” Every email * * Every meeting agenda/setting/etc. * Every square meter of every facility * Every new product proposal * Every manual * Every customer contact * A consideration in every promotion decision * The presence and ubiquity of an “Aesthetic sensibility”/ “Design mindfulness” * An encompassing “design review” process of … everything * Etc.
LEADERSHIP
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”
Golden Bay (NZ) Revelation You do MBWA because it’s …
“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 Aurelius: avoid busyness, Let me put it bluntly: every leader should routinely keep a substantial portion of his or her time I would say as much as free up your time, stay focused on what really matters. 50% un -scheduled. … 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 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. ” time is, ‘That’s all well and good, but there are things I have to do. ’ Dov Frohman , Leadership The Hard Way — (Chapter 5, “The Soft Skills Of Hard Leadership”)
“The doctor interrupts after 18 … Source: Jerome Groopman, How Doctors Think
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. )
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
Core Value #1: “We are Suggested Enterprise Effective Listeners—we treat LISTENING EXCELLENCE as the Centerpiece of our Commitment to Respect and Engagement and Community and Growth. ”
! Acknowledgement 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 Four most important words in any organization/Dave Wheeler: “What do you think? ”
30, 000 HANDWRITTEN ‘THANK YOU’ NOTES to employees during CEO Doug Conant sent the 10 years [approx 15/work day] he ran Campbell Soup. Source: Bloomberg Business. Week
Speed. NOT Culture Listening Relationships Design Excellence
“Personal relationships are the fertile soil from which all advancement, all success, all achievement in real life grow. ” —Ben Stein
EXCELLENCE IS THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES
EXCELLENCE is not a “long-term” "aspiration. ” EXCELLENCE is the ultimate shortterm strategy. EXCELLENCE is … THE NEXT 5 MINUTES. * (*Or NOT. )
EXCELLENCE is not an "aspiration. " EXCELLENCE is … THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES. EXCELLENCE is your next conversation. Or not. EXCELLENCE is your next meeting. Or not. EXCELLENCE is shutting up and listening—really listening. Or not. EXCELLENCE is your next customer contact. Or not. EXCELLENCE is saying “Thank you” for something “small. ” Or not. EXCELLENCE is the next time you shoulder responsibility and apologize. Or not. EXCELLENCE is waaay over-reacting to a screw-up. Or not. EXCELLENCE is the flowers you brought to work today. Or not. EXCELLENCE is lending a hand to an “outsider” who’s fallen behind schedule. Or not. EXCELLENCE is bothering to learn the way folks in finance (or IS or HR) think. Or not. EXCELLENCE is waaay “over”-preparing for a 3 -minute presentation. Or not. EXCELLENCE is turning “insignificant” tasks into models of … EXCELLENCE. Or not.
PEOPLE SERVING PEOPLE
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