FIRST THING BEFORE FIRST THING CONRADS COMMANDMENT CONRAD

FIRST THING BEFORE FIRST THING: CONRAD’S COMMANDMENT

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’ Re-Imagine ! EXCELLENCE 2015 Distinguished Leadership and Innovation Conference Port of Spain/13 April 2015 (Slides at tompeters. com; and our fully annotated 23 -part Master Compendium at excellencenow. com)

XCELLENCE E

X 4

Excellence 1982: The Bedrock “Eight Basics” 1. A Bias for Action 2. Close to the Customer 3. Autonomy and Entrepreneurship 4. Productivity Through People 5. Hands On, Value-Driven 6. Stick to the Knitting 7. Simple Form, Lean Staff 8. Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties

Action People Customers Values

X 5

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.

Why Not?

“Why in the World did you go to Siberia? ”

An emotional, vital, innovative, joyful, creative, entrepreneurial endeavor that elicits maximum Enterprise* (*at its best): concerted human potential in the wholehearted pursuit of EXCELLENCE in service of others. ** **Employees, Customers, Suppliers, Communities, Owners, Temporary partners

“It may sound radical, unconventional, and bordering on being a crazy business idea. However— as ridiculous as it sounds—joy is the core belief of our workplace. Joy is the reason my company, Menlo Innovations, a customer software design and development firm in Ann Arbor, exists. It defines what we do and how we do it. It is the single shared belief of our entire team. ” Joy, Inc. : How We Built a Workplace People Love —Richard Sheridan,

PEOPLE

People: 1/4, 096

“Business has to give people enriching, rewarding lives …

1/4, 096: excellencenow. com “Business has to give people enriching, or it's simply not worth doing. ” rewarding lives … —Richard Branson

“You have to treat your employees like customers. ” —Herb Kelleher, upon being asked his “secret to success” Source: Joe Nocera, NYT, “Parting Words of an Airline Pioneer, ” on the occasion of Herb Kelleher’s retirement after 37 years at Southwest Airlines (SWA’s pilots union took out a full-page ad in USA Today thanking HK for all he had done) ; across the way in Dallas, American Airlines’ pilots were picketing AA’s Annual Meeting)

“hostmanship”/ “consideration renovation”

“The path to a hostmanship culture paradoxically does not go through the guest. In fact it wouldn’t be totally wrong to say that the guest has nothing to do with it. True hostmanship leaders focus on their employees. What drives exceptionalism is finding the right people and getting them to love their work and see it as a passion. . The guest comes into the picture only when you are ready to ask, ‘Would you prefer to stay at a hotel where the staff love their work or where “We went through the hotel and made a. . . ‘consideration renovation. ’ Instead of redoing bathrooms, dining rooms, and guest rooms, we gave employees new uniforms, bought flowers and fruit, and changed colors. Our focus was totally on the staff. They were the ones we wanted to make happy. We wanted them to wake up every morning excited management has made customers its highest priority? ’” about a new day at work. ” —Jan Gunnarsson and Olle Blohm, Hostmanship: The Art of Making People Feel Welcome.

“ … The guest comes into the picture only when you are ready to ask, ‘Would you prefer to stay at a hotel where the staff love their work or where management has made customers its highest priority? ’”

NOT. “If you want staff to give great service, give great service to staff. ” Rocket Science. —Ari Weinzweig, Zingerman’s Source: Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, Bo Burlingham

“Contrary to conventional corporate thinking, treating retail workers much better may make everyone (including their employers) much richer. ” Source: The Good Jobs Strategy, by M. I. T. professor Zeynep Ton.

1996 -2014/12 companies every year/ 341, 567 new jobs/+172%: Publix Whole Foods Wegmans Nordstrom Cisco Systems Marriott REI Goldman Sachs Four Seasons SAS Institute W. L. Gore TDIndustries Source: Fortune/ “The 100 Best Companies to Work For”/0315. 15

Profit Through Putting People First Business Book Club Nice Companies Finish First: Why Cutthroat Management Is Over—and Collaboration Is In, by Peter Shankman with Karen Kelly Uncontainable: How Passion, Commitment, and Conscious Capitalism Built a Business Where Everyone Thrives, by Kip Tindell, CEO Container Store Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business, by John Mackey, CEO Whole Foods, and Raj Sisodia Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose, by Raj Sisodia, Jag Sheth, and David Wolfe The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits, by Zeynep Ton, MIT Joy, Inc. : How We Built a Workplace People Love, by Richard Sheridan, CEO Menlo Innovations Employees First, Customers Second: Turning Conventional Management Upside Down, by Vineet Nayar, CEO, HCL Technologies The Customer Comes Second: Put Your People First and Watch ’Em Kick Butt, by Hal Rosenbluth, former CEO, Rosenbluth International It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy, by Mike Abrashoff, former commander, USS Benfold Turn This Ship Around; How to Create Leadership at Every Level, by L. David Marquet, former commander, SSN Santa Fe Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, by Bo Burlingham Hidden Champions: Success Strategies of Unknown World Market Leaders, by Hermann Simon Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores in America , by George Whalin Joy at Work: A Revolutionary Approach to Fun on the Job, by Dennis Bakke, former CEO, AES Corporation The Dream Manager, by Matthew Kelly The Soft Edge: Where Great Companies Find Lasting Success, by Rich Karlgaard, publisher, Forbes Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, by Tony Hseih, Zappos Camellia: A Very Different Company Fans, Not Customers: How to Create Growth Companies in a No Growth World , by Vernon Hill Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School, by Richard Branson

“YOUR CUSTOMERS WILL NEVER BE ANY HAPPIER THAN YOUR EMPLOYEES. ” —John Di. Julius, The Customer Service Revolution:

Training = Investment #1!

In the Army, 3 -star generals worry about training. In most businesses, it's a “hohum” mid-level staff function.

Is your CTO/Chief Training Officer your top paid “C-level” job (other than CEO/COO)? If not, why not? Are your top trainers paid as much as your top marketers and engineers? If not, why not? Are your training courses so good they make you … jump up & down with glee? If not, why not? Randomly stop an employee in the hall: Can she/he meticulously describe her/his development plan for the next 12 months? If not, why not? Why is your world of business any different than the (competitive) world of rugby, football, opera, theater, the military? If “people/talent first” and hyper-intense continuous training are laughably obviously for them, why not you?

Is your CTO/Chief Training Officer your top paid “C-level” job (other than CEO/COO)? If not, why not? Are your top trainers paid as much as your top marketers and engineers? If not, why not? Are your training courses so good they make you giggle and tingle? If not, why not? Randomly stop an employee in the hall: Can she/he meticulously describe her/his development plan for the next 12 months? If not, why not? Why is your world of business any different than the (competitive) world of rugby, football, opera, theater, the military? If “people/talent first” and hyper-intense continuous training are laughably obviously for them, why not you?

>> 8 of 10 CEOs, in 45 -min “tour d’horizon” of their biz, would NOT mention training. Bet #4:

#1 What is the reason to go berserk over training?

What is the best reason to go bananas over training? GREED. (It pays off. ) (Also: Training should be an official part of the R&D budget and a capital expense. )

Training #1: Bottom Line NOBODY gets off the hook! “Training & Development Maniac” applies as much to the 4 -person business as to the chief leader of the 44, 444 -person business.

“The topic is probably the oldest and biggest debate in Customer service. What is more important: How well you hire, or the training and culture you bring your employees into? While both are very important, 75 percent is the Customer service training and the service culture of your company. Do you really think that Disney has found 50, 000 amazing service-minded people? There probably aren’t 50, 000 people on earth who were born to serve. Companies like Ritz-Carlton and Disney find good people and put them in such a strong service and training environment that doesn’t allow for accept anything less than excellence. ” —John Di. Julius, The Customer Service Revolution: Overthrow Conventional Business, Inspire Employees, and Change the World

6/2/3* *It takes Jerry Seinfeld SIX MONTHS to develop TWO or THREE MINUTES of new material (documentary: Comedian)

st 1 -Line Bosses [Cadre of] = Productivity Asset #1!

Is there ONE “secret” to productivity and employee satisfaction? YES! The Quality of your FULL CADRE of … 1 st-line Leaders.

“People leave managers not companies. ” —Dave Wheeler

Hiring

“It’s simple, really, Tom. Hire for s, and, above all, promote for s. ” —Starbucks regional manager, on why so many smiles at Starbucks shops

Observed closely: The use of “I” or “We” during a job interview. Source: Leonard Berry & Kent Seltman, chapter 6, “Hiring for Values, ” Management Lessons From Mayo Clinic

hundreds of times better here “I am [than in my prior hospital assignment] because of the support system. It’s like you were working in an organism; you are not a single cell when you are out there practicing. ’” —quote from Dr. Nina Schwenk, in Chapter 3, “Practicing Team Medicine, ” from Leonard Berry & Kent Seltman, from Management Lessons From Mayo Clinic

“Being aware of yourself and how you affect everyone around you is what distinguishes a superior leader. ” —Edie Seashore

“The biggest problem I shall ever face: the management of Dale Carnegie. ” —Dale Carnegie, diary of

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. " —Leo Tolstoy

! WOMEN RULE

“Research suggests that to succeed, start by promoting women. ” [by Mc. Kinsey & Co. ] —Nicholas Kristof, “Twitter, Women, and Power, ” NYTimes “In my experience, women make much better executives than men. ” —Kip Tindell, CEO, Container Store

“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

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

Context: 1, 000

China/Foxconn: 1, 000 robots/next 3 years Source: Race AGAINST the Machine, Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew Mc. Afee

“Since 1996, manufacturing employment fallen by an estimated 25 percent. That’s over 30, 000 fewer Chinese workers in that in China itself has actually sector, even while output soared by 70 percent. It’s not that American workers are being replaced by Chinese workers. It’s that both American and Chinese workers are being made more efficient [replaced] by automation. ” —Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew Mc. Afee, The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies

“Meet Your Next Surgeon: Dr. Robot” Source: Feature/Fortune/15 JAN 2013/on Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci /multiple bypass heart-surgery robot

Io. T/Sensor Pills: “Proteus Digital Health is one of several pioneers in sensor-based health technology. They make a silicon chip the size of a grain of sand that is embedded into a safely digested pill that is swallowed. When the chip mixes with stomach acids, the processor is powered by the body’s electricity and transmits data to a patch worn on the skin. That patch, in turn, transmits data via Bluetooth to a mobile app, which then transmits the data to a central database where a health technician can verify if a patient has taken her or his medications. “This is a bigger deal than it may seem. In 2012, it was estimated that people not taking their prescribed medications cost $258 BILLION in emergency room visits, hospitalization, and doctor visits. An average of 130, 000 Americans die each year because they don’t follow their prescription regimens closely enough. . ” [The FDA approved placebo testing in April 2012; sensor pills are ticketed to come to market in 2015 or 2016. ] Source: Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, Age of Context: Mobile, Sensors, Data and the Future of Privacy

“Software is eating the world. ” —Marc Andreessen

“The intellectual talents of highly trained professionals are no more protected from automation than is the driver’s left turn. ” —Nicholas Carr, The Glass Cage: Automation and Us

Betterment/ “Ambitions of a Robo Adviser” “could put tens of thousands of U. S. investment advisors out of their jobs” —FT/1217. 14/

“Ten Million Jobs at Risk from Advancing Technology: Up to 35 percent of Britain's jobs will be eliminated by new computing and robotics technology over the next 20 years, say experts at Deloitte and Oxford University. ” —Headline, Telegraph (UK), 11 November 2014

The New Logic: Scale w/o Employment 145, 000 Kodak: 1988/ employees; 2012/bankrupt Instagram: 30, 000 customers/ 13 employees (Whats. App: 450, 000 customers/ 55 employees/ Valued @ $19, 000, 000) Source: Robert Reich’s Blog/0317. 15

“The root of our problem is not that we’re in a Great Recession or a Great Stagnation, but rather that we are in the early Great Restructuring throes of a . Our technologies are racing ahead, but our skills and organizations are lagging behind. ” Source: Race AGAINST the Machine, Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew Mc. Afee

THE MORAL IMPERATIVE: PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT

Your principal moral obligation as a leader is to develop the skillset, “soft” and “hard, ” of every one of the people in your charge (temporary as well as semi-permanent) to the maximum extent of your abilities. The bonus: This is also the #1 mid- to long-term … profit maximization strategy! CORPORATE MANDATE #1 2015:

“The role of the Director is to create a space where the actors and actresses can become more than they’ve ever been before, more than they’ve dreamed of being. ” —Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance speech

INNOVATION

1/49: WTTMSW

WHOEVER TRIES THE MOST STUFF WINS

1. A Bias for Action 2. Close to the Customer 3. Autonomy and Entrepreneurship 4. Productivity Through People 5. Hands On, Value-Driven 6. Stick to the Knitting 7. Simple Form, Lean Staff 8. Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties

“WE HAVE A STRATEGIC PLAN. IT’S CALLED ‘DOING THINGS. ’ ” —Herb Kelleher “DON’T ‘PLAN. ’ DO STUFF. ” —David Kelley/IDEO

“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

“You can’t be a serious innovator unless and until you are ready, willing and able to seriously play. ‘Serious play’ is not an oxymoron; it is the essence of innovation. ” —Michael Schrage, Serious Play

WTTMSW/Corollary “FAIL. FORWARD. FAST. ” —High Tech CEO, Pennsylvania “FAIL FASTER. SUCCEED SOONER. ” —David Kelley/IDEO “MOVE FAST. BREAK THINGS. ” —Facebook

“REWARD excellent failures. PUNISH mediocre successes. ” —Phil Daniels, Sydney exec

“I What really matters is that companies that don’t continue to experiment— COMPANIES THAT DON’T EMBRACE FAILURE — eventually get in a desperate position, where the only thing they can do is make a ‘Hail Mary’ bet at the end. ” —Jeff Bezos at Business Insider “Ignition” conference, 1202. 14

“In business, you REWARD people for WHEN IT DOESN’T WORK OUT YOU PROMOTE THEM taking RISKS. BECAUSE THEY WERE WILLING TO TRY NEW THINGS. If people tell me they skied all day and never fell down, I tell them to try a different mountain. ” —Michael Bloomberg

Facebook, i. Pod, etc. … ordinary ideas /SJ as “tinkerer” par excellence

LBTs* *Little BIG Things

Big carts = 1. 5 X Source: Walmart

2 X: “When Friedman slightly curved the right angle of an entrance corridor to one property, he was ‘amazed at the magnitude of change in pedestrians’ behavior’—the percentage who entered increased from one-third to nearly two-thirds. ” —Natasha Dow Schull, Addiction By Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas

(1) AMENABLE TO RAPID EXPERIMENTATION/FAILURE “FREE” (NO BAD “PR, ” NO $$) (2) QUICK TO IMPLEMENT/QUICK TO ROLL OUT (3) INEXPENSIVE TO IMPLEMENT/ ROLL OUT (4) HUGE MULTIPLIER (5) AN “ATTITUDE” (6) DOES NOT BY AND LARGE REQUIRE A “POWER POSITION” FROM WHICH TO LAUNCH EXPERIMENTS.

We Are What We Eat. We Are Who We Spend Time With.

“You will become like the five people you associate with the most—this can be either a blessing or a curse. ” —Billy Cox

The “We are what we eat”/ “We are who we hang out with” every Axiom: At its core, (!!!) relationship-partnership decision (employee, vendor, customer, etc. ) is a strategic decision about: “Innovate, ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ ”

“The Billion-man Research Team: Companies offering work to online communities are reaping the benefits of crowdsourcing. ” —Headline, FT

“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

“Who’s the most interesting person you’ve met in the last 90 days? How do I get in touch with them? ” —Fred Smith

Innovate or Die: Measure It!

Innovation Index: How many of your Top 5 Strategic Initiatives/Key Projects score 8 or higher [out of 10] on a “Weird”/“Profound”/ “Wow”/“Game-changer” Scale? (At least 3? ? ? )

VALUE-ADDED STRATEGIES

TGRs: 8/80

Customers describing their service experience as “superior”: 8% Companies describing the service experience they provide as “superior”: 80% —Source: Bain & Company survey of 362 companies, reported in John Di. Julius, What's the Secret to Providing a World-class Customer Experience?

Conveyance: Kingfisher Air Location: Approach to New Delhi

“May I clean your glasses, sir? ”

Conveyance: Southwest Airlines Location: Boarding, Albany NY

“May I help you down the jetway. ”

“We look for. . . listening, caring, smiling, saying ‘Thank you, ’ being warm. ” — Colleen Barrett, former President, Southwest Airlines

“Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart. ” —Henry Clay

7 X. 7: 30 A-8: 00 P. F 12 A. 7: 30 AM = 7: 15 AM. 8: 00 PM = 8: 15 PM. (2, 000) Source: Vernon Hill, Fans, Not Customers

<TGW <TG and … >TGR [Things Gone WRONG-Things Gone RIGHT]

“Experiences are as distinct from services as services are from goods. ” —Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore, The Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre & Every Business a Stage

XO* C Xperience Officer *Chief e

TGRs: 3 Minutes/ ! Overkill

Relationships (of all varieties): THERE ONCE THREE -MINUTE PHONE CALL WOULD HAVE AVOIDED WAS A TIME WHEN A SETTING OFF THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL THAT RESULTED IN A COMPLETE RUPTURE. * *Divorce, loss of a BILLION $$$ aircraft sale, etc.

THE PROBLEM IS RARELY/NEVER THE PROBLEM. THE RESPONSE TO THE PROBLEM INVARIABLY ENDS UP BEING THE REAL PROBLEM. [OPPORTUNITY]

Social Business/ Customer Engagement

“Customer engagement is moving from relatively isolated market transactions to deeply connected and sustained social relationships. This basic change in how we do business will make an impact on just about everything we do. ” Social Business By Design: Transformative Social Media Strategies For the Connected Company —Dion Hinchcliffe & Peter Kim

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. Also, the Welcome to the Age of Social Media: Internet and technology have made customers more demanding. , and they expect information, answers, products, responses, and resolutions sooner than ASAP. ” —John Di. Julius, The Customer Service Revolution: Overthrow Conventional Business, Inspire Employees, and Change the World

“The customer is in complete control of communication. ” Welcome to the Age of Social Media: —John Di. Julius, The Customer Service Revolution: Overthrow Conventional Business, Inspire Employees, and Change the World

“I would rather engage in a Twitter conversation with a single customer than see our company attempt to attract the attention of millions in a coveted Super Bowl commercial. Why? Because having people discuss your brand directly with you, actually connecting one-to-one, is far more valuable—not to mention far cheaper!. … “Consumers want to discuss what they like, the companies they support, and the organizations and leaders they resent. They want a community. They want to be heard. … “[I]f we engage employees, customers, and prospective customers in meaningful dialogue about their lives, challenges, interests, and concerns, we can build a community of trust, loyalty, and—possibly over time—help them become advocates and champions for the brand. ” —Peter Aceto, CEO, Tangerine (from the Foreword to A World Gone Social: How Companies Must Adapt to Survive , by Ted Coine & Mark Babbit)

“Amy Howell [social marketer extraordinaire, ignites epidemics. In a good way, of course. Epidemics of excitement. Epidemics of business connections. Epidemics of influence. ” founder of Howell Marketing] —Mark Schaeffer, ROI/Return on Influence: The Revolutionary Power of Klout, Social Scoring, and Influence Marketing

Social Business/ New Game

ZMOT : ZERO Moment Of Truth/Google* “You know what a ‘moment of truth’ is. It’s when a prospective customer decides either to take the next step in the purchase funnel, or to exit and seek other options. … But what is a ‘zero moment of truth’? Many behaviors can serve as a zero moment of truth, but what binds them together is that the purchase is being researched and considered before the prospect even enters the classic sales funnel … In its research, Google found that 84% of shoppers said the new mental model, ZMOT, shapes their decisions. …” —Jay Baer, Youtility: Why Smart Marketing Is About Help, Not Hype *See www. zeromomentoftruth. com for ZMOT in booklength format

[BIG] Data = ! [BIG] $$$

“Caesars’ Entertainment have bet their future on harvesting personal data rather than developing the fanciest properties. ” —Adam Tanner, What Stays in Vegas: The World of Personal Data—Lifeblood of Big Business—and the End of Privacy as We Know it

! DESIGN

Design Rules! APPLE market cap > Exxon Mobil* *August 2011 (0410. 15: $740 B, 2 X #2)

“Huge degree of care. ” Apple design: —Ian Parker, New Yorker, 23 March 2015, on Jony Ives “Steve and Jony would discuss corners for hours and hours. ” —Laurene Powell Jobs

D O* C *Chief Design Officer

Hypothesis: Men cannot design for women’s !!? ? needs

Women BUY ! [Everything]

“Forget CHINA, INDIA and the INTERNET: Economic Growth Is Driven by WOMEN. ” Source: 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 trillion in total yearly earnings could reach $18 trillion in the same period. 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 consumer. And yet many companies do just that—even ones that are confidant that they have a winning strategy when it comes to women. Consider Dell’s …” Source: Michael Silverstein and Kate Sayre, “The Female Economy, ” HBR, 09. 09

“Women are THE majority market” —Fara Warner/The Power of the Purse

Women as Decision Makers/Various sources Home Furnishings … Vacations … 92% 94% (Adventure Travel … 70%/ $55 B travel equipment) 91% D. I. Y. … 80% Consumer Electronics … 51% Cars … 68% (influence 90%) Houses … (major “home projects”) (66% home computers) All consumer purchases … Bank Account … 83% * 89% 67% Small business loans/biz starts … 70% Health Care … 80% Household investment decisions … *In the USA women hold >50% managerial positions including >50% purchasing officer positions ; hence women also make the majority of commercial purchasing decisions.

MOST SIGNIFICANT VARIABLE in EVERY “The sales situation is the GENDER of the buyer, and more importantly, how the salesperson communicates to the buyer’s gender. ” —Jeffery Tobias Halter, Selling to Men, Selling to Women

Sales/After-sales Process 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Kick-off – Women Research – Women Purchase – Men Ownership – Women Word-of-mouth – Women Source: Martha Barletta, Marketing to Women: How to Increase Your Share of the World’s Largest Market

Does your organization reflect this—e. g. , staffing, exec team?

AND THE WINNERS AREN’T/ARE

-1/+1/2

“I am often asked by would-be entrepreneurs seeking escape from life within huge corporate structures, ‘How do I build a small firm for myself? ’ The answer seems obvious … Source: Paul Ormerod, Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction and Economics

“I am often asked by would-be entrepreneurs seeking escape from life within huge corporate structures, ‘How do I build a small firm for Buy a very large one and just wait. ” myself? ’ The answer seems obvious: —Paul Ormerod, Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction and Economics

S&P 500 +1/-1* *Every … ! 2 weeks Source: Richard Foster (via Rita Mc. Grath/HBR/12. 26. 13

AND THE WINNERS AREN’T/ARE

Roll Out the RED Carpet!

THE RED CARPET STORE (Joel Resnick/Flemington NJ)

Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores in America —by George Whalin

JUNGLE JIM’S INTERNATIONAL MARKET, FAIRFIELD, OH: “An adventure in ‘shoppertainment, ’ begins in the parking lot and goes on to 1, 600 cheeses and 1, 400 varieties of hot sauce—not to mention 12, 000 wines priced from $8 -$8, 000 4, 000 a bottle; all this is brought to you by vendors. Customers from every corner of the globe. ” BRONNER’S CHRISTMAS WONDERLAND, FRANKENMUTH, MI, POP 5, 000: 98, 000 -square-foot “shop” features ornaments, 50, 000 6, 000 Christmas trims, and anything else you can name pertaining to Christmas. …”

“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

Small & Middle-sized Niche. Micro-niche Dominators! I love … ! "Own" a niche through EXCELLENCE (Writ large: Germany’s MITTELSTAND)

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. (*From a database of over 25, 000 companies from hundreds of industries covering 45 years, they uncovered 344 companies that qualified as statistically “exceptional. ”)

LEADERSHIP

“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”

MBWA

Managing By Wandering Around

“IT’S ALWAYS SHOWTIME. ” —

“IT’S ALWAYS SHOWTIME. ” —David D’Alessandro, Career Warfare

“I am a dispenser of enthusiasm. ” —Ben Zander, symphony conductor and management guru

“A man without a smiling face must not open his shop. ” —Chinese Proverb

“The 4 most important words in any organization are …

THE FOUR MOST IMPORTANT WORDS IN ANY ORGANIZATION “WHAT DO YOU THINK? ” ARE … Source: courtesy Dave Wheeler, posted at tompeters. com

! Acknowledgement

“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important. ” —John Dewey (In Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People (“The BIG Secret of Dealing With People”)

“Employees who don't feel significant rarely make significant contributions. ” —Mark Sanborn

! Meetings ROCK [Make that: SHOULD Rock]

Complain all you want, but meetings are what you [boss/leader] do!

Meetings are #1 do. Therefore, thing bosses 100% of those EXCELLENCE. ENTHUSIASM. ENGAGEMENT. LEARNING. TEMPO. WORK-OF-ART. DAMN IT. meetings:

“The doctor interrupts after …* *Source: Jerome Groopman, How Doctors Think

18 … seconds!

[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. ) [cont. ] .

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. ”

“I always write ‘LISTEN’ on the back of my hand before a meeting. ” Source: Tweet viewed @tom_peters

Step Up To Creating/ Living/ Maintaining an Effective Culture

“What matters most to a company over time? Strategy or culture? WSJ/0910. 13: Dominic Barton, MD, Mc. Kinsey & Co. : “Culture. ”

“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

“INSANELY GREAT” STEVE JOBS “RADICALLY THRILLING” BMW “ASTONISH ME” SERGEI DIAGHLEV, TO A LEAD DANCER “BUILD SOMETHING GREAT” HIROSHI YAMAUCHI, NINTENDO, TO A SENIOR GAME DESIGNER “MAKE IT IMMORTAL” DAVID OGILVY, TO A COPYWRITER.

Kevin Roberts’ Credo 1. Ready. Fire! Aim. 2. If it ain’t broke. . . Break it! 3. Hire crazies. 4. Ask dumb questions. 5. Pursue failure. 6. Lead, follow. . . or get out of the way! 7. Spread confusion. 8. Ditch your office. 9. Read odd stuff. 10. AVOID MODERATION!