To appreciate
this presentation [and
insure that it is not a mess], you
need Microsoft fonts:
NOTE:
“Showcard Gothic,”
“Ravie,” “Chiller”
and “Verdana”
Excellence:
11H*
The
“Theory of Everything”
15 November 2010/Tom Peters
*Also see original
3H
“Theory of Everything” at APPENDIX, end of this presentation
Excellence:
The Moral Basis
of Enterprise
“At a party …
“At a party given by a billionaire
on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut
informs his pal, Joseph Heller,
that their host, a hedge fund
manager, had made more money
in a single day than Heller had
earned from his wildly popular
novel Catch-22 over its whole
history. Heller responds …
“At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut
informs his pal, Joseph Heller … that their host, a hedge fund
manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had
earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole
‘Yes, but I
have something
he will never
have … enough.’”
history. Heller responds …
Source: John Bogle, Enough. The Measures of Money, Business, and
Life (Bogle is founder of the Vanguard Mutual Fund Group)
“Too Much Cost, Not Enough Value”
“Too Much Speculation, Not Enough
Investment”
“Too Much Complexity, Not Enough Simplicity”
“Too Much Counting, Not Enough Trust”
“Too Much Business Conduct, Not Enough
Professional Conduct”
“Too Much Salesmanship, Not Enough
Stewardship”
“Too Much Focus on Things, Not Enough Focus
on Commitment”
“Too Many Twenty-first Century Values, Not
Enough Eighteenth-Century Values”
“Too Much ‘Success,’ Not Enough Character”
Source: Jack Bogle, Enough. (chapter titles)
“Managers have lost dignity over the
past decade in the face of wide spread
institutional breakdown of trust and
self-policing in business. To regain
society’s trust, we believe that business
leaders must embrace a way of looking
at their role that goes beyond their
responsibility to the shareholders to
include a civic and personal
commitment to their duty as
institutional custodians. In other
words, it is time that management
became a profession.” —Rakesh Khurana & Nitin
Nohria, “It’s Time To Make Management a True Profession,”
HBR/10.08
Organizations
exist to serve.
Period.
Leaders live to
serve. Period.
EXCELLENCE. Always.
If not EXCELLENCE, what?
If not EXCELLENCE now, when?
EXCELLENCE is not an "aspiration."
EXCELLENCE is not a "journey."
EXCELLENCE is the next five minutes.
Organizations exist to SERVE. Period.
Leaders exist to SERVE. Period.
SERVICE is a beautiful word.
SERVICE is character, community, commitment.
(And profit.)
SERVICE is a beautiful word.
SERVICE is not "Wow."
SERVICE is not "raving fans."
SERVICE is not "a great experience."
Service is "just" that—SERVICE.
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 service of
others.**
**Employees, Customers, Suppliers, Communities, Owners, Temporary partners
“Excellence …
can be obtained if you:
... care more than others think
is wise;
... risk more than others think
is safe;
... dream more than others think
is practical;
... expect more than others think
is possible.”
Source: Anon. (Posted @ tompeters.com by K.Sriram, November 27, 2006 1:17 AM)
Two things
Before we
begin …
If the regimental commander lost most of his
2nd lieutenants and 1st lieutenants and captains
If he
lost his sergeants it
would be a
catastrophe. The Army and the
and majors, it would be a tragedy.
Navy are fully aware that success on the
battlefield is dependent to an extraordinary
degree on its Sergeants and Chief Petty
Officers. Does industry have the same
awareness?
#1
cause of
employee
Dis-satisfaction?
Employee retention & satisfaction:
Overwhelmingly
based on the
first-line
manager!
Source: Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman, First, Break All
the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently
I am sure you “spend time”
on this. My question: Is it an
OBSESSION
…
…worthy of the impact it has
on enterprise performance?
Suggested addition to your statement of Core
“We are obsessed
with developing a cadre of 1st
line managers that is second to
none—we understand that this
cadre per se is arguably one of
our top two or three most
important ‘Strategic Assets.’”
Competencies:
Six “Obvious” Questions
(1) Are you, Big Boss, a ... f-o-r-m-a-l student of firstline supervisor behavioral excellence?* (*Yes, this sort
of thing can be formally studied.)
(2) Do you spend ... gobs and gobs (and then more and
more gobs and gobs) of time ... selecting the first-line
supervisors?
(3) Do you have the ... absolute best training program
in the industry ... (or some subset thereof) for first-line
supervisors?
(4) Do you Formally & Rigorously ... mentor ... first-line
supervisors?
(5) Are you willing, pain notwithstanding, to ... leave a
first-line supervisor slot open ... until you can fill the
slot with somebody spectacular? (And are you willing to
use some word like ... “spectacular” ... in judging
applicants for the job?)
(6) Is it possible that promotion decisions for first-line
supervisors are more important than promotion
decisions for VP slots?) (Hint: Yes.)
Capital Asset
**Selecting and training and
mentoring one’s pool of frontline managers can be a “Core
Competence” of surpassing
strategic importance.
**Put under a microscope every
attribute of the cradle-tograve process of building the
capability of our cadre of
front-line managers.
Problem #1.
Opportunity #1.
XFX = #1*
*Cross-Functional eXcellence
Never
waste a
lunch!
????
% XF
lunches*
*Measure! Monthly! Part of evaluation! [The PA’s
Club.]
Lunch
> SAP/
Oracle
“Allied commands depend
on mutual confidence
[and this confidence is]
gained, above all
through the development
of friendships.”
—General D.D. Eisenhower,
Armchair General* (05.08)
*“Perhaps his most outstanding ability [at West Point]
was the ease with which he made friends and earned the
trust of fellow cadets who came from widely varied
backgrounds; it was a quality that would pay great
dividends during his future coalition command.”
(Way) Underutilized Lever
Space!
Space!
Space!
Space!
Geologists +
Geophysicists +
A little bit of love =
Oil
“XFX Social Accelerators.”
1. EVERYONE’s [more or less] JOB #1: Make friends in other functions!
(Purposefully. Consistently. Measurably.)
2. “Do lunch” with people in other functions!! Frequently!! (Minimum
10% to 25% for everyone? Measured.)
3. Ask peers in other functions for references so you can become
conversant in their world. (It’s one helluva sign of ... GIVE-A-DAMNism.)
4. Invite counterparts in other functions to your team meetings.
Religiously. Ask them to present “cool stuff” from “their world” to your
group. (B-I-G deal; useful and respectful.)
5. PROACTIVELY SEEK EXAMPLES OF “TINY” ACTS OF “XFX” TO
ACKNOWLEDGE—PRIVATELY AND PUBLICALLY. (Bosses: ONCE A DAY
… make a short call or visit or send an email of “Thanks” for some sort
of XFX gesture by your folks and some other function’s folks.)
6. Present counterparts in other functions awards for service to your
group. Tiny awards at least weekly; and an “Annual All-Star Supporters
[from other groups] Banquet” modeled after superstar salesperson
banquets.
7. Discuss—A SEPARATE AGENDA ITEM—good and problematic acts of
cross-functional co-operation at every Team Meeting.
“XFX Social Accelerators.”
8. When someone in another function asks for assistance, respond
with … more … alacrity than you would if it were the person in the
cubicle next to yours—or even more than you would for a key external
customer. (Remember, XFX is the key to Customer Retention which is
in turn the key to “all good things.”)
9. Do not bad mouth ... “the damned accountants,” “the bloody HR
guy.” Ever. (Bosses: Severe penalties for this—including public tonguelashings.)
10. Get physical!! “Co-location” may well be the most powerful “culture
change lever.” Physical X-functional proximity is almost a …
guarantee … of remarkably improved co-operation—to aid this one
needs flexible workspaces that can be mobilized for a team in a flash.
11. Formal evaluations. Everyone, starting with the receptionist,
should have a significant XF rating component in their evaluation. (The
“XFX Performance” should be among the Top 3 items in all managers’
evaluations.)
12. Demand XF experience for, especially, senior jobs. For example,
the U.S. military requires all would-be generals and admirals to have
served a full tour in a job whose only goals were cross-functional
achievements.
13. XFX is … PERSONAL … as well as about organizational
effectiveness. PXFX [Personal XFX] is arguably the #1 Accelerant to
personal success—in terms of organizational career, freelancer/Brand
You, or as entrepreneur.
C(I)>C(E)
C(I) > C(E)
Lunch
Kudos
Learning/ Presence/Presentations
Facetime C(E)
Transparency
Awards
Co-locate/Geologists-Geophysicists
Time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Motherhood (“If don’t take credit …)
Staff C.Sat./Unicredit
THE WHOLE POINT HERE IS THAT “XFX” IS
ALMOST CERTAINALY THE #1 OPPORTUNITY
FOR STRATEGIC DIFFERENTIATION. WHILE
MANY WOULD LIKELY AGREE, IN OUR
MOMENT-TO-MOMENT AFFAIRS, XFX PER SE IS
NOT SO OFTEN VISIBLY & PERPETUALLY AT
THE TOP OF EVERY AGENDA. I ARGUE HERE
FOR NO LESS THAN …
VISIBLE.
CONSTANT.
OBSESSION.
“Suck down for
success!” * ** *** **** ****
*“He [Gust Avarkotos] had become something of
a legend with these people who manned the
underbelly of the Agency [CIA],” from Charlie
Wilson’s War
**Getting to know “the risk guys” [GE Power]
***“Spend less time with your customer!”
C(I) > C(E)
****
*****The ATT systems sales exec
Loser:
“He’s such a
suck-up!”
Winner:
“He’s such a
suck-down.”
???????
“Success doesn’t depend on the number of
people you know; it depends on the number
of people you know in
high places!”
or
“Success doesn’t depend on the number of
people you know; it depends on the number
of people you know in
low
places!”
S = ƒ(#&DR; -2L, -3L, -4L, I&E)
Success is a function of: Number and depth of relationships
2, 3, and 4 levels down inside and outside the organization
S = ƒ(SD>SU)
Sucking down is more important than sucking up—the idea is
to have the [your] entire organization working for you.
S = ƒ(#non-FF, #non-FL)
Number of friends not in my function
S = ƒ(#XFL/m)
Number of lunches with colleagues in other
functions per month
S = ƒ(#FF)
Number of friends in the finance organization
S =ƒ(#PK“W”P)
S = ƒ(#PK“L”P)
# of people you know in the “wrong” places
# of people you know in “low” places
Excellence:
11H*
The
“Theory of Everything”
15 November 2010/Tom Peters
*Also see original
3H
“Theory of Everything” at APPENDIX, end of this presentation
All you need to know …
Hilton
Howard
Herb
Henry I
Henry II
Hiram
Horatio
Hill
Hartville
Helgesen
Hsieh
Conrad Hilton …
Conrad Hilton, at a gala
celebrating his career,
“What was the
most important lesson
you’ve learned in your
long and distinguished
career?” His immediate
was asked,
answer …
“remember
to tuck the
shower curtain
inside the
bathtub”
is
“Execution
strategy.”
—Fred Malek
“Execution is
the job of the
business
leader.”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“Execution is a
systematic
process
of rigorously
discussing hows and whats,
tenaciously following through, and
ensuring accountability.”
—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution:
The Discipline of Getting Things Done
“In real life, strategy
is actually very
straightforward. Pick
a general direction …
and implement
like hell” —Jack Welch
“Costco figured out
the big, simple things
and executed with
total fanaticism.”
—Charles Munger, Berkshire Hathaway
“GE has set a
standard of candor.
… There is no
puffery. … There isn’t
an ounce of denial in
the place.”
—Kevin Sharer, CEO Amgen,
on the “GE mystique” (Fortune)
“The art of war does not
require complicated
maneuvers; the simplest are
the best and common sense is
fundamental. From which one
might wonder how it is
it
is because they try to
be clever.”
generals make blunders;
—Napoleon
Internal
organizational
excellence =
Deepest “Blue
Ocean”
“The score
takes care of
itself.”
—Bill Walsh
-fold!
B(I) > B(O)
“If there is any one ‘secret’
to effectiveness, it is
concentration. Effective
executives do first things
first and they do one thing
at a time.” —Peter Drucker
All you need to know …
Hilton
Howard
Herb
Henry I
Henry II
Hiram
Horatio
Hill
Hartville
Helgesen
Hsieh
Sunday “Drive By”: The CEO of a very successful mid-sized
bank, in the Midwest, attended a seminar of mine in
northern California in the mid-’80s—but I remember the
following as if it were yesterday. I’ve forgotten the
specific context, but I recall him saying to me, pretty
“Tom let me tell you
the definition of a good lending
officer. After church on Sunday, on
the way home with his family, he
takes a little detour to drive by the
factory he just lent money to.
Doesn’t go in or any such thing,
just drives by and takes a look.”
much word for word,
“I call 60 CEOs
to
wish them happy
New Year. …”
[in
the first week of the year]
—Hank Paulson, former CEO, Goldman Sachs
Source: Fortune, “Secrets of Greatness,” 0320.05
MBWA
Managing By Wandering Around/HP
Dov Frohman:
Dov Frohman:
The “50% Rule”
“Daydream!”
You = Your
calendar*
*The calendar
never lies.
“You must
be
the change you
wish to see in the
world.”
Gandhi
“Dennis, you need a …
‘To-don’t ’
List !”
Don’t >
Do*
* “Don’ting,” systematic, > WILLPOWER
“It’s always
showtime.”
—David D’Alessandro, Career Warfare
“It suddenly
occurred to me
that in the space
of two or three
hours …
“It suddenly occurred to me that in the space
he
never talked
about cars.”
of two or three hours …
—Les Wexner
“On the face of it, shareholder
value is the dumbest idea in the
world. Shareholder value is a
result, not a strategy. … Your
main constituencies
are your employees, your
customers and your
products.”
—Jack Welch, FT, 0313.09, page 1
“Mapping your
competitive
position”
or …
The “Have
you …” 50
1. Have you in the
last 10 days …
visited a customer?
2. Have you called a
customer …
TODAY ?
1. Have you in the last 10 days … visited a
customer?
2. Have you called a customer … TODAY?
3. Have you in the last 60-90 days … had a seminar in which several folks from the
customer’s operation (different levels, different functions, different divisions) interacted,
via facilitator, with various of your folks?
4. Have you thanked a front-line employee for a
small act of helpfulness … in the last three days?
5. Have you thanked a front-line employee for a small act of helpfulness … in the
last three hours?
6. Have you thanked a front-line employee for carrying around a great attitude … today?
7. Have you in the last week recognized—publicly—one of your folks for a small act of
cross-functional co-operation?
8. Have you in the last week recognized—publicly—one of “their” folks (another function)
for a small act of cross-functional co-operation?
9. Have you invited in the last month a leader of another function to your weekly team
priorities meeting?
10. Have you personally in the last week-month called-visited an internal or external
customer to sort out, inquire, or apologize for some little or big thing that went awry? (No
reason for doing so? If true—in your mind—then you’re more out of touch than I dared
imagine.)
11. Have you in the last two days had a chat with someone (a couple of levels down?) about specific deadlines
concerning a project’s next steps?
12. Have you in the last two days had a chat with someone (a couple of levels down?) about specific deadlines
concerning a project’s next steps … and what specifically you can do to remove a hurdle? (“Ninety percent of
what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get things done.”—Peter “His eminence”
Drucker.)
13. Have you celebrated in the last week a “small” (or large!) milestone reached? (I.e., are you a milestone
fanatic?)
14. Have you in the last week or month revised some estimate in the “wrong” direction and apologized for making
a lousy estimate? (Somehow you must publicly reward the telling of difficult truths.)
15. Have you installed in your tenure a very
comprehensive customer satisfaction scheme
for all internal customers? (With major consequences for hitting or missing
the mark.)
16. Have you in the last six months had a week-long, visible, very intensive visit-“tour” of external customers?
17. Have you in the last 60 days called an abrupt halt to a meeting and “ordered” everyone to get out of the office,
and “into the field” and in the next eight hours, after asking those involved, fixed (f-i-x-e-d!) a nagging “small”
problem through practical action?
18. Have you in the last week had a rather thorough discussion of a “cool design thing” someone has come
across—away from your industry or function—at a Web site, in a product or its packaging?
19. Have you in the last two weeks had an informal meeting—at least an hour long—with a front-line employee to
discuss things we do right, things we do wrong, what it would take to meet your mid- to long-term aspirations?
20. Have you had in the last 60 days had a general meeting to discuss “things we do wrong” … that we can fix in
the next fourteen days?
21. Have you had in the last year a one-day, intense offsite with each (?) of your
internal customers—followed by a big celebration of “things gone right”?
22. Have you in the last week pushed someone to do some family thing that you fear
might be overwhelmed by deadline pressure?
23. Have you learned the names of the children of everyone who reports to you? (If
not, you have six months to fix it.)
24. Have you taken in the last month an interesting-weird outsider to lunch?
25. Have you in the last month invited an interesting-weird outsider to sit in on an
important meeting?
26. Have you in the last three days discussed something interesting, beyond your
industry, that you ran across in a meeting, reading, etc?
27. Have you in the last 24 hours injected into a meeting “I ran across this
interesting idea in [strange place]”?
28. Have you in the last two weeks asked someone to report on something, anything
that constitutes an act of brilliant service rendered in a “trivial” situation—
restaurant, car wash, etc? (And then discussed the relevance to your work.)
29. Have you in the last 30 days examined in detail (hour
by hour) your calendar to evaluate the degree “time
actually spent” mirrors your “espoused priorities”?
(And repeated this exercise with everyone on team.)
30. Have you in the last two months had a presentation to the group by a “weird”
outsider?
31. Have you in the last two months had a presentation to the group by a customer,
internal customer, vendor featuring “working folks” 3 or 4 levels down in the vendor
organization?
32. Have you in the last two months had a presentation to the group of a cool,
beyond-our-industry ideas by two of your folks?
33. Have you at every meeting today (and forever more) re-directed the conversation
to the practicalities of implementation concerning some issue before the group?
34. Have you at every meeting today (and forever more) had an end-of-meeting
discussion on “action items to be dealt with in the next 4, 48 hours”? (And then
made this list public—and followed up in 48 hours.) And made sure everyone has at
least one such item.)
35. Have you had a discussion in the last six months about what it would take to get
recognition in local-national poll of “best places to work”?
36. Have you in the last month approved a cool-different training course for one
of your folks?
Have you in the last month taught a front-line
training course?
37.
38. Have you in the last week discussed the idea of Excellence? (What it means, how
to get there.)
39. Have you in the last week discussed the idea of “Wow”? (What it means, how
to inject it into an ongoing “routine” project.)
40. Have you in the last 45 days assessed some major process in terms of the
details of the “experience,” as well as results, it provides to its external or internal
customers?
41. Have you in the last month had one of your folks attend a meeting you were supposed to go
to which gives them unusual exposure to senior folks?
42. Have you in the last 60 (30?) days sat with a trusted friend or “coach” to discuss your
“management style”—and its long- and short-term impact on the group?
43. Have you in the last three days considered a professional
relationship that was a little rocky and made a call to the person
involved to discuss issues and smooth the waters? (Taking the
“blame,” fully deserved or not, for letting the thing-issue fester.)
44. Have you in the last … two hours … stopped by someone’s (two-levels “down") officeworkspace for 5 minutes to ask “What do you think?” about an issue that arose at a more or
less just completed meeting? (And then stuck around for 10 or so minutes to listen—and
visibly taken notes.)
45. Have you … in the last day … looked around you to assess whether the diversity pretty
accurately maps the diversity of the market being served? (And …)
46. Have you in the last day at some meeting gone out of your way to make sure that a normally
reticent person was engaged in a conversation—and then thanked him or her, perhaps
privately, for their contribution?
47. Have you during your tenure instituted very public (visible) presentations of performance?
48. Have you in the last four months had a session specifically aimed at checking on the
“corporate culture” and the degree we are true to it—with all presentations by relatively junior
folks, including front-line folks? (And with a determined effort to keep the conversation
restricted to “real world” “small” cases—not theory.)
49. Have you in the last six months talked about the Internal Brand Promise?
50. Have you in the last year had a full-day off site to talk about individual (and group)
aspirations?
“The doctor
interrupts
after …*
*Source: Jerome Groopman, How Doctors Think
seconds
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
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
is
is
is
is
...
...
...
...
are far better at it than men.)
the basis for Community.
the bedrock of Joint Ventures that work.
the bedrock of Joint Ventures that grow.
the core of effective Cross-functional
Communication* (*Which is in turn Attribute #1 of
organizational effectiveness.)
[cont.]
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
is
is
is
is
is
is
is
is
is
is
is
is
is
is
is
is
is
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
the engine of superior EXECUTION.
the key to making the Sale.
the key to Keeping the Customer’s Business.
Service.
the engine of Network development.
the engine of Network maintenance.
the engine of Network expansion.
Social Networking’s “secret weapon.”
Learning.
the sine qua non of Renewal.
the sine qua non of Creativity.
the sine qua non of Innovation.
the core of taking diverse opinions aboard.
Strategy.
Source #1 of “Value-added.”
Differentiator #1.
Profitable.* (*The “R.O.I.” from listening is higher than
that from any other single activity.)
Listening is … the bedrock which underpins a Commitment to
EXCELLENCE
Best Listeners Win …
“if you don’t
listen, you don’t
sell anything.”
—Carolyn Marland
If
you agree with the above, shouldn’t listening be ... a
Core Value?
If you agree with the above, shouldn’t listening be ...
perhaps 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.”)
If you agree, shouldn’t listening
If you agree, shouldn’t listening
#1?
If you agree, shouldn’t listening
item” at every Meeting?
If you agree, shouldn’t listening
se? (Listening = Strategy.)
If you agree, shouldn’t listening
for in Hiring (for every job)?
be ... a Core Competence?
be ... Core Competence
be ... an explicit “agenda
be ... our Strategy—per
be ... the #1 skill we look
“We are Effective
Listeners—we treat
Listening EXCELLENCE as
the Centerpiece of our
Commitment to Respect
and Engagement and
Community and Growth.”
If you agree, shouldn’t listening be ... the #1 attribute
we examine in our Evaluations?
If you agree, shouldn’t listening be ... the #1 skill we
look for in Promotion decisions?
If you agree, shouldn’t listening be ... the #1 Training
priority at every stage of everyone’s career—from Day
#1 to Day LAST?
If you agree, what are you going to do about it ... in the
next 30 MINUTES?
If you agree, what are you going to do about it ... at your
NEXT meeting?
If you agree, what are you going to do about it ... by the
end of the DAY?
If you agree, what are you going to do about it ... in the
next 30 DAYS?
If you agree, what are you going to do about it ... in the
next 12 MONTHS?
*Listening is of the
utmost … strategic
importance!
*Listening is a proper …
core value !
*Listening is … trainable
!
*Listening is a … profession
!
Listen = “Profession”
= Study = practice =
evaluation =
Enterprise value
Message:
Listening is a …
profession!
Listen!
• Listening Leaders: The Ten Golden Rules To
Listen, Lead & Succeed—Lyman Steil and
Richard Bommelje
• The Zen of Listening—Rebecca Shafir
• Effective Listening Skills—Dennis Kratz and
Abby Robinson Kratz
• Are You Really Listening?—Paul Donoghue and
Mary Siegel
• Active Listening: Improve Your Ability to Listen
and Lead—Michael Hoppe
• Listening: The Forgotten Skill
—Madelyn Burley-Allen
“You can make more
friends in two months by
becoming interested in
other people than you can
in two years by trying to
get other people interested
in you.” —Dale Carnegie
“It was much later that I realized
Dad’s secret. He gained respect by
giving it. He talked and listened to
the fourth-grade kids in Spring Valley
who shined shoes the same way he
talked and listened to a bishop or a
He was
seriously interested in
who you were and what
you had to say.”
college president.
—Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Respect
And the answer is ….
otis
All you need to know …
Hilton
Howard
Herb
Henry I
Henry II
Hiram
Horatio
Hill
Hartville
Helgesen
Hsieh
“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 the Annual Meeting)
"If you want staff to
give great service,
give great service to
staff."
—Ari Weinzweig, Zingerman's
Zabar’s
Parking
Garage*
*Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores in America
“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 management has made customers its highest priority?’” “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
Our focus was
totally on the staff. They were
the ones we wanted to make
happy.
fruit, and changed colors.
We wanted them to wake up every morning excited about a
new day at work.”
Source: Jan Gunnarsson and Olle Blohm, Hostmanship: The Art of Making People Feel Welcome.
“We are a
‘Life Success’
Company.”
Dave Liniger, founder, RE/MAX
“No matter what the
situation, [the great manager’s] first
response is always to think
about the individual
concerned and how things
can be arranged to help that
individual experience
success.”
—Marcus Buckingham,
The One Thing You Need to Know
“Managing winds up being
the management of the
allocation of resources
against tasks. Leadership
My
definition of a leader
is someone who
helps people
succeed.”
focuses on people.
—Carol Bartz, Yahoo!
“Business has to give people enriching,
or it's
simply not
worth
doing.”
rewarding lives …
—Richard Branson
Brand =
Talent.
Our Mission
To develop and manage talent;
to apply that talent,
throughout the world,
for the benefit of clients;
to do so in partnership;
to do so with profit.
WPP
… no less than
Cathedrals
in which the full and
awesome power of the
Imagination and Spirit and
native Entrepreneurial flair
of diverse individuals is
unleashed in passionate
pursuit of … Excellence.
Oath of Office: Managers/Servant Leaders
Our goal is to serve our customers brilliantly and profitably over
the long haul.
Serving our customers brilliantly and profitably over the long
haul is a product of brilliantly serving, over the long haul, the
people who serve the customer.
Hence, our job as leaders—the alpha and the omega and
everything in between—is abetting the sustained growth and
success and engagement and enthusiasm and commitment to
Excellence of those, one at a time, who directly or indirectly
serve the ultimate customer.
We—leaders of every stripe—are in the “Human Growth and
Development and Success and Aspiration to Excellence
business.”
“We” [leaders] only grow when “they” [each and every one of our colleagues] are
growing.
“We” [leaders] only succeed when “they” [each and every one of our colleagues]
are succeeding.
“We” [leaders] only energetically march toward Excellence when
“they” [each and every one of our colleagues] are energetically marching
toward Excellence.
Period.
“The role of the Director is to create
a space where the actors and
become more
than they’ve ever been
before, more than
they’ve dreamed of
being.”
actresses can
—Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance speech
“The
ONE Question”: “In the last year [3 years, current job],
three
people
name the …
… whose growth you’ve
most contributed to. Please explain where they were at the
beginning of the year, where they are today, and where they are
heading in the next 12 months. Please explain in painstaking detail
your development strategy in each case. Please tell me your biggest
development disappointment—looking back, could you or would you
have done anything differently? Please tell me about your greatest
development triumph—and disaster—in the last five years. What
are the ‘three big things’ you’ve learned about helping people
grow along the way?”
“A man should never
be promoted to a
managerial position if his
vision focuses on people’s
weaknesses rather than on
their strengths.”
Source: Peter Drucker, The Practice of Management
Andrew Carnegie’s tombstone inscription
Here lies a man
Who knew how to enlist
In his service
Better men than himself
Source: Peter Drucker, The Practice of Management
“How to throw
$500,000 into
the sea in one
easy lesson!!”
TP:
< CAPEX
> People!
Source: Container Store/increase average sale per shopper
Luiza Helena,
Magazine
Luiza
Wegmans.
four most
important
words in any
“The
organization are …
The four most important words in any organization
are …
“What do
you
think?”
Source: courtesy Dave Wheeler, posted at tompeters.com
Tomorrow: How
many times will you
“ask the WDYT
question”?
[Count!]
[Practice
makes better!] [This is a
STRATEGIC skill!]
“WDYT” =
Certification of me as
a person of
Importance whose
opinion is valued.
What do managers do for a living?
Help!
Right?
How many of us could call ourselves “professional helpers,” meaning that
we have studied—like a professional mastering her craft—“helping”?
(Not many, I’d judge.)
Ed Schein: Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help
Last chapter: 7 “principles.” E.g.:
PRINCIPLE 2: “Effective Help Occurs When the Helping Relationship Is
Perceived to Be Equitable.
PRINCIPLE 4: “Everything You Say or Do Is an Intervention that
Determines the Future of the Relationship..
PRINCIPLE 5: “Effective Helping Begins with Pure Inquiry.
PRINCIPLE 6: “It Is the Client Who Owns the Problem.”*
(*Love the idea that the employee is a “Client”! Words matter!! Read a quote from
NFL player-turned lawyer-turned NFL coach, calling his players “my clients.”)
Employee as Client!
“Helping” is what we [leaders] “do” for a living!
STUDY/PRACTICE “helping” as you would neurosurgery!
(“Helping” is your neurosurgery!)
53 = 53* **
*No “bit players”
**6B+ = 6B+
All you need to know …
Hilton
Howard
Herb
Henry I
Henry II
Hiram
Horatio
Hill
Hartville
Helgesen
Hsieh
“Courtesies of a small and
trivial character are the
ones which strike
deepest in the grateful
and appreciating heart.”
—Henry Clay,
American Statesman (1777-1852)
“We do no great
things, only small
things with great
love.”
—Mother Teresa
“I long to accomplish a
great and noble task, but it
is my chief duty to
accomplish humble tasks
as though they were great
and noble.” —Helen Keller
none!
139,380 former
patients from 225 hospitals:
Press Ganey Assoc:
none
of THE top 15 factors
determining Patient Satisfaction
referred to patient’s health outcome
P.S. directly related to Staff Interaction
P.P.S. directly correlated with Employee
Satisfaction
Source: Putting Patients First, Susan Frampton, Laura Gilpin, Patrick Charmel
“There is a misconception that supportive interactions require
more staff or more time and are therefore more costly. Although
labor costs are a substantial part of any hospital budget, the
interactions themselves add nothing to the budget.
Kindness is
free.
Listening to patients or answering their
questions costs nothing. It can be argued that negative
interactions—alienating patients, being non-responsive to their
needs or limiting their sense of control—can be very costly. …
Angry, frustrated or frightened patients may be combative,
withdrawn and less cooperative—requiring far more time
than it would have taken to interact with them initially in a
positive way.” —Putting Patients First, Susan Frampton,
Laura Gilpin, Patrick Charmel
“Kindness
Is Free.”
Source: Planetree Alliance/Griffin Hospital
K=R=P
Kindness = Repeat business = Profit.
K = R = P/Kindness = Repeat business = Profit/Kindness:
Kind.
Thoughtful.
Decent.
Caring.
Attentive.
Engaged.
Listens well/obsessively.
Appreciative.
Open.
Visible.
Honest.
Responsive.
On time all the time.
Apologizes with dispatch for screwups.
“Over”-reacts to screwups of any magnitude.
“Professional” in all dealings.
Optimistic.
Understands that kindness to staff breeds kindness to others/outsiders.
Applies throughout the “supply chain.”
Applies to 100% of customer’s staff.
Explicit part of values statement.
Basis for evaluation of 100% of our staff.
[ALL TOO RARE] EXCELLENCE IN HEALTHCARE
PLANETREE ALLIANCE*: BELIEFS STATEMENT
We believe …
That we are human beings, caring for other human beings
We are all caregivers
Care giving is best achieved through kindness and compassion
Safe, accessible high-quality care is fundamental
to patient-centric care
In a holistic approach to meeting people’s needs of
body, mind and spirit
Families, friends and loved ones are vital to the healing process
Access to understandable health information can empower
individuals to participate in their health
The opportunity for individuals to make personal choices
related to their care is essential
Physical environments can enhance healing, health and wellbeing
Illness can be a transformational experience for
patients, families and caregivers
*The Planetree Alliance, headquartered at the award-winning Griffin Hospital in Derby CT, is an association of hospitals
committed to “patient-centric care”; the Planetree Alliance is the chief protagonist in this essential movement.
/80*
*Post-interview “Thank you” notes
“The deepest
human need is
the … need to be
appreciated.”
—William James
“One kind word can
warm three winter
months.”
– Japanese Proverb
Tomorrow: How many
times will you mange to
blurt out, “Thank you”?
[Count ‘em!]
[Practice
makes better!* *The engineer from
Manchester.]] [This is a STRATEGIC skill!]
“I regard apologizing as the
most magical, healing,
restorative gesture human
beings can make. It is the
centerpiece of my work with
executives who want to get
better.” —Marshall Goldsmith, What Got You
Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become
Even More Successful.
“Keep a short
enemies list. One
enemy can do more
damage than the
good done by a
hundred friends.”
—Bill Walsh (from The Score Takes Care of Itself)
Relationships
(of all varieties):
THERE
ONCE WAS A TIME WHEN A
THREE-MINUTE
PHONE CALL WOULD
HAVE AVOIDED SETTING OFF THE
DOWNWARD SPIRAL THAT RESULTED
IN A COMPLETE RUPTURE.
The “three-minute call”
often-usually-invariably
leads to a strengthening
of the relationship. It not
only acts as atonement
but also paves the path for
a “better than ever”
trajectory.
THE PROBLEM IS
RARELY/NEVER THE
PROBLEM. THE
RESPONSE TO THE
PROBLEM INVARIABLY
ENDS UP BEING THE
REAL PROBLEM.*
*PERCEPTION IS ALL THERE IS!
*effective “Repair”/Apology is of the
utmost … strategic
importance!
*effective repair is a proper …
core value !
*effective repair is …
trainable !
*effective repair is a …
profession !
Comeback
[big, quick response]
>>
Perfection
Acquire vs maintain*:
*Recession goal: Higher “market share” current customers
“One of the secrets of
a long and fruitful life
is to forgive everybody
of everything every
night right before
going to bed.” —Bernard Baruch
“We are
thoughtful
in all we do.”
Enterprise Value:
Thoughtfulness is key to customer retention.
Thoughtfulness is key to employee recruitment
and satisfaction.
Thoughtfulness is key to brand perception.
Thoughtfulness is key to your ability to look in
the mirror —and tell your kids about your job.
“Thoughtfulness is free.”
Thoughtfulness is key to speeding things up—
it reduces friction.
Thoughtfulness is key to transparency and even
cost containment—it abets rather than stifles
truth-telling.
“The ‘golden rule’ is of
no use whatsoever
unless you realize it is
your move.” —Frank Crane
*Thoughtfulness is of the
utmost … strategic
importance!
*thoughtfulness is a proper …
core value !
*Thoughtfulness is … trainable
!
*Thoughtfulness is a … profession
!
Hard Is Soft
Soft Is Hard
Hard Is Soft (Plans, #s)
Soft Is Hard (people,
customers, values,
relationships)
Give
good
tea!
Edward VII
B. Franklin
Or Not: ClintonCornwallisYorktown
“In the same bitter winter of 1776 that Gen. George Washington led his beleaguered troops
across the Delaware River to safety, Benjamin Franklin sailed across the Atlantic to Paris to
engage in an equally crucial campaign, this one diplomatic. A lot depended on the bespectacled
and decidedly unfashionable 70-year-old as he entered the world’s fashion capitol sporting a
Franklin’s miracle was that armed
only with his canny personal charm and reputation as a
scientist and philosopher, he was able to cajole a wary
French government into lending the fledgling American
nation an enormous fortune. … The enduring image of Franklin in Paris tends
simple brown suit and a fur cap. …
to be that of a flirtatious old man, too busy visiting the city’s fashionable salons to pursue affairs
When Adams joined Franklin in
Paris in 1779, he was scandalized by the late hours and
French lifestyle his colleague had adopted [says Stacy
Schiff, in A Great Improvisation]. Adams was clueless that
it was through the dropped hints and seemingly offhand
remarks at these salons that so much of French diplomacy
was conducted. … Like the Beatles arriving in America, Franklin aroused a fervor—his
of state as rigorously as John Adams.
face appeared on prints, teacups and chamber pots. The extraordinary popularity served
Franklin’s diplomatic purposes splendidly. Not even King Louis XVI could ignore the enthusiasm
that had won over both the nobility and the bourgeoisie. …”
Source: “In Paris, Taking the Salons By Storm: How the Canny Ben Franklin Talked
the French into Forming a Crucial Alliance,” U.S. News & World Report, 0707.08
“Berezovsky … came under attack from the newly
powerful Primakov, and was shunned by most of the
Putin made a point of
attending Berezovsky’s wife’s
birthday party. Berezovsky repaid
Putin by championing his
candidacy to run the F.S.B.,
Russia’s secret police, formerly the
K.G.B., and ultimately by
suggesting that the Family make
him president. To sum up, the man’s qualifications
political elite.
were: he did not take a bribe from a car dealership and had
been unafraid to go to a party for an acquaintance who had
fallen into disfavor.” —”Dead Soul,”
Vanity Fair, October 2008
“Allied commands depend
on mutual confidence
[and this confidence is]
gained, above all
through the development
of friendships.”
—General D.D. Eisenhower,
Armchair General* (05.08)
*“Perhaps his most outstanding ability [at West Point]
was the ease with which he made friends and earned the
trust of fellow cadets who came from widely varied backgrounds; it
was a quality that would pay great dividends during his
future coalition command.”
The Real World’s “Little” Rule Book
Ben/tea
Norm/tea
DDE/make friends
WFBuckley/make friends-help friends
Gust/Suck down
Charlie/poker pal-BOF
Edward VII/dance-flatter-mingle-learn the language
Vladimir Putin/birthday party of outgroup guy’s wife
CIO/finance network
ERP installer/consult-“one line of code”
GE Energy/make friends risk assessment
GWB/check the invitation list
GHWB/T-notes
Hank/60 calls
MarkM/5K-5M
Delaware/show up
Oppy/snub Lewis Strauss
NM/smile
-$4.3T/tin ear
tp.com/Big 4-What do you think?
Women/genes
Banker/after church
Total Bloody Mess/Can they pay back the loan?
R.O.I.R.
Return On
Investment In
Relationships
“The 7-S Model”
Strategy
Structure
Systems
Style
Skills
Staff
Super-ordinate goal
“The 7-S Model”
“Hard Ss”
(Strategy, Structure, Systems)
“Soft SS”
(Style, Skills, Staff, Super-ordinate goal)
“The 7-S Model”
Strategy
Structure
Systems
Style (Corporate “Culture,” “The way
we do things around here”)
Skills (“Distinctive Competence/s”)
Staff (People-Talent)
Super-ordinate goal (Vision,
Core Values)
“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
very, very hard.
game —it is the
game.”
—Lou Gerstner,
Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance
“… it is
the
game.”
-fold!
EXCELLENCE/Five Or Less Words To The Wise
4 most important words: “What do you think?” (Dave Wheeler @
tompeters.com: “Most important 4
words in an organization.”)
4 most important words: “How can I help?” (Boss as CHRO/
Chief Hurdle Removal Officer)
2 most important words: “Thank you!” (Appreciation/
Recognition)
2 most important words: “All yours.” (“Hands-off” delegation/
Respect/Trust)
3 most important words: “I’m going out.” (MBWA/Managing By
Wandering Around/In touch!)
2 most important words: “I’m sorry.” (Power of unconditional
apology = Stunning! Marshall
Goldsmith: #1 exec issue)
5 most important words: “Did you tell the customer?” (Overcommunicate!)
2 most important words: “She says …” (“She” is the customer!)
EXCELLENCE/Five Or Less Words To The Wise
2 most important words: “Yes ma’am.” (Women are more often
than not the best managers.)
2 most important words: “Try it!” (My only “for sure” in 44 years:
Herb Kelleher: “We have a strategic
plan, it’s called doing things.”/Bill
Parcells: “Blame no one. Expect
nothing. Do something.”)
3 most important words: “Try it again!” (My only “for sure” in 44
years: MOST TRIES WINS.)
2 most important words: “Good try!” (CELEBRATE “good
failures.” Richard Farson/book:
Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes
Wins. Samuel Beckett: “Fail. Fail again.
Fail better.”)
3 most important words: “At your service.” (Organizations exist
to serve. Period. Leaders live to serve.
Period.)
4 most important words: “How are we doing?” (To customers,
regularly.)
4 most important words: “How was Mary’s recital?” (Know your
employees’ kids.)
2 most important words: “Let’s party!” (Celebrate “small wins” at
the drop of a hat.)
EXCELLENCE/Five Or Less Words To The Wise
1 most important word: “No.” (“To don’ts” > “To dos”)
1 most important word: “Yes.” (Hey, give it a shot/Anon. quote:
“The best answer is always, ‘What the
hell.’”/Wayne Gretzky: “You miss
100% of the shots you don’t take.”)
2 most important words: “Lunch today?” (“Social stuff” = Secret
to problem/opportunity #1:/XFX/
cross-functional Excellence.)
4 most important words: “Thank Dick in accounting.” (Readily
acknowledge help from other
functions.)
2 most important words: “After you.” (Courtesy rules.)
3 most important words: “Thanks for coming.” (Civility. E.g., boss
acknowledges employee coming to
her/his office.)
2 most important words: “Great smile!” (Note & acknowledge
good attitude.)
1 most important word: “Wow!” (The gold standard … for
everything.)
1 most important word: “EXCELLENT!” (The … ONLY …
acceptable standard/aspiration.)
All you need to know …
Hilton
Howard
Herb
Henry I
Henry II
Hiram
Horatio
Hill
Hartville
Helgesen
Hsieh
READY.
FIRE!
AIM.
H. Ross Perot (vs “Aim! Aim! Aim!” /EDS vs GM/1985)
“We have a
strategic plan.
It’s called doing
things.”
—Herb Kelleher
A man approached JP Morgan, held up an envelope, and said, “Sir,
in my hand I hold a guaranteed formula for success, which I will
gladly sell you for $25,000.”
“Sir,” JP Morgan replied, “I do not know what is in the envelope,
however if you show me, and I like it, I
give you my word as a gentleman that I will pay you what you ask.”
The man agreed to the terms, and handed over the envelope. JP
Morgan opened it, and extracted a single sheet of paper. He gave it
one look, a mere glance, then handed the piece of paper back to the
gent.
And paid him the
agreed upon $25,000.
1. Every morning, write
a list of the things
that need to be done
that day.
2.
Do them.
Source: Hugh MacLeod/tompeters.com/NPR
Korea!
“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
Culture of Prototyping
“Effective prototyping may
the most
valuable core
competence an
be
innovative organization can
hope to have.” —Michael Schrage
Think about It!?
Innovation =
Reaction to the
Prototype
Source: Michael Schrage
“Experiment
fearlessly”
Source: BusinessWeek, Type A Organization Strategies/
“How to Hit a Moving Target”—Tactic #1
“relentless
trial and
error”*
*cornerstone of effective approach to “rebalancing” company portfolios in the face
of changing and uncertain global economic conditions (Wall Street Journal, 11.08.10)
Mickey Drexler
**Bias for instant action/Towering impatience with in-action
**Impatient but not brutal
**Relentless/Speed-of-light experimentation; more ASAP if works, drop if not
**Vibrates with energy (literally)
**Always on the prowl—anywhere, everywhere—for ideas
**Lots of team-standing-around-making-instant-assessments-decisions—all
contributing
**Likes working with women more than men because F more intuitive than M
**Dresses like the brand—at 66
**Offense, not defense
**Communicates all the time [removes fear from hearing “famous” CEO]. Everyone,
including most junior, made part of the decision-making team
**Listens attentively regardless of age/seniority
**Obvious in his transparent respect for young employees
**Trusts intuition plus fanatic about the numbers
**Expects everyone to know their numbers cold from memory
**Always aware of “the business case”—as well as fashion-master
**Aggressive pricing
**MBWA/Managing By Wandering Around
**Open with everyone, from youth to folks at Earnings Call
**Constant customer contact/Dialogues with customer/React instantly to customer
feedback
**Willing to act (experiment) based on one datapoint
**Engages with most junior people
**At 66, comfortably uses “hot” words like “Cool” “Wow”
Source: The New Yorker/0920.10
We are the
company
we keep
The “We are what we eat”
axiom: At its core, every (!!!)
relationship-partnership decision
(employee, vendor, customer, etc) is
a strategic decision about:
“Innovate,
‘Yes’ or ‘No’ ”
*Find a Fellow Freak Faraway
“Who’s the most
interesting person
you’ve met in the
last 90 days? How
do I get in touch
with them?”
—Fred Smith
“Somewhere in your
organization, groups of
people are already doing
things differently and better.
To create lasting change, find
these areas of positive
deviance and fan the flames.”
—Richard Pascale & Jerry Sternin,
“Your Company’s Secret Change Agents,” HBR
“d”iversity
“Diverse groups of problem solvers—groups
of people with diverse tools—consistently
outperformed groups of the best and the
brightest. If I formed two groups, one
random (and therefore diverse) and one
consisting of the best individual performers,
the first group almost always did better. …
Diversity trumped
ability.”
—Scott Page, The Difference: How
the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups,
Firms, Schools, and Societies
Can you pass the …
“Squint
test”?
“‘Decentralization’
is not a piece of
paper. It’s not me.
It’s either in your
heart, or not.”
—Brian Joffe/BIDvest
Enemy
#1
I.C.D.
Inherent/Inevitable/
Immutable Centralist Drift
Note 1:
Note 2: Jim Burke’s 1-word vocabulary: “No.”
“Fail.
Forward.
Fast.”
High Tech CEO, Pennsylvania
“Fail. Fail
again. Fail
better.”
—Samuel Beckett
“Reward
excellent failures.
Punish mediocre
successes.”
Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
“In business, you reward
people for taking risks.
When it doesn’t work out
you promote them-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 (BW/0625.07)
“It is not enough to
‘tolerate’ failure—
you must
‘celebrate’
failure.”
—Richard Farson (Whoever Makes the
Most Mistakes Wins)
“Whoever tries
the most stuff and
screws the most stuff up
and most rapidly
launches the next try
wins. Failures are not to
be ‘tolerated,’ they are
to be celebrated.”
Success 101:
"How often I found
where I should be
going only by setting
out for somewhere
else.”
— Buckminster Fuller
He who has the
quickest
“O.O.D.A.
Loops”* wins!
*Observe. Orient. Decide. Act. /Col. John Boyd
OODA Loop/Boyd Cycle
“Unraveling the competition”/ Quick
Transients/ Quick Tempo (NOT JUST
SPEED!)/ Agility/ “So quick it is
disconcerting” (adversary over-reacts
or under-reacts)/ “Winners used
tactics that caused the enemy to
unravel before the fight” (NEVER
HEAD TO HEAD)
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
Read This!
Richard Farson & Ralph Keyes:
Whoever Makes
the Most Mistakes
Wins: The Paradox
of Innovation
“The secret of fast
progress is
inefficiency, fast
and furious and
numerous failures.”
—Kevin Kelly
“No man ever
became great
except through
many and great
mistakes.”
—William Gladstone
“I have missed more than 9,000
shots in my career. I have lost
almost 300 games. On 26 occasions
I have been entrusted to take the
game winning shot—and missed.
And I have failed over and over and
over again in my life. And that is
why I succeed.” —Michael Jordan
/45
Excellence1982: The Bedrock “Eight Basics”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
A Bias for Action
Close to the Customer
Autonomy and Entrepreneurship
Productivity Through People
Hands On, Value-Driven
Stick to the Knitting
Simple Form, Lean Staff
Simultaneous Loose-Tight
Properties
“You miss
100% of
the shots you
never take.”
—Wayne Gretzky
BLAME NOBODY.
EXPECT NOTHING.
DO SOMETHING.
Source: Locker room sign posted by
football coach Bill Parcells
All you need to know …
Hilton
Howard
Herb
Henry I
Henry II
Hiram
Horatio
Hill
Hartville
Helgesen
Hsieh
“One of my superstitions had
always been when I started to
go anywhere or to do
not to
turn back , or
anything,
stop, until the thing intended
was accomplished.” —Grant*
*Ulysses Simpson Grant was actually Hiram Ulysses Grant
“This [adolescent] incident [of getting from point A to point B] is
notable not only because it underlines Grant’s fearless
horsemanship and his determination, but also it is the first known
example of a very important peculiarity of his character:
Grant had an extreme,
almost phobic dislike of
turning back and retracing
his steps. If he set out for somewhere, he would get
there somehow, whatever the difficulties that lay in his way. This
idiosyncrasy would turn out to be one the factors that made him
such a formidable general. Grant would always, always press on—
turning back was not an option for him.”
—Michael Korda, Ulysses Grant
All you need to know …
Hilton
Howard
Herb
Henry I
Henry II
Hiram
Horatio
Hill
Hartville
Helgesen
Hsieh
On ADMIRAL HORATIO
“[other]
admirals more
frightened of
losing than
anxious to win”
NELSON:
The greatest danger
for most of us
is not that our aim is
too high
and we miss it,
but that it is
too low
and we reach it.
Michelangelo
All you need to know …
Hilton
Howard
Herb
Henry I
Henry II
Hiram
Horatio
Hill
Hartville
Helgesen
Hsieh
7X.
7:30A-8:00P.
F12A.
7:30AM = 7:15AM.
8:00PM = 8:15PM.
2,000,000
Conveyance: Kingfisher Air
Location: Approach to New Delhi
“May I
clean your
glasses,
sir?”
Carl’s
StreetSweeper
BEGINS
(and ENDS)
It
in the …
parking
lot*
*Disney
FLOWER
POWER*
*Thanks, Stanley Marcus
“Think of
a $350,000 note
walking in
the door.”
Little =
Big carts =
Source: Walmart
Bag sizes = New markets:
Source: PepsiCo
Socks =
10,000
45%
86%
401(k) active opt-in:
401(k) as default:
Source: New York Times, 1202.08 (research by Richard
Thaler, co-author Nudge)
<TGW
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
And in
Milwaukee …
Experience: “Rebel Lifestyle!”
“What we sell is the
ability for a 43year-old accountant
to dress in black
leather, ride through
small towns and have
people be afraid
of him.”
Harley exec, quoted in Results-Based Leadership
“At our core, we’re a
coffee company, but the
opportunity we have to
extend the brand is
it’s
entertainment.”
beyond coffee;
—Howard Schultz (“The Starbucks Aesthetic,” NYT, 10.22.06)
“An adventure in
‘shoppertainment’”
—Jungle Jim’s International Market, Fairfield, OH (George Whalin, Retail Superstars)
“It’s simple, really,
Tom. Hire for s,
and, above all,
promote for s.”
—Starbucks middle manager/field
C
*Chief e
O*
Xperience Officer
All Equal Except …
“At Sony we assume that all products
of our competitors have basically the
same technology, price, performance
and features. Design is the
only thing that
differentiates one product
from another in the
marketplace.” —Norio Ohga
“Design is treated
like a religion
at BMW.” —Fortune
“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
Design is
the fundamental
soul of a man-made
creation.”
meaning of design.
—Steve Jobs
Hypothesis:
DESIGN is
the principal
difference
between love
and hate!
O*
C
*Chief
Design
Officer
“The ‘surplus society’ has a surplus of
companies, employing
similar
similar
similar
similar
similar
people, with
educational backgrounds, coming up with
ideas, producing
with
similar
similar
prices and
quality.”
things,
The Value-added Ladder
Spellbinding
Experiences
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
Furniture vs. Dreams
“We do not sell ‘furniture’ at Domain.
We sell dreams. This
is accomplished by addressing the
half-formed needs in our customers’
heads. By uncovering these needs,
we, in essence, fill in the blanks. We
convert ‘needs’ into ‘dreams.’
Sales are the inevitable
result.”
— Judy George, Domain Home Fashions
“The sun is setting on the Information Society—
even before we have fully adjusted to its
demands as individuals and as companies. We
have lived as hunters and as farmers, we have
worked in factories and now we live in an
information-based society whose icon is the
We stand facing
the fifth kind of society:
the Dream Society. … Future
computer.
products will have to appeal to our hearts, not
to our heads. Now is the time to add emotional
value to products and services.”
Rolf Jensen/The Dream Society: How the Coming Shift from
Information to Imagination Will Transform Your Business
The Value-added Ladder
Dreams Come True
Spellbinding Experiences
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
“When I first suggested that Love was the way to
transform business, grown CEOs blushed and slid
down behind annual accounts. But I kept at them. I
knew it was Love that was missing. I knew that
Love was the only way to ante up the emotional
temperature and create the new kinds of
relationships brands needed. I knew that Love*
was the only way business could respond to the
rapid shift in control to consumers.”
Roberts/Lovemarks
*Stew’s bag in coffin
—Kevin
The Value-added Ladder
Lovemark
Dreams Come True
Spellbinding Experiences
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
C
O*
*Chief Lovemark Officer
More
Moore
Up,
Up,
Up,
Up
the Value-added Ladder.
$50B+*
*IBM Global Services/
“Systems integrator of choice”
MasterCard
Advisors
California Closets: “a
whole-life upgrade, not
just a tidy bedroom.”
—WSJ/0329.07, “Why the ClosetStore Guy Wants to Be Your Therapist”
I. LAN Installation Co.
II. Geek Squad.
(3%)
(30%.)
III. Acquired by BestBuy.
IV. Flagship of BestBuy
Wholesale “Solutions”
Strategy Makeover.
The Value-added Ladder
Customer Success/
Gamechanging Solutions
Lovemark
Dreams Come True
Spellbinding Experiences
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
The Value-added Ladder/ OPPORTUNITY-SEEKING
Customer Success/
Gamechanging
Solutions
Services
Goods
Raw Materials
All you need to know …
Hilton
Howard
Herb
Henry I
Henry II
Hiram
Horatio
Hsieh
Hill
Hartville
Helgesen
Hartville Hardware
Hartville, Ohio, pop <2,500
100,000 square feet (plus catalog,
Web serve location)
Family run
“One of biggest and best tool merchants
in USA”
Customers from 100s of miles away
Renowned semi-annual tool sale (12,000
transactions at recent incarnation)
Anchor for 110-independent shops @
Hartville MarketPlace
Staff as premier trainers
Etc.
Etc.
Source: Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores in America, George Whalin
“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 …
“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
“Mr. Foster and his McKinsey colleagues
collected detailed performance data stretching
back
40 years for 1,000
They found that
U.S. companies.
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
“It’s just a fact:
Survivors
underperform.”
—Dick Foster
“Data drawn from the real world
attest to a fact that is beyond
Everything
in existence tends
to deteriorate.”
our control:
—Norberto Odebrecht, Education Through Work
You don’t
get better
by being
bigger. You
Dick Kovacevich:
#4 Japan
#3 USA
#2 China
#1 Germany
MittELstand* **
*“agile creatures darting between the legs of
the multinational monsters" (Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 10.10)
**E.g. Goldmann Produktion
“agile creatures darting
between the legs of the
multinational monsters"
Source: Bloomberg BusinessWeek on the German …
MITTELSTAND
Larry Janesky
Rocks …
*Basement Systems Inc.
(Seymour CT)
*Dry Basement Science
(115,000!)
*1990: $0; 2003: $13M;
2008:
$62,000,000
The Red
Carpet
Store
(Joel Resnick/Flemington NJ)
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
Note: Download, free, Jim Penman’s book:
What Will They Franchise Next? The Story of Jim’s Group
Jim’s Group: Jim Penman.*
1984: Jim’s Mowing. 2006: Jim’s Group.
2,600 franchisees (Australia, NZ, UK).
Cleaning. Dog washing. Handyman.
Fencing. Paving. Pool care. Etc.
“People first.” Private. Small staff. Franchisees
can leave at will. 0-1 complaint per year is
norm; cut bad ones quickly.
*Ph.D. cross-cultural anthropology; mowing on the side
Source: MT/Management Today (Australia), Jan-Feb 2006
“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
“You do not merely want to
be the best of the best. You
want to be
considered the
only ones who do
what you do.”
—Jerry Garcia
Retail Superstars:
Inside the 25 Best
Independent Stores
in America
—by George Whalin
Jungle Jim’s International Market, Fairfield, Ohio: “An
‘shoppertainment,’
adventure in
as Jungle
Jim’s call it, begins in the parking lot and goes on to
1,600 cheeses and, yes, 1,400 varieties of hot sauce —
not to mention 12,000 wines priced from $8 to $8,000 a
bottle; all this is brought to you by 4,000 vendors.
Customers come from every corner of the globe.”
Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Michigan,
pop 5,000: 98,000-square-foot “shop” features the likes of
6,000 Christmas ornaments, 50,000 trims, and anything
else you can name if it pertains to Christmas.
Source: George Whalin, Retail Superstars
Virtual tour: www.retailsuperstars.com
Abt Electronics/Family/1936
Insane competition (Chicagoland!)
Campus/350K sqft (40K sqmtrs)/37 acres/$300M
Design Center (Classes beyond product, etc.)
“Destination” like Ikea (restaurant, atrium
with spectacular flowers, 7,500 gallon
aquarium, etc.)
In-house delivery teams (Attn uniform design, etc.)
Training/knowledge training!!!!!!!!
“Yes.” Period.
“Over”-staffed
Merchandising (boats displaying marine
electronics, cars with various systems, etc.)
Web (encyclopedic info re almost all stuff sold,
blog, live chat with live experts “24/7”, etc.)
Rating services (>>> Home Depot, Lowes, etc.)
Source: George Whalin, Retail Superstars
1. Courses/Workshops/Demos/Engagement
2. Instructional guides/material/books
3. Events & Events & Events
4. Community of customers
5. Destination
6. Women-as-customer
7. Staff selection/training/retention (FANATICISM)
8. Fanaticism/Execution
9. Design/Atmospherics/Ambience
10. Tableaus/Products-in-use
11. Flow/starts & finishes
12. 100% conscious experience/“Moments of truth”
13. Constant experimentation/Pursue LBTs
14. Social Media/Ongoing conversation
15. Community star
16. Aim high
17. PASSION
Orvis fly-fishing school/
Fly-fishing Museum
Harley Hogs
Ikea/Best in LA <$25
Celebration of Golf/
Art of the Game
Small Giants:
Companies that Chose to Be Great Instead of Big
“They cultivated exceptionally intimate relationships with
customers and suppliers, based on personal contact, one-onone interaction, and mutual commitment to delivering on
promises.
“Each company had an extraordinarily intimate relationship
with the local city, town, or county in which it did business
-- a relationship that went well beyond the usual concept of
`giving back.’
“The companies had what struck me as unusually intimate
workplaces.
“I noticed the passion that the leaders brought to what the
company did. They loved the subject matter, whether it be
music, safety lighting, food, special effects, constant torque
hinges, beer, records storage, construction, dining, or
fashion."
*Lived in same town all adult life
*First generation that’s wealthy/
no parental support
*“Don’t look like millionaires, don’t dress
like millionaires, don’t eat like
millionaires, don’t act like millionaires”
*“Many of the types of businesses [they]
are in could be classified as ‘dullnormal.’ [They] are welding contractors,
auctioneers, scrap-metal dealers, lessors of
portable toilets, dry cleaners, re-builders of
diesel engines, paving contractors …”
Source: The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas Stanley & William Danko
All you need to know …
Hilton
Howard
Herb
Henry I
Henry II
Hiram
Horatio
Hill
Hartville
Helgesen
Hsieh
“Forget China, India
and the Internet:
Economic Growth Is
Driven by
Women.”
Source: Headline, Economist
W>
2X (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
“One thing is certain: Women’s rise to power, which is
linked to the increase in wealth per capita, is happening
in all domains and at all levels of society. Women are no
longer content to provide efficient labor or to be
consumers with rising budgets and more autonomy to
spend. … This is just the beginning. The phenomenon
will only grow as girls prove to be more successful than
For a number of
observers, we have already
entered the age of
‘womenomics,’ the economy as
thought out and practiced
by a woman.” —Aude Zieseniss de Thuin, Women’s
boys in the school system.
Forum for the Economy and Society
“Women are
the majority
market”
—Fara Warner/The Power of the Purse
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
The Perfect Answer
Jill and Jack buy
slacks in black…
Cases! Cases! Cases!
McDonald’s
(“mom-centered” to “majority
consumer”; not via kids)
Home Depot (“Do it [everything!] Herself”)
P&G (more than “house cleaner”)
DeBeers (“right-hand rings”/$4B)
AXA Financial
Kodak (women = “emotional centers of the household”)
Nike
(> jock endorsements; new def sports; majority consumer)
Avon
Bratz (young girls want “friends,” not a blond stereotype)
Source: Fara
Warner/The Power of the Purse
Lowe’s!
“Women don’t buy
They
join them.”
brands.
EVEolution
2.6 vs.
“AS LEADERS,
WOMEN
RULE:
New Studies find that
female managers outshine their male
counterparts in almost every measure”
TITLE/ Special Report/ BusinessWeek
Women’s Strengths Match New
Economy Imperatives: Link [rather than rank]
workers; favor interactive-collaborative leadership
style [empowerment beats top-down decision
making]; sustain fruitful collaborations; comfortable
with sharing information; see redistribution of power
as victory, not surrender; favor multi-dimensional
feedback; value technical & interpersonal skills,
individual & group contributions equally; readily
accept ambiguity; honor intuition as well as
pure “rationality”; inherently flexible; appreciate
cultural diversity. —Judy B. Rosener,
America’s Competitive Secret: Women Managers
“Power Women 100”/Forbes 25.10.10
26 CEOs Public Companies:
Vs. Men/Market:
(*Post-appointment)
Vs. Industry:
+28% *
+15%
*Women
*Women
*Women
*Women
decide
save
spend
rule
*Women
*Women
*Women
*Women
decide
save
spend
rule
*In the developed world
*In the developing world
*The trend is accelerating
94%
of loans to …
women*
*Microlending; “Banker to the poor”; Grameen Bank;
Muhammad Yunus; 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner
“Baby-boomer
Women: The
Sweetest of
Sweet Spots for
Marketers”
—David Wolfe and Robert Snyder, Ageless Marketing
44-65:
“New
Customer
Majority” *
*45% larger than 18-43; 60% larger by 2010
Source: Ageless Marketing, David Wolfe & Robert Snyder
“Marketers attempts at reaching
those over 50 have been miserably
No market’s
motivations and
needs are so
poorly understood.”
unsuccessful.
—Peter Francese, founding publisher, American Demographics
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“People turning 50
more
than half of
today have
their adult life
ahead of them.”
—Bill Novelli,
50+: Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America
55+ > 55-*
*“[55-plus] are more active in online finance,
shopping and entertainment than those under 55?”
—Forrester Research.(USA Today, 8 January 2009)
We are the Aussies & Kiwis & Americans & Canadians.
We are the Western Europeans & Japanese. We are the
fastest growing,
the biggest, the
wealthiest, the
boldest, the most
(yes) ambitious,
the most
experimental &
exploratory, the
most different, the most indulgent, the most difficult &
demanding, the most service & experience obsessed,
the most vigorous, (the least vigorous,) the most health
conscious, the most female, the most profoundly
important commercial market in the history of the
we will be the
Center of your universe
for the next twenty-five
years. We have arrived!
world—and
All you need to know …
Hilton
Howard
Herb
Henry I
Henry II
Hiram
Horatio
Hill
Hartville
Helgesen
Hsieh
Zappos 10 Corporate Values
Deliver
“WOW!”
through service.
Embrace and drive change.
Create fun and a little weirdness.
Be adventurous, creative and open-minded.
Pursue growth and learning.
Build open and honest relationships with
communication.
Build a positive team and family spirit.
Do more with less.
Be passionate and determined.
Be humble.
Source: Delivering Happiness, Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com
“Insanely Great”
Steve Jobs
“Radically thrilling”
BMW
“Let us create such
a building that
future generations
will take us for
lunatics.”
—the church hierarchs at Seville
Kevin Roberts’ Credo
1. Ready. Fire! Aim.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
If it ain’t broke ... Break it!
Hire crazies.
Ask dumb questions.
Pursue failure.
Lead, follow ... or get out of the way!
Spread confusion.
Ditch your office.
Read odd stuff.
10.
Avoid moderation!
Sir Richard’s Rules:
Follow your passions.
Keep it simple.
Get the best people to help
you.
Re-create yourself.
Play.
Source: Fortune on Branson/10.03
14,000
20,000
14,000/eBay
20,000/Amazon
30/Craigslist
Summary:
H11
All you need to know …
Hilton
Howard
Herb
Henry I
Henry II
Hiram
Horatio
Hill
Hartville
Helgesen
Hsieh
11H: Hilton, Howard, Herb, Henry I, Henry II,
Hiram, Horatio, Hill, Hartville, Helgesen,
Hsieh
*Sweat the details!
*Stay in touch!
*It’s all about the people!
*Small courtesies, big payoff!
*Most tries wins!
*Relentless!
*Offense!
*Little BIG Things!
*Monopoly through EXCELLENCE!
*Women rule!
*Wow!
The Memories
That Matter.
The Memories That Matter
The people you developed who went on to stellar
accomplishments inside or outside the company.
The (no more than) two or three people you developed who went on to
create stellar institutions of their own.
The longshots (people with “a certain something”) you bet on who
surprised themselves—and your peers.
The people of all stripes who 2/5/10/20 years later say
“You made a difference in my life,” “Your belief in me
changed everything.”
The sort of/character of people you hired in general. (And the bad
apples you chucked out despite some stellar traits.)
A handful of projects (a half dozen at most) you doggedly pursued that
still make you smile and which fundamentally changed the way
things are done inside or outside the company/industry.
The supercharged camaraderie of a handful of Great Teams aiming to
“change the world.”
“The
ONE Question”: “In the last year [3 years, current job],
three
people
name the …
… whose growth you’ve
most contributed to. Please explain where they were at the
beginning of the year, where they are today, and where they are
heading in the next 12 months. Please explain in painstaking detail
your development strategy in each case. Please tell me your biggest
development disappointment—looking back, could you or would you
have done anything differently? Please tell me about your greatest
development triumph—and disaster—in the last five years. What
are the ‘three big things’ you’ve learned about helping people
grow along the way.”
The Memories That Matter
Belly laughs at some of the stupid-insane things you and your mates
tried.
Less than a closet full of “I should have …”
A frighteningly consistent record of having invariably
said, “Go for it!”
Not intervening in the face of considerable loss—recognizing that to
develop top talent means tolerating failures and allowing the
person who screwed up to work their own way through and out of
their self-created mess.
Dealing with one or more crises with particular/memorable aplomb.
CIVILITY
Demanding …
… regardless of circumstances.
Turning around one or two or so truly dreadful situations—and
watching almost everyone involved rise to the occasion (often to
their own surprise) and acquire a renewed sense of purpose in the
process.
Leaving something behind of demonstrable-lasting worth. (On short as
well as long assignments.)
The Memories That Matter
Having almost always (99% of the time) put “Quality” and “Excellence”
ahead of “Quantity.” (At times an unpopular approach.)
A few “critical” instances where you stopped short and could have
“done more”—but to have done so would have compromised your and
your team’s character and integrity.
A sense of time well and honorably spent.
The expression of “simple” human kindness and consideration—no
matter how harried you may be/may have been.
Understood that your demeanor/expression of character always set
the tone—especially in difficult situations.
Never (rarely) let your external expression of enthusiasm/
determination flag—the rougher the times, the more your expressed
energy and bedrock optimism and sense of humor showed.
The respect of your peers.
A stoic unwillingness to badmouth others—even in private.
The Memories That Matter
An invariant creed: When something goes amiss, “The buck stops with
me”; when something goes right, it was their doing, not yours.
A Mandela-like “naïve” belief that others will rise to the
occasion if given the opportunity.
A reputation for eschewing the “trappings of power.” (Strong selfmanagement of tendencies toward arrogance or dismissiveness.)
Intense, even “driven” … but not to the point of being careless of others
in the process of forging ahead.
Willing time and again to be surprised by ways of doing things that are
inconsistent with your “certain hypotheses.”
Humility in the face of others, at every level, who know
more than you about “the way things really are.”
Bit your tongue on a thousand occasions—and listened, really
really listened. (And been constantly delighted when, as a result, you
invariably learned something new and invariably increased your
connection with the speaker.)
The Memories That Matter
Unalloyed pleasure in being informed of the fallaciousness of your
beliefs by someone 15 years your junior and several rungs below you
on the hierarchical ladder.
Selflessness. (A sterling reputation as “a guy always willing to help out
with alacrity despite personal cost.”)
As thoughtful and respectful, or more so, toward thine “enemies” as
toward friends and supporters.
Always and relentlessly put at the top of your list/any list being first
“of service”
and foremost
to your internal and external
constituents. (Employees/Peers/Customers/Vendors/Community.)
Treated the term “servant leadership” as holy writ. (And “preached”
“servant leadership” to others—new “non-managerial” hire or old
pro, age 18 or 48.)
The Memories That Matter
Created the sort of workplaces you’d like your kids to inhabit.
(Explicitly conscious of this “Would I want my kids to work here?”
litmus test.)
A “certifiable” “nut” about quality and safety and integrity. (More or
less regardless of any costs.)
A notable few circumstances where you resigned rather than
compromise your bedrock beliefs.
Perfectionism just short of the paralyzing variety.
A self- and relentlessly enforced group standard of
“EXCELLENCE-in-all-we-do”/“EXCELLENCE in our
behavior toward one another.”
“In a way, the world is a great liar. It shows you
it worships and admires money, but at the end of
the day it doesn’t. It says it adores fame and
celebrity, but it doesn’t, not really. The world
admires, and wants to hold on to, and not lose,
goodness. It admires virtue. At the end it gives
its greatest tributes to generosity, honesty,
courage, mercy, talents well used, talents that,
brought into the world, make it better. That’s
what it really admires. That’s what we talk about
in eulogies, because that’s what’s important. We
don’t say, ‘The thing about Joe was he was rich!’
We say, if we can, ‘The thing about Joe was he
took good care of people.’” —Peggy Noonan, “A Life’s Lesson,” on the
astounding response to the passing of Tim Russert, The Wall Street Journal, June 21-22, 2008
Excellence
EXCELLENCE. Always.
If not EXCELLENCE, what?
If not EXCELLENCE now, when?
EXCELLENCE is not an "aspiration."
EXCELLENCE is not a "journey."
EXCELLENCE is the next five minutes.
Organizations exist to SERVE. Period.
Leaders exist to SERVE. Period.
SERVICE is a beautiful word.
SERVICE is character, community, commitment.
(And profit.)
SERVICE is a beautiful word.
SERVICE is not "Wow."
SERVICE is not "raving fans."
SERVICE is not "a great experience."
Service is "just" that—SERVICE.
The “19 Es” of EXCELLENCE
Enthusiasm! (Be an irresistible force of nature! Be fire! Light fires!)
Exuberance! (Vibrate—cause earthquakes!)
Execution! (Do it! Now! Get it done! Barriers are baloney! Excuses are
for wimps! Accountability is gospel! Adhere to coach Bill Parcells’
doctrine: “Blame nobody!! Expect nothing!! Do something!!”)
Empowerment! (Respect! Appreciation! Ask until you’re blue in the face,
“What do you think?” Then: Listen! Liberate! 100.00% innovators!)
Edginess! (Perpetually dance at the frontier and a little, or a lot, beyond.)
Enraged! (Maintain a permanent state of mortal combat with the
status-quo!)
Engaged! (Addicted to MBWA/Managing By Wandering Around. In touch.
Always.)
Electronic! (Partner with the whole wide world 60/60/24/7 via all manner
of
electronic community building and entanglement. Crowdsourcing
wins!)
Encompassing! (Relentlessly pursue diversity of every flavor! Diversity
per se generates big returns!) (Seeking superb leaders: Women rule!)
Emotion! (The alpha! The omega! The essence of leadership! The
essence of sales! The essence of design! The essence of life itself!
Acknowledge it! Use it!)
The “19 Es” of EXCELLENCE
Empathy! (Connect! Connect! Connect! Click with others’ reality and
aspirations! “Walk in the other person’s shoes”—until the soles
have holes!)
Ears! (Effective listening in every encounter: Strategic Advantage No. 1!
Believe it!)
Experience! (Life is theater! It’s always showtime! Make every contact
a “Wow” ! Standard: “Insanely Great”/Steve Jobs; “Radically
Thrilling”/BMW.)
Eliminate! (Keep it simple!! Furiously battle hyper-complexity and
gobbledygook!!)
Errorprone!
(Ready! Fire! Aim! Try a lot of stuff, make a lot of booboos.
CELEBRATE the booboos! Try more stuff, make more booboos! He
who makes the most mistakes wins! Fail! Forward! Fast!)
Evenhanded! (Straight as an arrow! Fair to a fault! Honest as Abe!)
Expectations! (Michelangelo: “The greatest danger for most of us is not
that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we
hit it.”)
Eudaimonia! (The essence of Aristotelian philosophy: True happiness is
pursuit of the highest of human moral purpose. Be of service!
Always!)
EXCELLENCE! (The only standard! Never an exception! Start NOW!
No excuses!)
“Excellence …
can be obtained if you:
... care more than others think
is wise;
... risk more than others think
is safe;
... dream more than others think
is practical;
... expect more than others think
is possible.”
Source: Anon. (Posted @ tompeters.com by K.Sriram, November 27, 2006 1:17 AM)
Appendix
The “3H Theory
of Everything”
Tom Peters/0913.10
Howard
Hilton
Herb
Starbucks boss Howard
Schultz visits 25 shops
a week.
Conrad Hilton, at a gala celebrating his life,
was asked, “What was the most important lesson you’ve learned
in your long and distinguished career?”
His immediate answer:
“remember
to tuck the
shower curtain
inside the
bathtub”
Conrad Hilton shares his
foremost key to success.
“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 the
Annual Meeting)
Herb Kelleher (Southwest
Airlines) says this is his
only success “secret.”
3H: Howard, Hilton, Herb
**Stay in touch!
**Sweat the
details!
**It’s the people,
stupid!