Ouch!
“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
“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
“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
LONG
Tom Peters’
Excellence!
NOW!
Foley & Lardner LLP/Annual Partners Meeting
Chicago/15 September 2011
(Presentation/Presentation LONG @ tompeters.com)
To appreciate
this presentation [and ensure
that it is not a mess], you need
Microsoft fonts:
NOTE:
“Showcard Gothic,”
“Ravie,” “Chiller”
and “Verdana”
“[This year’s] graduates are told [by
commencement speakers] to pursue
happiness and joy. But, of course, when you
read a biography of someone you admire, it’s
rarely the things that made them happy that
compel our admiration. It’s the things they
did to court unhappiness—the things they did
that were arduous and miserable, which
sometimes cost them friends and aroused
It’s excellence, not
happiness, that we admire
most.” —David Brooks, “It’s Not About You,” op-ed,
hatred.
New York Times, 30 May 2011
Organizations
exist to serve.
Period.
Leaders live to
serve. Period.
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
EXCELLENCE/Synonyms
Purity
Transcendence
Virtue
Elegance
Majesty
EXCELLENCE/Antonym
Mediocrity
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”
“Breakthrough” 82*
People!
Customers!
Action!
Values!
*In Search of Excellence
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 long shots (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 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 and foremost “of service” 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 …
“ … 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
The Quality
of one’s
Sergeants
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?
“People leave
managers not
companies.”
—Dave Wheeler
Cross-border
Conversations
XFX = #1*
*Cross-Functional eXcellence
Never
waste a
lunch!
“Personal relationships
are the fertile soil from
which all advancement,
all success, all
achievement in real
life grow.” —Ben Stein
“Allied commands depend on
mutual confidence
and this confidence is
gained, above all
development
of friendships.”
through the
—General D.D. Eisenhower, Armchair General*
*“Perhaps his most outstanding ability [at West Point]
he made friends and earned
the trust of fellow cadets who came from
widely varied backgrounds; it was a quality that would pay
was the ease with which
great dividends during his future coalition command.”
% XF
lunches*
Measure! Monthly! Part of
*
evaluation! [The PAs Club.]
The sacred
220 “ABs”.*
*“At bats”
C(I)>C(E)
Loser:
“He’s such a
suck-up!”
Winner:
“He’s such a
suck-down.”
George Crile (Charlie Wilson’s War) on Gust
“He had
become something of a
legend with these
people who manned the
underbelly of the
Agency [CIA].”
Avarkotos’ strategy:
“I got to
know his
secretaries.”
—Dick Parsons
(as CEO Time Warner, on successfully dealing with Carl Icahn)
“Competency is
irrelevant if we don’t
share common
values.”
—Mayo Clinic exec, from Leonard Berry & Kent Seltman,
“Orchestrating the Clues of Quality,” Chapter 7 from Management Lessons From Mayo Clinic
hundreds of
times better here
“I am
[than
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.’”
in my prior hospital assignment]
—quote from Dr. Nina Schwenk, in
Chapter 3, “Practicing Team Medicine,” from Leonard Berry & Kent Seltman,
from Management Lessons From Mayo Clinic
“The doctor
interrupts
after …*
*Source: Jerome Groopman, How Doctors Think
18 …
seconds!
[An obsession with] Listening is ... the ultimate mark
of
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
is
is
is
is
is
is
is
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Listening
Listening
Listening
Listening
is
is
is
is
...
...
...
...
the heart and soul of Engagement.
the heart and soul of Kindness.
the heart and soul of Thoughtfulness.
the basis for true Collaboration.
the basis for true Partnership.
a Team Sport.
a Developable Individual Skill.* (*Though women
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.]
Respect
.
“I wasn’t bowled over by [David Boies]
intelligence … What impressed me was
that when he asked a question, he waited
He not only
listened … he made me feel
like I was the only person
in the room.”
for an answer.
—Lawyer Kevin _____, on his first,
inadvertent meeting with renown attorney David Boies, from Marshall
Goldsmith, “The One Skill That Separates,” Fast Company
“Aggressive
listening”
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
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
EXECUTION
the engine of superior
.
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
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
**8 of 10 sales
presentations fail
**50% failed sales
presentations … talking
“at” before listening!
—Susan Scott, “Let Silence Do the Heavy Listening,” chapter title,
Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life,
One Conversation at a Time
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 be
If you agree, shouldn’t listening be
#1?
If you agree, shouldn’t listening be
item” at every Meeting?
If you agree, shouldn’t listening be
se? (Listening = Strategy.)
If you agree, shouldn’t listening be
for in Hiring (for every job)?
... a Core Competence?
... Core Competence
... an explicit “agenda
... our Strategy—per
... the #1 skill we look
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?
Message:
Listening is a …
profession!
Suggested addition to your statement of Core
“We are Effective
Listeners—we treat
Listening EXCELLENCE as
the Centerpiece of our
Commitment to Respect
and Engagement and
Community and Growth.”
Values:
st
1
The
98%
of talking
is listening!
Meetings
Bitch all you
want, but
meetings
are what you
[boss] do!
Meetings = #1
leadership
opportunity
Meeting = Theater
Every meeting that
does not stir the imagination
and curiosity of attendees and
increase bonding and cooperation and engagement
and sense of worth and
motivate rapid action and
enhance enthusiasm is a
permanently lost opportunity.
Meeting:
“Script”
your first 5-10
“plays.” (I.e., carefully
Monday/Tomorrow:
launch the day/week in a
purposeful fashion.)
“Execution is
strategy.”
Conrad
Hilton …
Conrad Hilton, at a gala celebrating his
career, was called to the podium and
“What were the
most important
lessons you learned
in your long and
distinguished
career?” His answer …
asked,
“remember
to tuck the
shower curtain
inside the
bathtub.”
is
“Execution
strategy.”
—Fred Malek
You beat
yourself!
Sports:
“When assessing candidates, the
first thing I looked for was energy
and enthusiasm for execution.
Does she talk about the thrill
of getting things done, the
obstacles overcome, the role
her people played —or does she
keep wandering back to strategy
or philosophy?” —Larry Bossidy, Execution
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
Relentless!
“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 (U.S. Grant) was actually Hiram Ulysses Grant
“Success seems to be
largely a matter
of hanging on
after others have
let go.”
—William Feather, author, entrepreneur
“[other]
admirals more
frightened of
losing than
anxious to win”
On ADMIRAL HORATIO NELSON*:
*Andrew Lambert, Nelson: Britannia’s God of War
“Lick ’em
tomorrow”
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
“ARE YOU BEING
REASONABLE? Most
people are
reasonable; that’s
why they only do
reasonably well.”
Source: Paul Arden, Whatever You Think Think the Opposite
Enthusiasts!
“I am a
dispenser of
enthusiasm.”
—Ben Zander
“Nothing is so
contagious as
enthusiasm.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge
“Make it fun to work
at your agency. …
Encourage
exuberance. Get rid
of sad dogs who
spread doom.”
—David Ogilvy
“A man
without a
smiling face
must not open
a shop.”
—Chinese Proverb
“You’ve got to
be able to see
the beauty in a
hamburger
bun.”
—Ray Kroc
starts at home
“To develop
others, start with
yourself.”
—Marshall Goldsmith
“Being aware of
yourself and how you
affect everyone around
you is what
distinguishes a superior
leader.” —Edie Seashore (Strategy +
Business #45)
“Leadership is self-knowledge.
Successful leaders are those who are
conscious about their behavior and
the impact it has on the people
around them. They are willing to
examine what behaviors of their own
may be getting in the way. … The
toughest person you will ever lead is
yourself. We can’t effectively lead
others unless we can lead ourselves.”
—Betsy Myers, Take the Lead: Motivate, Inspire, and Bring
Out the Best in Yourself and Everyone Around You
“How can a high-level leader like _____ be so out
of touch with the truth about himself? It’s more
common than you would imagine. In fact, the
higher up the ladder a leader climbs,
the less accurate his self-assessment is
likely to be. The problem is an acute lack of
feedback [especially on people issues].”
—Daniel Goleman (et al.), The New Leaders
"Everyone thinks
of changing the
world, but no one
thinks of changing
himself"
- Leo Tolstoy
Listen to your
grandmother!
“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)
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.
Instead: directly related to Staff
Interaction; directly correlated with
Employee Satisfaction
Source: Putting Patients First, Susan Frampton, Laura Gilpin, Patrick Charmel
K=R=P
Kindness = Repeat business = Profit.
Kindness =
Repeat Business =
Profit.
“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.
Toro,
the lawn mower folks, reduced the
average cost of settling a claim from
$115,000 in 1991 to $35,000 in 2008—
and the company hasn’t been to trial in
the last 15 years!
With a new and forthcoming policy on apologies …
The VA hospital in Lexington, Massachusetts, developed an
approach, totally uncharacteristic in healthcare, to apologizing
for errors—even when no patient request or claim was made.
In 2000, the systemic mean VA hospital
malpractice settlement throughout the
United States was $413,000; the
Lexington VA hospital settlement
number was $36,000 —and there were far fewer
per patient claims to begin with.)
Source: John Kador, Effective Apology
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.*
*divorce, loss of a BILLION $$$ aircraft sale, etc., etc.
THE PROBLEM IS
RARELY/NEVER THE
PROBLEM. THE
RESPONSE TO THE
PROBLEM INVARIABLY
ENDS UP BEING THE
REAL PROBLEM.*
*PERCEPTION IS ALL THERE IS!
Edward VII
B. Franklin
Or Not: ClintonCornwallisYorktown
Which
customers
first?
“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)
"If you want staff to
give great service,
give great service to
staff."
—Ari Weinzweig, Zingerman's
… 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.
“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?”
From
sweaters to
people!
Les Wexner:
“A man should never
be promoted to a
managerial position if his
vision focuses on people’s
weaknesses rather than on
their strengths.” —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
Innovation
1 of 2
“This is so simple it sounds stupid, but it is
amazing how few oil people really
you only
find oil if you
drill wells.
understand that
You may
think you’re finding it when you’re drawing
maps and studying logs, but you have to
drill.”
Source: The Hunters, by John Masters,
wildly successful Canadian Oil & Gas wildcatter
/45
Lesson45:
WTTMSW
Whoever
Tries
The
Most
Stuff
Wins
“Intelligent people
can always come up
with intelligent
reasons … to do
nothing.”
—Scott Simon
“Reward
excellent failures.
Punish mediocre
successes.”
—Phil Daniels, Sydney exec
“You miss
100% of
the shots you
never take.”
—Wayne Gretzky
BLAME NOBODY.
EXPECT NOTHING.
DO SOMETHING.
Source: Locker room sign posted by NFL
football coach Bill Parcells
Innovation
2 of 2
“You will become
like the five people
you associate with
the most—this can
be either a blessing
or a curse.”
—Billy Cox
“The
Bottleneck …
“The Bottleneck … Is at
the Top of the Bottle”
“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 …
At the top!”
— Gary Hamel/Harvard Business Review
We
are What We
Eat/We Are the
company
we keep
The “Hang Out Axiom I”:
“Hang
out with ‘cool’ and
thou shalT become
more cool. Hang out
with ‘dull’ and thou
shalT become more
dull. Period.”
The “Hang Out Axiom II”:
We Are the
company
we keep!
Manage it!
The “We are what we eat”/
“We are who we hang out with”
Axiom: At its core, every (!!!)
relationship-partnership decision
(employee, vendor, customer, etc,
etc) is a strategic decision about:
“Innovate,
‘Yes’ or ‘No’ ”
“The short road
to ruin is to
emulate the
methods of your
adversary.”
— Winston Churchill
“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
Diversity … per se
… is a key … maybe
the key … to
effective and
innovative
decision making.
“Who’s the most
interesting person
you’ve met in the
last 90 days? How
do I get in touch
with them?”
—Fred Smith
Vanity Fair:
“What is your most marked
characteristic?”
Mike Bloomberg:
“Curiosity.”
Obvious as the
end of your nose
“Headline 2020:
Women Hold
80 Percent of
Management and
Professional Jobs”
Source: The Extreme Future: The Top Trends That Will
Reshape the World in the Next 20 Years, James Canton
“Power Women 100”
26 female CEOs of Public Companies
Vs. Men/Market:
Vs. Industry:
*Post-appointment
Source: Forbes 10,10
+28%*
+15%*
“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 interactivecollaborative 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.
Source: Judy B. Rosener, America’s Competitive Secret: Women Managers
Women’s Negotiating Strengths
*Ability to put themselves in their
counterparties’ shoes
*Comprehensive, attentive and detailed
communication style
*Empathy that facilitates trust-building
*Curious and attentive listening
*Less competitive attitude
*Strong sense of fairness and ability to persuade
*Proactive risk manager
*Collaborative decision-making
Source: Horacio Falcao, Cover story/May 2006, World Business, “Say It
Like a Woman: Why the 21st-century negotiator will need the female touch”
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
“Forget China, India
and the Internet:
Economic Growth Is
Driven by
Women.”
Source: Headline, Economist
“Men Are
Finished”
Source: Title, Slate conference, 0920/NYU
30!
“Insanely Great”
Steve Jobs
“Radically thrilling”
BMW
“Astonish me!”
(Sergei Diaghlev)
“Build something great!”
(Hiroshi Yamauchi)
“Make it immortal!”
(David Ogilvy).
)
Raise your sights!
Blaze new trails!
Compete with the
immortals!
—David Ogilvy, on Ogilvy & Mather’s corporate culture
Wanted by Ogilvy & Mather
International
Trumpeter
Swans
—David Ogilvy
“Every project we undertake starts
with the same question : ‘How
can we do what
has never been
done before?’”
—Stuart Hornery, Lend Lease
“Let us create such
a building that
future generations
will take us for
lunatics.”
—the church hierarchs at Seville
14,000
20,000
14,000/eBay
20,000/Amazon
30/Craigslist
GREAT
Professional
Service Firms
GREAT Professional Service Firms
1. Stunning commitment to integrity.
2. Counselors first. (“We are not in a commodity
business.” Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.)
3. Stellar listeners—to our Clients.
4. Stellar listeners—to our fellow partners.
5. Stellar listeners—to our most junior associates. (!!!!!)
6. Stellar listeners—to every member of staff.
7. Insatiable curiosity marks 100% of partners.
8. We live to serve/Extreme service ethic.
9. Our leaders are servant leaders. (Every partner is a
leader first.)
10. Deeply ingrained sense of fairness.
11. Hustlers—but thoughtful to a fault! (Excise rude
bastards.)
12. “Service ethic” means service to one another as much
as service to clients.
13. Drop everything to assist a colleague in need—central
to our overall ethos.
14. Toss “lousy colleagues” out on their derrieres.
GREAT Professional Service Firms
15. Intellectual/Process point of view that is
Distinct/Exciting.
16. Every partner must have a point of view of note.
17. The definition of the very best partners is that they
are “insanely great” (thanks, Steve) mentors!
18. Equal compensation/recognition to top “rainmakers,”
“intellectuals,” magical mentors.
19. Invest heavily in ideas.
20. Technology pioneers. (Yes, “pioneer.”)
21. A decent share of oddballs; not “rainmakers” but
disturbers-of-the-peace. (Often irritating people.)
22. Relatively high turnover and high “d”/Diversity in top
leadership committees.
23. Quality >> Quantity. (Big is fine as a byproduct of
Great Work. “Big for big’s sake” is unfine.)
24. Significant portfolio of interesting clients. (I.e. clients
that lead us-drag us into new pastures.)
25. Willingness to dump bad-demotivating-enervating
clients (even big ones).
GREAT Professional Service Firms
26. Understand that we are running a for-profit enterprise.
Cash flow matters! (A lot.)
27. In love with our work! (Expunge those who are not in
love with their work—dump the burnouts.)
28. Sense of fun. (Yes, damn it.)
30. Professional to a fault but not pompous.
31. Notable-visible respect for the ideas of young
associates.(!!!!!!)
32. “d”iversity. (And Diversity.)
33. Practice-as-teamwork. (Teammate-ism rewarded, lack
thereof punished with extreme prejudice.)
34. Deep bench. “Supporting cast,” notably starting with
receptionists, must be of same quality as partners—
there are no “bit players” in our business.
35. Age gracefully gives way to youth—regeneration a
deep-seated guiding belief.
36. Hard work expected and cherished—workaholism for
workaholism’s sake assiduously guarded against.
37. Proud of our culture, guard our culture zealously—but
even “great cultures” age. (And get horribly elaborated.)
GREAT Professional Service Firms
38. Rigorous exit interviews.
39. Rigorous evaluations of client satisfaction by more or
less disinterested parties.
40. Sky-high time investment in our evaluation process.
41. My legacy (as a partner) is:
Being “of service.”
Developing people.
Being a good colleague—which absorbed lots of my
time.
Doing consistently superior (sky high) quality work.
Adding materially to the ideas base of the Firm.
Insuring the continuity of the firm—culturally and
financially.
Being a paragon of integrity and decency.
Leaving gracefully.
42. “Execution is strategy.” (Thanks, Fred.)
43. My word is my bond.
44. Excellence. PERIOD.
Excellence.
Always.
If not Excellence,
what?
If not Excellence
now, when?