Transcript Tom Peters’ EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS. Leadership. 21 April 2009 To appreciate this presentation [and ensure that it is not a mess], you need Microsoft fonts: NOTE: “Showcard Gothic,” “Ravie,” “Chiller” and “Verdana”

Tom Peters’
EXCELLENCE.
ALWAYS.
Leadership.
21 April 2009
To appreciate
this presentation [and ensure
that it is not a mess], you need
Microsoft fonts:
NOTE:
“Showcard Gothic,”
“Ravie,” “Chiller”
and “Verdana”
Slides at …
tompeters.com
Excellence:
The
Leadership
50
bedrock.
1. Leaders …
serve.
Organizations
exist to serve.
Period.
Leaders live to
serve. Period.
The Basic
Mechanism.
2. Leadership Is a
Mutual
Discovery
Process.
…
“Ninety percent of what
we call ‘management’
consists of making it
difficult for people to
get things done.”
– Peter Drucker
Organizing Genius / Warren Bennis
and Patricia Ward Biederman
“Groups become great only when
everyone in them, leaders and
members alike, is free to do his or
her absolute best.”
“The best thing a leader can do for a
Great Group is to allow its
members to discover their
greatness.”
Leaders’ “Mt Everest Test”
“free to do his or her
absolute best” …
“allow its members to
discover their
greatness.”
The
Leadership
Types.
3. Great Leaders on White Horses Are
Great Talent
Developers (Type I
Leadership) are the Bedrock
Important – but
of Organizations that Perform Over
the Long Haul.
Whoops:
Jack didn’t have
a vision!
4. But There Are Times
When the “visionary”
“Type” (Type II
Leadership) Matters!
“A leader is a
dealer in
hope.”
—Napoleon
5. Find the
“Businesspeople”!
(Type III Leadership)
I.P.M.
(Inspired
Profit Mechanic)
6. All Organizations
Need … the Golden
Leadership
Triangle.
The Golden Leadership Triangle:
(1) Talent Fanatic …
(2) Visionary …
(3) Inspired Profit
Mechanic.
7. Leadership Mantra #1:
IT ALL DEPENDS!
Renaissance Men
are … a snare,
a myth,
a delusion!
8. The Leader Is
Rarely/Never the
Best Performer.
The
Leadership
Dance.
9. Leaders …
SHOW UP!
“A body can
pretend to care,
but they can’t
pretend to be
there.”
— Texas Bix Bender
“It’s always
showtime.”
—David D’Alessandro, Career Warfare
10. Leaders …
LOVE the
MESS!
“If things seem
under control,
you’re just not
going fast
enough.”
—Mario Andretti
11. Leaders
“We have a
‘strategic’
plan. It’s
called doing
things.”
— Herb Kelleher
12. Leaders
Re
-do.
Phil Crosby
is an idiot!
“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
13. BUT … Leaders
Know
When to
Wait.
Tex Schramm:
The
“too hard”
box!
14. Leaders Are …
Optimists.
Hackneyed but none the less
LEADERS SEE
CUPS AS “HALF
FULL.”
true:
“[Ronald
Reagan] radiated an
almost
transcendent
happiness.”
Half-full Cups:
—L ou Cannon
15. Leaders
FOCUS!
“Dennis, you need a …
‘To-don’t ’
List !”
“I used to have a rule for myself that at any point in
time I wanted to have in mind — as it so happens,
also in writing, on a little card I carried around with
me — the three big things I was trying to get done.
Three.
Not two.
Not four.
Not five.
Not ten.
Three.”
— Richard Haass, The Power to Persuade
16. Leaders … Send
V-E-R-Y Clear
Signals
About
What’s Important!
“Really Important
Stuff”: Roger’s
Rule of Three!
Danger:
S.I.O.
(Strategic Initiative Overload)
If It Ain’t
Broke …
Break It.
17. Leaders …
FORGET!/
Leaders …
DESTROY!
Forget>“Learn”
“The problem is never how
to get new, innovative
thoughts into your mind,
but how to get the old
ones out.” —Dee Hock
“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
18. BUT … Leaders
Have to Deliver, So They
Worry About “Throwing
the Baby Out with the
Bathwater.”
“Damned If You
Do, Damned If You
Don’t, Just Plain
Damned.”
Subtitle in the chapter, “Own Up to the Great Paradox: Success Is
the Product of Deep Grooves/ Deep Grooves Destroy Adaptivity,”
Liberation Management (1992)
19. Leaders …
HONOR THE
USURPERS.
Saviors-in-Waiting
Disgruntled Customers
Upstart Competitors
Rogue Employees
Fringe Suppliers
Source: Wayne Burkan, Wide Angle Vision
20. Leaders Make
[Lots of]
Mistakes – and
MAKE NO BONES
ABOUT IT!
“Fail faster.
Succeed
sooner.”
—David Kelley/IDEO
21. Leaders Make …
BIG MISTAKES!
“Reward
excellent
failures. Punish
mediocre
successes.”
—Phil Daniels
Create.
22. Leaders Know that THERE’S
MORE TO LIFE THAN “LINE
EXTENSIONS.” Leaders Love to …
CREATE NEW
MARKETS.
“Acquisitions are about
buying market share. Our
challenge is to
create markets.
There is a big difference.”
—Peter Job, CEO, Reuters
YESBANK*
*Commerce Bank
23. Leaders … Make
Their Mark /
Do Stuff
That Matters
Leaders …
“I never, ever thought of
myself as a businessman.
I was interested in
creating things
I would be
proud of.” —Richard Branson
24. Leaders Push Their
W-a-y
Up the Valueadded Chain.
Organizations …
And the “M” Stands for … ?
“Systems
Integrator of choice.”/BW
Gerstner’s IBM:
(“Lou, help us turn ‘all this’ into that long-promised ‘revolution.’ ” )
IBM Global Services*
Services Corp.):
$55B
(*Integrated Systems
“Big Brown’s New Bag: UPS
Traffic
Manager for
Corporate
America”
Aims to Be the
—Headline/BW/2004
“Every project we undertake starts with
‘How can
we do what has
never been done
before?’”
the same question:
—Stuart Hornery, Lend Lease
25. Leaders Push Past
Service “Transactions” to
… Scintillating
Experiences.
“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
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
26. Leaders
LOVE the
New Technology!
Power Tools
For Power
Strategies/
ARD 40K
27. Needed? Type IV
Leadership:
Technology
Dreamer-True
Believer
The Golden Leadership
Quadrangle: (1) Talent
Fanatic … (2) Visionary …
(3) Inspired Profit
Mechanic …
(4) Technology DreamerTrue Believer.
Talent.
28. Leaders …
DO TALENT!
Brand =
Talent.
29. When It Comes
TALENT
to
…
Leaders Always Go
Berserk!
From “1, 2 or you’re out” [JW]
to …
“Best Talent in
each industry segment to
build best proprietary
intangibles” [EM]
Source: Ed Michaels, War for Talent
30. Leaders Listen.
Leaders
Consult.
The “One line of code”
Theorem: All we-“they”me want is (1) to be
consulted, (2) to be taken
seriously, (3) a tiny show
of appreciation
Passion.
31. Leaders …
“Sell”
PASSION!
“Create a
‘cause,’ not a
‘business.’ ”
Gary Hamel:
32. Leaders Know:
ENTHUSIASM
BEGETS
ENTHUSIASM!
BZ: “I am a …
Dispenser of
Enthusiasm!”
“Nothing is so
contagious as
enthusiasm.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge
33. Leaders Are …
in a Hurry
“We don’t sell insurance
We sell
speed.”
anymore.
Peter Lewis, Progressive
“Metabolic
Management”
34. Leaders
Focus on the
SOFT STUFF!
“Hard” is
“soft.”
“Soft” Is
“hard.”
Message: Leadership is
all about love! [Passion,
Enthusiasms, Appetite for
Life, Engagement,
Commitment, Great Causes &
Determination to Make a
Damn Difference, Shared
Adventures, Bizarre Failures,
Growth, Insatiable Appetite
for Change.]
The “Job” of
Leading.
35. Leaders Know It’s
ALL SALES ALL
THE TIME.
If you don’t
LOVE
SALES … find
another life. (Don’t pretend
you’re a “leader.”)
36. Leaders
LOVE
“POLITICS.”
If you don’t LOVE
POLITICS … find
another life.
(Don’t pretend
you’re a “leader.”)
All success is a
Matter of
implementation.
All implementation is
a matter of politics.
37. But … Leaders Also
Break a Lot
of China.
Characteristics of the “Also rans”*
“Minimize risk”
“Respect the chain of
command”
“Support the boss”
“Make budget”
*Fortune, “Most Admired Global Corporations”
38. Leaders
Give …
RESPECT!
“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.
Source: Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Respect
Amen!
“What creates trust, in
the end, is the leader’s
manifest respect for
the followers.” — Jim O’Toole,
Leading Change
39. Leaders Say
“Thank
You.”
“The deepest human
need to
be appreciated.”
need is the
William James
FLOWER
FLOWER
POWER
POWER
40. Leaders
Are …
Curious.
The Three Most Important Letters …
WHY?
41. Leadership Is
a…
Performance.
“It is necessary for the
President to be the
No. 1
actor.”
nation’s
FDR
42. Leaders … Are
The Brand
“You must
be
the change you
wish to see in the
world.”
Gandhi
“It’s always
showtime.”
—David D’Alessandro, Career Warfare
43. Leaders …
GREAT
STORY!
Have a
“A key – perhaps the key –
to leadership is
the effective
communication
of a story.”
Howard Gardner
Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership
“Leaders don’t just make
products and make decisions.
Leaders make
meaning.”
– John Seely Brown
Leader Job 1
Paint
Portraits of
Excellence!
Introspection.
44.
Leaders …
Enjoy
Leading.
“Tom, you
left out one
thing …”
45. Leaders
LAUGH!
46. Leaders …
KNOW
THEMSELVES.
Individuals (would-be leaders)
cannot engage in a
liberating mutual discovery
process unless they are
comfortable with their
own skin. (“Leaders” who are not
comfortable with themselves become petty
control freaks.)
Questions: What do others think of you? [Are you sure?] What
do you think of you? [Are you sure?] What is your impact on
others? [Are you sure?] What is your impact on others? [Are
you sure?] What is your impact on others? [Are you sure?]
What are the “little things” you (perhaps unconsciously) do that
cause people to shrivel—or blossom? [Are you sure?] What do
you want? [Are you sure?] Are you aware of your changing
moods? [Are you sure?] How fragile is your ego? [Are you sure?]
Do you have a true confidant? [Are you sure?] Do you perform brief
or not-so-brief self-assessments? Do you talk too much? [Are you
sure?] Do you know how to listen? [Are you sure?] Do you
listen? [Are you sure?] What is your style of “hashing things
out”? Are you perceived as (a) arrogant, (b) abrasive (c) attentive,
(d) genuinely interested in people, (e) etc? [Are you sure?] Are
you flexible? Have you changed your mind about anything important
in a while? Are you comfortable-uncomfortable with folks on the
front line? Do you think you’re “in touch with the pulse of
things around here”? [Are You Sure?] Are you too
emotional/intuitive? Are you too unemotional/rational? Do you
spend much time with people who are new to you? [Do you think
questions like this are “so much BS”?]
47. But …
Leaders have
MENTORS.
Upon having the
Leadership Mantle placed
upon one’s head, he/she
never
shall
hear
the unvarnished truth
again!*
(*Therefore, she/he needs one faithful compatriot
to lay it on with no jelly.)
The End
Game.
48. Leaders
are …
RELENTLESS.
“Success seems to be
largely a matter
of hanging on
after others have
let go.”
—William Feather, author
49. Leaders
???:
“Leadership is the
PROCESS of ENGAGING
PEOPLE in CREATING a
LEGACY of
EXCELLENCE.”
“LEADERS NEED TO
BE THE ROCK OF
GIBRALTAR ON
ROLLER BLADES.”
50. Leaders Free
the Lunatic
Within!
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
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!
“You can’t behave
in a calm, rational
manner. You’ve got
to be out there on
the lunatic fringe.”
— Jack Welch
51. Leaders
Relentlessly Pursue …
Excellence
“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)
Excellence Is a
Universal
Striving.
If Not
Excellence,
What?