Transcript Ouch! “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.

Ouch!
“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
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
“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
**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
Message:
Listening is a …
profession!
“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
“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
“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
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
“You miss
100% of
the shots you
never take.”
—Wayne Gretzky
“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
starts at home
“Being aware of
yourself and how you
affect everyone around
you is what
distinguishes a superior
leader.” —Edie Seashore (Strategy +
Business #45)
“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)
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
Cross-border
Conversations
Never
waste a
lunch!*
*The sacred 220 Abs.
“I am hundreds of times
better here
[than in my prior hospital
because of the support
system. It’s like you were
working in an organism;
you are not a single cell
when you are out there
practicing.’” —quote from Dr. Nina Schwenk,
assignment]
in Chapter 3, “Practicing Team Medicine,” from Leonard
Berry & Kent Seltman, from Management Lessons
From Mayo Clinic
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
“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.”
Loser:
“He’s such a
suck-up!”
Winner:
“He’s such a
suck-down.”
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)
… 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 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
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:
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
You are What
You Eat
“You will become
like the five people
you associate with
the most—this can
be either a blessing
or a curse.”
—Billy Cox
The “We are what we eat”/
“We are who we hang out with”
Axiom: At its core, every (!!!)
relationship-partnership decision
(employee, vendor, customer, etc,
etc) is a strategic decision about:
“Innovate,
‘Yes’ or ‘No’ ”
“Who’s the most
interesting person
you’ve met in the last
90 days? How do I
get in touch with her
or him?” —Fred Smith
“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
“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
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 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”
“Forget China, India
and the Internet:
Economic Growth Is
Driven by
Women.”
Source: Headline, Economist
“Men Are
Finished”
Source: Title, Slate conference, 0920/NYU
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?