Destiny is not a matter of
chance; it is a matter of
choice.

WINSTON CHURCHILL

ARE YOU DRIVEN
TO CONSTANTLY IMPROVE?

You’ve come to the right place.

Here you’ll find models, methods, practices, and processes
to help you develop the right focus, create the right environment,
build the right team, and embody the right commitment.
To get the right results.

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Categories Environment

A World-Class Designer’s Startling Discovery

Adrian Newey is the most successful designer in the history of Formula One auto racing, his cars having won 10 World Constructors’ Championships. He is also the only designer to have won constructors’ titles with three different teams.

So moving to his most recent team – Red Bull – in 2006, one would think that, with six titles already to his credit, Newey would have the formula for success dialed in.

Not so fast.

“I made a mistake in as much as when I started at Red Bull I tried to approach the job in the same way, treating it mainly as a design-based challenge. But there were two main problems; the first was that this was a team of low morale because there had been a lot of hiring and firing of key personnel. There was also a strange kind of arrogance. They thought they were producing the best. They had their eyes closed to what was going on around them.”

“It took quite a while for Christian (Team Principal, Christian Horner) and I to create the cultural change that we needed to get away from the ‘we’re happy to finish seventh’ mentality.”

You can be the best designer of the fastest racecars in the world. But if success depends on the performance of an organization, then you cannot overlook culture – what people believe, their motivation, and how they act.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Categories Focus

The Critical Distinction between Performance and Results

Performance is what you do. Results are the consequence of what you do.

Performance is what you control. Results are what you influence. Because other factors also influence results.

You can perform well yet not get results – because of those factors.

You can perform poorly yet still get results – because of those factors.

Are results attributable to what you did? Or were you merely an innocent bystander? Who happened to be associated with results?

Are you interested in results? Or what was done to produce and sustain results?

Performance is a lead measure. Results are a lag measure.

Developing relationships, identifying needs, outlining solutions and overcoming objections is performance. Getting the sale is a result.

You are responsible and accountable for both performance and results.

A leader must distinguish and understand the relationship between the two.

To improve results, focus on improving performance.

What will you do today to be better than you were yesterday?

Your thoughts?

Michael

Categories Focus

The Critical Distinction between Results and Strategic Results

He had been CEO for seven years. There was no hiding from the results. During his tenure, revenues fell by 14%, unit sales by 8%, and market share by 9%. A national newspaper even wrote an article about what he had done to the company.

And everyone applauded.

Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford, was heralded as a success story among CEOs of U.S. auto manufacturers. Because despite the dramatic declines in key results measures, during the same period Ford went from an annual loss of $12.6B to a profit of $7.2B. And share price increased by 90%. Mulally’s strategic focus was to create a much more profitable Ford, which meant becoming a smaller company. He succeeded.

What is your overarching strategic focus? What must be done to achieve it? What are the consequences? Don’t assume all growth is good or that negative growth is bad.

Never confuse results with strategic results.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Categories Focus

How to Personalize Innovation

Everyone talks about innovating with the customer in mind. But what would happen if we gave the customer control of the innovation process?

I walked into a Converse store in Santa Monica recently. I came face-to-face with the “Converse Customization” interactive retail experience. Customers can screen-print their own designs, or graphics from the more-than-150-item Converse catalog, onto footwear, apparel and accessories. They can also add different colored grommets and laces to truly personalize the look of their footwear. How cool is that?

Why not have your management team brainstorm ways to empower your customers that would be meaningful to them?

Your thoughts?

Michael

Categories Commitment

How to Translate Brand into Behaviors

One of our clients is going through a rebranding exercise. As you might expect, they are coming away with a refreshed logo, compelling messaging, and a snappy tagline.

Which will be a complete waste of time, money and effort if they don’t live the brand.

What does that mean? It means that the new brand commitment – in this case, making the next moment truly matter – has to be reflected not just in what they say but in what they do. It has to translate into behaviors.

If we want to make the next moment truly matter for customers, then we have to understand what truly matters from the customer’s perspective. So for the next few months, starting with the executive team, we’ll be engaging customers with the primary purpose of empathizing. Seeing through their eyes, thinking in their minds, and feeling with their hearts. Before we jump ahead to evaluating and solving, we want to empathize with their total experience.

Then, if we can validate our understanding with the customer, so they know that we empathize, and satisfy the needs we’ve empathized with, we truly will be living the brand.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Categories Commitment

Inconsistency Kills

Inconsistency kills. When you as a leader say one thing but do another you kill your credibility. You demotivate your people. And you undermine your ability to win.

What does inconsistency look like? It’s when you trumpet excellence yet tolerate mediocrity. When you commit to a strategy but don’t execute it. When you provide moral support but not material support. When you emphasize respect but act disrespectfully. In each case you’re sending the same message: I said one thing but did another. So what’s the message your people are receiving? You’re not credible. You can’t be trusted.

As a leader, they’re judging you. Constantly. They listen to what you say but they hear what you do. Are you consistent? We’re bloodhounds for inconsistency from the time we’re young. Ever have a child catch you doing something you shouldn’t? “Why did you do that when you told me not to?” Uh-oh. How far does the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do explanation get you? Right.

The crime of it is your people want you to be credible. They want to trust you. They want to believe you’ve got a clear vision and are committed to achieving it. Most of all, they want to feel secure in knowing you’ll set them up to succeed, not to fail. Consistency inspires. Inconsistency kills.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Categories Focus

Why a "Three Landscapes" Approach to Strategy Beats a SWOT Analysis

Last week I covered why I’m not a fan of the “SWOT Analysis” – the four arbitrary lists of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that often pass for so-called strategy.

So what’s the alternative?

Think of three landscapes: 1) the industry landscape, 2) the macro landscape, and 3) the internal landscape. The industry landscape takes into account market segments and dynamics, customers and prospective customers, competitors and prospective competitors, and suppliers. The internal landscape reflects the state of your offerings, people, processes, structure, assets and financials. The macro landscape considers the social, technological, economic, environmental and political factors that can influence the other landscapes.

A three landscapes approach beats a SWOT analysis because: 1) it provides meaningful context for analysis, 2) the landscapes are researched, conclusions drawn and implications identified prior to the strategy meeting, and 3) the implications are then subject to validation, and relevant strategic options are identified, evaluated, prioritized and decided upon.

The result: context-driven strategy based on research, validation and prioritization.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Categories Focus

Why I'm Not a Fan of the "SWOT" Analysis

Ask leaders about which tools they use for strategic planning and the most common reply is a “SWOT Analysis”. Which stands for strengths and weaknesses (internal), and opportunities and threats (external). And why wouldn’t every organization want to know about these?

The problem lies in how organizations come up with and utilize the information. Too often it’s simply the output of a brainstorming exercise. Everyone on the strategy team offers their opinion. (It’s amazing how “our people” is always identified as a strength.) And even if the exercise is data-driven, filling in the four quadrants doesn’t provide any context. Are your strengths truly strengths compared to your competitors? Are they relevant to the current and/or emerging needs of your business? Should you develop them or should you shore up your weaknesses? And what of opportunities and threats? Do all of them require action? Do any of them? What action? How would you know?

Too often the so-called SWOT analysis produces nothing more than lists of items. And then arbitrary action. That’s not strategy.

There’s a better way. That’s the topic of next week’s blog.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Categories Commitment

Why Great Mountain Guides are Great Leaders: 4 Preparation

I realized early on that I couldn’t trust his judgment. We were on a 17-day trek to the base camp of K2 – the second highest mountain in the world, located in Northeast Pakistan. When our Head Guide – Malcolm – suggested that, contrary to the published itinerary, our party might return via the Gondogoro Pass at over 18,000 feet, I questioned his thinking. The pass, I had read, is known for rock and ice fall at that time of year. He seemed surprised, and said the group could decide on the way back where the two routes fork.

The group could decide? As the leader, shouldn’t he be prepared with as much knowledge as possible to make the right decision?

I told my wife that I planned to veto the idea on decision day. The warnings in my mountain guidebook were clear. Not to mention that our group didn’t have the technical equipment needed to cross a high-altitude pass.

I try not to confuse being adventurous with being an imbecile.

Two weeks later, returning from the awe-inspiring beauty of K2, we were met by several Pakistani’s who came to deliver a warning. There had just been a tragedy at the Gondogoro Pass. Two men had died in a rock fall – one was decapitated. One other person had a broken leg and was waiting evacuation by helicopter.

Our decision was made for us.

Application: Every great leader is detailed in their preparations. They learn, reflect and anticipate. They plan for contingencies. You can’t cut corners. Be very well prepared.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Categories Focus

Why Great Mountain Guides are Great Leaders: 3 Priorities

Most organizations have goals. Multiple goals. Too often what’s not clear is the relative priority among the goals. And which goal ultimately takes precedence. Worse, I often hear leaders say that every goal is a top priority.

When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. In the mountaineering world, this could be fatal. The great guides I’ve climbed with have always been totally clear on the number one goal: To not take excessive risk. That trumps everything else.

I’ve been on a climb when the head guide ordered a member of our party to go down (escorted by another guide) because he was simply too slow. And if we didn’t summit and start to descend by a certain time the threat of avalanche would be heightened. When the climber vigorously protested, the guide threatened – forcefully and rightly – to turn the entire party around because he wasn’t going to subject everyone to undue risk. The climber went down.

Generally, the number two goal is to summit, and the number three goal is to have fun. This is an important distinction. Because if it comes down to a choice between summiting and suffering on the one hand (because your heart is hammering, your lungs are gasping and your fatigued legs feel like rubber), or not summiting and not suffering on the other, then be prepared to suffer. Goals are goals, and priorities are priorities. If everyone is truly committed, then suffering is simply the price you pay to achieve the goal. And when all is said and done, climbers will be thankful that the guide pushed them to achieve the summit, pain and all.

Application: Prioritize your organization’s goals. Then make sure your people know and understand that hierarchy. Create teaching scenarios of hypothetical situations that set up a potential conflict between goals (example: customer service vs. cost). Ask your people how they would respond and why.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Categories Environment

Why Great Mountain Guides are Great Leaders: 2 Resources

Every leader needs to identify specifically what resources are required to succeed. Yet too often in business I hear leaders talk in generalizations like, “we just don’t have the resources” or, conversely, “we need to do more with less.” As if all resources were equally important.

There is much we can learn from mountain guides who are expert at managing resources. Why? Because in the mountains, resources could be a matter of not just summiting, but life or death.

For some things you need to invest in high-end resources. You don’t try to save a few bucks by climbing Mt. Everest in flip-flops. You have $500+ climbing boots.

For other things you only need what’s adequate. Food that meets nutritional, size and weight requirements. It doesn’t have to taste great.

And many things you simply don’t need. Razor and shave cream? Forget it. Pillow? No way.

What skilled mountain guides do exceptionally well is discriminate among the resources that must be high-end, the resources that can be merely adequate, and the resources that are excessive and will only weigh you down.

Application: Be discerning. Make sure your people have the right resources … and not one thing more.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Categories Environment

Why Great Mountain Guides are Great Leaders: 1 Psychology

Having climbed with some very good and very poor mountain guides, I’ve learned that the best guides are great leaders. That means they don’t just know mountains, they know people.

Over the next few weeks I’ll touch on how the best guides inspire both confidence and performance.

Masters of Psychology. Skilled guides know when to encourage, when to challenge and when to pressure. They are constantly reading their team, evaluating both performance and morale. And they regularly check in with individual team members. They are acutely aware that individual traits and experiences vary, and they know how to best adapt their approach for each person.

If a guide isn’t actively managing performance and morale, the team isn’t likely to achieve their goal. That’s a failure of leadership.

Application: Be a psychologist. Regularly monitor performance and morale, and adapt your approach to the team and the individuals.

Your thoughts?

Michael

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