"...keeping you great" Ten Minutes with the Growth Guy HEADLINES: Print Friendly Version Coach to Google and Apple (the Ivy Lee of Silicon Valley) -- take five minutes and read FORTUNE magazine's latest article entitled "The Secret Coach"
-- it's about Bill Campbell, coach to Eric Schmidt at Google; Steve
Jobs at Apple; Scott Cook at Intuit; and many others (yes, they have
coaches!). It provides some wonderful insights into the power of a
coach and why the best have (and need) a coach -- and it outlines his five rules for success he's taught Silicon Valley giants. Thanks to Matt Kuttler, founder of www.ReStockIt.com, who brought the article to my attention. Two of my favorite moments in the article include: Regular Sunday Walks -- notes Jennifer Reingold, senior writer for FORTUNE
"At Apple, Campbell is not just a board member; he's also Jobs' friend,
and the two take regular Sunday walks around the streets near their
homes in Palo Alto, where Jobs says they discuss "the things that have
got me concerned and things I haven't yet figured out," It highlights
the power of having some unstructured talk time with someone Steve Jobs
calls "deeply human." Deja vu -- just
like financier Andrew Carnegie recommended that Bethlehem Steel CEO
Charles Schwab meet with coach Ivy Lee, coach to many of the great
industrialists at the time (including Rockefeller); Reingold writes
that "John Doerr, partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and
one of Google's VC investors, suggested that Schmidt (Google CEO) might
benefit from a session with Campbell. 'My initial reaction was 'I don't
need any help,'" says Schmidt, who had previously been CEO of Novell.
"I don't need a coach." But he agreed to a meeting (and the rest is
history)." Concludes Reingold, "For Schmidt and others, having a
foulmouthed angel on their shoulder -- one who isn't on the payroll,
with no overt political agenda -- is a dream come true." Team Coach --
speaking of coaches, dear friend, former head of YEO, and founder of
Forum Resources Network, Mo Fathelbab, has just released a great book
loaded with tools for your team entitled FORUM: The Secret Advantage of Successful Leaders.
Those of you familiar with Mo's work know that he is "THE" Forum Guru.
His book is a fantastic resource and is loaded with communication tools
for management teams (not just forums). And if you enjoyed Patrick
Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team,
you will find Mo's tools invaluable for building trust and handling
conflict, the first two critical steps in Pat's five-step process. I
recommend you buy a copy for each member of your senior team or your
Forum. The book is packed full of tips, easy-to-follow exercises and
techniques to help form, maintain and grow healthy groups that continue
to work together strongly and effectively to reach common goals. Buntch (I've not misspelled) -- and this tool for driving "talk time." John McNeely, Research in Motion (RIM)
(Blackberry fame), recently attended the Rockefeller Habits workshop in
Canada. After I noted the importance of verbalizing your frustrations,
concerns, and "stucks" in the daily huddle so that the thoughts move
from the amygdale in your brain to the pre-frontal lobe (so you quit
worrying and start acting!), McNeely noted that he had been hosting
several buntches for his team -- a portmanteau combining the word for a
female dog with the word lunch! These sessions have proved useful in
helping everyone air their gripes and complaints so they can move on
and be productive. It's about getting stuff "off your chest" -- or in
this case "out of your amygdale!" F1 Formula Racing -- 20 spots -- if a buntch doesn't relieve enough tension, the day before the Gazelles Growth Summit (October 20, 2008) experience the thrill of F1 racing combined with business breakthroughs and exclusive networking. There are only 20 spots
available for you to join a small group of adventurous Gazelles for a
special day racing F1 cars up to 140 mph+. Go ahead and strap yourself
into a real Formula race car, rev the RPMs and forget about the speed
limit for awhile. You'll also walk away with actionable business ideas,
strategies and resources from other like-minded entrepreneurs. You'll
participate in brainstorming sessions, Hot Seats, and "What's Working"
sessions to share best practices. Plus, there will also be a special
celebrity business icon to coach you along the way. Get all the details
on this "Taste of Maverick: F1 Racing Edition" day here. Rave Reviews for the Daily Huddle -- Dave Jaworski, CEO of Tennessee-based PassAlong Networks,
sent me the following note this past week "It has been several months
since I received your book and we exchanged emails. I stated that I did
not buy into the daily meetings. I have since completed your book and
am *totally* bought into the daily meetings. We have implemented daily
meetings for one of our dev teams with fantastic results. We are now
going to take them company-wide, with the full game plan as you outline
it in your book (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly and Annual). I was
wrong." This from Down Under -- More Rave Reviews for the Daily Huddle
-- Jason Ellenport, who participated in my Australian webinar earlier
this morning, sent this note from Melbourne (Jason is Managing Director
of BOMweb Pty Ltd, a sourcing and
procurement best practices firm) "We implemented daily huddles
following your Sydney workshop in March. We run a daily '848' -- a 12
minute stand up huddle every morning at 8:48 AM. The process ensures WE
ALIGN EVERY DAY to achieving our weekly, monthly, quarterly, 1 year,
3-5 year and 10 year goals. This alignment allowed us to dramatically
improve our business strategy. We no longer go around in circles as we
have a direct flight path to commonly understood objectives. Finally --
we celebrate our wins...something we never did previously!" 62% Ahead of Last Year -- so far sign-ups for the Growth Summit
are running considerably ahead of last year. I've been asked
repeatedly, given the economy, why I think this is. In essence, you
don't have to be smart to do well in an up-economy. It's in tougher
climates that the smarter, more savvy teams excel. And the Summits are
gaining a reputation for being hard-hitting, practical, and providing
the kind of fresh ideas in 48 hours that companies are able to
implement quickly to boost bottom and top lines. "Whoever learns
faster, wins!"