"...keeping you great"
HEADLINES:
Near-Death Experience -- this is what is required for a
company to become great, at least this is the advice John Chambers, CEO of
Cisco, received from Jack Welch. Take three minutes to read this insightful NY
Times interview as Chambers discusses hiring, his new approach to
leadership, and from whom he garners advice!
Netflix Shares Their
Internal Presentation on Culture -- the blog Hacking Netflix posted the
128-slide presentation on Netflix's culture along with an
excellent summary this week. Slides 24 and 28 are my two favorite, including the
"Keeper Test" managers should use to determine if they have a star employee (go
to slide 29 for the rest of the lesson!). By posting the slide deck, Netflix has
a powerful recruiting tool and it serves as an excellent way to inculcate new
employees. And it's an alternative to writing a lengthy book (or employee
manual). Take three minutes to pop through the slides. Thanks to Todd Klein,
Managing Partner of Legend Ventures (and Gazelles Advisory Board member), for
bringing this to my attention.
Going Global By Following a
Customer -- the quickest way to expand globally is to ask your existing
clients if they have any opportunities in other countries for your products and
services. I mentioned this in my workshop last week in Atlanta. The next day
Dave Davis, CEO of OpenRDA which provides open
source accounting software for schools and governments, sent me this note "today
I spoke with one of our vendor/partners, Sujee Saparamadu, President of
OrangeHRM an open source HR software package. Sujee has roots in Sri Lanka. I
shared with him a desire to take our products to his native country. Not only
was he very receptive, he mentioned he has customers in several countries around
the globe. Furthermore, he has been looking for a system like mine to compliment
his offering. Amazing. It might take a couple of years but it begins with one
small step. Again, thank you for the encouragement."
A Narrow
Niche Pursued Around the Globe -- this is a key strategy and one
highlighted by Hermann Simon in his book Hidden Champions of the 21st
Century -- and this is a key strategy for a company like OpenRDA. Dave may
have found an ideal partner to help him grab his niche around the planet. BTW,
we're bringing Hermann over from Germany to keynote the Growth Summit -- he's considered the Jim Collins of our world
of privately held (family-owned in many cases) mid-market companies, having
researched them for over three decades.
80% Revenue
Growth -- and this note from Paul Taylor, President of Webmarketing123 "wanted
to mention that our company is doing very well this year with 80% revenue growth
so far. This is thanks in large part to Gazelles and Keith's (Keith Cupp,
Gazelles' coach) wise counsel. BTW, the Dallas summit looks like an awesome
lineup. I look forward to it."