"...keeping you great"
HEADLINES:
Nurse Next Door #1 Best Place to Work in BC -- congrats to this Vancouver powerhouse, their third consecutive year to make the top 10 and the first time they were #1. Noted Ken Sim, co-founder, in a recent note to me "(Gazelles) has been a big part of this achievement. Before we were part of the Rock Habits cult :), we ranked #72."
Video with Michael Dell -- and Mark Graham, head of RIGHTSLEEVE, an online promotional products company, sent along this video of his recent meeting with Michael Dell. RIGHTSLEEVE won the Dell SMB Excellence Award and got to spend time with several senior leaders of Dell at HQ along with Michael. Mark noted that Michael was very down to earth and approachable -- here's the link to his conversation with Michael
India's 7.9% GDP Growth -- this for the quarter ending in September, was not surprising given the changes I've seen in India just the past few months -- the new airports, roads, and building construction -- it was actually a pleasure travelling through India last week. And our workshops in India were all oversold (we actually had to turn people away). Universally, the firms participating are bullish on the future and simply trying to find enough talent to keep up with demand (Infosys, alone, is offering 13,000 jobs) -- all good problems. And my guess is that this GDP growth is understated given the size of the informal economy in India. Here's the Economic Time's reaction to the GDP growth, where several India economists suggest that the growth will drop because of a poor crop season
Mid-Management Monthly Meeting -- the main rhythm I focused on with the firms in India last week (both my public and private workshops) was the importance of the monthly management meeting that involved ALL the managers in the company (you're hosting one, correct?). The key weakness in India firms is the lack of mid-management development -- to the point where as the company grows, it puts more and more pressure on the senior management team because their mid-managers are unable to take over the day-to-day running of the business. The monthly management meeting, where the focus is on collectively solving a couple big challenges in the business together, is the most effective way for the senior team to get it's DNA passed down to the middle managers. It's in the process of working on the business together that you see who gets it and who doesn't so you can direct appropriate education and coaching -- and where the senior team can share their industry knowledge, thought processes, and model the core values.
Farewell to A.G. Lafley, P&G -- two large company CEOs I've admired/followed for years are Ratan Tata in India (think nano-car) and A.G. Lafley, former CEO and Chairman of Proctor & Gamble. Like Ratan Tata (who lives in what's described as a "book-crammed" bachelor pad), Lafley has focused on the executive development of P&G's leadership (i.e. he put all of P&G management through the Power of Full Engagement training) and on getting extremely close to customers, making sure that customer ideas and needs drive decisions in P&G vs. the "plant guys." Here's a quick Fortune magazine tribute to A.G. Lafley who is stepping down completely in January and an important Noel Tichy Harvard Business Publishing article on how Lafley mishandled and then corrected the promotion of a top executive against the wishes of his team. It's a lesson in the importance of involving the broader management team even if they aren't going to like the decision.
Jimmy Calano's 3I Program -- in my book I highlight CareerTrack's 3I program. Jimmy Calano, a founding board member of EO and long-time advisor/mentor to me, felt a main job of anyone in management was to constantly contribute ideas to making their company grow revenue, reduce costs, and/or better serve the customers. As such, he required the managers at CareerTrack to submit three ideas each month that would help in these three areas. He would then review these in detail, providing constructive feedback where he thought it was necessary, and then brought all his managers together each month where they focused on implementing the best ideas he had identified from those submitted. This process of working on the company together and focusing the collective intelligence of his managers on the business not only contributed real results to the bottom line (he figured a million dollars each year), but more importantly, it was both a powerful executive development tool and a way to get his managers closer to the customer and their teams, since they needed their ideas to submit each month.
Ted Turner Revisted -- and Jimmy Calano, still an avid reader (usually 100+ books per year), sent over a copy of a mini op-ed piece he wrote for his local newspaper, recalling the time 25 of us spent an afternoon with Ted Turner (and Jane Fonda) back in 1990. Jimmy recently read Ted's new 2009 autobiography entitled Call Me Ted which I just downloaded to my Kindle for some holiday reading. BTW, I didn't realize Ted is the largest private land owner in the U.S. with 2 million acres -- a nice trivia question for the holidays. Anyway, here is his short op-ed.
This week's Boulder Daily Camera question: Many of us spent Thursday with friends and/or family, gathered around the feast of the year. If you could assemble your dream dinner party, inviting famous or distinguished people from history, whom would you invite and why?
I would choose Ted Turner (still living!) as my sole guest of honor. Although I missed his recent address at CU, I had the privilege of spending time with him in 1990 as part of a Young Entrepreneur's Organization gathering. For two hours, Ted regaled 25 of us with outrageous stories about his business successes and failures. I recently read his autobiography, Call Me Ted, and learned more about his personal life. And what a life it's been.
In addition to taking control of his family billboard business after his father committed suicide, Ted founded and built the Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) and changed the face of broadcast media. Nicknamed "the mouth of the south," outspoken Ted has been a pioneering business titan (CNN was his brainchild), an internationally renowned sailor (winning the America's Cup), a good father (of five), a three-time husband (but with no lasting marriages), the largest U.S. landowner (two million acres), a World Series winner (as the Atlanta Braves owner), a restaurant mogul (Ted's Montana Grill chain), and a towering philanthropist (he pledged $1 billion--a third of his fortune--to the UN Foundation).
I'd be thrilled to have Ted Turner share his passion and wisdom on the three issues that now most concern him: world population growth, climate change, and nuclear annihilation. An inspiration to all of us, he is devoting the balance of his life to these global causes. Turner, though not perfect, is an accomplished person with noble, grand ambitions--even in his twilight years.
-- Jimmy Calano
HEADLINES:
Nurse Next Door #1 Best Place to Work in BC -- congrats to this Vancouver powerhouse, their third consecutive year to make the top 10 and the first time they were #1. Noted Ken Sim, co-founder, in a recent note to me "(Gazelles) has been a big part of this achievement. Before we were part of the Rock Habits cult :), we ranked #72."
Video with Michael Dell -- and Mark Graham, head of RIGHTSLEEVE, an online promotional products company, sent along this video of his recent meeting with Michael Dell. RIGHTSLEEVE won the Dell SMB Excellence Award and got to spend time with several senior leaders of Dell at HQ along with Michael. Mark noted that Michael was very down to earth and approachable -- here's the link to his conversation with Michael
India's 7.9% GDP Growth -- this for the quarter ending in September, was not surprising given the changes I've seen in India just the past few months -- the new airports, roads, and building construction -- it was actually a pleasure travelling through India last week. And our workshops in India were all oversold (we actually had to turn people away). Universally, the firms participating are bullish on the future and simply trying to find enough talent to keep up with demand (Infosys, alone, is offering 13,000 jobs) -- all good problems. And my guess is that this GDP growth is understated given the size of the informal economy in India. Here's the Economic Time's reaction to the GDP growth, where several India economists suggest that the growth will drop because of a poor crop season
Mid-Management Monthly Meeting -- the main rhythm I focused on with the firms in India last week (both my public and private workshops) was the importance of the monthly management meeting that involved ALL the managers in the company (you're hosting one, correct?). The key weakness in India firms is the lack of mid-management development -- to the point where as the company grows, it puts more and more pressure on the senior management team because their mid-managers are unable to take over the day-to-day running of the business. The monthly management meeting, where the focus is on collectively solving a couple big challenges in the business together, is the most effective way for the senior team to get it's DNA passed down to the middle managers. It's in the process of working on the business together that you see who gets it and who doesn't so you can direct appropriate education and coaching -- and where the senior team can share their industry knowledge, thought processes, and model the core values.
Farewell to A.G. Lafley, P&G -- two large company CEOs I've admired/followed for years are Ratan Tata in India (think nano-car) and A.G. Lafley, former CEO and Chairman of Proctor & Gamble. Like Ratan Tata (who lives in what's described as a "book-crammed" bachelor pad), Lafley has focused on the executive development of P&G's leadership (i.e. he put all of P&G management through the Power of Full Engagement training) and on getting extremely close to customers, making sure that customer ideas and needs drive decisions in P&G vs. the "plant guys." Here's a quick Fortune magazine tribute to A.G. Lafley who is stepping down completely in January and an important Noel Tichy Harvard Business Publishing article on how Lafley mishandled and then corrected the promotion of a top executive against the wishes of his team. It's a lesson in the importance of involving the broader management team even if they aren't going to like the decision.
Jimmy Calano's 3I Program -- in my book I highlight CareerTrack's 3I program. Jimmy Calano, a founding board member of EO and long-time advisor/mentor to me, felt a main job of anyone in management was to constantly contribute ideas to making their company grow revenue, reduce costs, and/or better serve the customers. As such, he required the managers at CareerTrack to submit three ideas each month that would help in these three areas. He would then review these in detail, providing constructive feedback where he thought it was necessary, and then brought all his managers together each month where they focused on implementing the best ideas he had identified from those submitted. This process of working on the company together and focusing the collective intelligence of his managers on the business not only contributed real results to the bottom line (he figured a million dollars each year), but more importantly, it was both a powerful executive development tool and a way to get his managers closer to the customer and their teams, since they needed their ideas to submit each month.
Ted Turner Revisted -- and Jimmy Calano, still an avid reader (usually 100+ books per year), sent over a copy of a mini op-ed piece he wrote for his local newspaper, recalling the time 25 of us spent an afternoon with Ted Turner (and Jane Fonda) back in 1990. Jimmy recently read Ted's new 2009 autobiography entitled Call Me Ted which I just downloaded to my Kindle for some holiday reading. BTW, I didn't realize Ted is the largest private land owner in the U.S. with 2 million acres -- a nice trivia question for the holidays. Anyway, here is his short op-ed.
This week's Boulder Daily Camera question: Many of us spent Thursday with friends and/or family, gathered around the feast of the year. If you could assemble your dream dinner party, inviting famous or distinguished people from history, whom would you invite and why?
I would choose Ted Turner (still living!) as my sole guest of honor. Although I missed his recent address at CU, I had the privilege of spending time with him in 1990 as part of a Young Entrepreneur's Organization gathering. For two hours, Ted regaled 25 of us with outrageous stories about his business successes and failures. I recently read his autobiography, Call Me Ted, and learned more about his personal life. And what a life it's been.
In addition to taking control of his family billboard business after his father committed suicide, Ted founded and built the Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) and changed the face of broadcast media. Nicknamed "the mouth of the south," outspoken Ted has been a pioneering business titan (CNN was his brainchild), an internationally renowned sailor (winning the America's Cup), a good father (of five), a three-time husband (but with no lasting marriages), the largest U.S. landowner (two million acres), a World Series winner (as the Atlanta Braves owner), a restaurant mogul (Ted's Montana Grill chain), and a towering philanthropist (he pledged $1 billion--a third of his fortune--to the UN Foundation).
I'd be thrilled to have Ted Turner share his passion and wisdom on the three issues that now most concern him: world population growth, climate change, and nuclear annihilation. An inspiration to all of us, he is devoting the balance of his life to these global causes. Turner, though not perfect, is an accomplished person with noble, grand ambitions--even in his twilight years.
-- Jimmy Calano