The Agile Scaleup

Who Should Replace Steve Jobs?

 "...keeping you great"

HEADLINES:

Who Should Replace Steve Jobs? -- A young entrepreneur - and my specific nominee below.

First, I wish Steve all the best, as he just celebrated his 57th birthday on Friday - and hope he doesn't need to replace himself anytime soon.

Nevertheless, succession planning was front and center at the shareholder meeting this past week and all eyes are on who will introduce the iPad 2 on Tuesday.

So who might replace Jobs if necessary? Conventional wisdom suggests an Apple insider. However, Apple already made the mistake of trying to replace Steve with an experienced corporat-type decades ago. And anyone inside Apple has already had their entrepreneurial instincts diminished.

What Apple needs is another Steve Jobs. Though one in a billion, that leaves six or seven candidates.

The Clue -- The clue for my selection came from a comment Jesse Eisenberg, my choice for the Oscar, made as he described preparing to play Mark Zuckerberg in "The Social Network." Notes Eiserberg, commenting on perfecting Zuckerberg's laser gaze, "There's a sort of aloof stare that I tried to develop," he says, "and once I captured it, I felt more comfortable."

That aloof, laser-gaze, stare. It's a look I've met only four times in my life. A few others likely have it, but among the top entrepreneurs I've had the pleasure of meeting personally, only Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, and Wayne Huizenga had that lead penetrating gaze that cut through you like a knife.

And the fourth? The minute I met this young entrepreneur, as a guest on a panel I chaired in Barcelona last spring, I sensed I had met the next Zuckerberg.

Dennis Crowley -- co-founder of foursquare, would be my choice to replace Steve Jobs. He's young, yet old enough to have made enough mistakes; he's a serial entrepreneur who saw his first baby eaten up by corporate-types; and he gets communication and design - check out this recent blog post to see what I mean -- or his latest TED talk. Someone that can spin out an idea like "manufacturing serendipity" is clever enough to power Apple.

The only strike against Crowley is that he graduated from college, but all leaders have their weaknesses.

Anyway, what Apple needs is another Steve Jobs -- a wicked smart, laser-focused, showman who gets the new world we're in and sees where it's all going. If I were on the board of Apple, I would take the unconventional path. Apple always has and always should! If not Dennis, then someone like him - young with that laser gaze.

Worlds #1; The Compound Effect; Tracking Twitter Part 2; Super Achievers

"...keeping you great"

HEADLINES:
 
The Compound Effect -- do super achievers know (or do) something the rest of us don't? Yes, and Darren Hardy has outlined their core principles in his latest book The Compound Effect: Multiplying Your Success One Step at a Time. One key is capturing "the elusive force of momentum." Jim Collins referred to it as the flywheel effect, but Hardy provides some highly practical approaches that get you to actually do something about it. Not enough business thought leaders talk about the importance and science behind momentum. More on his book below... but first:

Better Way to Track Twitter -- last week I mentioned a couple applications for tracking when your company is mentioned on Twitter. Kevin Kruse, author of We, emailed suggesting "I found even better is http://www.socialoomph.com/ which is free, lets you plug in the keywords to monitor, and it SENDS YOU AN EMAIL WHEN THERE IS A MATCH. For better or worse we tend to notice/check our email constantly, as opposed to REMEMBERING to fire up HooteSuite/tweetdeck and manually checking." Having this information in your "flight path" of normal activity is better -- thanks, Kevin.

Another Reason to Avoid "Internal Customers" -- or at least avoid the term. Notes Ian Munro with Calgary-based Long View Systems, "If one group believes that they are the customer of another it can introduce 'caste based thinking' where the customer group utilizes the mantra of 'the customer is always right' to position themselves as superior to the service providing organization. As you point out I think it is important for all internal teams to work on a united basis to service the real customer." Excellent point, Ian - thanks.

World's #1 Managed Service Provider (MSP) -- BTW, 850-employee Long View Systems understands a thing or two about customer service. They were just named the World's #1 managed service provider (MSP) on Nine Lives Media Inc.'s fourth annual MSPmentor 100, a prestigious list that identifies the globe's top 100 MSPs every year. Congrats to Don Bialik and his team, whom many of you have met at our last half-dozen Fortune Summits.

Key Disciplines for Major Breakthroughs -- back to The Compound Effect, I was concerned Darren's book would read like all the other success-type books. However, as publisher of SUCCESS magazine, he sits in a unique position to synthesize all of what works and doesn't work -- and shares our frustrations that most success books don't actually cause anyone to "move the needle." Not surprisingly, after reading his book I instituted some small changes in my routine that have added momentum to my flywheel.

Thanksgiving Year-Round -- when you pick up the book (book club members should have received the book by now), go to page 9 and read the section "You Haven't Experienced..." Then go to page 26, if you're married, and read "Thanksgiving Year-Round" -- I implemented this simple routine and experienced its powerful effect on my own marriage.

Eradicating Bad Habits -- Marshall Goldsmith, author of What Got You Here Won't Get You There, outlines the 20 habits that derail executives. Darren has the tools for eradicating these habits. That's why I've paired them up as keynoters for our Fortune Leadership Summit May 10 - 11, Houston. Please read Darren's book (couple hours) and then come meet and learn from him directly.

Reputation Saved; Tom Peters Top 4; Work Spouses; Workshops Announced

  "...keeping you great"

HEADLINES:
 
You'll Be Remembered Most For...The people you developed who went on to stellar accomplishments inside or outside the company and 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." Powerful thought from ubur-guru Tom Peters.

Sergeants Win Battles, Not Generals -- Tom Peters, legendary business author, was his usual raging (and highly entertaining) self at our National Growth Summit in Sydney this week. One of his opening four key points hammers home the importance of frontline supervisors/managers -- and how most companies do nothing to prepare them for the job. Do any of you have a recommended source for an "absolutely best in industry" first time supervisor training? Here's a link to Tom's short post about the National Growth Summit and his PowerPoint presentation entitled "Excellence: The 15(H)" -- check out Slides #14 - 18.

Tom Peter's Points 2, 3, and 4- to finish what he called the "Four (Really) First Things Before First Things": 

	#2 -- Cross Functional Excellence is Critical - and to improve, make friends in other functions by going to lunch together i.e. don't waste a lunch!
	#3 -- Listening is Strategic - and everyone in the company should go through a world-class listening course
	#4 -- Forget Micro-niches - instead focus on the only two markets that matter - those over 65 and women, who control 94% of all spending.

Go to Slide 48, print it out, and post it on your bathroom mirror! And then scan through the entire PowerPoint deck and be sure to look at Slide 159 - most important in the deck. Slide 189 is the entire summary of his presentation.

Do You Have a Work Spouse? -- this CNN story caught my attention. And though the term "work spouse" is catchy (caused me to read the article) and can result in jealous real spouses, there's one paragraph in the article that summarizes why it's important to have what I prefer to call an "accountability partner" at work. Notes the article: "We've used our relationship to rocket to the next level in our professional careers -- and have depended on each other to call out our bad work behaviors, figure out what is the most important work to be doing, and challenge each other to do the impossible." Simply having another person at work willing to watch your back is critical - and a key coaching/mentoring component to first line supervisory training - and top executive development!

Are You Missing Customer Requests on Twitter? -- I became anxious when I read this latest article highlighting how Fortune magazine tested various companies in their response time on Twitter. I realized that if someone asked us a customer service question via Twitter, we would fail miserably in responding. So I emailed social media guru David Meerman Scott to get recommendations of software where we can monitor keywords and be alerted when our name is mentioned. David personally uses TweetDeck; his wife swears by HootSuite.

Nurse Next Door Saved Reputation Using Social Media -- when a competitor, on their website, falsely accused Nurse Next Door of providing shoddy service because of their franchise model, rather than seek legal recourse (their lawyers said they had a good case), they chose a social media response - "right out of David Meerman Scott's playbook" notes John DeHart, co-founder of this rapid growing franchise (taking advantage of the aging market!!). John knew what to do from Scott's presentation at the Fortune Growth Summit. Here's a link to the short article describing DeHart's strategy - essentially he blogged about the situation and in the end the competitor removed the defamatory content.

The Problem with being Better -- speaking of blogs, I particularly liked CEO of Barmetrix, Sean Finter's, post where he challenged his clients (1000's of restaurants) to quit trying to get better and instead start "being the best." Nice play on words, but also a poignant point. Customers don't want better, they want the best. Employees want to work with the best company and for the best leaders. Go to this link and scroll down a couple postings.

Again, do any of you have access to a "best in industry" first time supervisor training program? Thank you in advance for any leads and input.

Rockefeller Habits One-Day Workshops Announced:

Cedar Rapids - April 19
San Francisco - April 20
Fort Lauderdale - April 27
Boston - April 28
Dallas - April 28
Philadelphia - May 18
Los Angeles - June 7
Denver - June 7
Seattle - June 23

Pie a Senior Guy; Winner in India; Need a President; Australia Growth Summit

"...keeping you great"

HEADLINES:
 
Throw a "Pi" at a Senior Guy -- this is Portland-based New System Laundry's quarterly theme. With a Q1 revenue goal of $3.14 million, and considering that the mathematical constant Pi is 3.1416...Mark Rawlinson, President, and his senior team (Lyle, Ken, Darin, and Jon) volunteered to take a cream pie in the face for every week the company hit's $240,000 in revenue ($3.14 million divided by 13 weeks in the quarter). As Keith Cupp, their Gazelles' coach, noted "so far the results have been smashing!"

More Pies and Details -- the "splatting" takes place on Wednesday's between shifts where an employee's name is drawn. That employee then gets to choose which senior guy they wish to splat. In addition, Franz (local brand) pies are handed out to ALL employees during those weeks the goal is reached. And if they hit the final goal by March 25, the company will host a Pie and Ice Cream Social...served by the guys that got pie in the face! Here's a link to some pictures showing the announcement of the theme, a themed rug that reminds everyone of the goal, and some pictures of the splatting.

Never Bet Against This Senior Guy (in India) -- Michael Dell, that is -- and you know I'm one of his biggest fans. For all the bad news Dell garnered a few years ago, Dell grew like a "gazelle" last year, increasing global revenues almost 20% and earning a record $.45 per share while increasing cash almost $4 billion to a record $14 billion. In addition, they just surpassed HP as the #1 computer manufacturer in India, growing at 55% last year - and they were late to the party. Take five minutes to read this detailed Feb 10 Fortune article on how Dell conquered India.

Need a Senior Guy? -- Gerry Barg is looking for a growth firm that needs a leader or co-leader. After selling is $34 million Southern Ontario-based auto business, which averaged an annual growth rate of 38% over 17 consecutive years, Gerry went back to school and completed an MBA. One of our best Rockefeller Habits "students", Gerry operated his business through 11 different locations in 6 cities, peaking at 180 employees. Now he's rested and ready to jump into either a growth firm or a company that needs turned-around. If you know of one, preferably in the Toronto area, though he's single and able to move, email Gerry at [email protected].

1099 Requirement Repealed Last Friday -- and a little piece of good news for growth firms. The US Senate repealed the increased 1099 reporting requirements hidden in the HealthCare Bill last Friday. It's expected to pass the House as well. That's some relief!

Growth Summit Australia -- I'm looking forward to seeing our customers in Australia next week (Feb 15 Summit, Feb 16 workshops) at our upcoming Sydney Growth Summit -- Tom Peters, Liz Wiseman, Brian Halligan, and more are sharing their growth company wisdom.

3 Classic Mistakes; Would You Do This; No Internal Customers; Tom Peters

  "...keeping you great"

HEADLINES: (Happy Chinese New Year!)
 
3 Classic Customer Mistakes -- my latest Growth Guy syndicated column entitled "Sharpen Your Customer Focus" highlights three classic mistakes business leaders make when thinking about their customer:

1.        Incorrectly defining their CORE customer

2.        Misusing the term "internal customer" (no such thing!)

3.        Failing to understand how well-informed customers are today

The multi-award winning luxury homebuilder and remodeler, DC-based BOWA, is the main case study of the column. BTW, BOWA's fourth-quarter leads were up 30% after redefining their core customer. Take four minutes to learn from one of the best run firms in their (tough) industry.

No Such Thing as an Internal Customer -- I may be alone in this thought, but the word "customer" must be held sacred and reserved for the end user of your product or service. Call everyone else between you and the customer what they are: distributors, purchasing agents, decision-makers, sales support - but don't refer to them as a customer, otherwise the entire organization begins to lose focus on why you're in business in the first place. More on the dangers of using the term "internal customer" in my latest column.

Best Customer Centric Contact Page -- Howard Fleischmann, owner of 20-year old Community Tire and Auto Repair, emailed me to sign up for my insights. Intrigued by how he signed his note "Always Positive," I checked out his website and where he was based. That led me to his contact landing page where he not only provides his cell phone number but notes "If all else fails, my home number is ...." Now that is customer responsiveness. Here's a link to his contact page.

Best Thing We Did for Customers -- I'm surprised more companies haven't employed "web greeters" on their websites. We still receive kudos regularly for having people instantly available to help a customer find something on our website or get a question answered (hope you all see it as helpful and not intrusive). And it's very inexpensive - just over a dollar per "chat." FYI, we've been using a company called LiveAdmins and their WebGreeter service for years and have had zero problems.

Tom Peters on Customers -- take one minute and scan these two pages summarizing Tom Peters' actionable ideas about customers. As leaders, ideas are the main thing we provide our companies. That's why I'm ALWAYS jazzed to spend a few hours listening to uber-guru Tom Peters (at our upcoming Growth Summit in Sydney Feb 15 - 16 -- keynote and half-day workshop). Hope to see all my insight readers in Sydney in a couple weeks.

2 Critical Books; YPOer Mark Aesch; Save Your City

  "...out-learn the competition"

HEADLINES: (two critical books released today - and an online seminar)
 
Best Ever Read -- Notes uber-guru Tom Peters, about YPOer Mark Aesch's book released today: "Could a book about managing a public sector bus company truly be a 'page turner,' worthy of Lee Child or Tom Clancy? The answer is a resounding 'Yes.' Driving Excellence is indeed about EXCELLENCE in the public sector or anywhere. I'm ready to call it one of the best management books I've ever read--and it really is a page turner!" More on Mark's book below.

Best Ever Implemented -- work three focused 90-minute sessions, with well structured breaks in-between, and you'll get more accomplished in 4.5 hours a day than most execs do in 8 to 12 hours!! Tony Schwartz, THE legend in executive performance, released his new book today entitled Be Excellent at Anything: The Four Keys To Transforming the Way We Work and Live.

Online Seminar -- And Gazelles just produced a one-hour online seminar with Tony this week. Take 60 minutes and show it to your entire middle and upper management team (next monthly management meeting) and teach them how to get more accomplished each day. Here's a link to Tony's offering in our Gazelles Growth Institute series.

Time is Limited, Energy is Not -- as Tony notes, now that we can do email anywhere, we've maxed out the number of working hours. However, it's not about time management, it's about energy management. There are four types of energy people must manage properly to be at the top of their game. Tony outlines these in his book and in the online seminar. And they are techniques I've practiced for a year since I was privileged to have access to Tony's material in advance - and my personal effectiveness has doubled, giving me more time with the family while accomplishing more than ever before.

Google, Apple, Ford, HBS -- besides his latest book, Tony is co-author of the Power of Full Engagement (you've heard me rave about this book for years); author of What Really Matters (the most comprehensive summary of the self-help field); and co-author of Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal. Tony knows how to write and teach. Today, Tony is founder and CEO of The Energy Project, helping individuals and organizations fuel energy, engagement, focus and productivity by drawing on the science of high performance, including Google, Apple, Sony, Ford, Wells Fargo, Citibank, Gillette and Barclays Capital, as well as the Los Angeles Police Department, the Cleveland Clinic, Harvard Business School and the National Security Agency.

Save Your City -- back to YPOer Mark's book, in essence, Mark took a public transportation company losing $27 million and in two years generated a $19 million surplus while increasing service and reducing fares! This book will save our country and is getting a lot of press this week. REQUEST: download the Kindle version now (book club members, you'll receive the book later this week) and read the 13-page introduction. Then purchase 10 copies and send to the heads of each of your city's public agencies. Then read the rest of the book for ideas to fuel your own company.

Mark Keynoting Fortune Leadership Summit -- and Mark Aesch is keynoting our upcoming Fortune Leadership Summit May 10 - 11, Houston, along with the famous Marshall Goldsmith, Josh Bernoff, Darren Hardy, and Greg Brenneman (if you don't know these guys and their ideas, ever more reason to get to Houston).

February 1, 2011 -- note this date - two transformational books were released today. Ideas continue to have consequences.