Leadership – Page 14 – www.exkalibur.com

Give your employees $2,000 to spend!

What would happen if we gave each of our employees up to $2,000 to invest in a customer’s experience on any particular occasion … not an annual stipend … but for any given situation?

Most of us are aware of the extraordinary attention to service that is the hallmark of luxury hotels … but few of us probably understand the extraordinary cultural commitment to training and service that is the bedrock of the incomparable Ritz Carlton chain.

In an insightful interview with the Ritz Carlton CEO, Simon Cooper, many of these powerful programs are discussed.

The Ritz Carlton grants every staff member a stipend of up to $2,000 to satisfy any single guest … not per year but per occasion … without any approval or conditions. Imagine empowering our employees in that manner … and showing them our immense trust in their ability to make sound decisions while validating our unwavering commitment to our customers?

BTW, in the Ritz Carlton arrangement, there is no implication that there is a problem … just a desire to create an overwhelming customer experience. Another tactic that the Ritz Carlton uses may seem familiar to many as the “daily huddle”, (more…)

Strategy is what you choose NOT to do!

By now, you know that the Sunday NY Times Corner Office series is oft-quoted here to highlight varying aspects of leadership that flow from Adam Bryant’s conversations with notable CEOs and business leaders.
This week he interviewed Drew Gilpin Faust, the first female President of Harvard University. Communication is a critical factor in her leadership style, and I can concur with the extraordinary importance this has in a university setting, having spent 6 months consulting with UCLA. The university community is a diverse governance conundrum with many cooks and few bottle washers, so communication is vital across all of the constituencies and leadership platforms. It’s no less important in your organization but the style required in a university setting sets a high standard for what’s required from all business leaders.
She also emphasizes the value of MBWA … the leadership tactic of “Management by Walking Around” mentioned often here. She also emphasizes (more…)

Alignment is the essence of management

... or so says Fred Smith, Chairman and Founder of Federal Express. By any other name, there is no substitute for making sure that everyone on your team is "aligned" ... with the goals of the organization, its vision and mission, its values .... One way to discover a lack…

Incentives Rule! The freaks are back in SuperFreakonomics.

Many of you reading these pages have heard my refrain that "Incentives are the cornerstone of life", a mantra preached by Steven Levitt & Co. in their landmark book, Freakonomics. Their blog calls it "the hidden side of everything." Welcome to SuperFreakonomics, the newest contribution to their study of incentives…

Answers are good. Questions are better!

I regularly read the Corner Office column in Sunday's NY Times because the CEOs being interviewed invariably identify important leadership components that are valuable reminders of issues often overlooked. In his recent interview, Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, reminds us that the questions are often more important than the answers.…

Vol. 51 – Never Give Up! Never, Never, Never!

At first, I figured it was too late to talk about surviving the economic storm we’re in … and then, I thought, hey, this isn’t over.

What does this recession really look like?

Maybe the sense of impending doom has dissipated but the reduced level of business activity and an increasing sense of frugality in a buyer-dominated market are going to be our unbidden passengers for quite a few more miles.
“Let us go into the storm … and through the storm,” said Winston Churchill as he prepared England to confront the Nazi regime in World War II.
As it applies to our current business climate, I thought this might be a touch of hyperbole, but then I recalled that Churchill’s odyssey raged for five years, not just the single year we’ve navigated since September 2008.
[pullquote]“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” ~ Winston Churchill[/pullquote]
Imagine Churchill, FDR and others slogging for five dreadful years through the greatest threat to civilization we have known.

How do we carry on the fight over a longer period?

So, how do we get through four more years of this business cycle, a time frame proclaimed by many before employment gets back to 6 percent and more customary growth trends resume?
Consider these few concepts inspired by the triumph and tragedy of those years: (more…)

CEOs: Be a General … and a Scout

I have mentioned on many occasions the Corner Office series in the Sunday NY Times which features an interview by Adam Bryant with a prominent CEO. The questions are consistent but invariably reveal an important reminder of key elements of leadership.
In a recent interview with Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy, Rogers explained how important it is to be on the front lines, to employ the MBWA concept that keeps you in touch with what’s REALLY going on. He also emphasizes a point made repeatedly in Sword Tips … that a strong leadership team is an invaluable cornerstone of successful leadership. In an unusual reference, Rogers mentions it in the context of time management … that he can’t get done what’s on his plate unless he has built a trusted team, clearly shared the company strategy with them and demonstrates his trust in their ability to succeed.
A final reminder is a bugaboo for most business leaders … (more…)

Try me now – hire me later!

I have always advocated the "try 'em to see if you like 'em" theory of hiring whenever you can pull it off. Business Week has written this week about Test Drives in the C-Suite, which suggests a growing trend toward a "temp-to-hire" process to see if an interim executive is the…

Death … Taxes … AND Succession Planning!

The sudden resignation of Ken Lewis from Bank of America highlights, yet again, the risks that family and other businesses take in failing to prepare for the inevitable succession of leadership.
A succession plan doesn’t mean you have all the work done and the perfect successor is comfortably waiting in the wings, although that would be desirable. It does mean, at a minimum, that you have an interim CEO in place who can hold down the fort while certain details are worked out and long term plans are implemented. Developing an emergency plan also gives the Board or family a chance to discuss these often thorny subjects without stockholder worries, employee hand-wringing or the emotional burden that comes with a fallen leader.
Often, this process highlight gaps within the family or board about the suitability of a particular successor. (more…)