First.... the Vision

Ford Focus or Ferrari Spider? I know the answer. Well the same is true for business. The normal business without any "juice" or "it" factor is just the same ol' Ford Focus that nobody really gets excited about. Then there are those rule changing, high performance organizations that create a total WOW experience.

To get to this high performance environment and to create a WOW experience, its starts with this vision. You have to have a very clear picture of what you want the movie to look like. Its your story. You are the author. You are the director. You are the leading role.

Take this napkin and capture the picture of a WOW experience in your company. Be very clear and very detailed.

Gettin' it done! Hook em....

This die-hard Nebraska Cornhusker, must give huge props to Mack Brown and the job he has done at University of Texas. He is absolutely moving the needle at UT. A great leader, a great person, a great coach, and a great business person.

Mack came to UT nine years ago and took a failing program (that should not have been this bad) and now has turned the program into an annual powerhouse in the highly competitive arena of college football. His results on the field: Coach Brown has led the Longhorns to six straight 10-win seasons and a Bowl Championship Series appearance in two of the past three years, winning the national championship in 2005. He is 93-22 overall and has led the Longhorns to a school record-tying nine straight bowl appearances.

This week Coach Brown was awarded a contract extension until 2016 and a pay increase to around $3 million per year. Think this was justified? Let's look at the business part of it.

In 1997 when Mack came to UT, the athletic revenue was $131 million per year. This year, estimates say that will increase to $365 million with football contributing $63 million. That is flat gettin' it done!

Some great business concepts Mack applies that we can all learn from:

• PEOPLE, PEOPLE, PEOPLE: Mack recruits the top prospects in the country and the Horns are consistently in the top 5 recruiting classes every year! Talent Wins! Talent Matters! Also his assistant coaches are excellent. Bottom line for Mack: PEOPLE WIN! ITS ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE PROCESS and PEOPLE CULTURE!


• Leadership: Mack works on his leadership all the time. He is constantly changing is approach and learning as he goes. This is winning. Leading with an open mind and open heart.


• Facilities: UT is second to none and they just plain get it. Look at the suites at the stadium, look at the locker room, look at the practice fields, look at the additions to the stadium, look at the players lounge. Hard for a recruit to say No after this pony show. Mack takes design to a new level!


• Accountability and Behaviors: Break the rules and there are consquences. This is 100% accountability in action.


• People First, Results Second: Care about the people in the organization and the results will come with accountabily to the overall successful startegy. In business this means put your people first and profits second. Take care of the People process and the profits will come just like the wins in football.

My List.....

I was recently asked over lunch to list and describe what I think separates those really great businesses from the rest of the pack. As usual, I went a bit overboard but here is what I came up with.

• edgy in innovation but smooth in execution
• funky
• crisp pace
• really great people
• people have freedom to think; people have freedom to act, to do their very best
• juice
• design, excellent facilities
• PEOPLE, PEOPLE, PEOPLE!
• culture of people first
• positive vibes
• impossible to duplicate (especially the culture)
• depth, got a bench of quality reserves that can step in and produce, execute
• attitude (gumption, spunk) + attitude (positive)
• fun
• caring, personal, passion
• out of the box thinking, thrive on changing the rules, innovative
• focused
• priorities are the right ones and everyone knows them
• candid culture, realism, high integrity
• coaches, joyful responsibility to contribute and teach others
• team spirit
• thrive on change
• accept and conquer adversity
• break the landscape down into simple views....simple measuring sticks
• accountability and discipline
• reward and retain the "doers"
• passion, enthusiasm, and energy. WOW! experience and you can feel it
• try it, then dream it, and then try some more
• Really great Leadership
• Solid goal setting
• Training (and presence of leadership/top management training too)
• People come first then profits later
• Don't run out of cash...great cash controls and an understanding of inventory r.o.i
• Did I say: PEOPLE, PEOPLE, PEOPLE

Take an Athletic Approach to Leadership

Leadership takes work and practice. A company can not just snap its fingers and "poof": excellent leaders emerge. But rather, like everything else, good and solid leadership is developed through hard work. Sounds easy and the talk is good but the fact of the matter is extremely few organizations or mangers develop their leadership capacity. Nobody does the push ups to become better leaders.

I don't believe in the saying "she is a natural leader". I do think a person can inherently have natural leadership characteristics but that is a far cry from being a great leader. In fact, what does happen naturally is ineffective leadership. Most managers will decrease in leadership overtime. It is not a surprise to me that the number one reason people leave a company is because of the relationship with the managers.

Let's look at a couple of great sports leaders in two vastly different arenas. Peyton Manning, is NFL MVP and Superbowl winning quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts and Tiger Woods is arguably the best athlete ever and 13 time PGA major winning golfer. Two entirely different sports in that football is a team sport of 53 players and golf is an individual sport consisting of nothing but yourself.

Both Tiger and Peyton were born with natural talents and God given leadership traits. But so were many other people and some even better. What makes these two so different and so effective? They take an athletic approach to leadership. What does an athletic approach to leadership mean? For starters, they both have work ethic that is second to none. Tiger just plain out works all of his competition in mind, body, and spirit. He hits more balls than anybody else. He works on his body and fitness more than anybody else. And he also works his mind more than anyone else. That is why when he is leading going into the final round, he has NEVER lost. He simply has better leadership than any of his competition and he knows it and they know it.

Peyton Manning is similar to Tiger in that his work ethic is the best in the NFL. Peyton just won the Superbowl last year and reports say he took a few days off and he was back at it planning to win another one. Peyton works tirelessly on his communication skills with his team by being the first on the field and last to leave the field and by far most time in meeting rooms.

Sure Tiger and Peyton have natural skills but what makes them the best at what they do is because they take an athletic approach and they have SYSTEMS in place. They are students and constantly learning to become better.

How about you and your company? How much time is and energy is devoted towards becoming better leaders? Do you have a set plan to improve the leadership? Do you put in the hard work and do the push ups?

Without a system in place lead by experts to improve leadership at all levels, the fact is your company will not maximize its potential, productivity, and profitability.

Take an Athletic Approach to Hospitality.....

Business, Life, Leadership: The common key element to success in all of them is the ability to make other people feel good. Its the idea of serving others.

Successful businesses are consumed with serving others first and then the rest falls into place. These really excellent companies have the proper priorities and everyone in the organization understands them. A WOW company has a culture of delivering superior customer experiences wrapped around a genuine heartfelt concern for human relationships. The companies that put profits first are not built to last. How many greedy companies last? As a customer, do you go to places that make you feel less than great? A great company has an environment of hospitality. A WOW company goes a bit further and takes an Athletic approach to hospitality.

EXCELLENT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE + SINCERE HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS+ ATHLETIC HOSPITALITY = WOW!

In life we are called upon to serve others. It's our job and it's our obligation. We all have a huge responsibility to make this world better for the next generation. We need to contribute and can't be on the sidelines watching others do the heavy lifting. This means you have to give. Again, like in business, there is no place for greed. People that white knuckle everything are consumed about gathering as much "stuff" as they can for only them. The barometer for success in greedy people is the amount of "stuff " they can accumulate from bank accounts to material things. Those selfish people subscribe to the bumper sticker "Those with the most toys, wins." I think the new bumper sticker should read, "Those that give most, wins."

Leadership is all about serving and giving to others. Servant Leadership. Great leaders put others way before themselves. In fact, the math is not even close to the amount given to others versus themselves. Great leaders make you feel good. They operate in a world of Athletic Hospitality. Great leaders have a culture of servant leadership where they serve others in the organization. Take an typical organizational chart and think in terms of a pyramid. The boss is at the top, then the next layer of management, and so on until the front line people are at the bottom of the pyramid. But what would happen when you turn the pyramid upside down? This is the theory of Servant Leadership. The boss is now at the bottom and her job is to serve those above her. The managers then serve those above them. So on and so forth until the front line people are on the top of the organizational chart serving the customers.

Business, Life, Leadership: Serve others and go beyond by taking an Athletic approach to Hospitality.

I don't get it.....

I heard from a business owner the other day that he really does not think it is his job to work with the company's people. My response: Are you kidding me?

With very few exceptions this is the rule: Those with the best people win!

That's it. Period. End of story.


lead·er·ship /ˈlidərˌʃɪp/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[lee-der-ship] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun

1. the position or function of a leader: He managed to maintain his leadership of the party despite heavy opposition.
2. ability to lead: She displayed leadership potential.
3. an act or instance of leading; guidance; direction: They prospered under his leadership.
4. the leaders of a group: The union leadership agreed to arbitrate.

This means working with people!

Here is a test I give business owners and managers: Tell me what is more important than working with your people? But for a very few exceptions, the answer is nothing. Please listen carefully. If you want your business to improve and better itself, there is no better way than working with the people.

Calender test: How many days have you spent working with your people over the last 90 days? How many days do you have planned out over the next 90 days to work with the people?