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Three Key Elements of a Performance Culture

October 6, 2010 in Featured, Leadership with 11 Comments

Carlos Brito World Business Forum 300x281 Three Key Elements of a Performance CultureDuring the World Business Forum, Carlos Brito, CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, explained to the audience his three elements of a performance culture: dream, people, and culture.

Dream:

Dreams are important because they set the bar. Once you set that bar it anchors everything. You have to dream big. Dreams have to be stretched but credible. And you have to know about 80 percent how you’re going to get there; the rest you can figure out along the way.

The dream has to inspire and align people. Organizations are formed by people… this is obvious, but that can be easy forgotten. If leaders work in harmony on that dream, the company goes forward. When company leaders don’t work together, things stall and often begin to fall apart.

Keep raising the bar; don’t be afraid to dare and try harder. Be public about it. Make it measurable. Be remarkable! Continue Reading…

Jim Collins’ list of 10 To-Dos For Successful Leadership

October 5, 2010 in Featured, Leadership with 35 Comments

Jim Collins1 253x300 Jim Collins list of 10 To Dos For Successful LeadershipThis morning at HSM’s World Business Forum, Jim Collins, leadership expert and author of Built to Last and Good to Great shared a list of 10 to-dos for successful leadership:

1. Do your diagnostics. (There are free tools at www.jimcollins.com). Self-assess how you’re doing. Find weaknesses to improve upon.

2. Don’t focus on your career; focus on building pockets of greatness throughout your career.

3. Fill key seats with the right people. Ask yourself whether that’s the case in your organization. If not, start to make changes. Continue Reading…

World Business Forum 2010

September 23, 2010 in Business, Featured, Finance, Leadership, Technology with 13 Comments

WBF101 300x197 World Business Forum 2010Six weeks ago, I received an invitation to be a featured blogger at the 2010 World Business Forum, which is being held October 5th and 6th at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Come to find out, this is an invitation-only opportunity offered to a select group of top business bloggers, and establishes a membership amongst the WBF10 Bloggers Hub.

As I read over the invite, I was uncertain if it was actually true. I expressed gratitude for kindly extending the invitation to attend the forum and asked why I was chosen to attend, as for I felt that I had yet to contribute anything of significance to the leadership community. Micheal Singer replied with: “I found your blog on someone else’s blogroll, and I took a brief look and liked what I saw. We’re looking for interesting viewpoints. And while many of our bloggers have institutional ties and recognition, etc., we also want some new voices. This is a great opportunity to stretch your voice and reach some new people if you want the opportunity. It’s that simple.” Continue Reading…

2, 4, 6, 8; Time to Recalibrate!

September 23, 2010 in Featured, Leadership with 10 Comments

New Personal Leadership Plan 300x200 2, 4, 6, 8; Time to Recalibrate!The other day I received an e-mail notification that my domain name for this blog is up for renewal. This triggered me to go back and review my blog postings and perform a quick personal inventory. While I was reading over each of my previous posts, it reminded me why I began blogging and what my short and long term goals were. Being completely honest, I had no idea what I was getting myself into and what the future had in store. Here is a short list of phases and their descriptions I encountered along the way:

  • Establish the basics and define the overall navigation around WordPress and find ways to define core values, identity and overall content.
  • Create an identity for the blogsphere to answer the following question: “Who is Geoff Snyder?“
  • Learn about theme layouts, plugins, basic SEO, linking, and VERY basic HTML and PHP coding.
  • Understand proper social media etiquette and sincere engagement, while also learning how to automate.
  • Discover the importance of RSS feeds and their subscribers.
  • Staying true to the core values and beliefs while collaborating with other like-minded individuals.
  • Research, read, discuss, read some more, collaborate, and most importantly…stay proactive!

Now that I think I have the swing of things and have been lurking around the blogsphere, I’ve decided to add some personality…make this something personal, find ways to materialize what I’ve gathered into something meaningful, opposed to writing robotic “content friendly” posts simply to appease the search engines’ crawlers.

With that said, I must express my deep, sincere gratitude for the wonderful people I’ve encountered along the way. The level of friendly engagement has made me realize the power of blogging, the world of social media (twitter, facebook, linkedin, etc…), and how social networking has the ability to bring together so many people they we never knew existed.  The level of synergy that is available to us is extremely powerful. With the tools of a laptop, a internet connection, the motivation to seek like-minded people, as well as the passion to help other achieve their goals, I am convinced that there is absolutely nothing that cannot be achieved.

Now, I know that the last sentence of the previous paragraph may have some overtones of the cliche our parents told us for all those years: “You can do anything that you put your mind to.” Well, it’s true and the efforts and their results far outweigh the consequences of living in fear or sustaining a lack of confidence. I know, I’ve been there a few times throughout my short life and I am so thankful for those who’ve been there to help pick me back up and support me during those dark times.

I’m going to go ahead and warp this post up with a couple words: Dream Big.

Call me “Juno” if you will,  call me a post-modernist, or call me some new age yuppie type…but we’re in the 21st century and the rules have changed. Globally, as Robert Dickie recently tweeted: “We did not just go through a “recession” we went through a “reset.” This is important to understand. Many of the rules have changed.” It’s time to throw away the status-quo and begin leading from within. It will allow for a reflection so bright that it will glow amongst all of those close to you and those you’re about to meet along the way.

I’d like to thank Tom Schulte for the inspiration of the title and thought of this blog post. Thank you Tom.

Big Dogs That Listen, Get Treats

September 13, 2010 in Business, Featured with 9 Comments

Huh you say 300x264 Big Dogs That Listen, Get Treats“There are times when even the best manager is like the little boy with the big dog waiting to see where the dog wants to go so he can take him there.” - Lee Iacocca.

The man who fathered the Ford Mustang and resurrected Chrysler from financial oblivion wasn’t born knowing how to pull off those magic acts, he learned them. While at Ford, he initiated careful research about how American demographics and the financial wherewithal of consumers would change during the 1960s. He listened to smart people tell him what the country needed, and delivered a classic automobile.

1964 Ford Mustang 300x207 Big Dogs That Listen, Get Treats

Repeat proven results and continue to build on them.

Years later at Chrysler, Iacocca landed at a corporation in turmoil. Careful analysis showed that the company was in such dire straits that extreme measures would have to be taken to save it. Iacocca ended up needing loans from the government to keep Chrysler afloat. But once he got the money, he revived the company.

When we really listen to others, we learn more about ourselves and our abilities to help others achieve their goals.

In each case, the “big dogs” for Iacocca were the demands of the business: the need for new thinking at Ford and absolute need for a survival plan at Chrysler. These dogs forced Iacocca to listen to them follow them, and ultimately steer him in directions that would benefit both companies.

We gather facts by listening, both with our ears and out eyes. Once the facts are in place, we can then make decisions that help everybody around us.

Managers who wag the dog make decisions without letting the facts tell them what’s right. Managers who take the opposite approach usually get the treats.

How important is it to you for other to listen while you are discussing an important topic? If you sense that you don’t have the listener’s full attention, how do you handle it?

Put Customers and Employees First, Not Money

August 10, 2010 in Business, Featured, Leadership with 10 Comments

CUSTOMER FIRST 265x300 Put Customers and Employees First, Not MoneyIf acquiring money is at the top of your list, something else eventually suffers. This statement has proved to be true for centuries and was recently mentioned by well known blogger Tara Hunt. Here is an example that is certainly the case when, as an animal or pet becomes a profit center, the animal’s natural instincts are hampered. For example, horses who naturally love to roam for miles and eat all day get locked in stalls twenty-three hours a day so they don’t get injured or use up their energy frolicking in a field. Dogs get bathed religiously yet aren’t allowed the rough-and-tumble play they like because they need to have a show coat. And even when winning a competition seems more important that earning money, the two go hand in hand when a winner can demand higher prices for puppies or stud fees.

“Designing your products and services for monetization first, and people second will probably leave you with neither.” – Tara Hunt

In your business, think about your customers first…they are the ones handing over the money. Keep in mind the old adage that says if someone has a good experience, they tell one person; if they have a bad experience, they tell a dozen. And it’s not just customers you need to consider. Don’t place money over employees either…you will definitely have few revenues if your employees aren’t emotionally or monetarily invested in your products and services.

Are you looking to expand your business? If so, is it to appeal to your wants or is it to enhance the overall customer experience?

Be sure not to miss the #custserv chat held at Twitter every Tuesday night at 9pm ET.

The Power of Positive Thinking

August 2, 2010 in Education, Family, Featured, Fitness, Health and Wellness, Leadership with 11 Comments

Postive Thinking 225x300 The Power of Positive Thinking“How you think about a problem is more important than the problem itself – so always think positively” – Norman Vincent Peale

One of the first “motivational” books I ever read was one by Norman Vincent Peale. His book titled Power of Positive Thinking was an instant bestseller when it was published in 1952 and sold over twenty million copies to date. Dr. Peale formulated a three-step process for positive thinking: the first step involves prescribed exercises, the second attaining divine power, and the last urges to eliminate negativity in your life. Continue Reading…

Credit Given When Credit is Due

July 13, 2010 in Business, Featured, Leadership with 9 Comments

Give Credit To Your Team2 274x300 Credit Given When Credit is DueA real time player is not concerned about individual credit. Like a true leader, he or she knows that they would not have deserved the credit without the other team members input. And a true leader knows that the credit will come in the long run… that having been part of a successful team will put him in line to be on other successful teams, or earn a promotion, or simply make him or her more valuable when it comes to looking for new objectives.

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. – Harry Truman

It’s hard not to care who gets the credit. And even though it takes everyone’s concentrated efforts to get the job done, you need to feel positive about your work even on those occasions when just a few get the credit that perhaps the whole team deserved.

Together Everybody Achieves More

A good team leader will make sure to credit the whole team. When announcing results of a team’s efforts, the leader will emphasize how hard the team worked together, and what each employee contributed to the bigger effort. Don’t worry about team members who didn’t work as hard as they might have or that others might have wanted them to–they will be penalized when they are not picked for a new team. It doesn’t matter once the team’s work is done; it matters for the next time around.

How do you make it known who gets credit when credit is due?

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