A great article with astonishing insights with Bill Campbell, the veteran Silicon Valley CEO and mentor of CEOs, where he talks about his years in high tech.
Check it out at The McKinsey Quarterly
There’s this little football club in the North West of England that have a very big day ahead of them, on Monday May 25th.
I have been watching them for almost 50 years through thick and some very thin.
The team has suffered over the years from a limited level of support from the population of that small town and it’s fans have been spread across the globe.
The bigger city teams have had greater support and they have hoovered up the best players, paying them much more money, so my team suffered.
Tomorrow, they have the best chance for 33 years to reach the top flight and compete with the big boys.
Financially it will be an incredible feat to achieve for the team and the town.
It has happened because they unearthed an amazing manager.
Owen Coyle has earned admiration throughout the country after his side beat six clubs from the highest division in cup matches this season, despite having a team made up far less expensively.
The former Bolton striker’s most ardent supporters can be found within Turf Moor, the home of Burnley Football Club.
“It’s very rare that you get a manager that every single player at the club likes,” said Steve Thompson, a free transfer signing from Cardiff last September.
“But I think that’s the case here. He’s friends with all of us and we all get on very well with him.”
“I think that’s been the key to our success this season.
“The manager is an infectious person to be around, very bubbly, and he also knows a thing or two about football.”
Who says that managers don’t count.
Coyle has made it his way to be great with his players and they have delivered with his support, encouragement and not forgetting his demanding style.
22 points came from games they had to come from behind in.
Coyle’s spirit has meant his team never give up.
You can be this way with your people too - it’s a choice. Your choice.
Up the Clarets (for the game later today!)
I hope I have your support too!
Change is with us, maybe more than ever in the challenging world we live in today.
To avoid the stress and trouble of major change, it’s vital to be on the alert all the time.
Constantly reviewing where you are in your business and making small course adjustments, like the autopilot of a jumbo jet, will maximize your performance.
Leading the cultural shift that enables almost pain-free change can develop into a regular semi-automatic activity.
And the first steps are to become aware and to spot-check the current state of play manually.
Doing this will encourage your people to start to do it themselves.
Remember, the best time to review is when you are successful.
And then be very challenging and honest about yourselves.
Build it in and make small changes regularly, once you have evidence of drifting off course - or finding opportunities for growth.
That makes for a consistently healthy & growing organization and reduces the need for cataclysmic change.
Click this link for one of the most amazing characters in management today!
It’s a simple question, but with an easy answer. And one which you really must get to the bottom of when time is tight.
It’s time to ask the question!
What value is created when I spend time on this activity? And, how do I assess that?
If your challenge is to make £100 an hour profit for your organization, is what you are spending your time on doing just that?
How can you measure it accurately and, even better, who on your team can help you with this?
What things do you and your people do, which doesn’t create the level of profitable value you are seeking?
Here’s a challenge then…
Try stopping doing some things, those which you may have done for months and years.
Choose tasks which demonstrate creating little or no value and switch to more things that do.
Stop some things and start others - simple as that.
It’s a busy world.
We all work in hectic environments, attempting to keep up, ahead of the wave.
Yet sometimes it’s worth spending time doing very little at all.
For many years, the concept of MBWA - Managing By Walking About - proved very successful and still is.
Woe betide any manager who isn’t inquisitive and sensitised to what might be happening that is out of the ordinary. To get that level of intelligence, you have to be aware.
To be aware, you have to be out there, being just a little (or very!) nosy about what is going on.
Yet, within this, there is space for ‘standing still‘.
You see, the bustle and rush of all the ‘walking about’ means that you don’t always have the time to notice.
The challenge is within you. It feels uncomfortable to seemingly do nothing, but stand and watch to see; to absorb just what is going on.
It also takes some little time for your people to get used to it as well. The concept of you just standing, watching, checking, catching them out.
Maybe.
So part of this is about watching and not finding things wrong, more about catching your people doing things right and gaining intelligence.
How you use that intelligence, needs care and focus and without doubt, to be constructive and positive.
You will be surprised what you find out about your business, by being calm with yourself, giving yourself the permission to stand around and watch.
Give it a try.
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