Leadership

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Idea Flow

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How many ideas can you handle each day? One, five, a dozen? Personally, I like a continual flow. It shows that the tribe is thinking, creating...perhaps even pushing me around a bit. I much prefer this bombardment problem to the occasional, well thought out (safe), perfect solution...which , by the way, is almost never as effective as one of those crazy, off the wall thoughts.

So, go ahead, send a hundred thousand comments and emails...I would enjoy hearing from you.

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5 Things

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What are you doing to move your organization forward? What are the people around you doing? What about the candidate being considered to join your company...what did she do at her last company to get them ahead? No matter when or how often you ask, it's always the most important thing to know....what are we doing?

Try implementing a 5 things report to get everyone focused on the idea of measurable progress. List the 5 things you're doing right now that will measurably move the organization forward...to get it a step closer to achieving overarching objectives like building an audience of loyal raving fans, reducing waste by 5% or improving employee retention. Release a new list regularly, on whatever schedule feels right...weekly seems to work well for most. Start handing yours out to your boss, peers and subordinates. Don't ask for theirs. After awhile, you'll get some in return. Hopefully, you'll start a shift in the culture of participation and measuring progress.

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Corporate Office

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I recently chimed in on a conversation about the value of a corporate office...let me know your thoughts.

My 2 cents on Corporate Offices...the great ones do five things really well:

  1. Talent- They      hire the brightest, most passionate people they can afford. And, ones they      can trust. Great companies understand you can't really teach passion,      personality and caring...all a big part of delivering a meaningful      hospitality experience. So, they focus on recruiting people who are great      at this naturally.
  2. What, not How-      They, along with these passionate people, develop and agree on the BHAG      (big, hairy, audacious goals...borrowed from Jim Collins). They focus on      the objective, not how to get there (those really smart people they hired      figure that out). They don't worry about the minutiae, like precisely what      to say to each guest at the front door. Rather, they  focus on the      big stuff, like guest satisfaction of 90% or greater, etc.
  3. Support- They      give people the tools and training to do the technical part of the job.      The mechanics of service can be taught (how and when to retrieve luggage      from a vehicle).
  4. Value Driven-      They stay out of the way (of the smart people), offering support, not      necessarily guidance. Rather than control every move, they allow people to      prosper and add value to the organization.
  5. Care- They put      people first, the business second.

After reading that list again, it really boils down to hiring passionate, competent people who you can trust...and who are generally interested in the same things you are.