Dr Stephen Covey's 7 habits of highly effective people was mentioned in this month's module of my level 5 Diploma in HRM. We all like Covey. All of us here are sharpening our own saw. But I thought I would look at Tom Peters. He was a guru way back in the 1990s when I was in the chemical industry and he is still going strong today. In April of this year he wrote 'Excellence. NO EXCUSES'. So what does he say? What are his Blinding Flashes of the Obvious? UPPER CASE IS ALL HIS!
'If you RELIGIOUSLY help people - EVERY SINGLE PERSON, JUNIOR OR SENIOR, LIFER OR TEMP - grow and reach/exceed their perceived potential, then they in turn will bust their individual and collective butts to create great experiences for Clients - and the 'bottom line' will get fatter and fatter and fatter.
1. PEOPLE FIRST = MAXIMISED PROFITABILITY. PERIOD.
2. ENABLING 'ALL HANDS' GROWTH IS LEADER DUTY.
3. (In a 45 mins 'tour d'horizon' of the enterprise: GUARANTEE 9 of 10 CEOs (10 of 10?) wouldn't once mention training. THAT = DISGRACE.
4. READ & GROW.....or wilt.
5. WTTMSW - Whoever Tries The Most Stuff Wins.
WTTMSASTMSUTFW - Whoever Tries The Most Stuff And Screws The Most Stuff Up The Fastest Wins.
6. Fail Faster. Succeed Sooner.
Fail. Forward. Fast.
Fail. Fail again. Fail Better.
REWARD excellent failures. PUNISH mediocre successes. (Book Farson - Whoever Makes The Most Mistakes Wins.)
7. Year = 220 lunches. WASTE NOT ONE.
8. XFX/Cross-Functional Excellence...or die trying.
9. Hard is soft. Soft is Hard. E.g. Numbers are the 'soft stuff' - witness the crash. Solid relationships/integrity/trust/teamwork = True 'hard stuff'.
10. WOMEN BUY EVERYTHING. WOMEN ARE THE MOST EFFECTIVE LEADERS. WOMEN ARE THE MOST SUCCESSFUL INVESTORS. (Does your organisation....UNMISTAKABLY...reflect that from stem to stern?)
11.The problem is RARELY the problem. The lacklustre RESPONSE to the problem is invariably the real problem.
12. What do people most desire - ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
13. The two most powerful words in the English language are? THANK YOU.
14. There are ZERO ACCEPTABLE EXCUSES for not doing your MBWA today - Managing By Wandering Around
15. Individual's/organisation's enduring strategic asset? LISTENING
16. EVERY DAY PROVIDES A DOZEN (LITERALLY) LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR EVERY ONE OF US. GRAB AT LEAST ONE.
17. CIVILITY WORKS. CIVILITY PAYS. K=R=P. Kindness = Repeat business = Profit
18. Most of us/ most organisations discount ..INTROVERTS. THAT IS A....FIRST-ORDER STRATEGIC BLUNDER
19. EXECUTION IS STRATEGY.'
20. What is your BLINDING FLASH OF THE OBVIOUS?.
Comments
There is a great deal of thought provoking stuff here, and it is always worthwhile to objectively consider what Tom Peters has to say. I would, however, weight these points and certainly give "PEOPLE FIRST" a large proportion of the weights. Without people there is no organisation and it is impossible to deliver any strategy. The best definition of leadership I have encountered is "getting people to want what you want" and you cannot do that if you don't put people first. When you have people with a common vision and shared purpose you create the synergy that reduces the likelihood of failure or doing the wrong thing.
Compare the 6th point, speed of failing here: