Customer Focused

Leadership

Leadership is often about asking the tough questions and staying focused on finding the right answers. Jim Womack, a noted writer on Lean, has this to say about what questions to ask:

Leadership & Purpose

Jim Womack, author of Lean Thinking made some insightful comments about structure and purpose in his April 2009 newsletter. He said,

“One of my favorite questions when meeting with senior leaders of enterprises is, ‘What is your organization's purpose?’ The typical and immediate response is, ‘To make money and grow.’ ‘But,’ I respond, ‘this answer has nothing to do with your customers, who provide the money your organization needs to profit and grow.’ I then repeat my question, but elaborate, 'What does your organization do to solve customer problems better than competitors so that customers old and new will pay good money for your services and goods and buy more over time?'

“In recent years a fashionable alternative to

Leadership

Customer Focused

Jeffrey Gitomer hits a big bulls eye on how to deal with the economy. This brings the issue down to each one of our levels.

“The economy is falling. The economy is falling.

Leadership

Leadership & Economy

One popular industry trade magazine recently carried an article telling contractors that to survive the current economy downturn they should “Cut everything to the bone.” That’s not real leadership. Any butcher can cut and trim. A high-performing contractor seeks more effective means to address the challenging economy. Let’s carry the analogy out – if an individual is overweight and unable to compete in a race - does it make sense to amputate an arm or a leg or cut off muscle to the bone to better run the race? The thought makes us shudder and would make the athlete very challenged to compete. It would take much rehabilitation to even come close to being able to run again.

If it doesn’t work for athletes why do some think it would for a company? Just like people, companies sometimes

Leadership

How to lead weekly staff meetings

Meetings Bloody Meetings is the name of a very funny training video on how to better manage meetings. The title probably describes how many feel about meetings. They are usually boring, poorly organized and at best only half as useful as the time it takes. Every company holds