Management Lessons From the Memphis Belle-Rule #1

We were in the early days of our trench warfare trying to save the company, so it was natural that we felt a kinship with the pilot and crew of the Belle. As we drank and watched, we began to discover business rules and management lessons within the war-movie plot. By the time we were done, we had Ten Rules of Management From The Memphis Belle. Then, Paul came up with an 11th. I cussed and said “you can’t just have an odd number like 11” - so we replayed the movie in our heads and thought of 9 more. And thus we discovered the 20 Lessons From The Memphis Belle. We had them printed up on little cards and handed them out to employees. We gifted them to strategic partners and customers. We printed them on posters and hung them in our offices. When we ran into a hard issue in the business we would refer to the Rules: more often than not there was a rule that was right on point. Each time we’d be amazed, but then we’d say: “Ah! The Rules know all!”

By |2016-10-22T17:12:12-05:00March 26th, 2009|Career, Leadership, Management Innovation|2 Comments

Management Excellence Blog Named to Alltop!

OK, pardon my excitement, but I was thrilled to learn the other day that my blog, Management Excellence, was named to Alltop in the Leadership category! In case you are not familiar with Alltop, it is is a collection of “the latest stories from the best sites and blogs that cover a topic.” I am honored to be among the “best” in the leadership category on this great site!

By |2016-10-22T17:12:12-05:00March 7th, 2009|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Too Many Projects Chasing Too Few People-It’s Time to Learn to Say No!

One of the themes that I hear consistently in workshops and in discussions with the professionals in my MBA classes is frustration over the propensity of a firm’s leaders to never say “No” to a project. Lacking a viable mechanism to compare, evaluate and select and reject projects, decisions are made based on politics, gut feel and the squeaky customer wheel. The net result of this lack of discipline is that the people doing the work end up overloaded and overwhelmed. They operate in compliance mode, focusing on surviving until the next deadline and adding little creative value or innovation to their activities. You can end this chaos and rebuild your team's morale and effectiveness by building in new systems and proper rigor to project evaluation and selection.

The Right Stuff: Sprinting Towards the Future

It’s easy to focus on the bad news. Everyone’s talking about it. We’re bombarded with news flashes and human disaster stories as the layoffs mount and the foreclosures climb. And make no doubt about it, these are tough times, but let’s start giving some coverage to the firms, leaders and entrepreneurs that have turned off the news channels and are too busy building or rebuilding to worry about the dire forecasts. For a good dose of “can do” spirit, get out of your office and go talk with some smart people working to strengthen, build or start businesses. I’m doing just that, and here's why I continue to be optimistic:

By |2016-10-22T17:12:13-05:00February 20th, 2009|Leadership, Leading Change|1 Comment

Leadership Caffeine™ for the New Week

Let's start out with an extra large cup of the hot stuff to help kick-start the new week. Oh, and one sugar, please, in acknowledgement of Valentine’s Day. Consistent with the theme of this card, flower and candy holiday that my significant other enjoys so much, the focus this week is on relationships. It's time to improve your professional networking, spend some time learning from your sales colleagues and work on repairing any broken relationships. Oh yeah, and don't forget your significant other on Valentine's Day!

By |2016-10-22T17:12:14-05:00February 8th, 2009|Leadership Caffeine|1 Comment

Your Customer Service Tells Me All I Need to Know About Your Management Quality

Of my many quirks, one that I actually enjoy is my unceasing study of customer service. I love to observe customer service interactions and I’ve made it a habit to try and figure out why the good ones are good and the bad ones so miserable. Here are a few thoughts and few light-hearted examples to for managers everywhere to learn from.

By |2016-10-22T17:12:14-05:00February 3rd, 2009|Leadership, Leading Change, Marketing|3 Comments

The Words of Leaders

We were discussing the failure of many organizations to stop old ways of doing things, even in the face of overwhelming proof that the old ways don’t work. My student mentioned that the appointment of a new CEO last year had at first been encouraging until it was clear that nothing would truly change. This unfortunate event is all too common.

By |2016-10-22T17:12:15-05:00January 21st, 2009|Career, Leadership, Leading Change|0 Comments
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