Lee Thayer on High Performance Leadership

My favorite leadership guru is Lee Thayer, now 83-years-old and living in a glass house in the mountains of North Carolina with no fear of confronting anyone as long as it is on high performance leadership!
In August, he presented to a number of my members on his views, which are summarized below.
If you decide to purchase one of his books, be prepared for a difficult read. As he says, "It was difficult to write it, so I want it to be difficult to read."

His books include: “Conversations,” “Leadership: Thinking, Being, Doing,” and “Leadership Virtuosity.” He is working on “The Competent Organization.”
Who does he read? Romanian Emile M. Cioran (1911-1995) on philosophy.
Here are some of Thayer’s points:

• Of Delta Airlines: “Sorry, there’s no hope for you.”
Of McDonnell Douglas two decades ago, with its 44 SVPs: “Too much bureaucracy to be high performance.”
• “A high performance organization is one that does everything it does better than anyone else ---- and improves upon that every day --- giving that organization a sustainable competitive advantage.”
• How to objectively see reality: First of all, Self-Deception. You don’t know who you are or they are, so you misinterpret what you are looking at. Make sure you know your Cause. Secondly, start with what people are saying about you. That’s the reality that matters.
• How to recognize a High Performer:
1. He/she sees/recognizes/thinks “out of the box” ... trends that most don’t see easily, not conventional observations.
2. Asks questions about “how to be better.” Are those the questions being asked?
• We don’t measure or pay for Intentions or Entitlements. We measure and pay for Performance.
• Exceptional CEOs ask FOUR questions to every one statement. They are consummate question-askers. They are not in the “Answer Man” trap.
-- We have Habits ... No, Habits have Us!
-- If too used to providing your answers, then get a neck brace which prevents your jaw from working.
• CEO’s job includes:
Setting the Cause/Vision of the organization ... and then “composing” the organization to achieve it. “Here’s our Cause. Do you want to pursue that? If so, join. If not, don’t.
Reading people for their ability to contribute to the CEO’s Cause.
Measuring the things that count ... not just what’s countable.
• “Don’t tell me what you know. Tell me what I need to know.” That will make the organization obscenely effective.
• Micro-Managing: Incompetents will never improve. Competents will leave.
• On Teams: Teams are ineffective because they’re the wrong emphasis. The correct emphasis is on “personal Competence.” Decide the roles you need, and then find people who are the Most Competent in those roles.
• The payoff from “training” itself is small ... but the payoff from an individual with drive to be Competent (more and more Competent, a True Learner) is enormous. A Competent person is ALWAYS Dis-satisfied, always growing before your eyes. If a recruit is interviewing YOU, and not vice versa, you have a “live one.”
-- People don’t learn from their experience, but from their interpretation of that experience. Our job is to help them arrive at the interpretation that best moves us to serve our customer. Thus, each person needs a Mentor, the same mentor for each type of challenge so that the interpretation message is the same.

On Hiring
• Hire people who are in a Learning Mode, not worried about credentials. How many questions did he/she ask you that are of an “advancing his/her knowledge” mode? Approach: Convince me you’re the person for the job! See if the person asks questions, or talks about himself/herself. You want the former to happen before the latter.
• Questions to ask ... and see if the answer reflects prior research and thinking:
1. Tell me the problems we have and what to do about them?
2. What books are you reading?
3. Why do you want to work here?
• Learning is about Changing an Understanding ... not just adding to the knowledge bank.
• Always make the correct decision based on what you know will further reaching your Cause.
-- There will always be collateral damage. Ignore it. It’s a distraction.
• (A college boy is simply a penis with a backpack.)

On Necessity
• An organization’s structure should be determined by its Customers’ Necessities. From that Necessity, you build Competences to serve that cascade.
• Make it Necessary for people to OWN the problem ... if they don’t, their job is threatened, or their income is threatened, or a self-esteem challenge will occur.

On Competence
• The only people who are stressed are those who are incompetent, not yet competent in their roles.
• Competent people will OWN the problem. They will see it as theirs. They will also see what should be others’ problems, and will NOT own them.
• Competent people do not react to general goals. “Be the best I can be.” “Be the employer of choice.” NO! “Make the first team.” “Have a waiting list of at least ten for each job.” YES!
• See the Appendix for a listing of characteristics of The Competent Person.

On Systems
• Have a Role Description ... not activities, but Accomplishments expected at various terms. Does the person aspire to these accomplishments?
• Performance Goals ... What continuing to be best should achieve. Make these Necessities: “Raise contribution to profits by 10% annually.”
-- If they ask How?, say: “I don’t know and I don’t care. That’s not my job. It’s yours! (High Performance people will figure out how to do it.)
• Learning Plans ... that address the shortfalls in reaching the Performance Goals.
• Dumb Systems:
-- Receptionist only trained to greet.
-- Salespeople beating the system ... sales incentive systems generally.
-- People not sharing, knowing stuff that others need.
-- Dumb systems persist just because people are attached to them.
• All Sales Incentive Systems are Dumb Systems:
-- All incentive systems can be gamed, and are.
-- Instead, hire salespeople who are Consummate Learners, constantly increasing their competence ... they will always perform at their peak, and keep getting better. Don’t need a sales incentive system, just a general profit sharing system of some sort. A paradigm that’s often hard to grasp.
• If you have mediocre people, they serve as internal competitors. They impede progress.

• Organization Charts: They should include ALL Stakeholders, including Investors, Customers, Suppliers, Regulators, etc. People should know about all those who impact their job and the organization’s success.
• Caring: “I refuse to allow you to default to yourself. I require you to aspire, to grow, to do things today better than you did them yesterday. You’ll get there!”


Some Quotes
• “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Well, that makes two of us!”
• “I’m not sure ...” “Well, we know that.” “Well, I didn’t.”
• To Ralph Stayer: “You don’t like my price. Okay, let’s do this. You pay me half of that then. If at the end, we meet our agreed-upon goals, you pay me double.”


Appendix
(Notes by Lee Thayer, in preparation for his next book.)

A competent person –
• Is continuously learning how to perform his or her role(s) today better than yesterday.
• Is ready, willing, and able to own every problem that arises in the performance of his or her role.
• Is capable of anticipating the problems that will arise in the performance of his or her role.
• Is capable of precluding most of the problems that arise, and of obviating all of the others that arise.
• Requires no praise, punishment, or incentives for his or her performance, and is capable of providing a better critique than any other might offer.
• Has learned that growing in competence is its own reward.
• Owns the problems of his or her performance, AND of his or her destiny.
• Seeks out, rather than avoids, challenges.
• Is a question-asker, not an opinion peddler.
• Knows that competent people are happier, more in control of their health and their lives, and live longer.
• Lives by this fundamental premise: Learning = Growth, and Growth = Life.
• Can determine what he or she needs to know, and acquires it.
• Can provide others with what they need to know, when and where they need it.
• Nurtures and demands competence from others.
• Cares for people by refusing to let them default to themselves.
• Is not ambitious, except to be the best there ever was in his or her role/endeavors.
• Loves life.

Leonhardt On Life!

Recently, I had lunch with Dave Leonhardt, our former chair, friend, and business development person for N.E.W.

He is spending all his time with his wife, Phyllis, who is ailing and in the assisted living part of a facility here in Green Bay.

As part of the conversation that involved Dave in repartee with the restaurant owner, he shared two of his favorite aphorisms, which I thought I would share with you:

• Life ISN'T Fair. We are NOT created Equal. There are NO Guarantees. Now, let's GET ON with Living.

• When hiring someone, ask yourself:

Would you be willing to work for him/her yourself?

Would you trust him/her with your money?

Will he/she represent you accurately regarding your principles, values, ethos?

If so, then hire the person. Nothing can't be overcome! And their direct reports will be in this same mold, too.

Sugar: The Very Costly Stealth Lobby

Not only is sugar the most addictive (and legal) “drug” extant and drives our national obesity epidemic, it’s also often ignored that because of the U.S. sugar lobby and cartel, Americans pay rates for sugar not lower, which you would think based on volume purchasing, but dramatically higher than the rest of the world.

By about 40% at a minimum!

It’s little known that until the 1900s, most of the federal budget dollars came from tariffs on imported goods. The sugar problem started in 1816 when high tariffs were imposed on imports to placate growers in the newly-acquired Louisiana territory. And they’ve been heavy ever since ... especially hiked during the Depression.

A 1998 study indicated that every U.S. sugar grower reaps an average of a $3 million benefit. At one point, sugar sold for 21 cents a pound in the U.S. when the world sugar price was 3 cents a pound.

This year, there has been more interesting developments, as the USDA began lowering quotas in response to sugar users who have heavy demand and feared the U.S. supplies would be insufficient.

An indication of the supply/demand squeeze: At mid-year, U.S. domestic sugar prices had increased 30% in the past 12 months to about 34 cents per pound ... while global prices were soaring to about 20 cents per pound.

This is the current situation, but the disparity isn’t unique. The U.S. quotas and tariff policies have been bolstered via the sugar lobby for decades ... and we as U.S. consumers have been paying the much higher price.

Being Entrepreneurial Older is Getting Better

According to a Duke University study of 549 successful technology startups, older entrepreneurs have higher success rates .. due to their greater accumulated expertise, deep knowledge of customer needs, and a larger network of supporters.

And, according to the Kauffman Foundation which studies business entrepreneurism, the highest rate of entrepreneurship in the U.S. has shifted to the 55-to-64 age group, with people over 55 twice as likely to found successful companies as those 20-to-34.

Other studies also suggest the dropoffs in creativity and productivity are happening much later in life than previously.

Where Wisconsin Rates Among Best, Worst States: 42nd

Chief Executive magazine, in its annual analysis of the best and worst states in which to do business, still ranks Wisconsin in the bottom 20% ... this year at 42nd compared to 43rd last year.

Here’s how we did:

• Taxation and Regulation: D (Bad)

• Workforce Quality: B+ (Good)

• Living Environment: B- (Okay)

• 2004-2008 GDP Growth (1 is highest): 40th. (Bad)

• 2000-2009 Population Growth (1 is highest): 30th (actually a loss). (Bad)

• State Debt/Resident (1 is lowest): 35th. (Bad)

• State/Local Govt. Employees/10,000 residents (1 is lowest): 6th. (Good).

Reflect Back To Your Customers

I appreciate a newsletter from marketing/branding specialist Steve Yastrow (www.yastrow.com) of Chicago. In a recent one, he reminded us of a Journal of Experimental Social Psychology article that said that when a restaurant server repeats your order back to you for confirmation, that tips were 68% higher than when he/she doesn’t.

Why? Several reasons based on the increased comfort that has resulted:

1. People like others who “verbally mimic” them.

2. It feels good that the server was unusually attentive and caring towards you.

3. People feel more “pro social behavior” after being mimicked.

It’s a matter of connection ... described in Neuro-Linquistic Programming ... via body language, laughing together, aligning moods, sharing language.

Implications: When you demonstrate that you have connected with what your customer says, as well as integrating the ideas and interests into your ongoing conversation, you build the relationship and the resulting trust, and increase the likelihood of an agreement.

Per Yastrow: “As Aristotle said, ‘The fool tells me his reasons. The wise man persuades me with my own.’”

Zuckerman on Upgrading Skills

Mortimer Zuckerman penned this opinion in the Aug. 16 WSJ:

“If there is one great policy failure of this recession, it’s that we have not used the crisis to introduce structural reforms. For example, we have a gross mismatch of available skills and demonstrable needs. Millions drawing the dole to sit around should be in training for the jobs of the future that require higher education skills.

“Given that nearly eight in 10 new jobs, according to the administration, will require work-force training or higher education, it furthermore makes no sense that we have reversed the traditional American policy of welcoming skilled immigrants and integrated them into our economy. ... We send home thousands upon thousands of foreign students who have gotten masters and doctoral degrees in the hard sciences at American universities. These are people who create jobs, not replace them. The incorporation of immigrants used to be one of the core competencies of our economy. It’s time to return to that successful model.”

“Higher education is another critical issue. As President Obama pointed out recently, we have fallen from first to 12th in college graduation rates for young adults. The unemployment rate for those who have never gone to college is almost double what it is for those who have.”