Inspiration for Authors
My friend and editor Laurel Marshfield has begun a blog for authors and writers called Your Book Your Self. It is full of advice, success stories, encouragement, and inspiration for current and future authors. Through her editorial services business, Blue Horizon Communications, Laurel sees firsthand the obstacles authors face. And as a professional writer and editor with over twenty-five years of experience, she knows how to help authors circumvent those obstacles. Her new blog provides an avenue for Laurel to share her insights into what it takes to be an author.
As much as I respect Laurel's talent as a writer and an editor, what I value most from our working relationship is her constant inspiration. She seems to sense whenever I get sidetracked from writing, because a gentle nudge arrives in my email inbox in the form of an encouraging note.
But please don't take my word for Laurel's ability to inspire writers. Read her latest post about the Susan Boyle phenomenon -- and what it tells authors about success -- and see for yourself.
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As much as I respect Laurel's talent as a writer and an editor, what I value most from our working relationship is her constant inspiration. She seems to sense whenever I get sidetracked from writing, because a gentle nudge arrives in my email inbox in the form of an encouraging note.
But please don't take my word for Laurel's ability to inspire writers. Read her latest post about the Susan Boyle phenomenon -- and what it tells authors about success -- and see for yourself.
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For Sale: A Former Reputation
Circuit City is selling its name. Unfortunately, it's a name with little value these days. And that's too bad. The former electronics retailer was once a great company praised for its progressive leadership.
From 1982 to 1997, Circuit City outperformed the general stock market by eighteen-and-a-half times. During that period, Circuit City developed a system for operating its stores that enabled the company to expand rapidly across the country. Under the guidance of board chair Alan Wurtzel and CEO Richard Sharp, Circuit City's leaders provided a consistent framework within which store managers and salespeople had leeway to operate. The key was having self-disciplined employees who understood the system and willingly followed it. In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins credits Circuit City's culture of discipline for its tremendous success.
But under the leadership of Philip Schoonover, the company demonstrated a much different attitude toward its employees. This was the leadership that, in early 2007, fired 3,400 of those self-disciplined salespeople, claiming they earned 51 cents per hour too much. Over the next three months, Circuit City's year-over-year sales dropped 4.3 percent and the company lost $54.6 million. Stock analysts blamed the losses on management's decision to replace the company's most experienced salespeople with cheaper workers. After its stock price hit a four-year low, those leaders had a change of heart and asked the terminated employees to come back and help revive the company's sales. Then, after firing frontline salespeople for earning too much, Circuit City awarded its top executives retention bonuses of up to $1 million each. So much for self-discipline.
Once a good-to-great success story, Circuit City's leaders shattered its culture of discipline and drove the company to extinction. The company closed all of its 567 stores earlier this year, costing nearly 40,000 employees their jobs. Now all the company has left is its name.
When all that remains is your name, what will your reputation be worth?
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From 1982 to 1997, Circuit City outperformed the general stock market by eighteen-and-a-half times. During that period, Circuit City developed a system for operating its stores that enabled the company to expand rapidly across the country. Under the guidance of board chair Alan Wurtzel and CEO Richard Sharp, Circuit City's leaders provided a consistent framework within which store managers and salespeople had leeway to operate. The key was having self-disciplined employees who understood the system and willingly followed it. In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins credits Circuit City's culture of discipline for its tremendous success.
But under the leadership of Philip Schoonover, the company demonstrated a much different attitude toward its employees. This was the leadership that, in early 2007, fired 3,400 of those self-disciplined salespeople, claiming they earned 51 cents per hour too much. Over the next three months, Circuit City's year-over-year sales dropped 4.3 percent and the company lost $54.6 million. Stock analysts blamed the losses on management's decision to replace the company's most experienced salespeople with cheaper workers. After its stock price hit a four-year low, those leaders had a change of heart and asked the terminated employees to come back and help revive the company's sales. Then, after firing frontline salespeople for earning too much, Circuit City awarded its top executives retention bonuses of up to $1 million each. So much for self-discipline.
Once a good-to-great success story, Circuit City's leaders shattered its culture of discipline and drove the company to extinction. The company closed all of its 567 stores earlier this year, costing nearly 40,000 employees their jobs. Now all the company has left is its name.
When all that remains is your name, what will your reputation be worth?
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Event Slides: Islamic Center of Greater Toledo
Even in today's tough economic times, good employees are hard to find. And even harder to hold on to. That's why leaders must demonstrate their values -- not just in the moment of truth, but continuously and proactively -- in order to secure the trust of their employees. That was my message in a presentation to a group of business leaders at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo. You can view the slides on slideshare.
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NetApp: A Great Place to Work
Looking for a great place to work? Consider applying at the Mountain View, California headquarters of Google. Among the perks enjoyed by Google employees are onsite haircuts, free laundry facilities, workout and massage rooms, in-house childcare, and car washes. And then there's the free food. The campus has eleven cafeterias serving everything from gourmet meals to M&Ms. Legend has it that Google workers are never more than 150 feet away from free food. No wonder the company topped Fortune’s list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2007 and 2008.
But there's a new number one company on the Fortune list this year: storage and data management company NetApp. Unlike Google, which got to the top largely by providing employees with lots of goodies, NetApp earned the number one spot because of its culture of trust. NetApp's leaders promote an atmosphere of openness and honesty, and they go out of their way to proactively share information with workers.
Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz, whose Great Place to Work Institute has been compiling information on great workplaces since 1980, have been quoted as saying, "The most important factor in selecting companies for this list is what employees themselves have to say about their workplace." For their part, NetApp employees say they appreciate how easy it is to share ideas, get answers to questions, meet with senior leaders, and find opportunities to take responsibility. Funny, no one mentions wanting free M&Ms.
At number four on the 2009 list, Google is still clearly a great place to work. And Google's culture of fun, high energy, and innovation undoubtedly attracts as many people as the free chow does. But NetApp's elevation reveals how important trustworthy leadership is to workers in today's business environment. "Perks are nice, but employees are looking for something more basic," Levering and Moskowitz have noted. "They want to be told the truth, especially if the news is bad."
If you want employees to consider your company a great place to work, focus less on promoting financially oriented rewards and more on demonstrating the values that attracted them in the first place.
But there's a new number one company on the Fortune list this year: storage and data management company NetApp. Unlike Google, which got to the top largely by providing employees with lots of goodies, NetApp earned the number one spot because of its culture of trust. NetApp's leaders promote an atmosphere of openness and honesty, and they go out of their way to proactively share information with workers.
Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz, whose Great Place to Work Institute has been compiling information on great workplaces since 1980, have been quoted as saying, "The most important factor in selecting companies for this list is what employees themselves have to say about their workplace." For their part, NetApp employees say they appreciate how easy it is to share ideas, get answers to questions, meet with senior leaders, and find opportunities to take responsibility. Funny, no one mentions wanting free M&Ms.
At number four on the 2009 list, Google is still clearly a great place to work. And Google's culture of fun, high energy, and innovation undoubtedly attracts as many people as the free chow does. But NetApp's elevation reveals how important trustworthy leadership is to workers in today's business environment. "Perks are nice, but employees are looking for something more basic," Levering and Moskowitz have noted. "They want to be told the truth, especially if the news is bad."
If you want employees to consider your company a great place to work, focus less on promoting financially oriented rewards and more on demonstrating the values that attracted them in the first place.
Labels: business, employees, integrity, leadership, management, trust, values
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Author George Brymer's comments about the leaders who get it, and those who never will.
