1: Amy, a millennial, had just graduated from college. She was hired as a telesales representative at a software firm.
Amy took the job, knowing it wasn’t a “career job.” But she needed to pay her rent, Fred Kofman writes in The Meaning Revolution.
“Her job was to cold-call people who had previously used the company’s software to sell them a new product,” Fred writes.
Her compensation? $20 per … continue reading
1: Carson Holmquist was a micro-manager.
In 2012, when he was 26 years old, he co-founded Stream Logistics, a construction transportation company that provides transportation and logistics (i.e., trucks and trailers) for construction companies.
As CEO, under Carson’s leadership, from 2012 to 2017, the firm grew rapidly, going from 3 to 30 team members, Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy write in 10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs … continue reading
“The only way to make our present better is by making our future bigger.” -Dan Sullivan
1: Marketing expert Joe Polish asked his mastermind group of entrepreneurs this question: “If you wanted to improve your profits by ten percent, how would you do it?”
Each group member spent 10 minutes writing down their best answers, Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy write in 10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs … continue reading
1: “Culture can be a hard topic to get one’s head around,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.
Perhaps the best definition comes from Marvin Bower, McKinsey & Company‘s former managing director, who said culture is “the way we do things around here.”
Which is why the world’s best … continue reading
1: The year was 2012. DBS, a large Asian bank headquartered in Singapore, had a problem. Card skimmers had hacked into their ATMs. Money was being stolen.
CEO Piyush Gupta moved quickly to identify how the breach had happened.
“The problem was traced to a decision made by a junior operations colleague,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That … continue reading
1: “Most people reach for just a little bit more—a promotion, a little more money, a new personal record,” Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy write in 10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less.
“Going for incremental progress is a 2x mindset,” the authors observe, “which at a fundamental level means we’re continuing or maintaining what we’re already doing.”
2x is a linear mindset. … continue reading
“The wicked leader is he whom the people despise. The good leader is he whom the people revere. The great leader is he of whom the people say, ‘We did it ourselves.'” —Lao Tzu
1: Is there a difference between rowing and sailing?
You bet there is.
“A boat moved by mere muscle is no match for one moved by wind,” Fred Kofman writes in The Meaning Revolution: … continue reading
1: It’s Saturday night. We are at a chamber music recital, listening intently as the musicians play one of Mozart’s string quartets. When they finish, we join other audience members clapping with genteel applause.
The following day, we attend an NFL football game. On a last-second play, the quarterback finds an open receiver who scores a touchdown, and our team wins the game. We leap to our feet, screaming and … continue reading
“Early in my career, I wondered how to develop a vision and a strategy,” DSM CEO Feike Sijbesma says in Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra‘s wonderful book CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.
“Do I sit in my study and yell, ‘Eureka! I have it?”
Unlikely.
What did Feike do instead? “I started reading more about all … continue reading
1: Having foresight is the “lead” in “leader,” Robert Greenleaf once wrote in The Servant as Leader.
It was the late 1990s. It was an analog world. But Ed Breen, then CEO of General Instruments, could see the future. And the future was digital.
“I’d just been made CEO the year before,” Ed remembers in Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra‘s terrific book CEO … continue reading
