The toughest thing about the power of trust is that it’s very difficult to build and very easy to destroy. The essence of trust building is to emphasize the similarities between you and the customer. | |
— Thomas J. Watson | |
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On This Day In: | |
2019 | What Is True For War Is Also True For Elections |
2018 | Start By Trying |
Day 4: Difficult Day | |
2017 | Outlasting Division |
2016 | Said The Man Who Trained To Fight For A Living |
2015 | Tripping On Treasure |
2014 | The Flower Of Light |
2013 | Eye Catching |
2012 | The Holstee Manifesto |
2011 | Three Crooners For The Shower |
The Soldier’s Faith | |
Vacation, Books And Lots Of Movies | |
Posts Tagged ‘Business Leadership’
In Business And In Politics
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Customers, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, Similarities, The Power Of Trust, Thomas J. Watson, Trust on July 31, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Up Again
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, Thomas J. Watson on April 18, 2020| Leave a Comment »
If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good. | |
— Thomas J. Watson | |
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On This Day In: | |
2019 | Advice From #1 To #45 |
2018 | How Much I Will Miss The Trump Administration |
2017 | We Need To Continue Experimenting |
2016 | Consistently |
2015 | We Must Dissent |
2014 | Now What? |
2013 | Judgement |
2012 | Stuck In My Mind |
Life’s Hope | |
2011 | Just Getting Up |
Directions Please | |
But What Are You DOING About November?
Posted in Leadership, Politics, Quotes, Work, tagged #DefeatTrumpism, Business Leadership, Good Intentions, Hard Work, Peter Drucker, Politics, Quotes on July 17, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work. | |
— Peter Drucker | |
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On This Day In: | |
2017 | Some Good |
2016 | Edges |
Sums | |
2015 | I Hope Not |
2014 | Study The Means Of Expressing Yourself |
2013 | That Stubborn Thing |
2012 | Like Mike |
2011 | Flawless Or Candid |
2010 | Browning… |
100th Day
Posted in Leadership, My Journal, Politics, Quotes, tagged #DonTheCon, #DumbDonald, #IncompetentDonald, #StillLosingDonald, Business Leadership, My Journal, Peter Drucker, Political Leadership, Politics, Quotes on April 29, 2017| Leave a Comment »
A manager develops people. Through the way he manages he makes it easy or difficult for them to develop themselves. He directs people or misdirects them. He brings out what is in them or he stifles them. He strengthens their integrity or he corrupts them He trains them to stand upright and strong, or he deforms them, whether he knows it or not. | |
— Peter Drucker | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | Or Blog |
2015 | Stretched Today? |
2014 | Outta Here |
2013 | Getting Words Right |
2012 | There’s A New Dog In Town |
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is | |
2011 | A Conservative Is… |
Training Shoulders
Posted in Leadership, My Journal, Quotes, tagged A Real Boss, Business Leadership, My Journal, Quotes, Training Subordinates, William Feather on March 31, 2017| Leave a Comment »
He isn’t a real boss until he has trained subordinates to shoulder most of his responsibilities. | |
— William Feather | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | You Just Have To Care |
Day 4 – Blending | |
2015 | My Slow Education |
2014 | Great Service |
2013 | You Really Should Wear More Sweaters |
Here I Am God | |
2012 | The Serenity Prayer |
2011 | The Victory Of Life |
Or You Don’t
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Google, Laszlo Bock, Leadership, People's Nature, Philosophy, Quotes, Work Rules! on April 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »
You either believe people are fundamentally good or you don’t. If you do believe they’re good, then as an entrepreneur, a team member, a team leader, a manager, or a CEO — or a government leader — you should act in a way consistent with your beliefs. If people are good, then they should be free. Too many organizations and managers operate as if, absent some enlightened diktat, people are too benighted to make sound decisions and innovate. | |
— Laszlo Bock | |
Google’s head of human resources, (senior vice president, people operations) | |
from his book: “Work Rules!“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2014 | If You Ever Fall… |
2013 | Glory Days (part 2) |
2012 | They Follow A Pattern – If You Know What I Mean |
What I Live For (Precis) | |
2011 | Giving |
Consensus Is Only One Side
Posted in Leadership, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Mitsuyuki Masatsugu, On Business, On Japanese Competition, Quotes, The Modern Samurai Society on October 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »
The Japanese are among the most competitive people in the world; otherwise they could not have achieved their recent economic successes. Consensus was established to keep the society cohesive and to control excessive competition, which would cause friction and make tireless rivals of the people in the isolated areas. So the comment that Japan is a society of consensus is only one side of the story. | |
— Mitsuyuki Masatsugu | |
From his book: “The Modern Samurai Society“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2013 | Not Ought |
2012 | If You Want To, If You Have Something To Offer |
2011 | I See Lots Of Fools |
2010 | Orange Inside!! |
And The Band Played On… | |
Happy New Year!! | |
The Not-So-Modern Samurai
Posted in Book Review, History, Leadership, Movies, Reading, tagged Business Leadership, Highly Recommended Reading, History, Mitsuyuki Masatsugu, Movies, Reading, The Last Samurai, The Modern Samurai Society - book review, Tom Cruise on September 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Today I am home ill with what seems to be an ear infection. Every few years, I get this swollen sensation on the right side of my head. It feels like my head has a weighted balloon attached to the right side. When I turn my head, stand or look quickly in any direction, I get a light-headedness and it feels like my vision / brain is continuing to move after my head (or eyeballs) have stopped. Several years ago I had to go to the ER to get seen by a doctor about this condition. Then, I also had an associated fever, which I fortunately don’t have this time. In any case, I take some decongestants and my vertigo pill and I kind of spend the day in a half-stupor of fatigue and dizziness. | |
This morning I completed a book I’ve been reading off and on for several years now. Our local library system has an annual shelf clearing book give-away each August and they have about 800 to 1,000 boxes of books which are set out for anyone to take what they want – as much as you can carry, and come back tomorrow. Today’s book was one of these and I picked it up about three years ago. It has mostly sat in my car waiting to be read. I would grab it whenever I had a doctor / dentist visit to have something to read in the waiting room. Unfortunately, if you don’t wait much, you don’t read much, so this has taken quite a while to get through. | |
The book is titled: “The Modern Samurai Society: Duty and Dependence in Contemporary Japan“, (1982©) and was written by Mitsuyuki Masatsugu. The book attempts to explain contemporary (circa 1982) corporate Japan in terms of the historical legacy of the Samurai (“samurai” means “one who serves”) society which held sway in Japan for several centuries. The samurai tradition fell out of favor with the coming of the industrial revolution in the last half of the 19th century. (As an aside, part of this transition was portrayed in the Tom Cruise movie: “The Last Samurai“.) In essence, it attempts to explain Japanese business management techniques to non-Japanese. | |
To Masatsugu, successful Japanese management stems from eight factors which incorporate two features from Japanese culture. The eight factors (guiding principles) to success are: | |
1) Paternalism; | |
2) Guaranteed lifetime employment; | |
3) Seniority-based promotion; | |
4) In-company unions; | |
5) Periodic transfers; | |
6) Overtime work as a safety valve; | |
7) Enriched welfare program; and, | |
8) A selective retirement system. | |
The two features which Masatsugu believes to be uniquely emphasized in Japanese society are: | |
1) Diligence – the duty each individual has towards their country in general and towards their company in particular. And, | |
2) Dependence – a recognition that even though the employees are individuals, they must work together to surpass non-Japanese companies. | |
Like any “valid” theoretical explanation, management theories must meet a minimum of two criteria: does it accurately describe what is currently happening, and two, does it have predictive value either for when external conditions change or when internal structures are abandoned (or both). In this book’s case, we now have the benefit of thirty-two years history to see that Masatsugu’s proposal was pretty spot on. | |
Since the book’s release Japan has suffered both a housing boom collapse and an economic drought now approaching the middle of its third decade. The housing collapse happened in the 1980’s and the start of Japan’s economic drought (I hesitate to call it a collapse as Japan has only recently been surpassed by China as THE economic power in Asia) occurred in the 1990’s. In fact, the 1990’s is sometimes referred to in Japan as “the lost decade” because there was so little economic growth. | |
Specifically, Masatsugu suggests the structure of Japan’s economic strength is based on these principles and if any one (or combination) fails, the entire structure will waver and ultimately collapse. Masatsugu predicts the gradual incorporation of western management will bring about an economic failure. He leans towards the abandonment of guaranteed lifetime employment and seniority-based promotion when “times get hard”. Masatsugu says that in past times, management held to principle and the economy eventually turned around. He cautions that future management might not have the fortitude to withstand to pressure to abandon principle in an effort to meet “western style” quarterly objectives. We now know Japanese management has moved away from guaranteed lifetime employment, seniority-based promotion and selective retirement. All of these actions have had a detrimental effect on business (and societal) productivity in the U.S. over the last 40 years. It will be interesting to see if the same happens in Japan and how long it will take to happen (if it does). | |
I doubt very much that this book could be written in today’s “politically correct” world as it has several racist and sexist comments which, in context, seem common sense, but are actually inculcated cultural biases. For example, women are generally considered unequal to men in the business world, because… Wait for it… Because they are! (Well, except when they aren’t.) In the author’s view, a woman can be one of the main reasons a man succeeds in business. But, a female can never succeed in Japanese business on her own. In all, though, these are trivial reasons to be critical of a book which I believe is overwhelmingly a valuable (if dated) insight into Japanese business culture. Highly recommended! | |
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On This Day In: | |
2013 | Doin’ |
2012 | A Lover |
2011 | What Have We Found Here |
Words | |
Driving Passion
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Leadership, Louis V. Gerstner Jr., Management, Philosophy, Quotes, Who Says Elephants Can't Dance on July 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Great institutions are not managed; they are led. They are not administered; they are driven to ever-increasing levels of accomplishment by individuals who are passionate about winning. | |
— Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. | |
From his book: “Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2012 | Cannibal, n. |
2011 | Moments Of Truth |
Unappreciated Skill
Posted in Leadership, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Leadership, Louis V. Gerstner Jr., Quotes, Who Says Elephants Can't Dance on July 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Execution — getting the task done, making it happen — is the most unappreciated skill of an effective business leader. | |
— Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. | |
From his book: “Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2012 | Living Courage |
2011 | What’s Happening To Us? |
2010 | Toothbrush, Carbon and Monoxide |
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair! | |
Good Business
Posted in Leadership, Politics, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Education, Isaac Asimov, Politics, Quotes, Re-education Of Workers, The Roving Mind on March 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »
The problem arises, however, of what one is to do with those workers who are replaced by the robots. | |
It is not that there will be an overall diminution of jobs. If the past is to be a guide, technological advances create more jobs than they destroy. Thus, the automobile industry employs far more people than the buggy industry ever did. Nevertheless, there is a change in the kind of jobs that will be available. The repetitive jobs of the assembly line will tend to disappear. The dull jobs of paper-shuffling and button-pressing will disappear. In their place will be such jobs as computer-programming and robot maintenance. | |
On the whole, the jobs that will come into existence will be far more creative and will take far more education and training than will those that have disappeared. | |
It will therefore be part of the responsibility of the corporation of the future to see to the re-education of the workforce. This could be done out of pure feelings of humanity and philanthropy, but it is more practical to suppose that it would be done out of a very natural desire to preserve the stability of society. It might save money, in the short run, simply to cast out the displaced, but it would not be good business to have hordes of hungry and angry people ready to change, by force, the economic system that reduced them to misery. | |
— Isaac Asimov | |
From his book: “The Roving Mind“ | |
[Asimov is referring to the responsibility of the corporation replacing the worker with automation. In today’s political climate, it is the unemployed who must retrain themselves (at their own expense). It is nice when the government can assist, but there is no “legal” responsibility. And, of course, the corporation has no responsibility to their workers. It will be interesting to see if this remains a tenable relationship between worker, government and corporation. I believe it will not be tenable and we will end up with a voter imposed (via government) “New Deal” for workers which will shift some of the costs of retraining / re-education back onto the businesses / corporations of our economy. — KMAB] | |
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I’m Still Not Certain
Posted in Leadership, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Louis V. Gerstner Jr., Quotes, Who Says Elephants Can't Dance on May 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »
I’ve never been certain that I can abstract from my experiences a handful of lessons that others can apply to their own situations. | |
— Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. | |
From his book: “Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance“ | |
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The Value Of Bureaucracies
Posted in Leadership, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Louis V. Gerstner Jr., Quotes, Who Says Elephants Can't Dance on April 8, 2012| Leave a Comment »
The truth is that no large enterprise can work without bureaucracy. Bureaucrats, or staff people, provide coordination among disparate line organizations; establish and enforce corporate-wide strategies that allow the enterprise to avoid duplication, confusion, and conflict; and provide highly specialized skills that cannot be duplicated because of cost or simply the shortage of available resources. | |
— Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. | |
From his book: “Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance“ | |
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