Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

Integrity Expert Al Watts On Penn State, BP & More

Tweet Comment

I recently met Al Watts, author of Navigating Integrity: Transforming Business As Usual Into Business At Its Best.

Al was kind enough to do a quick Q&A (between sailing trips) with me on the topic of business integrity.

Q: Hi Al. Would you give a quick definition of each of your “4 Pillars Of Integrity” …

No comments yet | Continue Reading »

---

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

Business Is Like A Decathlon: Be Decent At These 10 Things & You’ll Win The Gold!

Tweet 1 Comment

I’d love to see your face on a box of Wheaties.

The Olympic decathlon — a combined event of 10 different track and field races — is a perfect metaphor for business.

You can actually win the decathlon without being the best at any of the 10 races.

In fact, Bruce Jenner (winner of the 1976 Olympic Decathlon and pictured on the Wheaties box) averaged the equivalent of a little better than 3rd place in each race — and he still won the decathlon by a substantial margin.

Inspired by the decathlon metaphor, here is a 10-item checklist for succeeding in business…if you train to place in these 10 business races, you can win the business gold. …

1 comment so far | Continue Reading »

---

Friday, July 1st, 2011

The 5 Core Skills Every CEO Should Have

Tweet Comment

I’ve begun to notice a pattern of what makes for the best CEO. There are five general CEO skills I believe are most important to being an excellent CEO:

1) Vision…A Clear One

A good CEO must be able to provide a clear vision of what it is the organization is doing.

What makes a good vision statement? As I wrote in 3 Tips On How To Write A Good Vision Statement, it needs to be concise, specific and answer this question for the team:

“Are we working on the right thing?”

Examples of good vision statements include:

“Making the best possible ice cream, in the nicest possible way” (Ben & Jerry’s)

“To provide access to the world’s information in one click.” (Google)

“To provide freedom and independence to people with limited mobility.” (The Scooter Store)

Check out this List Of 50 Awesome Vision Statements I compiled.

2) Mastery Of The Business Model

A good CEO masters the business model of an organization.

The above image is of a “Canvas” used to master a business model (in this case, Gillette’s) from the book Business Model Generation.

The Canvas pushes you to answer 9 questions that are imperative to mastering how a business should work.

The 9 questions to answer are represented above by a two letter acronym…such as KP for “Who are your Key Partnerships?”).

If found it most effective to answer the 9 questions in this order:

…

No comments yet | Continue Reading »

---

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

How Good Is Your Team’s Vision Statement?

Tweet 2 Comments

Does your organization have an effective Vision Statement?

If you’re involved in starting any team endeavor, the very first thing I recommend you figure out is your Vision Statement.

What is a Vision Statement?

A vision statement is a single sentence that explains clearly and specifically what it is you or your business are trying to create in the future.

I have three tips for you:

1) A Vision Statement Is Concise

When Sergey Brin and Larry Page walked into Sequoia Capital’s offices to ask for an investment into their new startup Google, they explained their vision in these words:

“To provide access to the world’s information in one click.”

Those 10 words were so key to Sequoia’s investment in Google, that Sequoia now requires all of its entrepreneurs to have a Vision Statement of 10 or fewer words before they even get a meeting with Sequoia.

Note: While I don’t recommend you get hung up on your vision statement being 10 words or less …

2 comments so far (is that a lot?) | Continue Reading »

---

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

My Favorite Vision & Mission Statements

Tweet 5 Comments

I recently wrote a piece on How To Write A Vision Statement and I’ve decided to keep a list of Vision/Mission Statement examples on this page.

Companies use vision statements, mission statements and philosophies interchangeably — so my focus below is to list any brief description a company has authored on what they’re trying to accomplish (& perhaps how they’re going about it).

Enjoy!

AOL

The largest high-quality content producer for digital media – locally, regionally, nationally,
and globally (as of 2011).

“To be the world’s most customer-centric company.”

Apple (back in the early days when they were Apple Computer)

“A computer in the hands of everyday people.” (this was from their early days)

“Making the best possible ice cream, in the nicest possible way”

“Creating community through food”

Charles Schwab

“Helping investors help themselves.”

Cold Stone Creamery

“The ultimate ice cream experience.”

comScore

“To leverage the power of the Internet to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of our clients’ sales and marketing efforts.”

Disney

“To make people happy.”

To provide the highest quality medical, security, transport, and other critical services for our members anytime, anywhere in the world.

Google

“To provide access to the world’s information in one click.”

Illiteracy Program

“In two decades our services will no longer be needed.”

“Give customers the freshest, highest quality foods you can buy and provide them with friendly service in a sparkling clean environment.”

John F. Kennedy (for America)

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth.”

Khan Academy

“To provide a free world-class education to anyone anywhere.”

Linux

“A free Unix and Open Source operating system.”

Market Leader Inc.

“To enable real estate professionals to make more money in less time while exceeding the expectations of home buyers and sellers.”

Microsoft

“A computer on every desktop and in every home (using Microsoft software)”

Mulholland

“We create purpose-built products for duty-driven people.”

Nike

“To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world. ”
(“If you have a body, you are an athlete.” – Bill Bowerman (founder of Nike))

Nettlehorst Schools in East Lakeview, Chicago

“Every kid deserves a great neighborhood public school.”

Nugget Markets

“High-quality products at low prices.”

“Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”

Pixazza

Vision: “Enrich every image on the Web.”

Mission: “To reveal the information inside every image.”

“We inspire, educate and outfit for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship.”

Rock Medicine (aka “RockMed”)

[The above is a photo I took from the tribute to Warren Hellman tribute concert in Ocean Beach, San Francisco on Feb. 19, 2012]

Salesforce.com

“The end of software.”

“Providing organizations with the Power to Know”

Southwest Airlines

The Scooter Store

“To provide freedom and independence to people with limited mobility.”

Spark Program

To provide life-changing apprenticeships to youth in undeserved communities across the United States.

TOM’s Shoes

With every pair (of shoes) your purchase, TOM’s will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need: one for one.

Trader Joe’s

“To bring our customers the best food and beverage values and the information to make informed buying decisions.

 

“The leading package delivery company.” (Until 1991)

and then later (around 1999) they changed it to:

“The enablers of global e-commerce.” (

Voice of the Faithful

“Keep the faith, change the church.”

Walmart

“To help people save money so they can live better.”

“Selling the highest quality natural and organic products available.”

Wikipedia

“Imagine a world in which every single person is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge.”

“Our goal is to position Zappos as the online service leader. If we can get customers to associate the Zappos brand with the absolute best service, then we can expand into other product categories beyond shoes.”

Zingerman’s

Feel free to add your own favorite Vision Statements in the comments below!

5 comments so far (is that a lot?) | Continue Reading »

---