Category Archives: Lead With Excellence

My parents are mathematicians, and taught me as a child to learn all the formulas, run all the numbers, and find the right answer.  That was my mindset through high school, where I was captain of the math team.  Then …

When much to the relief of our European allies the United States finally entered World War II, Winston Churchill famously said that Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing, after we’ve exhausted all the other possibilities. …

When you’re on the phone with someone who works in a call center, the service philosophy of his or her employer is immediately evident.  Some companies hire low-skilled people and train them to mindlessly follow a tightly controlled script.  Others …

A recent issue of The Economist described how the head of Sales for Boeing once woke up CEO Alan Mulally in the middle of the night to speak with a customer who was backing off a purchase.  Knowing Mulally, I’m …

Profit is the most accurate, most all-encompassing measure of how much our customers value the products and services we deliver and how efficiently we can organize and operate to deliver that value to our customers.  In other words, profits reflect …

I read recently that a great software programmer makes 30 times as much money for his or her company as a good one. The same is true for any high-leverage position in your organization:  Sales, head of marketing, head of …

Pepsi recently announced an ambitious program to reduce operating costs simultaneous with a marked increase in advertising and marketing.  In doing so, they echoed other smart, successful companies that understand the need to treat strategic expenditures that contribute to growth …

“Sincerity is the key.  Once you learn to fake that, you’re golden.” Such is the creed of many a salesman, and many a leader. There’s just one problem with that approach:  It doesn’t work.  You spend too much time with …

Many of you sell products or services that are complicated in their technical make-up or functionality.  You employ people with highly specialized skills, and the sound of complex jargon fills your meeting rooms and hallways.  That technical culture, of course, …

Twenty-five years ago I consulted to a bank that had 17 lines of business, only one of which, middle market lending, was quite profitable.  They claimed that they “had” to be in the other 16 in order to service customers …