Sully Sullenberger: "Making a Difference: Stories of Vision and Courage from America's Leaders"

When Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger piloted US Air Flight 1549 aloft one January morning in 2009, he had no idea that in a few short minutes, he would become an internationally known hero. That morning he used the skills and leadership abilities developed over a lifetime to shine in this crisis to safely land the damaged passenger airplane on the Hudson River without a single loss of life.

Normally reserved and analytical by nature, Sullenberger decided to use the fame and notoriety thrust upon him for the greater good. He determined to advance the cause of safety in aviation and serve as an advocate for the piloting profession.

In the process he learned about leadership and decided to profile a number of current leaders to showcase how they demonstrated leadership and courage. The result is his entertaining and instructive book Making a Difference. The following are some of the people he profiled who lived out leadership in trying circumstances.

Admiral Thad Allen earned almost universal praise for his leadership in response and recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill.

John C. Bogle – one of the pioneers in the mutual fund industry.

William Bratton-- the transformational leader in the NYC police force in the 1990’s.

Lt. Col. Tammy Duckworth who lost both legs and the use of one arm when her Black Hawk helicopter was shot down in Iraq. Her advocacy for improved treatment of wounded veterans led her to become a top administrator in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Jennifer Granholm served as the Democratic governor in the predominantly Republican state of Michigan during a period when this state of 10 million people lost 850,000 jobs. She campaigned tirelessly to bring new industries into the state to use the well trained workforce. As a summary of her leadership tenure she quoted a Chines proverb: “Sometimes leadership is planting trees under whose shade you will never sit.”

Michelle Rhee, the polarizing educational reformer, who resolved to break down obstacles in the way of upgrading education for children in Washington D.C. She became an uncompromising change agent.

Sue Sheridan worked tirelessly to get simple, proven medical practices restored to use – procedures that would have saved her son from a lifetime of extreme medical care and her husband from death.

 Gene Kranz, the iron willed leader of Mission Control during Apollo 13 and other Apollo missions. “Ego is a leader’s enemy,” said Kranz. “ Virtually everything worthwhile that’s to be done these days is done as a team.  As a leader – as an individual—you have to learn to check your ego at the door every day when you come to work.”

Tony LaRussa, the Hall of Fame baseball manager, who piloted his teams to the third-most wins of all time, including World Series championships with the St. Louis Cardinals. LaRussa said, “Pressure comes from caring and wanting to do something for the team. It comes from your sense of being held accountable.”

Jim Sinegal, former CEO and current board member of Costco, was one of my favorites. While government leaders have been campaigning to get the Walmarts and McDonalds of the world to pay a living wage, Sinegal has been doing that for years for Costco employees.  No one forced him to do it, he just knew it was right. Walmart has an employee turnover rate at 60 percent, and many fast food places have 250% turnover.  Costco’s hovers around 10%. “Management is at least 90% teaching,” he says. “Not teaching in a classroom setting, but interacting with people, getting their feedback, giving them feedback and displaying the little things like picking a scrap of paper off the floor to keep the place clean.”

Sully concluded his book by summarizing key traits that he saw in successful leaders.  Here’s the top seven:

·         Continuing self-improvement and learning

·         Realistic optimism

·         Willingness to lead by example

·         Maintaining a long-term perspective

·         Nurturing other leaders

·         Having clear priorities and focusing on what’s important

·         Ability to learn from failures and move on.

·         Creating an environment in which everyone can do his best work.

Ten Best Questions to Use While Networking

   

Ten Best Questions to Use While Networking

I attended a business seminar last month seminar in month and came away with fantastic ideas about growing my business. The conference was led by Steve Black and Chuck Douglass.  For more information, check them out at businesssucesstraining.org

How did you get started in the widget business?

What do you enjoy the most about your profession?

What separates your company from the competition?

What advice would you give someone starting out in your profession?

What one thing would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?

What significant changes have you seen in your profession through the years?

What do you see are some of the significant changes coming in the marketplace?

Describe the strangest or funniest thing that has happened to you in your profession.

What sentence would you like others to use in describing the way you do your business?

How can I know who is a good prospect for you? 

“You don’t have to be interesting…. You have to be interested in people.”  Steve Black

I love this kind of story.  Upstart guy with a dream takes on the big guys and show them a thing or two.  Kevin Plank started Under Armour in his grandmother's townhouse.  He challenged Nike, Adidas and the other big guns. Now his company is on pace to earn $3 billion this year and dreaming to triple in size.

My favorite quote from him is about the paralysis of analysis. "I think sometime entrepreneurs get caught up with theorizing, hypothesizing, business planning -- at some point, put the pen down and go do something. Go out and find out if you can make your product."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/when-we-were-small-under-armour/2014/11/11/f61e8876-69ce-11e4-b053-65cea7903f2e_story.html

Dave Ramsey's Book is a Fun Ride, Full of Valuable Insights

                                

Entrepreneur and leader do not necessarily fit together.  We have all seen bad examples of both. Dave Ramsey, one of America’s best loved financial counselors, welds the two concepts together in his book EntreLeadership.

The book showcases many of the solid financial concepts that he talks about in his nationwide radio show.  Far from picturing himself as a person with all the answers, he sites a number of examples of where he “blew it,” but learned a valuable lesson.

People familiar with his other books, The Total Money Makeover and Financial Peace, will recognize his down-to-earth concepts in action.

Unlike his other books, however,  these concepts are fleshed out in the story of growing his operation into a multi-million dollar business.

I especially enjoyed him recounting some of his mistakes that turned into life lessons, including one that he made during his early days as a real estate sales person.  You can’t judge a customer by what they wear or by the size of the diamond on his wife's finger!  Also, his company learned a painful lesson when it was sued by Space Camp.

The principles Ramsey lays out come from his hard-earned experience having become a millionaire, then losing it all and having to declare bankruptcy.  Those personal lessons are applied to his business with solid, steady growth. 

Ramsey gives one principle that seems quaint. “On big business decisions, be sure to include your wife in the process,” he says.  Several examples showcased how his non-business trained wife had provided some insights. “Also she can spot a crook from a mile off.”

Readers of Ramsey’s books will be familiar with his style and wisdom such as,  “Goals are visions and dreams with work clothes on.”

 His images and life lessons have a ring of authenticity. “Money is active. It is like a beautiful thoroughbred horse – very powerful and always in action, but unless this horse is trained when it is very young, it will be an out of control and dangerous animal when it grows to maturity. You must gain control over your money or the lack of it will forever control you.”    
He closes with some thoughts about people who want to become EntreLeaders and build a great company. “Develop a generous spirit toward your team in general,” he writes. “ Not a spirit that tolerates or overpays underperforming people, but be generous to the people who cause you to win. Realize your team is your secret weapon.”

Never Eat Alone: Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time By Keith Ferrazzi

The message of business success through networking is all around us. Only a select few authors speak with such insight and experience on this subject as Keith Ferrazzi in his book “Never Eat Alone.”

Ferrazzi does not limit the value of networking to just business, but links it also to the ability to add value to the relationships around you whether those are family, hobbies, or interests.  But if you’re going to be a master networker, “Be interesting,” he says. 

Ferrazzi quotes John Perry Barlow to spotlight the value of networking, “They used to say that fortune prefers the prepared mind.  Now it’s fortune prepares the networked mind.” 

To be a valued networker, the author says trust is paramount.  He even has a formula for it.  Generosity + vulnerability + accountability +  candor = trust.  “People are desperate for authenticity,” he says. “Everywhere you look today, there’s someone lying about something. Some organization glossing over the truth, some person not telling it like it is. There’s a scarcity of the authentic in our culture.”

One of the ways Ferrazzi encourages the attraction of new ideas and new people is through attending meetings and conferences. “Attend conferences, which are terrific for serendipity, not only because they bring together diverse groups of people around a similar interest, but also because all those people are there for the same reason – to meet new people and learn new things.”

Ferrazzi’s zest for living pulsates through the pages of his book.  He is a master connector of people and ideas and most chapters end with examples of great networkers in history including Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Frequently I did find his ideas over the top and achievable only for someone whose life was far out of balance.  Yet he counters this concern  with a thought from author Oscar Wilde who suggested that if people did what they loved, it would feel as if they never worked a day in their life.  Ferrazzi reasoned that if your life is filled with people you care about and who care for you, why concern yourself with “balancing” anything at all.”

The author concluded that we must ride the wave of networking with purpose as we build our personal brand. No one will do this for us, we must take charge of it ourselves. He quoted management guru Tom Peters, who said, “Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”