Metadata
- Author: Jim Canfield and Kraig Kramers
- ASIN: B07ZH31LS9
- Reference: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZH31LS9
- Kindle link
Highlights
“Well, the way I see it, people are either running from something or running to something. You, my friend, look like a man who’s running from something. Am I wrong about that?” — location: 111 ^ref-26794
“It used to be so much easier to run the business,” he confessed. “We were smaller back then and full of energy. Everyone seemed to know where we were headed, and we all did everything we could to make things happen. We had a great team: we relied on each other and watched each other’s backs, making the most out of every little victory, no matter how small.” — location: 117 ^ref-30070
Some of our people have been with us a long time, but they aren’t qualified to take us to the next level. — location: 124 ^ref-33120
I don’t think I’m as effective as a leader as I used to be—or as I need to be now. — location: 125 ^ref-44068
“How would you like your company to change?” Three answers surfaced most often. The first answer was increased growth and profits. These leaders said they wanted to generate growing revenues with improved profit margins and more predictable, reliable cash flow. — location: 154 ^ref-44000
The third thing they wanted was more time. They wanted the company to achieve better profits and growing revenues without their direct involvement, so they could have more time—more time with their families, more time to travel, and more time for their hobbies and other interests. — location: 158 ^ref-34835
most employees need the answers to three questions to be effective: Where are we headed? How am I doing? What can I do to make things better? — location: 167 ^ref-19958
Step 1: Set the Direction—Clarify your overall goals, vision, and action plans using a One-Page Business Plan. — location: 209 ^ref-10735
Step 2: Communicate to Build Trust—Start by listening to every employee at every level of your business. — location: 212 ^ref-6058
Step 3: Track Metrics and Give Feedback—Break your long-term goals into workable chunks with the Quarterly Priorities Manager (QPM). — location: 215 ^ref-56468
Step 4: Anticipate the Future and Create It—Using What’s Next? to anticipate changes in your business or industry can allow you to capitalize when others falter. — location: 218 ^ref-56388
Step 5: Attract, Hire, and Coach Winners—Look inside your company to determine the three to five key customer-impacting jobs. — location: 220 ^ref-53175
Step 6: Build an Autonomous Company—Build a business that can run without your day-to-day involvement. — location: 223 ^ref-39631
Step 7: Celebrate Successes—Recognition and appreciation are the secret engine that drives ongoing success and accomplishment. — location: 225 ^ref-20564
“To start with, I think we’ve been trying to serve too many markets. Some are declining and will never come back. “And we’ve got employee issues. We’re afraid of losing them, so we don’t give them the feedback they need to do their jobs well. And some of our employees who used to perform well don’t fit current roles; we haven’t done anything about that. “Our data gives us information without any real insights. But I don’t have to look at data to know we’ve lost the sense of camaraderie and the energy we once had.” — location: 251 ^ref-23513
“Not problems. Challenges. Problems are what people talk about instead of doing something. Challenges are obstacles that winners overcome on their paths to victory,” — location: 257 ^ref-16392
“The first step is to set the direction. Nothing is worse than telling people to work harder when what they’re doing doesn’t produce results. It’s demoralizing, and it erodes their trust. They know it’s not working, and so do you. — location: 261 ^ref-24292
As the leader, it’s your responsibility to set the direction for the organization. You’re also responsible for communicating the company’s goals throughout the organization in clear and meaningful terms. Clear means the goals are easy to understand; meaningful means the goals are significant and relevant. — location: 267 ^ref-46267
How did GAC make its direction clear and meaningful? The message was literally everywhere. Signs posted on the walls clarified the direction, and it was discussed at every meeting at every level of the company. — location: 278 ^ref-23903
A goal is like a dartboard. You don’t have to hit the bull’s-eye every time to score; you can earn points simply by getting on the board. Your company goals must be so clear and so meaningful that they move every constituency toward the bull’s-eye. When the goals are meaningful motivators, everyone will want to play, and everyone will get a shot at the board. — location: 280 ^ref-5311
A promise equals a commitment—a commitment to action and to results. — location: 300 ^ref-17711
Nothing leads to success like having clear, written goals that are continually communicated to every constituency. — location: 306 ^ref-15959
Bring the team together to set goals—Never set goals for others without their involvement. — location: 311 ^ref-35277
Create the budget—Your budget reflects the minimum acceptable performance for your company or group, and it serves as the baseline for your goals. — location: 313 ^ref-46388
Set bigger, more audacious goals—Next, set some bigger, more audacious goals that are a stretch to reach. — location: 316 ^ref-50677
Test the goals—Test the goals against the company values and check for alignment with all parts of your business strategy. — location: 319 ^ref-9321
Communicate the goals—Communicate the goals over and over again. — location: 321 ^ref-20672
Provide rewards and feedback—Praise and reward all behaviors and any results that support reaching the goals. — location: 322 ^ref-14498
Example: Increase (verb) sales (noun) from $60 million to $100 million (outcome) by December 31, 2019 (date). — location: 327 ^ref-57426
Big, audacious goals (BAGs) are about what’s possible, not probable. — location: 331 ^ref-58402
Big Audacious Goals are about what’s possible. — location: 341 ^ref-27100
No matter what you decide to target and measure, the secret to success is making sure everyone in the company understands the BAG, has fun going for it, and stays focused on it with laser-beam precision. — location: 346 ^ref-58419
Profits drop because expenses keep climbing, even when sales don’t. — location: 352 ^ref-56741
Asked how he knew how to turn a failing company around, turnaround expert Jerry Goldress replied, “I ask the people working there. They always know what to do. They’ve just lost the will to do it.” — location: 382 ^ref-534
What does your company do that’s better than everyone else? What differentiates you from your competitors? What’s your “secret sauce”? More importantly, do your customers and suppliers clearly understand what you do so well, and would they attest to it? — location: 385 ^ref-39096
To define your USP, ask: What is unique, different, unusual, or compelling about our company? What does our company do? What business are we actually in? How do our customers describe us? Why do customers come to us in the first place? Why do current customers come back for repeat business? Why do we lose customers to competitors? — location: 389 ^ref-4408
Our job as leaders is to get our team members to accomplish the goals of our company, division, or functional area. — location: 405 ^ref-40940
Goals should be linked to aggressive compensation plans that reward your employees for achieving them. — location: 433 ^ref-6579
To get your superstars to reach for higher and higher levels, you must understand their personal dreams and find ways to help fulfill them. — location: 435 ^ref-57774
Setting a challenging goal is only half the equation. To keep your employees on track to achieve it, be sure to pepper them with lots of encouragement, enthusiastic support, and ongoing feedback. — location: 450 ^ref-20467
One-Page Business Plan—Create a one-page plan to define a common direction. Spell out your goals, purpose, and strategy. Include your unique sales proposition and big, audacious goals. Share it with everyone in the company and continually communicate the message. — location: 464 ^ref-20279
Accountability—Include a metric to track and a goal to shoot for, and assign a specific person responsible for tracking the progress and requesting resources. — location: 469 ^ref-7383
Reinforcement—Use repetitive communication about goals and give everyone encouragement. Goals become a positive challenge rather than a meaningless chore. — location: 472 ^ref-17757