I have a couple of client situations that can only be defined as the highest of high stakes. My client companies—totally uninvolved with one another—are separately in the fight for their lives with respective business partners that has the potential to destroy all parties involved. Even if I were permitted to go into great detail, there’s not enough Blog or Twitter space to fully tell these complex stories. But these stories are very much related to many others plaguing businesses today: (a) accelerated trouble resulting from broader economic pressures, (b) lack of organizational expertise solving serious problems, (c) ineffective leadership, unable to master growing volatility.
More than ever before I’m asked the same question by a growing number of people: “how do we handle the mounting problems in our business, what should we read, where can we learn what to do?” While I always try to avoid giving off-the-cuff simple answers to complex questions, as I work with my clients to solve their apparently inexorable problems and get a deeper understanding of others’ business dilemmas, I believe the best reference guide for executives today may not come from the business library or business history at all.
Study The Cuban Missile Crisis from the fall 1962 when the world came absurdly close to a nuclear war. A combination of inexperience, fear, bravado, talking at rather than to other parties (particularly opposition), miscalculation, escalation (things looked absolutely bleak when a U2 plane was shot down over Cuba October 27th), solved by October 28th by brave leadership that allowed themselves to get past the posturing and find resolution.
I was too young to remember anything from those scary 14 days in October 1962, but I vividly remember the air raid drills we routinely conducted in elementary school…just in case. From what I am seeing lately, too many executives are dealing with today’s serious business challenges like the worst of the Cuban Missile Crisis moments and too many employees are doing a corporate version of “duck and cover” drills--when today’s business climate calls for leadership that is ready, willing and able to conquer today’s challenges.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Leno Brought Comic Relief to a "Temporary Willmington Condition"
Leno brings comic relief: "5/11/2009 10:15:00 AM
by GARY HUFFENBERGER Staff Writer - Willmington News Journal, Willmington, Ohio
Jay Leno, center, held a meet-and-greet Sunday prior to the evening show. Here he was joined by two Wilmingtonians, Mark Rembert (left) and Taylor Stuckert, who are leading the Energize Clinton County initiative as well as contributing in other ways to the effort to alleviate the economic hardships in the area, where Clinton County has a 12.5 percent unemployment rate and Highland County a 14.5 percent jobless rate, according to the most recent data. (News Journal Photo/Gary Huffenberger)
I’m an uncomfortable flier even in the best conditions, which is why I’ll never forget my first flight to Wilmington (OH) in the jump seat of an Airborne Express YS-11, situated between an open toilet and containers of packages and envelopes. I was a raw entry-level sales rep for a company that had either the (a) nerve, (b) desperation, (c) vision, (d) stupidity to transform itself from a traditional variable cost air freight forwarder to an integrated fixed cost carrier in an era of double-digit inflation and interest rates.
I remember boarding the pride of Airborne’s fleet back then—a World War II vintage turbo that served all of metro NY—and looking across Newark Airport’s tarmac at Federal Express’, Emery Air Freight’s, Purolator Courier’s fancy fleets of jets feeling a bit envious but mostly nasty angry. We were a nobody company daring to compete with well entrenched extremely well run and respected businesses. Within 5 years of that flight on a rickety YS-11 Airborne was not only much larger than Emery and Purolator, we had become the clear cut 3rd largest industry player to FedEx and UPS.
From the senior executives in Airborne’s Seattle headquarters to the part-time package sorters in Wilmington, we had a warrior culture of energized and aligned people committed to winning. Especially by comparison to the others, our lack of resources became the point of competitive pride and spirit; buttons senior management always knew how to press.
Though there are many examples, another Airborne moment seared into my memory is an afternoon I spent taking the company President & COO—Bob Brazier—to client and prospect meetings when I was managing the Chicago office. We had done extremely well in Chicago, I had the privilege of working with a team of exceptional professionals, and as we passed all the Airborne customer buildings I made sure to point that fact out to Brazier. After about 10 minutes of this, and I must say it was impressive because we were in very fertile Airborne territory, Bob deadpanned “yeah Mike, you really brought Federal to their knees, I hear they’re about to close up in the Midwest, maybe nationally.”
No matter how far we might have come from a single YS-11 serving the tri-state NY area the culture would never allow for celebration because that would naturally lead to complacency and then disaster. Though there are many clichés that get under my skin, none is more bothersome than “to make money you gotta spend money”. I grew up at Airborne from an entry level sales rep to a senior manager, and in the roughly 15 years spending money was taboo. Yet we outgrew the competition and made money. Sure, our lack of marketing to rival FedEx or UPS was also a cause for envy, but it further stoked our competitive nasty angry attitude.
In 2003 DHL acquired Airborne promising to take the company to the next level by spending money to make money. Though I had left Airborne a few years prior I kept in close contact and everyone was excited about “DHL and their deep pockets”, relieved that the intense never satisfied Airborne management style would be replaced by a kinder and gentler DHL.. Among the many things I learned at Airborne was “to make money you gotta have aligned management building a purposeful culture with universal understanding of what the mission is”. All DHL’s investment in Airborne could never make up for the culture that eroded over the past half decade or so.
Jay Leno is incorrect when he says, “’these are pretty resilient people’”…no, these are Airborne people and they are the toughest and most resilient people I know. To those who lived it and know... the saddest thing is: “Leno Brings Comic Relief” to Wilmington Ohio. Yet those of us who lived it and know it have the true confidence that "all of this" should and will be a painful, but temporary condition.
by GARY HUFFENBERGER Staff Writer - Willmington News Journal, Willmington, Ohio
Jay Leno, center, held a meet-and-greet Sunday prior to the evening show. Here he was joined by two Wilmingtonians, Mark Rembert (left) and Taylor Stuckert, who are leading the Energize Clinton County initiative as well as contributing in other ways to the effort to alleviate the economic hardships in the area, where Clinton County has a 12.5 percent unemployment rate and Highland County a 14.5 percent jobless rate, according to the most recent data. (News Journal Photo/Gary Huffenberger)
I’m an uncomfortable flier even in the best conditions, which is why I’ll never forget my first flight to Wilmington (OH) in the jump seat of an Airborne Express YS-11, situated between an open toilet and containers of packages and envelopes. I was a raw entry-level sales rep for a company that had either the (a) nerve, (b) desperation, (c) vision, (d) stupidity to transform itself from a traditional variable cost air freight forwarder to an integrated fixed cost carrier in an era of double-digit inflation and interest rates.
I remember boarding the pride of Airborne’s fleet back then—a World War II vintage turbo that served all of metro NY—and looking across Newark Airport’s tarmac at Federal Express’, Emery Air Freight’s, Purolator Courier’s fancy fleets of jets feeling a bit envious but mostly nasty angry. We were a nobody company daring to compete with well entrenched extremely well run and respected businesses. Within 5 years of that flight on a rickety YS-11 Airborne was not only much larger than Emery and Purolator, we had become the clear cut 3rd largest industry player to FedEx and UPS.
From the senior executives in Airborne’s Seattle headquarters to the part-time package sorters in Wilmington, we had a warrior culture of energized and aligned people committed to winning. Especially by comparison to the others, our lack of resources became the point of competitive pride and spirit; buttons senior management always knew how to press.
Though there are many examples, another Airborne moment seared into my memory is an afternoon I spent taking the company President & COO—Bob Brazier—to client and prospect meetings when I was managing the Chicago office. We had done extremely well in Chicago, I had the privilege of working with a team of exceptional professionals, and as we passed all the Airborne customer buildings I made sure to point that fact out to Brazier. After about 10 minutes of this, and I must say it was impressive because we were in very fertile Airborne territory, Bob deadpanned “yeah Mike, you really brought Federal to their knees, I hear they’re about to close up in the Midwest, maybe nationally.”
No matter how far we might have come from a single YS-11 serving the tri-state NY area the culture would never allow for celebration because that would naturally lead to complacency and then disaster. Though there are many clichés that get under my skin, none is more bothersome than “to make money you gotta spend money”. I grew up at Airborne from an entry level sales rep to a senior manager, and in the roughly 15 years spending money was taboo. Yet we outgrew the competition and made money. Sure, our lack of marketing to rival FedEx or UPS was also a cause for envy, but it further stoked our competitive nasty angry attitude.
In 2003 DHL acquired Airborne promising to take the company to the next level by spending money to make money. Though I had left Airborne a few years prior I kept in close contact and everyone was excited about “DHL and their deep pockets”, relieved that the intense never satisfied Airborne management style would be replaced by a kinder and gentler DHL.. Among the many things I learned at Airborne was “to make money you gotta have aligned management building a purposeful culture with universal understanding of what the mission is”. All DHL’s investment in Airborne could never make up for the culture that eroded over the past half decade or so.
Jay Leno is incorrect when he says, “’these are pretty resilient people’”…no, these are Airborne people and they are the toughest and most resilient people I know. To those who lived it and know... the saddest thing is: “Leno Brings Comic Relief” to Wilmington Ohio. Yet those of us who lived it and know it have the true confidence that "all of this" should and will be a painful, but temporary condition.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Springsteen a CEO? I'd like to say he sets quite an example!
I attended my first Springsteen concert over 30 years ago, I went to my first NYYankee game over 40 years ago, and it would be fair to say I’m rather passionate about both.
But as I was driving home from Monday night’s “heart-stoppin’, pants-droppin’, earth-shockin’, hard-rockin’, booty-shakin’, earth-quakin’, love-makin’, Viagra-takin’, history-makin’, legendary E Street Band’s" concert at the Nassau Coliseum listening to the final few innings of another predictably mediocre Yankee game, I couldn’t help but think about how much I got for my $110 ticket and how little Yankee fans get by now paying as much as $2500 for their seat. Oh the new Yankee Stadium is spectacular and for $2500 you get parking privileges, free food & drink, and a rather luxurious seat while Rome’s Coliseum is in slightly better shape than Nassau’s. The NY Yankees—like so many other businesses—lost sight of their value proposition, what’s important, and how real brand loyalty is solidified.
The Boss—Springsteen, not Steinbrenner—is nearly 60 years old. Last night it looked like he was battling a cold, but neither age nor feeling a bit under the weather stopped him from putting out the high-energy, truly professional performance anyone who has ever seen him knows to expect. In the +30 years I’ve never seen a bad Springsteen show. In the month of April the Yanks have lost by scores of 11-2, 15-5, 10-2, 22-4, 16-11 (blowing a 6 run lead in the process!)…on 21 games played. Roughly 25% of the time they take their stage, these Yankees haven’t even competed.
Where Springsteen never miscalculates his audience and what they expect, the NY Yankees—like many other businesses—have miscalculated an awful lot. Like many businesses these Yankees blame some of their attendance/unsold luxury seat problems on “the economy”, as if they were poor, innocent victims of events they couldn’t control. Fact is, I’d more readily spend $2500 to see Bruce Springsteen and the East Street Band without free food and the like than I would pay $110 to see this Yankee team with all the trappings…just as I’ve paid much more to purchase the 3 Acura’s we own than the inferior product put out by GM, Ford or Chrysler.
Last week I spoke to a CEO for a roughly $50 million company in a highly competitive industry who was moaning about the margin compression in his field, how the tough economy was hurting his business, how distressed he was about the state of business affairs, and how disappointed he is in his poorly performing staff. When I asked him about his client interactions I was shocked but not surprised when he said “I’ve never met any of our customers”. Though these are difficult times, there are some high-performing companies across every business category and I find a very consistent correlation: executives that are deeply connected to the front lines and involved with the core elements of their business—starting with the customer—run companies that consistently achieve while those who insulate themselves from the action rise and fall by forces they neither understand nor control.
While NY Yankee executives sit in their fancy ownership box peering over a stadium with too many empty seats as the Red Sox beat their brains in one more time, Bruce Springsteen is working every corner of the stage, shaking hands with and making direct connections to his loyal fans.
But as I was driving home from Monday night’s “heart-stoppin’, pants-droppin’, earth-shockin’, hard-rockin’, booty-shakin’, earth-quakin’, love-makin’, Viagra-takin’, history-makin’, legendary E Street Band’s" concert at the Nassau Coliseum listening to the final few innings of another predictably mediocre Yankee game, I couldn’t help but think about how much I got for my $110 ticket and how little Yankee fans get by now paying as much as $2500 for their seat. Oh the new Yankee Stadium is spectacular and for $2500 you get parking privileges, free food & drink, and a rather luxurious seat while Rome’s Coliseum is in slightly better shape than Nassau’s. The NY Yankees—like so many other businesses—lost sight of their value proposition, what’s important, and how real brand loyalty is solidified.
The Boss—Springsteen, not Steinbrenner—is nearly 60 years old. Last night it looked like he was battling a cold, but neither age nor feeling a bit under the weather stopped him from putting out the high-energy, truly professional performance anyone who has ever seen him knows to expect. In the +30 years I’ve never seen a bad Springsteen show. In the month of April the Yanks have lost by scores of 11-2, 15-5, 10-2, 22-4, 16-11 (blowing a 6 run lead in the process!)…on 21 games played. Roughly 25% of the time they take their stage, these Yankees haven’t even competed.
Where Springsteen never miscalculates his audience and what they expect, the NY Yankees—like many other businesses—have miscalculated an awful lot. Like many businesses these Yankees blame some of their attendance/unsold luxury seat problems on “the economy”, as if they were poor, innocent victims of events they couldn’t control. Fact is, I’d more readily spend $2500 to see Bruce Springsteen and the East Street Band without free food and the like than I would pay $110 to see this Yankee team with all the trappings…just as I’ve paid much more to purchase the 3 Acura’s we own than the inferior product put out by GM, Ford or Chrysler.
Last week I spoke to a CEO for a roughly $50 million company in a highly competitive industry who was moaning about the margin compression in his field, how the tough economy was hurting his business, how distressed he was about the state of business affairs, and how disappointed he is in his poorly performing staff. When I asked him about his client interactions I was shocked but not surprised when he said “I’ve never met any of our customers”. Though these are difficult times, there are some high-performing companies across every business category and I find a very consistent correlation: executives that are deeply connected to the front lines and involved with the core elements of their business—starting with the customer—run companies that consistently achieve while those who insulate themselves from the action rise and fall by forces they neither understand nor control.
While NY Yankee executives sit in their fancy ownership box peering over a stadium with too many empty seats as the Red Sox beat their brains in one more time, Bruce Springsteen is working every corner of the stage, shaking hands with and making direct connections to his loyal fans.
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