Marketing Joint

Leadership Lesson From The Dodgers

Over a year ago, I wrote a blog about my frustrations with the Los Angeles Dodgers. I got pretty heated up because I truly bleed Dodger Blue. In my September 2007 blog, I wrote about some pretty specific stuff. Namely, I wrote that Grady Little is to blame for their stretch run collapse. It was widely reported in the media that the '07 Dodgers were spending more time and energy on internal warfare than on winning the pennant.

Look at the Dodgers of this year. Under new manager Joe Torre, the Dodgers play the first game of the NLCS tonight against the Philadelphia Phillies. This year, the team actually overdelivered during the stretch run - the exact opposite of last year. Torre has also made a clear cut decision on how he would approach the season. He placed a bet on the young guns and got the veterans to buy in wholeheartedly. Today, future stars like Martin, Kemp, Ethier, and Loney are everyday position players who bring their "A" game to the park day-in and day-out. Veterans like Kent, Furcal, and Pierre play supporting roles with full commitment. Superstar Manny Ramirez (in his own category) crushes homers and keeps everybody relaxed and loosened up.

Executive vs. Manager

What are some key differences between an executive and manager? Such a question typically results in esoteric dialogue. It doesn’t have to be that way – at least not for startups.

To get a true picture of the difference, one must look at the general knowledge worker within the framework of a corporate entity. A knowledge worker pretty much assesses situations, makes decisions, and performs the necessary work. Managers frequently use the work of others (i.e., staff) to carry out those decisions. But, ultimately, the manager is combining knowledge and decision making to affect results.

Success Defined With Pictures

Try this little experiment. If I asked you to pick 3 pictures to define success, what pictures would you slap on the wall and why? Make sure you don't think too long. At most, spend a couple minutes to think about it. Then, act quickly. It's tougher than you think. Go ahead. Try it.

- John

Talking Is Not Communicating

One of the best piece of advice I learned from a former boss a long time ago is this ... "Communicating is not talking. When someone listens, it's worth talking. To get people to listen, however, you must initiate and elicit the listening."

Getting Real Commitments

Startups work in small teams. Working in small teams turns out to be pretty unique. Here, I’d like to discuss just some of the ways this “small ball” teamwork mentality plays out for the benefit of the company.

If Confidence Rules, Winning Follows

It’s no secret that I love startups. There are general qualities about a startup that make it distinct from any other organization. It’s important to understand these qualities in order to survive – much less thrive at – a startup. Take a look at what follows and see if you have the personal and professional traits that can withstand the startup environment. If you have it, ask yourself “how.” If you don’t have it, ask yourself “why.”

Perform And Behave Well

Here’s an advice for all the young people starting their first jobs. You need both stellar performance and behavior to excel in your job. It’s a simple equation.

Great Performance + Great Behavior = admiration

Great Performance + Poor Behavior = envy

Poor Performance + Great Behavior = suspicion

Poor Performance + Poor Behavior  = resentment

What Startups (and George Bush) Can Learn From Poker

What do poker, business, and war all have in common? Escalation of commitments. There’s a lot of academic research in the fields of game theory and decision sciences that cover the concept of escalation of commitments in exhausting detail. Most of these studies pertain to decision making relative to resource allocation. So, I’d like to take a real-world approach to sharing some thoughts around this fascinating topic. First, let’s talk about no limit poker. Then, we’ll specifically hone in on business decisions. And, finally, say a couple things about war. After all, we’re in election year.

Eureka! Happy Employees = Happy Customers

I’ve written quite a bit already in prior postings about customers – and, it’s a safe bet to say that I’ll write about it a lot more going forward. A lot of people talk about the importance of customer satisfaction. After all, the measurement of customer satisfaction is an important scorecard for management. Oh yeah, it also sounds really good to say “we’re customer-centric at Acme Corporation.”

Marketing and Innovation DNA

A business seeks to create customers. Therefore, to borrow from Peter Drucker, a business has only two basic functions: marketing and innovation. Most startups understand this simple concept but fail to execute on it. The problem stems not from the acknowledgement but rather from the interpretation. So, here, I’d like to spend a few minutes on the correct interpretation.

Marketing is not …

Tough Decision Making: Chess, Chrysler, and Seeing Patterns

Decision making is a tough part of all jobs. How does a VC know which startup to invest in? How does a big company CEO know which acquisition deal is good or bad? How does a startup CEO know where to direct limited, but critical, resources?

Achieving your Team's Full Potential

Sorry 49er fans, your football team is terrible, but the good news is that you can think back to better times, way back to 1994 when the team won their last Super Bowl. Now, that was a great team. How did a very good team in 1993 get to greatness in 1994? I would argue that it happened because of the signing of one player – Deion Sanders – who made them great not through his own play, but by improving the play of every other player out there.