WORDS OF WISDOM… FOR BUSINESS & LIFE
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Teams with the clearest sense of vision & impact WIN! |
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Talent base – people…are the most important assets of new economy companies. |
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Best question to ask a CEO…why would great people want to be part of your company? |
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Customers will constantly raise "the bar of expectation" for companies. |
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The internet is a giant "lab experiment" for corporate America and those companies that recognise this and play well within the rules of ambiguity & fluidity will survive and win. NOTHING IS CAST IN CONCRETE… |
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The best form of customer service is SELF service. Constantly empower customers to get their own answers themselves…this is a huge differentiator. |
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"CLOCK SPEED" OF BUSINESS IS CONSTANTLY ACCELERATING…TIME REALLY MATTERS MORE THAN MONEY (MONEY YOU CAN SOMETIMES GET BACK, TIME YOU CAN’T) MOST EVEN BRIGHT UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF TIME…THINK MORE IN TERMS OF "RETURN ON MINUTES"(ROM) THAN "RETURN ON INVESTMENT" (ROI). |
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Get in the digital game fast, no matter how small…"launch, listen, learn, then re-launch! |
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SIZE IS THE ENEMY OF SPEED! SPEED TO REACT MATTERS MORE THAN SIZE OF COMPANY… |
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Good leaders make sense of change in the world…then imparts that insight to the team. |
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SHIFTING THINGS (CHANGE) WHEN LIFE IS GOOD IS TOUGHER THAN WHEN THINGS ARE BAD, BUT YOU SHOULD CONSTANTLY BE SHIFTING…MORPHING. |
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People WANT to be led by strong leaders and good leaders are constant students. |
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THE JOB OF CEO’S IS NOT TO BE THE SMARTEST GUY IN THE ROOM, BUT TO ATTRACT OTHER SMART GUYS TO WORK FOR HIM. THE "GROUP BRAIN" IS FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN INDIVIDUAL BRAINPOWER. |
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Current accounting and measurement systems and metrics are outdated for new economy companies. |
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Human capital is the new currency of the digital economy. |
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Technical change is a sub-set of greater change – cultural change. |
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GOOD IS THE ENEMY OF GREAT!! When we get good, we usually quit. |
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GREAT DNA ENCODING OF PEOPLE AND VALUES (NOT IDEAS) IN YOUNG COMPANIES EARLY ON WILL CREATE THE TRULY GREAT AND LASTING COMPANIES LATER. |
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IT IS NOT IMPORTANT WHAT WE DO, BUT WHOM WE DO IT WITH…GREAT COMPANIES DIDN’T START WITH WHAT THEY PLANNED ON DOING, BUT THEY STARTED OUT GREAT BY WHO THEY PICKED TO DO IT WITH! People should get on your "bus" not for where you are going but BECAUSE THEY LIKE WHO IS RIDING ON THE BUS WITH THEM. The "bus" will also change directions, but the bonds of good people won’t. |
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ALWAYS PUT YOUR BEST PEOPLE ON THE BEST OPPORTUNITIES, not biggest problems. |
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"STOCKDALE PARADOX"… Admiral Stockdale survived 7 years of torture in Vietnam not by being overly "optimistic" of being rescued within weeks, but by being realistic of knowing it could be years. The other "optimistic" American POW’s around him died from broken expectations and hearts…of hoping to be rescued within weeks. REALISTS ARE BRUTALLY HONEST WITH THEMSELVES…YET THEY STILL HAVE AN UNWAVERING BELIEF THAT THEY WILL PREVAIL…"FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION, EVEN IN THE FACE OF GREAT ADVERSITY…JUST KNOW WHAT YOUR ADVERSITY REALLY IS"! |
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The Hedgehog Vs Fox…the fox is smart & cunning but gets caught up in lots of details, becoming misdirected and chasing his own tail…hedgehogs do only 1 thing and do it well and nothing else…eat. THE BEST CEO’S OF ALL TIME ARE HEDGEHOGS!! |
Example: Jimmy Carter was smart, wordly, tackled many issues…and got lost in detail. Ronald Reagan had only 1 thing on his mind for 8 years… Russia…remove the "evil empire", remove the "evil empire" and remove the "evil empire"!
Reagan was a hedgehog…
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All great Hedgehogs have 3 common traits: |
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Passionate about what they believe in.. |
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Recognise that they are genetically encoded for their chosen field of endeavour…they really LOVE what they do! |
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and somebody WILL pay them for what they love to do! |
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CEO’S MOST IMPORTANT TASK…NEVER STOP BECOMING QUALIFIED FOR THE JOB. |
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FLYWHEEL EFFECT…when you start pushing a 10 ton metal flywheel, it takes lots of effort to make a single revolution, but less for the next 3…momentum will start to carry the wheel forward itself…same is true in business. It’s tough and slow to build momentum and inertia, but before long, it starts spinning under it’s own force. After a while, MULTIPLE REVOLUTIONS WILL CREATE EVOLUTION! |
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Use technology only after you have momentum, not to create it. Technology is simply an accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it |
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Building a great company means your building something WORTHY of lasting…QUESTION: HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR COMPANY IS WORTHY OF LASTING??? ANSWER: DOES IT STAND FOR SOMETHING GREAT TO SOMEONE? |
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Dream now and then, they will come true! |
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GREAT COMPANIES DO 2 things well: |
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Preserves: core values and purpose. |
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Changes: operating practices, technologies and culture as needed. |
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Closing comments to live by: |
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Human talent is the currency of the new economy. |
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Good is the ENEMY of great! |
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Time is more important than money ("ROM") |
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Be a hedgehog!!! Unwavering single mindedness… |
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Know WHO you want on your "bus" in work & life… |
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Build something that is WORTHY and STANDS for something to someone… |
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Take time to dream… |
Daniel S. Pena, Snr.
