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July
2007
EDITOR’S COLUMN:
INSIGHTS FROM PETER DRUCKER
Peter Drucker was one of my all-time favorite thinkers.
I met him years ago at his office in Pomona, California.
Drucker had a Nostradamus-like ability to predict future
trends. Perhaps his best-known book is The Effective Executive.
Here are some inspirational insights from the man himself:
- An executive must be disciplined. Anything less than
doing your best is a failure. If you’re operating
at anything less than full effectiveness — get your
act together.
- Allow other people to do their best work.
One of Drucker’s
favorite questions was, “If somebody asks, ‘Why
should I work for you?,’ what will you tell them?” The
answer should be, “Here you’ll be able to do
your best work.” Is that true for your organization?
Do you pigeonhole people into a job description or really
focus on their skills, abilities, and desires?
- When dealing
with change, burn all bridges. Drucker wasn’t
a big fan of inching your way to change, whether positive
or negative (such as layoffs). Bring in the heavy ax and
be done with it. Question: Are you inching your way toward
change or are you making it instant and complete?
- Focus
on your highest and best use. This is the corollary to
the previous principle. For example, if you’re
paying an executive $70,000 a year, this translates into
roughly $35 per hour. How much $10, $15, and $25 an hour
work is this executive doing? Your answer should be none
at all.
- If you want people to contribute their ideas, you
must ask for them. What’s more, you should make this
mandatory. I encourage you to look at the I-Power program
produced by one of Drucker’s friends, Martin Edelston,
Chairman of Boardroom, Inc.
- Make your mission, vision,
goal, and values easy to remember. The simpler an idea,
the more powerful it becomes. According to Drucker, you
should be able to put your mission statement on a T-shirt.
This newsletter constantly stresses the importance of “branding” internally
with your employees, not just externally with your customers
and clients. How well are you doing that?
- Finally, get
personal. People work better with people when they have
a personal relationship with them. This means that they
genuinely care for each other, trust each other, and are
good listeners. Don’t run right past
your employees and fellow managers. Build relationships
with them, one person at a time.
To learn more about Peter Drucker and his wisdom, go to www.thedruckerinstitute.com.
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