Agile Strategies

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Can you believe this guy?

President George W. Bush said Wall Street had "got drunk" and was experiencing a hangover at a recent closed-door fundraiser in Houston in which he also made light of the US housing crisis

from the finanicial times

Top 10 leadership blogs

Management Craft: Lisa Haneberg
Leading Blog: Michael McKinney
All Things Workplace: Steve Roesler
Leadership Made Simple: Ed Oakley
Lead Quietly: Don Frederiksen
Extreme Leadership: Steve Farber
Slow Leadership: Carmine Coyote, Peter Vajda, John Fletcher
Tom Peters: Tom Peters
Leadership Challenge: Various Authors
Personal Leadership Insight: Rhett Laubach

The new gold standard of leadership - Management craft

While cost cutting may be inevitable in tighter economic cycles, I gained key insights during my conversations with the leadership at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company about how to avoid a scarcity mentality in challenging times:

1) When consumers face economic challenges they often place a greater emphasis on value. While many customers will “pinch pennies” and “clip coupons” to address financial hardships, they will still look for opportunities to “treat” themselves. When consumers do spend money freely they will want to experience true quality and not a watered-down or corporately scaled-back version of quality.

2) Focused excellence prevails. If cutbacks are necessary, companies can and should reallocate resources toward their core areas of excellence. To be “excellent” means resisting the urge to overreach into areas where your products or service will be mediocre. Doing a few things expertly beats doing many things adequately.

3) Inspire staff to focus on purpose and outcomes, not fulfillment and procedures. I have long believed that all business is personal. This is particularly clear in the world of luxury hotels and resorts. While most hotel companies that compete for this market segment have exquisitely clean and well-appointed facilities, the primary driver for guest loyalty emerges from the personal attention and caring of staff. From the onset of their employee selection process, leadership at Ritz-Carlton looks for underlying talent in service characteristics. They then train and certify the skills necessary for the new hires to do their jobs while constantly linking job function to the overarching purpose of the business - namely to provide for “the genuine care and comfort” of their guest.

4) Empowering the front-line saves money. While many business leaders talk about their empowered workforce, few put money behind the hype. At Ritz-Carlton, staff members (referred to as the Ladies and Gentlemen of The Ritz-Carlton) are given the authority to spend up to $2,000 per day per guest, without seeking the approval of their supervisors. This authority allows front-line workers to immediately resolve service breakdowns for guests or simply engage guests by doing something unexpected that will make the hotel stay memorable. The cost-saving nature of this seemingly risky level of financial empowerment is derived from the morale and loyalty of employees, the clear cost savings of resolving problems immediately, and the impact that this type of empowered workforce has on customers. Essentially, empowered employees consistently transform otherwise satisfied customers into fully-engaged brand loyalists that spend more and refer family and friends to the business.