One of the first business books I ever read was “In Search of Excellence”, that's why having Tom Peters, the author, and one of the most exceptional management thinkers of all time on my What’s Next! podcast, is truly an honor. His insights into what makes a successful leader, whether you are a start-up or Fortune 500 Company, is useful for anyone, at any stage of their career.
Tom’s four favorite words – what do you think? Many times we get so caught up in what we think, what we want, how we do things that we forget to ask those around us what they think. This phrase lives at the core of curiosity and learning and is an open-minded conversation starter that gives people the space to share their ideas and to have constructive conversation about how to make things better.
Hearing Tom’s other four favorite words – manage by wandering around (MBWA) – gives us a simple yet profound lesson on how better to connect with people. How can a leader do their job well without talking to people? When you manage by wandering around, you avail yourself to unstructured conversation and you can expose yourself to different people with different ideas. As a leader you should always aspire to learn something new every day and this is a great way to do it.
Beyond those two, it was the last nugget of wisdom which I found to be the most helpful for any leader. Tom is very passionate about this one. He has actually had screaming and shouting matches on this topic – literally. What he has distilled after 30 years of doing this that the number one role of a leader is – hiring. “Leaders are in the people business. Leaders develop…..People. I think a leader in the course of his or her career has the opportunity to significantly affect the development of their fellow human beings.”
It was a fantastic ending to an amazing conversation. What Tom was passionate about was reminding us all that it’s the simple things. Excellence isn’t an engineering term or something we can produce in the lab – excellence is human. So your challenge today will be to ask people what they think and walk around and talk those you normally don’t engage with. Work to improve the people side of your leadership style, not just the metrics of the business. Remember your customers will only be happy if your employees are happy.
Listen in on our conversation and subscribe to the What’s Next! podcast on Apple Podcasts.