…AND OTHER ADVENTURES FROM THE BOARD ROOM  
by The MRH Group 

Today’s Schedule
8:00AM:  URGENT: Budget Update 

9:00AM:  Applicant Interviews 

10:00AM: URGENT: Annual Training  

11:00AM: Training Debrief 

12:00PM: Working Lunch 

1:00PM: Staff Meeting (Rescheduled) 

2:00PM: Program Reviews Part 2 

3:00PM: Sales Updates/ Cost Control 

4:00PM: IMPORTANT: Holiday Party Plans 

5:00PM: Start Working

A Collection of Lessons, Secrets, and Short Stories That Will Help You 
Become an Awesome Boss in Today’s Crazy Business Environment 

 
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ƒ„Ž‡‘ˆ‘–‡–•
Chapter1:StrategyandPlanning.................................................................................................................9
Chapter2:Communication......................................................................................................................... 29
Chapter3:OnLeadership........................................................................................................................... 43
Chapter4:ProductivityandPerformance..................................................................................................60
Chapter5:LearningandDevelopment.......................................................................................................82
Chapter6:InnovationandTechnology.......................................................................................................96
Chapter7:DealingwithChangeandAdversity........................................................................................104
Chapter8:Employees,TeamsandOrganizations....................................................................................137
Chapter9:ProjectsandPrograms............................................................................................................167


 

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Whenaskedifhefeltconfidentthathecouldachievetheloftytargetshesetforthforhisteam,mostof
usshifteduncomfortablyinourseatsawaitinghisresponse.

“Iamhopefulthatwecan.Ifthoseotherthingswetalkedaboutdonotgetintheway,thisiscertainly
achievable,butofcoursewecan’tpredictthefuture”hesaid.

WeallsatquietlywaitingfortheDirector’sresponse;herwordswerealwayscarefullyscriptedand
deliberate.

“Maybeyoushouldgobackandspendthetimeplanningallthetasks,theirdurationsandpossible
interrupters”theDirectorsaid.“Thencomebacktomeonceyouverifyyoucanindeedachievethe
commitmentyouwantourcompanytostandbehind.Hopeisabadstrategy.”

 

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When making a presentation….

…Manage the MESSAGE.

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The best decision is a GOOD decision.

The second best is a BAD decision.

The worst decision is NO decision.

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ͳǤ ‡ƒ†‡”•Š‹’†‡ƒ†••’‡‡†ƒ†‡ˆˆ‹…‹‡…›Ǥ

ʹǤ ƒ–—”ƒŽŽ‡ƒ†‡”•™‹ŽŽƒŽ™ƒ›•Šƒ˜‡ˆ‘ŽŽ‘™‡”•Ǥ

͵Ǥ ‡˜‡Ž‘’‹‰‘–Š‡”•–ƒ‡•”‹•‘–Š‡’ƒ”–‘ˆ–Š‡Ž‡ƒ†‡”Ǥ

ͶǤ ––ƒ‡•…‘—”ƒ‰‡–‘Ž‡ƒ†™‹–Šƒ……‘—–ƒ„‹Ž‹–›Ǥ

ͷǤ ‡ƒ†‡”•ƒ”‡™‹ŽŽ‹‰–‘‡’‘™‡”ƒ††‡ˆ‡”–‘‘–Š‡”•Ǥ

͸Ǥ ‡ƒ†‘–Š‡”•–Š‡™ƒ››‘—ǡ›‘—”•‡Žˆǡ™ƒ––‘„‡Ž‡†Ǥ

͹Ǥ ”—‡Ž‡ƒ†‡”•†‘‘–‡‡†–‘…‘ƒ†‘–Š‡”•‹‘”†‡”–‘
‰‡–”‡•—Ž–•Ǥ

ͺǤ
”‡ƒ–Ž‡ƒ†‡”••Š‘™”‡•’‡…–ǡƒ”‡•‡ŽˆǦƒ™ƒ”‡ǡ•ƒ›–Š‡”‹‰Š–
–Š‹‰•ƒ––Š‡”‹‰Š––‹‡ǡƒ†Š‘Ž†ˆ‹”™Š‡‡‡†‡†Ǥ

ͻǤ ƒƒ‰‹‰‡–Š‹…ƒŽŽ›•Š‘—Ž†„‡‡ƒ•›Ǥ‘™Šƒ–ǯ•”‹‰Š–Ǥ




 

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Always find a way to turn:

“We can’t, because…”

into
“We can, if…”

It’s all about ATTITUDE.

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‘–‘™ǡŠƒ‘—”•‡Žˆƒ–‡”


I’mnotsureifanyoneknowswhereprocrastinationcomesfrom.Isitalearnedbehavior?Isit
somethingwearebornwith?Regardless,Ihavealwaysbeenaprocrastinator.Idon’tknowwhy,butI
almostalwayswaituntilthelastminute.Incollege,Iwouldhitthe“snooze”buttononthealarmclock
atleastthreetimes,andwouldrarelydohomeworkthedayitwasassigned.Ineededadeadlinein
ordertogetstarted.

Unlikeme,myroommate,Mike,jumpedoutofbedonthefirstsoundofhisalarm.Literally,hewould
getup,walkacrosstheroomtohithisalarm,andheadtotheshower,flippingontheoverheadlightas
soonashegotup.Hedidhomeworkthedayitwasassignedsoitwascomplete,andwasdiligentabout
gettingenoughsleep.HewonderedhowIcouldbethewayIwasandIalwaysmarveledbyhisproactive
ways.Yearslater,itisMikewhoIcreditwithchangingmyways.

“Doitnow,thankyourselflater”MikewouldsaywhenIwouldcomplainaboutrunningoutoftime.At
thetimeIwouldscoffathimandopttodelayandprocrastinateonaregularbasis.YetInaturallyfound
myselfunderpressureonaregularbasis,whereashedidnot.

AsIgotolderandasmycareeraccelerated,Mike’sphrasewouldentermymindoften.Ifoundmy
workloadincreasingandmytimedecreasing.IstartedtofindthatMike’slessonheldmoreandmore
value–literally,intermsoftimeͲparticularlywhenitcametothelittlethings.Forexample,Ibegan
sendingthatquickemailwhenIfirstthoughtofit.Istartedsigningpurchaserequeststhemoment
someonehandedthemtome,ratherthanletthemsitonmydesk.Istartingmakingpresentationsfor
upcomingseminarsassoonasIregisteredfortheevents.Insteadoflettingthingsfallontopofthepile
asIgotbusierandbusier,Ifoundmyselftryingtotacklethingsassoonaspossible.

Therearelimitsofcourse–youcan’tdropwhatyouaredoingeverytimeyouphonerings.Andyoucan’t
leavemeetingsthemomentsomeonetellsyouthereisareportawaitingyourapproval.Butyou
certainlycanfindthingstotakecareofrightawayinordertoimproveyourproductivity.Toavoid
feelingoverwhelmedandgettingboggeddownallthetime,doitnowandthankyourselflater.

 

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Ǯ‘ǯ–‘™ǯ•ƒ……‡’–ƒ„Ž‡•™‡”
WhenIwasfirststartingoutasayoungengineeroutofcollege,Iwassoongivenanopportunityto
makemyfirstbigpresentationtoacustomer.TheaudiencewouldbecomprisedofafairlyhighͲranking
groupofindividuals,ledbytheirTechnicalDirector.MybossandIdrovedownearlyinthemorning.

Thoughthemeetingwouldlastthewholeday,Ionlyhadabouta30minuteslidepresentationtogo
through,andIpreparedforweeks.

Whenthedaycameandmytimeslotarrived,Inervouslytookthepodiuminfrontofadarkroomfullof
people,andbegantogothroughmyportionofthemeeting.

Abouthalfwaythrough,theTechnicalDirectorstoppedandaskedmeaquestion.

“Whatisthematerialofthatpartontheright?”

Despiteallmypreparation,Ipanicked.OfallthequestionsIhadpreparedtoanswer,thatwasnotone
ofthem.AndIsimplycouldnotremember.NervousandfeelinglikeIneededtogiveananswer,I
guessed.

“Ibelieveitisaluminum”Isaid.

TheTechnicalDirectorpausedforamoment,thenresponded.“No,itcan’tbe.Aluminumcan’thandle
thetemperature,soit’sprobablysteel.Pleasegoon.”

Whilenooneelseprobablythoughtanythingofit,Iwasextremelyembarrassed.Itwassuchabasic
questionandIdidn’tknowtheanswer.Moreimportantly,Ifeltobligatedtoanswer,onlytohavemy
responsedeemedincorrectbythekeyindividualintheroom.

Thatevening,duringthe2hourdrivebacktoouroffice,Ifoundmyselfstaringoutthepassenger
windowbeatingmyselfupinsilence.Whenmybosslookedoverandaskedwhatwasbotheringme,I
sharedmydisappointment.

“Letitgo”heresponded.Hecontinued“Andifyoueverfindyourselfinthatsituationagain,just
remember:‘Idon’tknow‘isanacceptableanswer.Youcanalwaystakeanactionitemtoconfirm
somethingafterwardsratherthantryingtoguess.”ItwasfantasticadvicethatIneededtohear.

Yearslater,IstillrememberstandingatthepodiumandwheretheTechnicalDirectorwassittinginthe
crowdedroom.I’vesincesharedthesameadviceIreceivedonthewayhomethatdaywithcountless
employeesofmyown.It’sfarbettertotakeanactionthanitistomakeyourselflookstupidwhenit
reallymatters.

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Itisoftensaidthatthemostvaluableassetwithinanybusinessororganizationareitspeople.Afterall,
thebestpatents,productsandportfolioswillnotbeobtainedwithoutthegreatthinkersandvisionaries
behindthem.

Sometimeback,whilespeakingwithatechnologyexecutiveonthetopicofcultivatinginnovativeideas,
heposedasimplequestion.

“Whatis1+1?”heasked.

Knowingitwasatrickquestion,Itriedtocomeupwithacleveranswer.ButbeforeIcoulddoso,he
answeredit.

“Three”heanswered.

ThoughIwaspuzzledatfirst,aftermorediscussion,hispointbecameclear.Whenyouremployeesare
giventhetimeandplacedinanenvironmentinwhichtheycancreateandshareideas,itenablesthem
tofusethoseconceptstogetherandcreateevenbetterones.

Thus,1+1=3.Itisnotyouridea,ormyidea,butouridea. 

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Itwasjustafewdaysaftertheclosureofthe2008BeijingGames,andIwasworkinganextraordinary
numberofhourstomeetacriticaldeadline.Ispentnearlyeverywakingmomentinfrontofmylaptop,
racingtowardsthefinishline.MyteamandIhadbeenatitforweeksonend,andwewereexhausted.
Wecalleditthe“SummerofHell.”ThoughI’mabigsportsfan,IbarelygottowatchtheOlympicsthat
year.

Meetingthedeadlinewascriticalforthecompanyandastheteamleader,Iwasresponsibleformaking
ithappen,eventhoughtheoddswereagainstme.Toaddtothepressure,aseniormanagerwellabove
meinthecompanyrequesteddailyupdatesonprogress.Andwhilehewasdemandingandhadalow
toleranceformissingdates,healsounderstoodthelevelofeffortwewereputtingin.

HeandIwerecorrespondingbyemaillateoneevening.Afewmomentsaftersendingareplytohim,
anothernotefromhimpoppedintomyinbox,askingaveryshortquestion:

“DoyouknowwhoJasonLezakis?”

Iassumeditwasthenameofsomeoneinourcompanywhohewantedmetospeakwith,orthename
ofsomeoneatourcustomerwhohadalsobeenaskingforupdates.Nothavingaclue,Isentashort
reply:

“No,isheoneofourguys,ortheirs?”Frustrated,tiredandsimplyfeelingliketheworkwouldnever
end,Iassumedhisanswerwouldjustresultinmoreworkforme.

Afewminuteslater,hesentmeabriefexplanation.

“Atthe2008SummerGamesinBeijing,China,JasonLezakwastheanchorofthe4x100mAmerican
men’sfreestyleswimteam.HewastheoldestteammemberandwasinhislastOlympicGames.Inthis
race,Lezakracedagainstsomeofthebestswimmersintheworld,includingtheworldrecordholderof
the100mfreestylefromFrance.Lezak’steamincludedMichaelPhelps,theworld’smostdecorated
Olmypian.

TheAmerican’sweretrailingwhenLezak,thefourthandfinalswimmeroftheteamrelay,steppedonthe
block.Bythetimeheenteredthewaterforthelast100m,TeamUSAwasbehindbyafullbodylength.
EveryonediscountedLezakandtherestoftheAmericanteam.Then,overthecourseofthe100msprint,
Lezakslowlychippedawayatthelead.HecamebackandwontheraceforTeamUSAby0.08seconds,
whichisthedifferencebetweentouchingthewallwithyourfingersextendedout,andhavingyour
fingerscurledtowardsyourpalm.

Themessage:Neverlosesightofyourgoalsandrememberitisthelittlethingsthatmakethedifference.

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Fromthemomenthelefttheblock,Lezakswamthelast100moftherelayin46.06seconds,thefastest
timeeverrecordedfor100m.Becauseitwasjustonelegofarelay,it’sarecordthatdoesnotexist.But
TeamUSAwonthegold.”

Hisemailthatnightwasperfectlytimed,muchͲneededandforcedmetoacknowledgethattherewasa
lightattheendofthetunneleveniffaint.Sometimes,thedifferencebetweensuccessandfailure
comesdowntothesmallestofthings.

 

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GO
out of your way to make your
employees feel valued every day.

 

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HIGH
Set Standards.

It’s better to fall short striving for

greatness than it is to aim low and
successfully achieve mediocrity.

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How to build morale:

1. Recognize contribution.
2. Celebrate milestones.
3. Share in praise.

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