The Road Less Stupid: Advice from the Chairman of the Board

by Keith J. Cunningham

P.S. I am fully aware that if Henry Ford had asked customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse. Most of us are not dealing in disruptive technologies.

Leading an organization is very different from managing one. Both require interaction and dialog with the team. Management’s interactions usually take the form of being a sheriff. A leader’s conversation sounds like a coach.

All upsets are simply unmet expectations.

Great businesses have consistently high performance from their team. That’s not an accident. These businesses have baked into their culture the rules of the game and expectations for what needs to happen to be successful at each job.

Of course I want compliance, but I want the kind of compliance that is a result of ownership, accountability, and engagement, not fear of punishment and consequences.

In dealing with employees, I have found one universal truth: They all want to be successful. The key is alignment on definitions of success.

What has to happen in order for this employee to be successful at his or her job?

The clearer we are on the coaching of beliefs and performance by shifting the burden of ownership and correction to the employee, the less the likelihood we will have to resort to begging, threats, and consequences. Here it is on a bumper sticker: The only difference between a high-maintenance and a ...

I know firsthand the importance of leverage. In fact, leverage is the single greatest point of difference between owning a job and owning a business.

No leverage, no long-term growth. The inevitable result is chaos and a gravitational pull toward the urgent.

When business owners think about leverage, they typically think about debt, which allows the business to do more with less equity.

structure. Here it is on a bumper sticker: The price of entrepreneurial success is discipline and structure.

We want the “freedom” to do what we want, when we want. But freedom—just as entrepreneurial success—has a price: discipline and structure.

Success is not an accident. Sustainable business success requires leverage, and one of the most critical forms of leverage available to a business Owner is the leverage of structure.