Week 28 of 52. Welcome to Drucker Mondays, a 52-week journey through the new book, A Year with Peter Drucker: 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness, by Joseph A. Maciariello. Each Monday, we'll feature a Drucker fan and his or her favorite snippet from the week's topic. (Subscribe on this page.) Mark P. Fisher is our guest writer today.
Week 28: Managing the Superstar
THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: “General Ulysses S. Grant was caught by surprise at Shiloh in Western Tennessee on April 6, 1862, by [Confederate] generals Johnston and Beauregard. The Battle of Shiloh lasted two days. Total casualties were approximately 23,000 men: 13,000 Union and 10,000 Confederate. After receiving reinforcements, Grant prevailed on April 7, but the sloppy assessment of the threat and the cost in lives brought demands on President Lincoln calling for Grant’s removal.
“Lincoln went to Grant’s defense, stating, ‘I can’t spare this man—he fights.’ Thus we see Lincoln correctly identifying what Grant could do, despite his limitations.
“Lincoln proved correct in his assessment of Grant’s strengths, which were needed to win the war, even at an awful cost in lives.
“For Lincoln, Grant’s deficiencies became subordinate to his strengths.”
MARK P. FISHER'S FAVORITE DRUCKER INSIGHTS from Week 28, pages 219-224:
• AWARENESS: “Where there are peaks, there are valleys.” Star performers must be managed carefully lest they damage the spirit of the organization by their behavior and demands.
• RECOGNITION: “Nothing makes as much impact on a sales force as to have a successful salesman stand up before his peers and tell them, ‘This is what has worked for me.’ And it does even more for the star performer. There is no sweeter recognition. . . ”
• VALUE: “Stars are expensive. I always have to remind managers that the Bible says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain [Deuteronomy 25:4].’”
• STRENGTHS: “One should waste as little effort as possible on improving areas of low competence. And yet most people try to concentrate on making incompetent performers into mediocre ones. The time, energy, and resources should instead go into making a competent person into a star performer.”
MARK P. FISHER'S COLOR COMMENTARY:
Superstars can be found in many areas of an organization. Sales is but one.
What is one of the most important decisions a VP of Sales and Marketing can make? Hire a superstar salesperson. Then, get out of the way.
Here is an example from my experience as VP of Sales and Marketing for a non-profit hospitality organization in Southern California. A competitive conference center announced it was going to be sold. Before long, I was talking with their young, superstar salesperson about joining our organization. We both knew incredible opportunity was on the horizon. (And that proved to be the case with a 92.7% increase over eight years.)
There was only one catch for each of us.
• The superstar needed a boss who understood him.
• The boss needed someone who could sell—within the culture.
How it worked: “Have fun, but get it done.”
• Set goals together. (3 Levels: Easy, Hard and Stretch Goals)
• Set bonuses together. (Fear not if the superstar earns more than the boss.)
--Think NFL Coach Bill Belichick: $7.5 million
--NFL Quarterback Tom Brady: $14 million
• Celebrate successes together. (Each time he rang the camp bell after selling $100,000 in a week, we met at the foosball table for a game.)
• Deal with problems—but not necessarily together.
--When our culture didn’t like something, I stood in the gap.
--When we “over-promised and under-delivered,” I stood in the gap.
--When customers had “issues,” I stood in the gap.
THIS WEEK'S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY MARK P. FISHER:
Mark P. Fisher describes himself as a social entrepreneur, executive mentor, marketing strategist, story-teller, and amateur travel writer with PaineFisher Marketing Group LLC and eHome Counseling LLC.
Mark and his beautiful, redheaded Texas-born wife, Lori, introduced their five children to the world of travel early in their 27-year marriage. With Rick Steves’ books in hand, the Fishers have explored Italian architecture, food and coastlines; German culture and castles; Austrian mountains and Sound of Music lore.
Together they have served the poor in Mexico, Jamaica and Costa Rica; vacationed on various Caribbean Islands like Aruba and Puerto Rico; and walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain. They have also lived bi-coastally from sunny Southern California, eclectic Santa Fe, N.M., to the quaint Maryland shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Professionally, Mark coaches, promotes and builds leaders, stories and organizations.
TO-DO TODAY:
• Write a note of thanks to your superstar(s). Be specific about what you appreciate and how they help grow the organization.
• Reevaluate your superstar’s performance, goals and rewards—together. Set stretch goals with amazing rewards.
• Search for a superstar if you don’t have one, or if you need more than one.
BONUS: Here are two great articles I stumbled upon while researching this assignment:
• Article: “10 Things Really Amazing Bosses Do,” by Kevin Daum
• Article: “How to Spot a Potential Star Salesperson: Six Qualities of Superstar Salespeople,” by Dave Kahle
NEXT MONDAY:
On July 20, 2015, watch for the fascinating color commentary on Week 29’s topic, “A Second Chance for Failures,” the second of three weeks on “Managing Your Members.”
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