Drucker Mondays

Week 48: What Do Leaders Stand For?

Week 48 of 52. Welcome to Drucker Mondays, a 52-week journey through the book, A Year with Peter Drucker: 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness, by Joseph A. Maciariello. Each Monday, we feature a Drucker fan and his or her favorite snippet from the week's topic. (Subscribe on this page.) Jackie Tsujimoto is our guest writer today.

Week 48: What Do Leaders Stand For?

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: According to Peter Drucker, “Integrity in leadership inspires trust and commits leaders to viewing the world as it is and not as they wish it to be.”

Strong, effective leaders go to work on the priorities of the organization, instilling a culture of continuous learning and surrounding themselves with experts in areas necessary to solve present and emerging problems. These are framed together by an established set of values that “give life.” 

“It is not the business whose values are pure opportunism, pure greed, pure selfishness and self-aggrandizement that does best, not even in the very short run. It is the business that has a set of values that enables it and the people who work for it to respect themselves, to have pride, to grow, that is the winner in the marketplace.”

JACKIE TSUJIMOTO'S FAVORITE DRUCKER INSIGHTS from Week 48, pages 369-375:
• “It is in times of adversity, in times that try a man’s soul, that values are a necessity.” (p. 372)
• “Values, like nutrients that sustain an organism, also sustain an organization.” (p. 372)
• “In every organization—and not only in a business—the true and real values of its leaders are judged by who gets promoted, who gets fired, who gets rewarded and who gets punished. People decisions are highly visible. . .” (p. 373) 

JACKIE TSUJIMOTO'S COLOR COMMENTARY:
Free Wheelchair Mission believes that “no one should be forced to crawl on the ground,” enduring the hopelessness and often devastating effects of disability in the developing world. In this heartbreak affecting an estimated 100 million people who lack mobility, or cannot afford a wheelchair, there is hope. 

We value each life as precious in God’s sight, loved by God. We value mobility as an essential element to an empowered life. Free Wheelchair Mission exists for this reason, to provide the transforming gift of mobility to people with disabilities in developing nations, as motivated by Jesus Christ. 

Personally, it has been a humbling experience and great privilege to serve with colleagues who share these values and work with all earnestness and dedication to give this gift of mobility to as many lives as possible. 

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY JACKIE TSUJIMOTO:

Jackie Tsujimoto is the Development Officer for Church Relations with Free Wheelchair Mission. She joined their team in July, bringing over 20 years of experience in Christian non-profit work, including 12 years with World Vision. 

Jackie is passionate about helping the “least of these,” the disabled poor, and inviting local churches and groups to be involved in restoring dignity and hope—transforming lives through the love of Christ and the gift of mobility—Wheelchairs!

TO-DO TODAY: 
Consider the following questions in evaluating your values: 
• What are the espoused values in your organization? 
• How do they match up with values in action? 
• Are they life-sustaining or life-giving? 
• Are they strong enough to weather adversity? 
• Do they inspire confidence? If not, what can you and others do to change them?

Read Bob Buford's Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition), with a foreword by Jim Collins (published this month with more than 750,000 previously sold). 

 

NEXT MONDAY: 
On Dec. 7, 2015, watch for David Schmidt's color commentary on Week 49’s topic, “You Become a Person by Knowing Your Values,” the sixth chapter in the book’s final section, “Character and Legacy.” 

Week 47: Making Ourselves Useful to Others and to Ourselves

Week 47 of 52. Welcome to Drucker Mondays, a 52-week journey through the book, A Year with Peter Drucker: 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness, by Joseph A. Maciariello. Each Monday, we feature a Drucker fan and his or her favorite snippet from the week's topic. (Subscribe on this page.) Carolyn McOwen is our guest writer today.

Week 47: Making Ourselves Useful to Others and to Ourselves

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: In a “selfie” culture, we tend to live for our own personal gain, rather than serving others. But Peter Drucker says we are to focus both inward and outward. This is what brings meaning to life, fulfillment and hope for the future.

CAROLYN McOWEN'S FAVORITE DRUCKER INSIGHTS from Week 47, pages 364-368:
• Drucker’s definition of "existential" was “a universal need for inspiration, effectiveness, and hope.” It is important for us to “transition from success to significance. Fulfilling these needs is a way to face the reality of our own mortality.”
• Lee Iacocca put it this way, “Fame and Fortune is for the birds.”
• Kierkegaard believed that the “special disease of the modern West [was] the falling apart of human existence, the denial of the simultaneity of life in the spirit and life in the flesh, the denial of the meaningfulness of each for the other.”
• And I love the question at the end of this week 47, “'Faith is the belief that in God the impossible is possible, that in Him time and eternity are one, that both life and death are meaningful.' Can this provide you with hope for the present and for the future?”

CAROLYN McOWEN'S COLOR COMMENTARY:
In God’s economy, this concept of “Making ourselves useful to others and to ourselves,” is what I call a '‘win-win.”  From my personal experiences, the most meaningful, joyful experiences in my life have been when I am being used by God, even in the simplest ways, knowing that it really is beneficial to another person.  

I served six years as an associate pastor in a church in the middle of a retirement community. From that experience, I sat with people, listened and learned.  I found that this time spent with people, listening to their life stories at the end of their lives, was not only healing for them, but such an amazing blessing to me.   

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY CAROLYN McOWEN:

Carolyn McOwen is a retired physical education teacher, retired associate pastor, but not retired housewife, mother, and grandmother.

TO-DO TODAY: 
• Daily I pray and ask God to use me wherever He may, to grow His kingdom, and to be His light of hope into the darkening world.  

Read Bob Buford's Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition), with a foreword by Jim Collins (published this month with more than 750,000 previously sold). 

 

NEXT MONDAY: 
On Nov. 30, 2015, watch for Jackie Tsujimoto's color commentary on Week 48’s topic, “What Do Leaders Stand For?” the fifth chapter in the book’s final section, “Character and Legacy.” 

Week 46: The Stewardship of Affluence and the Stewardship of Influence

Week 46 of 52. Welcome to Drucker Mondays, a 52-week journey through the book, A Year with Peter Drucker: 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness, by Joseph A. Maciariello. Each Monday, we feature a Drucker fan and his or her favorite snippet from the week's topic. (Subscribe on this page.) Rick Bee is our guest writer today.

Week 46: The Stewardship of Affluence and the Stewardship of Influence

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: With the writing and success of his book, The Purpose Driven Life, pastor and author Rick Warren, and his wife, Kay, were confronted with a question, “How should we deal with this unexpected affluence and influence?”

RICK BEE'S FAVORITE DRUCKER INSIGHTS from Week 46, pages 357-363: 
• “I think the balance between maintaining internal dynamics and institutionalization is a very delicate one. And eventually, one always institutionalizes or one dissipates…”
• “Neither studies nor market research nor computer modeling are a substitute for the test of reality. Everything improved or new needs, therefore, first to be tested on a small scale, that is, it needs to be piloted.”
• “There are a few common mistakes in doing anything new. One is to go from idea into full-scale operation. Don’t omit testing the idea. Don’t omit the pilot stage. If you do, and skip from concept to full scale, even tiny and correctable flaws will destroy the innovation. . . . Another common mistake is to patch-up the old rather than to go all out for the new. . . . It is one of the critical tasks of the executive to know when to say, ‘Enough is enough. Let’s stop Improving. There are too many patches on those pants.’”

RICK BEE'S COLOR COMMENTARY: 
Few healthy businesses have the luxury of just doing business as usual. In fact innovation and change remain a top priority for leadership in most organizations that seek to retain their market share! Whether the product is smart phones or a college education, nothing can make an organization as competitive and sought after in the marketplace as innovation and a better delivery system.

However, Drucker gives some great advice in this week’s reading as he counsels to be sure and “test the idea!” How many organizations have we observed are first to market with an untested product—only to discover that no one cares! Or…we find some small flaw in the programming that puts the very survival of the organization at risk.

Equally as important is Drucker’s second great advice from this text. And that is to not just patch up the old, but rather to go all out for the new. His challenge to business leaders is a strong call to know when to say, “Enough!”

Sounds to me like a great call to creatively crafted and tested innovation in our companies.

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY RICK BEE:

Dr. Rick Bee is the Senior Director of Alumni and Parents at Biola University. Rick and his wife, Julie, live in Yorba Linda, Calif., where they are active and involved in the Yorba Linda Friends Church. Rick and Julie love international travel and have toured more than 25 countries visiting the alumni and friends of Biola University. (Rick also was the guest writer for Week 36 on “Diffusion of Innovation—Public Schools.”)

TO-DO TODAY: 
• So where can you bring innovation to your company? 
• Where and what is the next big thing for your business and how can you get there in a tested and strategic way? 
• The model of Rick and Kay Warren’s success provides not only great insight into creating a vision and impact greater than oneself, but of doing it in a way that is guaranteed to succeed. How can you implement such a plan today?

Read Bob Buford's Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition), with a foreword by Jim Collins (published this month with more than 750,000 previously sold). 

 

NEXT MONDAY: 
On Nov. 23, 2015, watch for Carolyn McOwen's color commentary on Week 47’s topic, “Making Ourselves Useful to Others and to Ourselves” the fourth chapter in the book’s final section, “Character and Legacy.” 

Week 45: The Power of Purpose--Rick Warren on Peter Drucker

Week 45 of 52. Welcome to Drucker Mondays, a 52-week journey through the book, A Year with Peter Drucker: 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness, by Joseph A. Maciariello. Each Monday, we feature a Drucker fan and his or her favorite snippet from the week's topic. (Subscribe on this page.) Steve Brown is our guest writer today.

Week 45: The Power of Purpose--Rick Warren on Peter Drucker

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: At the heart of Drucker’s entire management system is every organization’s need for a “theory of business” (THOB) that specifies the mission or what Rick Warren reframes for non-profits as purpose. “Purpose-driven missions can provide vision, lead to higher morale, promote concentration, and provide the basis for a system of evaluation.” (p. 352) 

STEVE BROWN'S FAVORITE DRUCKER INSIGHTS from Week 45, pages 350-356: 
• “If the organization has assembled the right competencies to fulfill its mission, it then needs to align members up and down the organization, using effective communications.” (p. 351)
• “One thing Peter taught is that charisma is extremely dangerous…So you don’t want a personality-driven organization; you want a purpose driven organization.” (p. 351)
• “’Concentrate on the smallest number of activities that will focus on the greatest productivity.’ If you want your life to count, if you want your organization to count, the secret is to focus. Do a few things well.” (p. 352)
• “…the theory (purpose or mission) of a business is a discipline.” (p. 354)

STEVE BROWN'S COLOR COMMENTARY: 
One year ago [at Arrow Leadership] we began a three-year organizational strategic planning process. We were soon lost in the “trees” of tactical planning and needed to step back to look at the “forest”—our purpose. 

One key discovery was that we were blurring our purpose and our core program together. In response, we affirmed that our core program is a primary means to our purpose but not the end purpose in itself. This was clarifying and freeing for our strategic planning process. Though testing our purpose against reality and asking hard new questions has required the very discipline Drucker writes about, the effort has sharpened our purpose and strategic plan.

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY STEVE BROWN:

Dr. Steve A. Brown serves as president of Arrow Leadership which seeks to develop Christian leaders who are "led more by Jesus, lead more like Jesus and lead more to Jesus". Steve is also the author of Leading Me: Eight Key Practices for a Christian Leader's Most Important Assignment, Great Questions for Leading Well, and a regular e-resource, Sharpening Leaders. Follow Steve on Twitter: @LeadwithSteve 

TO-DO TODAY: 
Take some balcony time to answer Peter Drucker’s key question, “What is my mission? What is my business?” When we stop asking and testing this fundamental question, we can quickly get into trouble.

Read Bob Buford's Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition), with a foreword by Jim Collins (published this month with more than 750,000 previously sold). 

 

NEXT MONDAY: 
On Nov. 16, 2015, watch for Rick Bee's color commentary on Week 46’s topic, “The Stewardship of Affluence and the Stewardship of Influence” the third chapter in the book’s final section, “Character and Legacy.” 

Week 44: Our Society in the U.S. Has Lost Its Sweetness

IN MEMORY OF GARY BISHOP (1946-2015)
Week 44 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 feature a Drucker fan and his or her favorite snippet from the week's topic. (Subscribe on this page.) Gary Bishop is our guest writer today.

Week 44: Our Society in the U.S. Has Lost Its Sweetness

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: The sweetness in our society, with which Drucker was so moved by on his arrival in the U.S. in 1937, is gone.  Drucker said it is not an attribute which can be restored by government or business—it must be tackled by the human care resident in the compassion deployed by well-run nonprofit organizations. 

GARY BISHOP'S FAVORITE DRUCKER INSIGHTS from Week 44, pages 343-349: 
• In 1937, “We were here in the midst of a totally depressed economy. But the society was strong, and it was a country with almost no envy or very little, and was basically decent, with a great deal of sweetness in it.” (Drucker)
• “Some of our major cities have large segments that resemble war zones.” (Maciariello)
• “The individual needs the return of spiritual values, for he can survive in the present human situation only by reaffirming that man is not just biological and physiological being but also spiritual being, this is creature, and existing for the purposes of his Creator and subject to Him.” (Drucker)

GARY BISHOP'S COLOR COMMENTARY: 
Who isn’t feeling, as Drucker noted, the loss of sweetness in our society? The pressing agenda to have government solve our sour society is misguided, according to Drucker.

Only the social sector can restore the dignity of the individual and community values that are needed to reenergize the productivity of workers and the common bond of a healthy society. Only when sweetness returns will we have the capacity to care for and encourage one another for the noble purposes intended by our Creator.

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY GARY BISHOP:

From the Editor, John Pearson: 

With great sadness, we pay tribute to a close friend and extraordinary marketplace and ministry leader, Gary Bishop, who died last Monday morning, Oct. 26. He wrote this guest writer column the day before he entered heaven—and how fitting—that Week 44 is the first chapter in the section, “Character and Legacy.” 

Today, I’m privileged to share in the memorial service with his family and friends in Fort Worth, Texas. 

Gary’s career spanned service in the U.S. military, as a Dallas police officer, a private and commercial flight instructor, a Technical Occupational Dean at Dallas County Community College District, a Division Manager at Southwestern Bell/AT&T, the Executive Vice President of Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics, and the Director of Pittsburgh International Airport. 

These experiences, coupled with the knowledge and life experience of being a devoted husband to Donna, father and grandfather, prepared Gary for a life of service as President and CEO of Mission Aviation Fellowship, President of World Bible Translation Center, and President and CEO of Far Corners Missions. (View this video of Gary’s passion for the far corners of the earth, “Why We Go.”) 

Gary, a board member at Christian Community Credit Union since 2001, will be greatly missed by his fellow board members and the staff. He was 68. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial gifts be sent to Far Corners Missions. 

TO-DO TODAY: 
Gary Bishop’s recommendation: “Volunteer in support of a well-run ministry or community-based charitable organization.” 

Read Bob Buford's Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition), with a foreword by Jim Collins (published this month with more than 750,000 previously sold). 

 

NEXT MONDAY: 
On Nov. 9, 2015, watch for Steve Brown's color commentary on Week 45’s topic, “The Power of Purpose: Rick Warren on Peter Drucker,” the second chapter in the book’s final section, “Character and Legacy.”