Drucker Mondays

Awards Announced

Sunset on Drucker Mondays!

San Clemente, CA – News Flash! The Drucker Mondays Awards Dinner honored 20 people on Jan. 19, 2016, at the San Clemente Pier’s Fisherman’s Restaurant. Ten awards were announced by John Pearson, editor and publisher of the Drucker Mondays eNews.

The Awards:

• Highest Email Open Rate (70.4%) – Dale Torry (Three Fundamental Questions for a Functioning Society of Organizations)

• Best Picture (Iowa) – Earl Taylor, The Great Hunter! (Management: "The Governing Organ of All Institutions of Modern Society”)

• Best Picture (California) – Rick Bee, Something Fishy! (Diffusion of Innovation—Public Schools)

• Best Integration of Scripture With Content (Isaiah 43:19) – Rebekah Basinger (Seeing the Future That Has Already Happened: Social and Demographic Changes Emerging in the U.S.)

• Best & Freshest Insights—Even Though He Was Guest Writer 4 Times! – David Schmidt (A Primer on Market Research of Noncustomers)

• Best Short & Sweet Slot: Biggest Insight With Least Word Count – Bob Andringa (The Networked Organization: A Model for the 21st Century)

• Most Reluctant Guest Writer With Something Significant to Say – Joanne Pearson (The Salvation Army)

• The Ernie Banks “Let’s Play Two!” Award – Rick Bee, Jim Canning, Mike Pate, Dale Torry—each contributed two guest writer columns, including this one from Canning, who was also a close second for Best Picture (Mission)

• Drucker Mondays Persons-of-the-Year Award (2016) for Help in Making Drucker Mondays More Diverse Than the Oscars – Rebekah Basinger, Tami Heim, Joanne Pearson, Suzy West, Carolyn McOwen, Jackie Tsujimoto, Tashawna Gordon, and Michael Wong.

• Best Actual Picture With Peter Drucker! – Elliott Snuggs (The First Job in Any Organization Is to Make Top Management Effective)



Other Award Categories That Were NOT Announced in Public:

• Highest Email Open Rate (But Least Read Column)
• Most Delinquent Guest Writer Column Submitted After the Deadline
• Longest (Oh, my!) Column
• Column With the Most Typos
• Guest Writer Color Commentary We’re Still Trying to Discern What He Meant to Say!

Drucker Mondays featured 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 in 2015, we’ve featured a Drucker fan and his or her favorite snippet from the week's topic. Archives are posted here. Click here for the 53rd and final edition which featured a master list and links to all 52 color commentaries.

Week 53: Final Edition and Links to All 52 Chapters

Week 53: Final Edition! Welcome (and farewell) 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 in 2015, we've featured a Drucker fan and his or her favorite snippet from the week's topic. Today is the 53rd and final edition and features a master list and links to all 52 color commentaries.



Don’t miss our no-host Awards Dinner on January 19, 2016, Tuesday 4 p.m., at the San Clemente Pier for the famous $4.00 dinner and spectacular sunset at The Fisherman’s Restaurant. Awards will be given to guest writers in 10 categories, including longest column, shortest column, best photo, earliest submission, and other stuff we haven’t thought up yet.

Week 53: The Final Edition & 5 Ideas for Recycling Drucker Mondays in 2016

Idea #1: Email Drucker Mondays to Your Team Every Monday. Recruit a team member to click on Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, etc. below—and send the link to your team every Monday in 2016.

Idea #2: Drucker Quote-of-the-Week. Recruit a team member to reference the week’s topic and post a quote-of-the-week on your office bulletin board or fridge.

Idea #3: Drucker & Donuts. Pass your book, A Year With Peter Drucker, around the office each week and invite team members to join you for a 10-minute “Drucker & Donuts” discussion on the week’s topic.

Idea #4: Drucker Mondays Marathon. Leverage your Drucker book like a baton and each Monday, a team member passes it along to the person who will do something creative with the following Monday’s topic. Repeat for 51 more weeks!

Idea #5: Ask your Hoopla! Maven (you do have a coordinator of hoopla!, right?) to help you keep Drucker on the front burner throughout 2016.

LINKS TO GUEST WRITERS AND ALL 52 CHAPTERS:
Thanks to our fantastic guest writers!

EFFECTIVE LEADERS
#1. Developing Leaders, Not Functionaries: Effective Leaders Get the Right Things Done and You Can Trust Them (John Pearson)
#2. Questions to Ask Before Committing a Portion of Your Life to the Service of an Organization (Mike Pate)

MANAGEMENT IS A HUMAN ACTIVITY
#3. Three Fundamental Questions for a Functioning Society of Organizations (Dale Torry)
#4. Education and Management: Keys to Economic Development (David Schmidt)
#5. Management Rooted in the Nature of Reality 

SETTING YOUR SIGHTS ON THE IMPORTANT, NOT THE URGENT
#6. Make the Important Rather Than the Urgent Your Priority in Life (David Curry)
#7. Manage in Two Time Dimensions (Jason Pearson)

THE ROAD MAP TO PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS
#8. Concentration (Mark Thrash)
#9. Organize Work for Effectiveness (Jim Canning)
#10. Information Literacy for Effective Executives (Steve Bury)
#11. Principles of Professional Leadership and Management (David Schmidt)

MANAGEMENT IN A PLURALISTIC SOCIETY OF ORGANIZATIONS
#12. Management: "The Governing Organ of All Institutions of Modern Society” (Earl Taylor)
#13. The First Job in Any Organization Is to Make Top Management Effective (Elliott Snuggs)
#14. Control by Mission and Strategy, Not by Hierarchy (Kevin East)
#15. Sustaining the Spirit of an Organization (Dan Busby)

NAVIGATING A SOCIETY IN TRANSITION
#16. Our Problems in the United States Are Social Problems (John Ashmen)
#17. Rough Period of Transition Ahead for America (Mike Pate)
#18. A Major Period of Transition for Society and Individuals (Tim Muret)
#19. Seeing the Future That Has Already Happened: Social and Demographic Changes Emerging in the U.S. (Rebekah Basinger)
#20. Seeing the Future That Has Already Happened: Turmoil in Education (Dave Estridge)

MAINTAINING YOUR ORGANIZATION THROUGH CHANGE
#21. Continuity and Change (Connie Salios)
#22. Systematic Abandonment and Innovation (Mark Matlock)
#23. Using the Mission Statement to Create Unity in the Organization (Tami Heim)
#24. A Primer on Market Research of Noncustomers (David Schmidt)
#25. Phase Changes as Organizations Grow and Change (Shannon Barnes)

STRUCTURING YOUR ORGANIZATION
#26. Centralization, Confederation, and Decentralization (John Walling)
#27. The Networked Organization: A Model for the 21st Century (Bob Andringa)

MANAGING YOUR MEMBERS
#28. Managing the Superstar (Mark P. Fisher)
#29. A Second Chance for Failures (Terry Stokesbary)
#30. What Kind of Organization Does America Need to Strengthen Society? (Scott Brown)

THE SUCCESSION DECISION
#31. The Succession Decision: Maintaining the Spirit of the Organization (Jim West)
#32. Planning for Succession in Organizations (Cameron Doolittle)

LESSONS FROM THE SOCIAL SECTOR ON THE POWER OF PURPOSE
#33. Mission (Jim Canning)
#34. Accommodating Various Constituencies in a Mission (David Beroth)
#35. The Salvation Army (Joanne Pearson)
#36. Diffusion of Innovation—Public Schools (Rick Bee)
#37. Application of Peter Drucker's Methodology of Social Ecology (Dale Torry)

DEVELOPING ONESELF FROM SUCCESS TO SIGNIFICANCE
#38. Pursuing Significance After Success (Don Schoendorfer)
#39. Work in an Area of Your Unique Contribution (Suzy West)
#40. Individuals May Need a Process to Help Them Move from Success to Significance (David Schmidt)
#41. Where Do I Really Belong? (Glen Melin)
#42. Halftime Is an Entrepreneurial Enterprise (Gordon Flinn)
#43. A Catalyst to Help People Manage Themselves and Move to the Second Half of Their Lives (Mark Bargaehr)

CHARACTER AND LEGACY
#44. Our Society in the United States Has Lost Its Sweetness (Gary Bishop)
#45. The Power of Purpose: Rick Warren on Peter Drucker (Steve Brown)
#46. The Stewardship of Affluence and the Stewardship of Influence (Rick Bee)
#47. Making Ourselves Useful to Others and to Ourselves (Carolyn McOwen)
#48. What Do Leaders Stand For? (Jackie Tsujimoto)
#49. You Become a Person by Knowing Your Values (David Schmidt)
#50. What Do You Want to Be Remembered For? (Tashawna Gordon)
#51. "We Mentor…Because We Can Envision What a Person Can Become” (Michael Wong)
#52. Peter Drucker's Ten Principles for Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: As Reported by Bob Buford (John Pearson) 

TO-DO TODAY: 
• ASK: What are your life-long learning goals for 2016?
• COACH: How will you leverage A Year With Peter Drucker in 2016 to coach or mentor one or more team members?

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

 

JOIN US!
Join us at the no-host Awards Dinner on January 19, 2016, Tuesday 4 p.m., at the San Clemente Pier for the famous $4.00 dinner and spectacular sunset at The Fisherman’s Restaurant, San Clemente, Calif.

Week 52: Peter Drucker’s Ten Principles for Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life

Week 52 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 in 2015, we've featured a Drucker fan and his or her favorite snippet from the week's topic. Today is the 52nd and almost final edition, written by John Pearson. Watch for the final edition next Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, featuring a master list, highlights, and your invitation to the Awards Luncheon!

Week 52: Peter Drucker's 10 Principles for Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life (As Reported by Bob Buford)

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: Author Joseph Maciariello calls on Bob Buford to summarize Drucker’s 10 principles for finding significance in life. If you like lists, you’ll love Week 52!

JOHN PEARSON'S FAVORITE DRUCKER INSIGHTS from Week 52, pages 393-400:
• Maciariello: “Staying in a position when you are out of sync with its values will either corrupt you or make you cynical.”
• Drucker: “Whenever people are on the road to success, they tend to think of repositioning as something they do if they’re a failure. But I would say that you ought to reposition when you’re a success, because that’s when you can afford it.”
• Drucker: “Know the difference between harvesting and planting.”

JOHN PEARSON'S COLOR COMMENTARY:
This 52nd week of wisdom from Peter Drucker highlights Bob Buford’s “Ten Principles for Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life from Peter Drucker.” Click here to download the 10 principles.

Buford, the author of Halftime: Moving From Success to Significance, Drucker & Me: What a Texas Entrepreneur Learned from the Father of Modern Management, and other books, writes, “Listen for the spirituality in Drucker’s 10 life principles and expect to discover your own success and more importantly your own significance.”

I especially appreciate these three Drucker Principles summarized by Bob Buford:
#1. “Find out who you are.”
#5. “Planning doesn’t work. ‘Opportunity comes in over the transom,’ Drucker insisted, and that means one has to be flexible, ready to seize the right opportunities when they come. ‘Too much planning can make you deaf to opportunity,’ Drucker said. ‘Opportunity knocks, but it knocks only once. You have to be ready for the accident.’”
#10. “Recognize the downside to ‘no longer learning, no longer growing.’” Here, Drucker identified three groups:
   • Group 1: People who retire—and don’t live very long.
   • Group 2: People who don’t retire, but lose their enthusiasm.
   • Group 3: People who “keep doing what they’ve been doing, but they’re looking for ways to make a contribution.”

Buford quotes Drucker on the third group: “’They feel they’ve been given a lot and they’re looking for a chance to give back. They’re not satisfied with just writing checks; they want to be involved, to help other people in a more positive way.’ And they’re the ones, Drucker said, who finish well.”

THIS WEEK’S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY JOHN PEARSON:


John Pearson, editor and publisher of Drucker Mondays, is a board governance and management consultant, and grandfather to five, including soon-to-be 13-year-old triplets.

TO-DO TODAY: 
• Download the 10 principles and pick three that arrest your attention—and discuss with a friend.
• Discuss the difference between planting (output) and harvesting (results).

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

 

NEXT MONDAY: 
On Jan. 4, 2016, watch for the final summary of this 52-week journey and your invitation to the Awards Luncheon, honoring our 52 guest writers!

Week 51: "We Mentor…Because We Can Envision What a Person Can Become"

Week 51 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.) Michael Wong is our guest writer today.

Week 51: "We Mentor ... Because We Can Envision What a Person Can Become"

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: Successful leaders know how to say no.

For over 20 years, Peter Drucker mentored Rick Warren of Saddleback Church and author of The Purpose Driven Church (1995) and The Purpose Driven Life (2002). This chapter shares a talk honoring Peter Drucker delivered by Warren at the 2004 Drucker Alumni Day in Claremont, Calif.

MICHAEL WONG'S FAVORITE DRUCKER INSIGHTS from Week 51, pages 388-392:
• Rick Warren states two essential Drucker truths:
   1) “Leaders don’t ask, ‘What do I want?’ Leaders ask, ‘What needs to be done?’”
   2) “The mission comes first.”
• Drucker: “They (leaders) know how to say no. The pressures on leaders to do 984 different things is unbearable, so the effective ones know how to say no and stick with it. They don’t suffocate themselves as a result. Too many leaders try to do a little bit of 25 things and get nothing done. They are very popular because they always say yes. But they get nothing done.”
• Drucker: They (successful leaders) ask, “’Of those things that would make a difference, which are right for me?’ They don’t tackle things they aren’t good at. They make sure other necessities get done, but not by them. Successful leaders make sure that they succeed! They are not afraid of strengths in others.”

MICHAEL WONG'S COLOR COMMENTARY:
I find it intriguing that Peter Drucker, with all this wisdom, would teach Rick Warren the simple art of saying “no.” As a father of two young boys, I hear that beautiful two-letter word about a hundred times a day. If we learn the word at such a young age, why is it so difficult to say “no” when we grow up? Fear, control, pride, and a desire to impress others all factor into why we say “yes.”

I have a CFO mentor who once suggested that I set aside an hour each day during work hours to think. When I first heard this, I thought he was absolutely insane.

How can you get anything done if you are just thinking? What I’ve seen over the years is that we can become so consumed by the commitments we make that we lose sight of whether that commitment or activity makes any impact. When I make the effort to build in thinking/reflection time, I find that I am able to make better decisions and develop strategies and activities that directly impact and further the organization’s mission and goals. As a leader, I can think of no better activity to build into each day.

So, how can we build in time for thinking? We need to say no. We need to stop doing something. Peter Drucker advised Rick Warren in this way: “Don’t tell me what you’re doing, Rick. Tell me what you stopped doing.”

THIS WEEK’S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY MICHAEL WONG:


Michael Wong, CPA, is the chief financial officer at Open Doors USA in Santa Ana, Calif. Open Doors strives to raise awareness of global persecution, mobilizing prayer, support and action among Christians around the world. Click here to learn more about their World Watch List and how Open Doors ranks countries where Christians are persecuted.

TO-DO TODAY: 
• What will you stop doing so that you can build in time to think and reflect?  As Drucker notes, consider stopping things that either don’t make a difference or do not suit your skillset.  If you have been doing something consistently for years (a Monday report, for example), determine if it is absolutely necessary. Then help your teams ask those same questions of their daily routine.  

• Visit the Delegation Bucket webpage and download the "Don't-Do List" worksheet.

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

 

NEXT MONDAY: 
On Dec. 28, 2015, watch for the wrap-up color commentary for Week 52 by John Pearson on "Peter Drucker's Ten Principles for Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life (As Reported by Bob Buford)," the last chapter in the book’s final section, “Character and Legacy.” 

Week 50: What Do You Want to Be Remembered For?

Week 50 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.) Tashawna Gordon is our guest writer today.

Week 50: What Do You Want to Be Remembered For?

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: In a culture that strives for fame in various ways, for legacies, for remembrance, this week asks perhaps the most fundamental question that every generation has asked before: what do you want to be remembered for? A Year With Peter Drucker author Joseph Maciariello focuses on this idea with Drucker suggesting, “It is a question that induces you to renew yourself, because it pushes you to see a different person—the person you can become.” 

TASHAWNA GORDON'S FAVORITE DRUCKER INSIGHTS from Week 50, pages 381-387:
• “People were important to Peter Drucker. The artifacts from his twenty-plus years of mentoring leaders of various organizations confirm what is well developed in his writings: Drucker was fervent in his belief that organizations should develop people and that the most durable ones do!” (p. 383)
• “I learned three things from that conversation. First, one has to ask oneself what one wants to be remembered for. Second, that should change as one gets older. It should change both with one’s own maturity and with the changes in the world. Finally, one thing worth being remembered for is the difference one makes in the lives of people [italics mine].” (p. 386)
• “It is important to ask yourself the question, ‘What do I want to be remembered for?’ from time to time in your life because it motivates you to work toward the person you can become. It is a question that if asked seriously can lead to personal revitalization in your life.” (p. 386) 

TASHAWNA GORDON'S COLOR COMMENTARY:
As a 22-year-old recent graduate, I am often asked the question, “What do you want to do with your life?” In very real ways, that question bothers me more than I’d like to admit but I suppose I get it.

I get why people feel a compulsion to ask the newly graduated kid where I’d like to see my life go—but in all honesty, I just don’t know. I don’t know where I’ll be 10, 15, 20 years from now and I think I’m OK with that.

I’m OK with that because the difference between the questions of, “What do you want to do with your life?” and “What do you want to be remembered for?” is the breathing room the latter gives for seasons of growth; encouraging the pursuit of something more.

One of my professors asked us one day, seemingly out of the blue, what we wanted our tombstones to read. As a class filled with twenty-somethings, death almost seemed like a far off rumor that hadn’t made its way to our reality yet.

Confused and a bit uncomfortable, I remember sitting at my desk racking my brain for things that could be written in memory of me. Things like status, or profession, or my own versions of fame didn’t seem to make any sense: why would I want to put that on my tombstone?

Finally, our professor, sensing our inability to think of something, prompted us again,
“What do you want to have been known for?”
I then scribbled on my tombstone: 
Walked Slowly.
Breathed Deeply.
Loved Well.

In the grand scheme of things, I don’t know what I want to do with my life. But I do know that at the end of it all, I want to know that I walked slowly, I breathed deeply, and I loved well. If I have done this, it will be a life well lived. (Editor's Note: To create your own tombstone, click on this app.)

These realizations didn’t just come to me on my own. They were prompted by people who have invested in me, guided me, and mentored me in ways that Peter Drucker did for others like me. The opportunity to empower and enable others is at the core of what it means to lead and to lead well.

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY TASHAWNA GORDON:

Tashawna Gordon is the pastor of youth and families at North Valley Friends Church, Newberg, Oregon. She served as a 2015 summer intern at M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust in Vancouver, Washington and is a graduate of George Fox University. One of her many passions is serving as chaplain of the GFU women’s basketball team. (Enjoy this short video!)

TO-DO TODAY: 
• Pause. In the midst of the busyness of the week, pause for a moment and ask yourself this question: What do you want to be remembered for?
• Reflect. What are you doing now that is leading towards what you want to be remembered for?
• Seek. As Drucker invested into the lives of others, mentoring and guiding, I invite you to do the same. Ask them this question and other questions like it that challenge them and stretch them—but also journey with them in their seasons of growth as they journey through what it means to live a life well lived. 

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

 

NEXT MONDAY: 
On Dec. 21, 2015, watch for the color commentary by Michael Wong on "We Mentor...Because We Can Envision What a Person Can Become" (Week 51), the next to last chapter in the book’s final section, “Character and Legacy.” 

Week 49: You Become a Person by Knowing Your Values

Week 49 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.) David Schmidt is our guest writer today.

Week 49: You Become a Person by Knowing Your Values

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: If you surrender your values you end up losing your self-esteem.  This “progressive discomfort,” as Joseph Maciariello states in the book, can haunt us every day and erode our values, not just in our workplaces, but in our lives as well.

DAVID SCHMIDT'S FAVORITE DRUCKER INSIGHTS from Week 49, pages 375-380:
• “You become a person by knowing what your values are, what you contribute, and it is outside yourself.”
• “There is sometimes a conflict between a person’s values and the same person’s strengths. What one does well—even very well—and successfully may not fit one’s value system.”

DAVID SCHMIDT'S COLOR COMMENTARY:
We don’t do in life what we believe, we do what we value.

We all believe many things about our faith, our role as leaders, a healthy diet and exercise, being a spouse, a dad, a friend.

Big deal.

Check your calendar, checkbook, recent conversations and thought life for the real truth. One writer in the Bible, James, pointed out that even the demons “believed” in one God—but they certainly didn’t live that way. To Drucker’s point, we become who we are designed to be by knowing and living out our values. Our lives are a record of what we value.

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY DAVID SCHMIDT:

David Schmidt is president of J. David Schmidt & Associates. He notes, “We help our clients explore and develop strategies ‘off the map’ so they can better achieve a different kind and level of results. Email him at [email protected] or visit his website.

TO-DO TODAY: 
Tomorrow morning as you get ready to start the day, stand in front of your mirror and stare for at least a minute.  This is the face your mom looked into the day you were born, the face others around you see every day.  Now ask yourself, “What am I feeling about the person I know behind that face?  Am I satisfied with the way that person is living out their values?”  That is the test question for us all.  

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. 14, 2015, watch for the color commentary by Tashawna Gordon (a 2015 summer intern at Murdock Trust) on "What Do You Want to Be Remembered For?” (Week 50), the seventh chapter in the book’s final section, “Character and Legacy.” 

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.”