by Daria Steigman on May 26, 2009
Great interview with Wal-Mart Vice Chair Eduardo Castro-Wright about leadership and what they don’t teach you in business school. The crux of leadership: trust. Leadership is “about being able to get people to go to places they never thought they could go,” he said in an interview with the New York Times.
Other highlights:
- “You can accomplish almost anything in life if you do not care who takes credit for it. So I’ve tried to do more of that. And I’ve tried to do less of the things that make business more complex. I really like simplicity.”
- “I think that business schools could do more to prepare kids to deal with the often more difficult side of business management and leadership. The balance of courses is probably weighted to the numeric side of business as opposed to the people side of business.”
- “I honestly believe … that cultural differences, which are so often touted as the rationale for making decisions in business, are grossly overrated, and that human behavior really doesn’t have a language. It’s pretty much the same everywhere.”
And my personal favorite, in response to how people make business more complicated than it is: “I think that all of us read far too many business books…We have a very clear view of what we do for consumers around the world. And we can describe our complete strategy in 10 words.”
Read the entire interview here.
Tagged as:
Eduardo Castro-Wright,
Leadership,
New York Times,
Wal-Mart
by Daria Steigman on May 22, 2009
The census has always been cool. I was eight years old for my first census, and my dad was sitting at the side table in the living room carefully filling out a bunch of papers. I asked what was so important, and received an early lesson in civic responsibility.
Of course, I’ve filled out census forms for myself since them. And I must admit I was rather disappointed in the short form. It seemed so anticlimactic compared to my childhood memories.
So imagine my excitement when the U.S. Census Bureau sent me its 2007 Survey of Business Owners. It asks for basic information about ownership structure, retirement plans and other business benefits (if any), and how the business was financed as both a start-up and for expansion and/or capital improvements.
There was only one question that I think could be misleading: Was the business owner born in the U.S.? I think the question is designed to determine how many busineses are started by native-born citizens and how many by people who may have immigrated here. But where does that put me, a citizen with a U.S. birth certificate who happened to be born overseas?
Oh, well, enough economics and geekdom for one day. My business turns 20 this year, and suddenly I feel all grown up.
Tagged as:
Survey of Business Owners,
U.S. Census Bureau
by Daria Steigman on May 18, 2009
My parents 50th anniversary is coming up, and to mark the event they’re throwing a party for about 20 family members and close friends. The date’s been on everyone’s calendar for months, but my mom decided to send out more formal invitations.
Now formal, in this case, means she designed it in Microsoft Word. Then she proofed it. Then my dad proofed it. Then she faxed it to me and I proofed it. No typos.
But as my mom wrote in a very funny e-mail to everyone, there was one big problem:
Always, ALWAYS, have two good, careful editors who proof your work. In the case of the invitations for our anniversary, Meryl drew up the format and Andy and Daria scrutinized the work to make sure all was in order. All this careful drafting and scrutiny and proofing and editing amounted to naught, because we forgot to put in the date!
As I told my parents (after I stopped laughing), they never asked me to look for things that weren’t there.
There’s a business lesson here. It’s not always enough to do everything you’re doing well. What else could you do that would add value to your customers or clients today?
Tagged as:
Business
by Daria Steigman on May 15, 2009
Am I missing something? I really don’t get all the handwringing among insurers and the pharmaceutical industry about a public health plan component to reform. One of the latest naysayers is Eli Lilly’s CEO, John Lechleiter, who said that a public plan is “a slippery slope towards the days when all Americans would get their health insurance through a government-run plan.”
As a business owner, I face competition every day. And almost all of it is from companies that are far bigger players in the marketing communications field. Heck, unless you’re also a solopreneur, everyone is bigger than I am.
I realize that insurers fear that Americans will drop their private insurance and flock to a government plan. That’s likely true. But companies typically lose their customers because they aren’t valuing them or providing value to them. This happens every day. And yet, while cost alone may determine some purchasing decisions, examples abound where we will pay a premium to support a brand we love. Nike makes money selling high-end running shoes; Apple’s enthusiasts pay top dollars for a mobile phone. In the insurance arena, I’ve accepted higher auto premiums in exchange for terrific service.
My advice to the insurance industry: Stop worrying about possible competition and look at what you can do to deliver what your customers want.
Tagged as:
Apple,
Eli Lilly,
Health care,
health reform,
John Lechleiter,
Nike,
USAA
by Daria Steigman on May 8, 2009
Insightful interview with LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman in which he talks about his background and what it means to be an entrepreneur. Here’s a sampling:
- “This is one of the things I love about entrepreneurship. You’re encountering new challenges, and you have to learn at a very fast rate.”
- “I realized that the world was transforming every individual into a small business.”
- “Part of the way you stay current as a professional is sharing information and tips on what’s going on in your industry, current best practices. That’s how you learn.”
The complete interview in Inc. isn’t very long, and it’s definitely worth the read.
Tagged as:
Entrepreneurship,
Inc.,
LinkedIn,
Reid Hoffman
