Jim Collins' Top 5 Tips for Managing People
By Jamie Danziger
Most of you will recognize the name Jim Collins – he’s the well-known author of the best-selling business books Good to Great, and his most recent How The Mighty Fall, and he's a master of the strategies and tactics that help companies achieve their goals.
Listening to him speak in Dallas last month, Jim expanded on the content in Good to Great and How The Mighty Fall and shared his wealth of knowledge around how companies can take their performance to the next level, and how the biggest factor in achieving success is ensuring they have the right people in place doing the right things. The following is a list of the top five pieces of information I took away from listening to Jim speak:
- No company can consistently grow revenues faster than its ability to get enough of the right people to implement that growth, and still become a great company.
- First ask what the key seats on your "bus" are and then determine what percentage you have filled with the right people. How will you get to 100% and how will you replace a key seat if you lose someone?
- Have each person in a key seat articulate their responsibilities so that everyone knows what they are ultimately responsible for.
- Far more important than having all the answers, is knowing the right questions to ask. Determine your questions-to-statements ratio and double it in the next year. Ensure that your team, especially your senior team are asking the right questions.
- Greatness is a result of conscious choice and discipline – not a random situation. Focus yourself and your team on achieving greatness.
As a bonus, here’s one more suggestion Collins made that caused considerable debate. He recommends creating “pockets of quietude”, that is, putting on average at least one full day of “white space” in your calendar per week, with no scheduled meetings and no electronic devices allowed and using that time to think. While I can hear the howls of derision, I’ll leave you with this question to ponder – what would happen in your organization if you and your team had more time to think?
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As VP, Operations, Jamie Danziger plays a key role in the on-going growth and success of IQ PARTNERS.
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