Tom Peters

Carrigan doesn't make the product...she creates an Environment in which those who do make the product can do so effectively and with a sense of responsibility and pride. She promotes accountability by empowering workers with a feeling of ownership of their jobs. The clip demonstrates something that Kirk Weisler talked a lot about: engagement. Carrigan engaged workers in an otherwise monotonous job by talking to them and making them feel important and appreciated. It also shows that treating your employees well isn't just a nice thing to do, it actually produces results. Carrigan turned a failing auto plant into a successful one; just by opening up the communication and regularly talking to the workers, she instilled motivation in them. She showed them respect and in turn earned their respect.

Creating a vision and achieving goals

Reflecting on the 3-17 lecture and video clips

The Made cheerleader clip shows how a unique combination of goal-setting, perseverance, and excellent resources can make just about anything possible. While having 2 out of 3 of this factors could certainly get you close to the finish line, having all of three of them will get you there almost every time. If you have excellent resources and clearly defined goals but no perseverance, how can you possibly maximize those resources to achieve your goals? If you have clear goals and a strong drive to reach them, but no resources, you could be in for a long uphill struggle on your own--which could eventually leave you frustrated, burnt out, or in despair. Finally, if you have helpful resources, plenty of energy to persevere, but no focus or direction, how will you know when you've achieved anything?

Everyone has a choice. You can either take control of your life and self despite your situation, or you can be a victim of circumstance. You can either defy expectations or fulfill them. Murry did not waste time feeling sorry for herself. She was accustomed to taking anything that came her way--food, a piece of clothing--and transforming it into something useful. She also applied this mentality to her emotions: any emotion that was not useful was either discarded or channeled into something that was. She is one of those people who truly believes that every day is fresh start and a chance to turn it all around. Many people say that, but few of them actually believe in it. It sounds so simple and easy at first...then you start thinking about long chain of yesterdays that have all been added up to put you where you are today, all the mistakes that you may have to undo in order to move forward, and suddenly, turning it all around doesn't sound so easy. It sounds like a whole lot of effort, and for many, it sounds virtually impossible. After considering the amount of effort it would require to change things, many people decide just to sink back into mediocrity and leave things the way they are rather than seize the opportunity to better their situation. When you think of it that way, it makes a lot more sense why so many people choose to settle for mediocrity or worse day in and day out.

Either a pat on the back, or a kick in the butt--whatever it takes to motivate you.

Expectations

I found this when I was doing some job research and thought it reflected some things we have been talking about in class...

At Arcadia we are clear about talent, its importance to us, and how we define it. From experience we know that talented people who have what it takes to progress have a few things in common:

Awareness – they are self-aware and are tuned in to the commercial and people environment around them

Energy – they have the vision and drive to enable themselves and their teams to achieve great things

Judgment – they make sound decisions, balancing intuition with detailed knowledge and facts

Influence – they make things happen by influencing others directly and indirectly

The Arcadia Group does a great job at emphasizing what they think is important, the website is a gold mine for people wanting to know exactly what it takes to succeed at Arcadia. They make sure that it is no secret what they expect from employees and what their criteria for excellence is. It's no wonder why the Arcadia Group is such a success and a leading retailer in the UK; they recognize and promote leadership and thereby becoming a leader in the industry.

http://www.arcadiagroup.co.uk/careers/working/talent.html

Under "Working for the Arcadia Group," the essence, vision, and ideals of Arcadia are reiterated in each section: Culture, Values, Our People, Talent, Environment, Development, Rewards and Benefits, Career Progression.

If you don't know inside and out what Arcadia stands for after perusing this website, you are a complete idiot. It may seem like beating a dead horse, but Arcadia really drives the point home and that's the way it should be. What if all organizations could be this clear about their goals, values, expectations? Expectations are all about Consistency and Persistency: consistency in the message and persistently repeating and reinforcing it. Arcadia gets an A+.

Time Management

Time managment is one of those things that crack me up. Most of the time it seems like I don't have the time to sit down and decide what I have to do before I actually do it. The thought of taking the time to compile a list of things all the things I need to do, prioritizing that list, revising that list, and then systematically chopping off the bottom 5 or so, just seems so...time-consuming!! But strategically managing one's time is nonetheless important, and prioritizing is the essential part of strategic time management.

Taking that 20 minutes at the beginning of every day to figure out a plan of action for that day is so much better than haphazardly doing the first thing that comes to mind at any given moment or trying to do everything at once. Planning is the key to effectiveness and preparation is everything. It's fair to say that sometimes it's not always easy what to put at the top of the list; prioritizing is definitely one of the most challenging aspects of time management. I tend to follow a criteria of Deadline, Importance, and Location. (Location is important to me because I don't have a car and traveling takes up a lot of my time)

Since our discussion on time management I have become increasingly conscious of how I spend (and waste) time. I've noticed that I spend a ridiculous amount of time looking for things. The amount of time and energy I waste stressing out over misplaced or forgotten objects tells me I should be more organized. Being organized saves time.

One point that Feinberg brought up is why we should manage our time. If we plan our day carefully we get more done, and when we get things done we feel good. It all boils down to this: time management is rewarding.

Kirk

Kirk was an enlightening speaker and stimulated some very pivotal thoughts for me about leadership. One thing that he kept saying which stuck in my mind: "The bar is so low!" It only takes such a very tiny bit extra to elevate one to remarkable-leader status because expectations are just that low. Kirk had a lot to say and a lot of different ways to say it--stories, examples, catch-phrases--but all these revolved around a few key themes. A few of the things that Kirk liked to talk about were remarkability, visibility, and engagement.