The Excitement Program!...simple, fair, fun, everyone

Mariners Skipper: A OBOTA kind of guy!!!

Friday 10, 2009 :Twenty minutes to game time. The Mariners are playing the league leading Texas rangers tonight, Saturday. and Sunday.

OneByOne team Achievement is in business.

The Mariners finally made a move that will define who they will not allow to be a part of their team. They want players (employees) focused on on continual improvement. People who want to do what it takes to be the bewt athletes (employees) they can be..

I hope to become known through three case studies.

Seattle Mariners

TC Global (formerly Tully's Coffee company)                                                 

Starbucks

Seattle Mariners Baseball 

First up is the Mariners. A learning organization.

Game time: Brandon (96+ fastball) Morrow is pitching. It's going to be fun. It's going to be chock full of leadership lessons.

Today is the beginning: 7/8/09 12:34AM (789 1234)

In reality, these smiles are are seldom seen.

But today we begin our quest to make them the order of the day because front-line employees are overjoyed to be an important  part of the new movement toward the "Best of the Best.".

Keep it simple, make it fun (a game), play fair, and involve everyone in creating exceptional employees (players), exceptional teams, and extraordinary companies.

Want to be special, get input: ideas, insights, inspirations...

Day one is the first day of a never-ending congenial discussion about the question of the day and every day, "How do we become extraordinary to our customers, our employees, and ourselves?"

Mariners: Character equally as important as talent

This is an excellent article that applies to  business teams as well as sports teams. It's a great example of a of a General Manager (the "Team Support" part of my team achievement model)  who gets it. If you want to be the best of the best, character, honesty, and fair play must instilled in all players (employees).

If all players (employees) on a team have character, the claims on the home page of my website are guaranteed. 

Mariners believe character just as important as talent

"What you should be striving for as an organization," Zduriencik added, bringing the fingertips of his hands together and pointing them toward the sky, "is to meet at the top, where the talent is at the top and the character is at the top."

Next week I'll cover this article with more depth.

Huskies:Better players, not better coaching or "team"

In business and in sports, team leadership is most often the difference.

The Washington Huskies were beaten by a better coached team. They were better prepared mentally to play an entire game with intensity. Purdue had the "we" mind-set the comes and goes with a Coach Romar team. It is his flaw. A good man and a great coach in many areas, but the Pac-10 Coach of the Year is yet to learn how to make selfish performance a rare occurrence.

It is a challenge. Mark Few improved a lot in this area this year and it won yesterday's game for Gonzaga. Tony Bennett at WSU has it nailed, as did his dad. 

Seeing Romar struggle with it as given me insight into a market for my book and my team achievement system that I had overlooked.

It's all about learning how to get everyone on the same page. The page about the team's excellence and achievement. Which, in sports and business, is about the excellence, team skills, and achievement skills of the individuals on the team. How a "we, not me" mind-set is created and maintained is done pretty much the same way regardless of the size or type of the team (organization).

Brockman was like no other Husky

It was disappointing, yet fitting, to realize the play that should most define Brockman's finale included the grit of consecutive blocks from Purdue center JaJuan Johnson on two shots in the paint from Isaiah Thomas and Quincy Pondexter. If the Huskies had converted, they would've tied the game at 73.

Both of these drives to the basket had un-guarded Husky players a few feet from the basket waiting for a pass. Their hands were outstretched waiting for a clear, short shot for an almost guaranteed score.

Where was the "hit the open player mind-set" that most coaches instill in their players. Or is it "most"coaches. I think not. But It's time for Coach Romar to learn.

I'll make him the third person I give a copy of The Excitement Program.

Starbucks Shareholders Meeting: Schultz impresses

I enjoyed watching the web cast of the Starbucks shareholders meeting today. It has been quite a year for the company. When he came back he claimed he would make sure the company was laser-focused in this economy and has it ever been focused!

Starbucks CEO: 'We want to be trusted'

"We can't stay quiet," Schultz said. "Don't let anyone tell you that their coffee or that coffee is the same as Starbucks. It's not. We've been silent about these issues, and I can assure you that we're not going to be silent for too long."

They (he is) are going to advertise, compare their products with the fast food enterprises, and continue to innovate. I had a cup of the new instant coffee last week. Amazing.

If Howard had sold the Sonics to local investors, Seattle would love how they are proactive, agile, and focused on improvement in all facets of the company.

I would probably have tried to update my credibility with them last year when some of their store managers were analyzing my website and blogs. I gave one card to a store manager and during the next week about 50 sessions from Starbucks employees. They even checked out my first blog. Frontline Team Achievement for about two hours in total.

Coffeehouses are all about people (both customers and employees).

There is way too much bureaucracy at Starbucks, but they know how to lead and retain their "partners."

Ya gotta' give em' a tip of your hat.

Griffey brings chemistry...

Ken Griffey, Jr. is fulfilling his contract in spades. He is providing an example for his team mates that is really needed on the team. A great example for other athletes and a great example for business team members. Older, more experienced employees helping their peers succeed is key to a team's harmony and success. It is a major part of developing team synergy.

Mariners showing plenty of reasons for 2009 optimism

More than anything else, it seems Mariner fans have something to look forward to in terms of teamwork.

The additions of Sweeney and Griffey brought in two players who are uniting forces on a team that was as divided as possible in 2008. Watching Griffey in the clubhouse is like watching a virtuoso. He's talking all of the time, with the stars and with the scrubs, with the Latin players and (presumably when they get here) the Asian players, with the hitters and the pitchers.

Speed of leader, speed of team

Coach Romar was the feature article in today's paper. Well deserved and very impressive. 

I thought the comment by Venoy Overton spoke volumes about why he is successful and why players love playing for him.

Business teams leaders who strive to a distance between themselves and their employees just don't get it. There is nothing wrong with being a friend as well as a role model. It's Golden Rule leadership.

UW's Lorenzo Romar: Seldom a starter, now coach of the year

"Players talk of his easy manner off the court, storytelling in the locker room, and firm, consistent discipline. "I don't really look at him as coach but as a close friend, a role model, really," said guard Venoy Overton."

Tully's Coffee on Monday, Starbucks on Wednesday

Next week is going to be interesting. Tully's Coffee is having a shareholders meeting on Monday and Starbucks is having their annual stockholders meeting on Wednesday. Tully's is  selling their brand (they gave up!) and the wholesale division. Starbucks is..well, we'll see..

OneByOne Team Achievement for sports leaders too?

The past week's articles about the Washington Huskies success and the role of Coach Romar (Pac-10 Coach of year) in turning the team into a selfless team, I wonder if I should be adding sports leaders to my target market.

Huskies outmuscled by Arizona State

The Huskies ran to the locker room trailing 38-21 at the break, having turned in their lowest half of the season. They scored 22 in their Kansas debacle back in November. The only other time they've dropped below 30 in an opening half was their 27-point output at UCLA.

"I don't know what we're thinking!" Romar yelled during a first-half timeout.

It's his job to make certain he knows what they are thinking and they are all thinking about the same thing. There was a great article about his ability to get everyone on the same page, but it comes and goes from game to game.

Mindsets! Team achievement requires mind-sets that everyone buys into for the WHOLE GAME. The Huskies are a really good team, but I think they should be much better.

Tonight they lacked discipline, focus, and passion. Arizona State was mentally prepared. The Huskies were not.

Want to win the "Team Achievement" game?

The posts of the past few days have been written to give you an idea of what I hope to write here if I continue to have a blog. Examples from the sports pages that show how a team can become one of the "Best of the Best." Snippets from articles about how to be exceptional leaders that, in most cases, are actions, strategies, policies, procedures, etc. that should have already been a part of a team leader's style and system.

But my hope is that I DON"T need to post until my book is published. This blog is for marketing purposes only.

I am not a blogger, as you can probably tell. I am also not a webmaster as you can tell form my website. Thanks to TypePad a novice like me can have blog. And thanks to sitexpress I was able to prepare a website.

Both the blog and the website are meant to give potential clients an idea of where I'm coming from. On the website the excerpts posted at the top of the page are worth pondering for a few moments. I know how to create, lead, and retain extraordinary teams. I do it by getting everyone involved in a brainstorming mindset that leads to solutions, strategies, policies, and the energy of people creating a unique employment experience.

The blog's front page and about page are also meant to be analyzed in the hope that you understand I didn't just, as my Dad used to say, "Fall off the back of a turnip truck."

So on March 12, 2009 I am going to start writing about who I am, what I can do for team leaders or companies, and what I plan to do for OneByOne Team Achievement.

In a few days I am going to try, for the second time, to sign up the perfect client for me. They understand what I can do for them I won't need another client. I will have the success story that will earn up-to-date credibility for my team achievement system. And I will be able to finance the completion and publishing of my book.

Then it is selling books, an audio tape of the book, and a video cd of my system. I don't want to work with companies as a consultant or trainer (dealing with HUGE egos, I don't need the stress of their defending why they are doing...whatever it is they are doing ineffectually). I do however want the excitement of giving speeches about the value of engaging, exciting, and educating employees. So it will be books, audios, videos, speeches, Maui in the winter, and a condo 20-30 floors in the air (no noise) downtown Seattle for me.   

Make "What do you think?" a frequent question

As usual this week's edition of Workplace Coach is timely and the advice is excellent.

Workplace Coach: Leaders can help layoff survivors

Understandably, employee engagement and morale are difficult to cultivate in this environment. Research confirms that following layoffs, survivors report higher levels of distrust and lower levels of motivation and engagement. The result? Absenteeism goes up and productivity goes down. Few businesses can afford this now.

How do you keep survivors motivated and engaged?

There are a number of suggestions, but the suggestion below is by far the most effective. Employee involvement should already be a huge part of your leadership/management system. Get everyone's head into the game.

Facilitate teamwork and collaboration. It's up to the leader to provide an environment that supports and encourages input from everyone for healthy dialogue and debate. Done well, this process will surface tough problems and better solutions.

This alone will solve 90% of your motivation and engagement problems.

Coach Romar is the "Best of the Best"

Well deserved award for learning how to control egos and motivate excellence.

Lorenzo Romar named Pac-10 coach of the year

One of Lorenzo Romar's favorite sayings to his team is, "It's amazing what can get accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit."

This great quote was first said by President Harry S. Truman, but I think Coach Wooden made it famous in the sports world.  It is a great mind-set to instill in a team.

I'd love to know Romar's other sayings. His other mind-sets.

 

Circuit City never knew how to engage, excite, or educate customers or employees...

Well, it's finally over for Circuit City.

After 60 years Circuit City finally powers down

"I wish there was one kind of fatal blow that we could all pick out," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at market researching firm, The NPD Group Inc. "Every time there was a crossroad ... in hindsight they almost always did the wrong thing."

The fatal blow was the quality of the "people system." They put there store in the close proximity of Best Buy and then they don't compete. They think they are a shelf retailer. They treated retail like they were in the grocery business.

As I wrote here in November, when Circuity City laid off their commission-driven (experienced) sales force last year and replaced them with low-paid hourly workers, analysts weren't the only people to question the decision. Anyone with any experience is commission sales management knew that was probably a mistake. But they were already doing so poorly with their sales people, so they figured there wouldn't be much of a drop off. And they would save all that labor cost.

"When asked for comment on the company's store being shuttered permanently, Circuit City offered only this from James A. Marcum, its vice chairman and acting president and chief executive: "I want to thank our associates for their hard work during this difficult time."

Too bad that hard work wasn't supported with leaders who understood the business they were in.

Huskies "focused on doing right" for everyone

In business and in sports, getting a team focused on the team's (or any organization's) success is mark of a true team leader. This has been a learning experience for Coach Romar. I hope he knows what he did to get everyone on the same page. I hope he now has a system for doing it with future teams. But I'm not certain he does. He seems to be a little surprised it has all come together.

Toughness, unity carry Huskies to Pac-10 title

"Coach Lorenzo Romar has had prettier teams. He's had more talented teams. He's had more fluid teams. But he hasn't had one more delightfully focused on doing right for the coaches and for themselves, and all that determination has added up to a fresh accomplishment."

He created a team focused on "all for one and one for all." He began developing this mind-set from day one.

During their first preseason meeting, Romar challenged his team with a question: "Who's the star of the team?"

The nervous players fidgeted in silence, and in those quiet seconds, they came to understand Romar's point.

The team is the star.

For Romar, who repeatedly says, "We are a true team," that's the reason why these players are so special. These Huskies have done something that Brandon Roy, Nate Robinson, Will Conroy and Bobby Jones couldn't do. It doesn't necessarily make them better than that group, but it's given them their own special legacy.

"I think this team innately was easier to grab the whole team concept," Romar said. "I think it was a little harder with those other teams, but I think those other teams were more talented. Maybe that's why it was a little more difficult for them."

That's not the "maybe" you should be asking. Maybe if you had asked those teams the same question you asked the champions, they would have understood the road to becoming "The Best of the Best" is all about "we," not "me."

Great work Coach. Do it again next year. Make it your trademark. The team is the star. The team is always the star no matter how many superstars there are on the team.

Washington is the Best of the Best

 The Pac 10 belongs to Washington

	Conf.		Overall
(Final)	W	L	W	L
Washington	14	4	24	7
UCLA	13	5	24	7
California	11	7	22	9
Arizona St.	10	8	21	9
Arizona	9	9	19	12
USC	9	9	18	12
Wash. St.	8	10	16	14
Oregon St.	7	11	13	16
Stanford	6	12	17	12
Oregon	2	16	8	22

Romar masters the art of team building

Is this article a sign, omen, coincidence? On the day I finally launch my business, Art Theil writes an article about the "art of team building" in sports.

My team leadership system is sports-modeled for a number of reasons. But a big one is the daily opportunity to find stories about team excellence and achievement in the sports world.   

Romar masters the art of team building

"Asked what was most satisfying personally, Romar said, "It is so gratifying that everyone can somehow be on the same page. One of the most difficult things to do as a staff is to get everyone on the same page, because everyone has their own agenda."

The breakdown of individual egos and the reassembly into a team is about 90 percent of game coaching at the college level. The other 10 percent is a few offensive sets, calling for the occasional full-court press and devising fresh retorts to veteran referees who've heard a dozen times your best angry one-liners.

"To get players to think of others, and to think of others in the same one way, is difficult," Romar said. "I feel like this team is what every coaching staff would aspire to. So it is very, very gratifying."

 
The same page. Ego control. All for one, one for all.

The OneByOne Team Achievement system makes getting everyone on the same NOT difficult. It is simple, fun, and engaging. It doesn't require athletic skills, but like team sports it does require achievement (learning) skills, team skills, and fair play.

It's going to be a lot of fun.

The HR solution is President Obama?

An article in Talent Management, Poll on Obama Shows Hope for Engagement, makes an interesting point that is likely the opinion of many HR departments. 

"While we have the power to combat recessionary disengagement in some ways, such as opening lines of communication, prioritizing employee recognition and evaluating our work environments through methods such as employee surveys, President Obama holds similar power. The more confidence in economic progress he restores in this country’s people, the more eased everyone will feel. Although everybody will experience certain recessionary distractions, people will be able to look forward in confidence and substitute some economic concern with necessary workplace issue.

And what day will that be? What day will he restore economic confidence?

I would focus on combating "recessionary disengagement" and stop hoping for someone else to make things better for your workforce.

It's time to make certain your company has a system for employee education, motivation, and appreciation. Use these troubling times to get them thinking about improving their skills for the benefit of their employers and their value in the workplace.

It's time for HR to learn how to help people "look forward in confidence" because they are learning skills that will help them survive.

Tough going in retail

Joe's Sports & Outdoor files for bankruptcy

Another retailer without a "people system."

Schultz goes for instant coffee

Now Starbucks is going to market instant coffee..

Since resuming the CEO role early last year, Schultz has tried to fix the chain's slipping profits by cutting about 18,400 U.S. jobs, closing about 975 stores and making a dizzying array of menu and other changes.

The newest offerings come today, when Starbucks begins selling instant coffee for the first time and offering deals on "combination meals."

The instant coffee, called Via, will be sold only in Seattle and Chicago at first, followed by London later this month. Other U.S. stores will begin selling it in the fall.

Howard came back a year ago staing he was going to compete in this economy. And he has!

He has many critics for a wide range of reasons (Sonics), but no one can say he doesn't have a passion for winning.