What Makes Leaders Weep?
All Selling Aside with Alex Mandossian | "Seeding Through Storytelling is the 'New' Selling!"
English - July 30, 2018 07:00 - 29 minutes - 17.1 MB - ★★★★★ - 91 ratingsMarketing Business Entrepreneurship Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Herman Miller was founded by D. J. De Pree in 1923 and is one of the most profitable in the Fortune 500. While it’s #456 in revenue, it’s #7 in profit. Isn’t that incredible? This is because revenue never equals profit. Revenue is top-line, and profit is bottom-line. Are you wondering how to get more profit, and why Herman Miller has been so profitable relative to its revenue? The answer is leadership, specifically servant leadership.
At Herman Miller, the concept is that leaders don’t inflict pain. Instead, leaders bear pain. In other words, leaders aren’t command and control, they’re engage and enroll. Another reason I love using Herman Miller as an example is that Max De Pree, one of my mentors, taught me the three responsibilities of a leader.
Let’s shift gears for a moment and talk about agreements, their three functions, and the three ways to handle them. The functions of an agreement are who’s in charge, what’s getting done, and when is it due (or who, what, and when). The first way to handle an agreement is to keep it. The second way to handle an agreement is renegotiate the agreement. The third way to handle an agreement is to un-make it.
You may be surprised to learn that Max De Pree, former CEO of Herman Miller, didn’t make agreements with his team members. Instead, he made something even more powerful: he made covenants. Tune into this powerful episode to learn more about agreements and covenants, what the nine reasons are that a leader should weep, what the Mona Lisa’s value can teach you about leadership, and much more.
In This Episode:
[03:01] - Alex introduces today’s three key insights, which he’ll explore throughout the rest of the episode.
[04:04] - We hear about Herman Miller, the iconic furniture company.
[04:55] - Alex returns to the concept of servant leadership, which he talked about in a previous episode.
[05:56] - Let’s talk about agreements. You’ve probably thought about these, but have you clearly defined their three elements?
[08:44] - Alex learned all of this about agreements from his mentor David Allen, he explains.
[09:31] - We learn that Max De Pree didn’t make agreements with his team members.
[11:30] - Why is the original of something, whether it’s a painting or an incredibly well-made designer chair, so much more valuable than a knockoff or a copy?
[13:32] - Alex explains what his explanation about the value of something means for you as a leader.
[14:02] - The Alexism for today’s episode is this: the most terrifying feeling an entrepreneur can have is thinking about fulfilling their default future.
[15:02] - Alex explores the nine reasons why leaders should weep, including lacking dignity, unexpected gifts, and confusing pleasure with meaning.
[22:55] - There are three responsibilities for any leader. First, to define reality. Second, to protect confidences. Finally, communicate compassionately.
[24:10] - Alex digs into the word “compassion,” and the three words it contains: “compass,” which means direction, “passion,” which means having heart, and “ion,” which is the smallest source of an element.
[25:21] - Leadership is an art, Alex explains, as part of his review/recap of the points he’s covered in this episode.
[26:26] - Did this episode help you out, or teach you something meaningful? If so, it would mean a lot if you’d take just a moment to go to this link and write down your biggest takeaway from this episode as a review.
[27:30] - Alex gives away a gift in honor of the 20th episode of this podcast! If you enjoyed the Alexism in this episode, you’ll love learning many more in the book Alexisms! To learn how to get your completely free copy, listen in to the episode.
Links and Resources:
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