Quotes from Verne Harnish

Successful athletes know the power of having a strong core, no matter what the sport.

Larry E. Greiner's classic Harvard Business Review article titled "Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow

Famous sales coach and dear friend Jack Daly suggests, "Why don't you throw people a party when they start, instead of when they leave?" Sydney-based software firm Atlassian sends each new employee, whatever his or her position, to a resort spa the weekend before the start date as a way to celebrate the new job. The spouse or a guest gets to go along — making both new employees and their spouses raving Atlassian fans.

Goals without routines are wishes; routines without goals are aimless. The most successful business leaders have a clear vision and the disciplines (routines) to make it a reality. "Routine sets you free.

Discerning the Core Values is a discovery process.

People are not resources that you consume.

To get to 10 employees, founders must delegate activities in which they are weak. To get to 50 employees, they have to delegate functions in which they are strong!

Sydney-based software firm Atlassian sends each new employee, whatever his or her position, to a resort spa the weekend before the start date as a way to celebrate the new job.

Sydney-based software firm Atlassian sends each new employee, whatever his or her position, to a resort spa the weekend before the start date as a way to celebrate the new job. The spouse or a guest gets to go along — making both new employees and their spouses raving Atlassian fans.

any data more than a week old is history and is not useful for making the fast decisions necessitated by our highly connected global economy.

The 4Q refers to the four questions that we suggest leaders ask customers in person (not on a survey): 1. How are you doing? 2. What's going on in your industry/neighborhood? 3. What do you hear about our competitors? 4. How are we doing?

I'm always amazed how overnight successes take a helluva long time.

KEY RESOURCE: Frances Frei and Anne Morriss' book Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business

focus on three deliverables: • Reduce by 80% the time it takes the top team to manage the business (operational activities) • Refocus the senior team on market-facing activities • Realign everyone else (onto the same page) to drive execution and results

establish an effective daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual meeting Rhythm to keep everyone in the loop. Those who pulse faster, grow faster.

You need a "strange" culture and a "strange" strategy to differentiate your firm in the marketplace.

Recruiting Is a (Guerilla) Marketing Function

In the end, what matters most in life are the depth of your relationships with friends and family; and the sheer number of people you've helped along the way. These represent true measures of wealth.

People are not resources that you consume. So rethink the name of the department that takes care of them. Call it Talent Development, Human Relations, People Support, or whatever fits your culture — anything but Human Resources.

Frei and Morriss' overarching point is that great brands don't try to please everyone.

Graham Weston.

You don't have a real strategy if it doesn't pass two tests: First, what you're planning to do really matters to enough customers; and second, it differentiates you from your competition.

To move faster, pulse faster.

Another central element is the list of candidate competencies that align with your culture and strategy. As experienced leaders discover, it's more important to hire for this kind of fit than for specific skills, so long as a person has the capacity to learn and grow (though it's best if you can find someone who's a match in both cultural values and skill set).