Part 4 of Leaders Eat Last is mainly about generations and their differences in the workforce. Read along to see how Optus employees reacted to Part 4.
TAKEAWAYS
Part 4 mainly discusses baby boomers and how their generation came to be, why they are the way they are, how they work, what they value, etc.
FAVORITE QUOTES
- “One point of view or a single, uncontested power is rarely a good thing.”
- “No one wakes up in the morning to go to work with the hope that someone will manage us. We wake up in the morning and go to work with the hope that someone will lead us.”
- “Too many of the environments in which we work today frustrate our natural inclinations to trust and cooperate.”
- “We no longer see each other as people; we are now customers, shareholders, employees, avatars, online profiles, screen names, e-mail addresses and expenses to be tracked. The human being really has gone virtual…The problem is, abstraction can be more than bad for our economy…it can be quite deadly.”
- “Abundance can be destructive not because it is bad for us; per se. Abundance can be destructive because it abstracts the value of things. The more we have the less we seem to value what we’ve got.”
DAY-TO-DAY
Our employees had a lot of great ideas for how they could implement ideas from Part 4 into their day-to-day lives.
- Sales revolve around numbers; it’s easy to ignore everything other than the numbers. Ironically, in situations when I’ve built a relationship with a customer that had nothing to do with the product or service seemingly always resulted in a sale. My mission is to meet people and share information, with sales being a byproduct of a relationship over time. It can’t be about selling first and hoping my “contact” and I become friends down the road.
- Look for “why” before managing the “what”…in personal relationships as well as working relationships and transactions.
- Build people, value them and make sure they understand that they are important.
- Do not let the “abstraction of stuff” get in the ways of my human relationships.
LEAD THE WAY
- Being a leader means more than being in a management position. Leadership can take many forms, whether at work or at home. Some great ideas for how to improve your leadership skills from Part 4 include:
- As a leader I have to encourage and welcome collaboration between my team and between myself and my team. My point of view, or opinion, isn’t end all be all and my team should feel comfortable giving their perspective on a topic/project that they feel strongly about.
- You have to look at the big picture. Sometimes as leaders we start treating symptoms instead of looking for a root cause solution. This creates endless strain and imbalance among our employees.
- The people are what matter. I need to consider this in every circumstance I encounter during the day,
- Continue to nurture the trust and respect of my team mates by being generous with what I know, and what I do.
- Don’t allow business performance to dehumanize decisions, must pay attention to employee impact.
SUM IT UP
- Change will happen
- Must maintain balance
- Collaboration is key
- Numbers aren’t everything
We hope you join us next week for Part 5: The Abstract.