Challenging times require real, no-kidding leadership

Mi dos centavos (that’s “my two cents” for you non-Hispanic learned northerners…):

If only a shred of this thinking could catch on...

Yes, the economy is volatile right now; but clients and customers are still in need, money is still available, and many goods and services may – if framed correctly – be more valuable than ever before.

For those bold and determined, this is “our time to shine,” not “our time to hunker down and hope for bread crumbs.” Never let ourselves kid each other that there’s no business out there right now.

There is.

Further, there's a good adage that says “…continued business growth and success required calculated risk taking…” This isn't necessarily new thinking, of course, but I believe it’s incredibly relevant in our current times.

They say that the definition of insanity is “…doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

Are we guilty of that?

In today’s conditions, are we still getting all we need from our business – personally, professionally, financially – by doing exactly what we've been doing, only “hoping harder” that it works? Or even “trying” harder while doing the same things?

Or, is it time to take some “calculated risks?” And do we need to re-calculate our risk-measurement also? In other words, today, if something is a little riskier, does that mean it’s any less viable a consideration?

Leadership -- effective, successful leadership -- is fraught with risk. Yet here we are, and we must continue to accept and manage that risk. There simply is no other way to lead.

But that's just me...

KB

Kevin Berchelmann
http://www.triangleperformance.com/

GM's Problems... Whouldathunkit??

Sometimes, you just want to be wrong. Really wrong.

This is one of those times.

A month or so ago, I mentioned here that GM, instead of receiving bailout hog-trough funding, should be allowed to go into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Any government fiscal intervention, I opined, should be in the nature of DIP financing (or guarantees) upon emerging from said bankruptcy.

So, imagine my surprise when looking on the front page of Saturday's Wall Street Journal...

GM says, according to John Stoll of the Journal, that they have two options, and only TWO: Commit billions more government largess to this idiocrity (new word, jot it down), or provide DIP financing after allowing GM to enter and emerge from bankruptcy.

Well I'll be damned. Didn't see that coming, eh??

Now, it's all of a sudden somewhat palatable to enter bankruptcy. Now, it seems, GM feels people may actually still buy their cars while in bankruptcy. Now, it seems, that GM's bankruptcy doesn't equal 2-3 million jobs lost overnight.

Folks, you want a brazen example of absolutely poor leadership, use this as a case study. Both inside GM, and among those in our political establishment (pick a side, I don't care) who supported this debacle in the first place. May have just as well started a bonfire with that $17 BILLION dollars...

I don't even know where to start.

How about "I told you so?"

But that's just me...

KB

Kevin Berchelmann
http://www.triangleperformance.com/

"NUTS!!" Decisive Leadership Matters

So, how about this peanut scare?

You're reading and watching about it daily; yet in looking for cause, we focus on things like oversight, inspection, suppliers, and facility conditions.

Nope... it's none of those. It's leadership, pure and simple.

Or, in this case, and incredible lack thereof.

Picture this: The peanut processors knew there were problems, the state inspectors knew there were problems, and the FDA was clearly aware there were problems. All, effectively, ignored their leadership responsibilities, stuck their collective heads in the sand, and said, "not my job."

And people are being injured. Several have died.

Contrast this tragic comedy of "leaderlessness" to the Tylenol scare in 1982. A day after it was discovered that someone had intentionally tainted several bottles of their product, Johnson and Johnson issued a complete product recall, with coupons for free product in a safer tablet form. At a cost of $100M in 1982 dollars.

And J&J is considered a hero because of its swift and decisive action. Its leadership.

See a slight difference here??

You're nuts if you don't.

But that's just me...

KB

Kevin Berchelmann
http://www.triangleperformance.com/

Leadership, Innovation, and Old Age

IBM recently unveiled its new supercomputer, called Sequoia. It was developed for the U.S. Energy Department for use at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The supercomputer will run simulations to test the soundness of the nation's stockpile of nuclear weaponry.

Whoop-te-do, you're thinking... this matters to me, how...? Follow along with me.

• The Sequoia is 20 times faster than its predecessor, the Roadrunner.
• The Sequoia works at 20 petaflops per second (a petaflop is equal to a quadrillion calculations per second -- quadrillion. Let's hide that word from politicians, shall we?).
• The Sequoia is equivalent to 20 million modern-day laptop computers.
• The Sequoia is equivalent to as many as 300 billion Commodore 64s.
• I bought a Commodore 64 in 1984.

Again, why is this relevant? I'll tell you...

Look at the progress made in technology hardware in 25 years. The change and advancements are astonishing. And it's not just the technology, it's the business. That Commodore 64 cost me $595. After 25 years of annual inflation, you can buy a laptop today for that same price.

Incredible innovation, in the face of 5% gross margins. GROSS margins. At that level, gross is both a financial term and a teenage adjective. Yet the innovations keep coming...

I recently had lunch with a senior hardware executive. Netbooks are the latest craze, from a buying public hell-bent on receiving ten-dollar computing power for a five-dollar bill. And the industry is responding... margins (those gross things mentioned above) may reach 3.5%.

Innovate or die.

Are you innovating? Are you even trying to innovate? Matching your competitors is not innovation. It's reactionary and second-best.

Remember -- you can't lead from the rear.

But that's just me...

KB

Kevin Berchelmann
http://www.triangleperformance.com/