Chapter 4 - Don't Waste Your Water On Smoke Flashcards
What are two qualities every leader wants to see in his people?
- Single-minded focus on the mission.
- Intense sense of personal responsibility
What keeps you focused on where the company wants to go?
Your organization’s mission.
The mission enables you to do what?
Get the right things done.
What are the two features of every organization
Mission and values
What enables you to set standards and encourage behavior that will make your organization more effective?
Your company’s values.
What should your organization’s mission articulate?
Your company’s reason for being.
How do successful leaders make things happen?
By defining their organization’s mission and then using it to unify and focus their peoples efforts.
What is the real reason organizations exist?
To provide their customers with value.
Customers don’t buy a product or a service they buy what?
A utility.
How can an organization fully grasp their mission?
Only by figuring out exactly who their customer is and what they want.
Organizations that define themselves by what they do as opposed to what the customer values.
Inside Out perspective.
The drift from an outside in to an inside out viewpoint.
Mission creep.
How can you use your organization’s mission to become a better leader?
Start by bringing that mission to life.
By translating the mission into a set of specific goals what do we do? (2)
Make the mission coherent for our people.
Make it something that can actually be accomplished.
How can your goals help you discover new ways to deliver value to your clients?
If your goals are well chosen and relate to your mission.
Once you understand your organization’s mission you can…
Use it to guide your people.
What governs what people perceive as acceptable behavior?
An organization’s values.
How can an insightful leader accomplish great things?
Carefully defining and modeling a set of values that support the company’s mission.
Values can create habits and attitudes that contribute to higher performance only if what?
They are enthusiastically supported and acted upon by the organization’s leaders.
What destroys a leader’s authority and credibility?
Responding to an ethical crisis by issuing a new set of corporate values that usually have nothing to do with the organization’s real values.
What is the only way to stay on top of what your organizations value is?
By staying as close to the customers as possible.
How can you see for yourself whether your organization’s values are inspiring productive behavior?
By spending time with your people.
What is the test of an organization’s long-term success?
How quickly it recognizes and responds to change.
When does our picture of reality suffer?
When we limit our exposure to information or when information itself is scarce.
The first commitment is as much a commitment to gathering information as it is a commitment to what?
Facing the facts.
At the very least you need to understand your organization’s what?
Mission and values.
Where does your mission flow from?
The value you offer your customers.
How are you able to help your people focus on a common goal?
By making your organization’s mission come to life.
If you really want to understand your mission you need to do what?
Understand the people you serve.
