Coach Pat Summitt kicked it off stunningly talking about the power of coaching and team. She talked about the need to understand and coach to your talent, but did so much more. The importance of teamwork, discipline, practice, and taking responsibility. Everything she said easily moved from the basketball court to the needs of managing and coaching.
My favorite line: “think big but work small.” Details matter so much.
Tim McGuire of Mckinsey followed (what a tough act to follow) and nailed it. Talked about the changing nature of value in the industry and the priorities for action: fresh, private label and format innovation. Plus he talked about the skills that tomorrow’s leaders will need and they are so much different than today. Tomorrow’s leaders will need a new range of skills to deal with a wide range of issue. No wonder everyone was taking notes.
Knight Kiplinger finished up the first section on ethics and what a talk. Treat others better than you treat yourself. Understand your responsibility to your stakeholders and especially your associates. It was especially powerful how he tied executive compensation to all of this and the need for top leaders to share the pain of subordinates in tough times.
Plus the Vocal Trash music was amazing.
First off, GREAT TIE. Secondly, even with only one day complete, this is single-handedly the best training I have received through my multiple jobs and careers. My favorite session so far was listening to Don, Beverly, Richard and Steven during “The Path to the Executive Suite”. Thank you for facilitating and putting this amazing conference together.
–Sayer
By: sayercrompton on October 13, 2009
at 4:47 am
Coach Summit’s words of advice were not only timeless, but so applicable to the Performance Connmect portion of the program.
Some of the highlights from her presentation that stand out for me:
– Teamwork and Hard work WORKS!!
– Don’t take donkeys to the Kentucky Derby and expect to win!!
– Don’t coach all your players the same
– Look for people for your team that know how to win and WANT to WIN
– Give life your Best – - it goes fast!!
By: sgaker on October 14, 2009
at 1:32 am
Tim McGuire’s (McKinsey) message that “Everything is different, but nothing’s really changed” was very informative! Our current economic downturn is significantly different in some ways from othe recessionary periods, but he identified several fundamental areas that have not changed that include focus on value, the importance of building customer loyalty, and the importance of format innovation.
He also pointed out that tomorrow’s executives will need different skills and broader experiences to successfully lead their organizations. The 4 specific “key” areas he identified were: Customer Loyalty, Frontline Excellence, Private Label, and Fresh/Perishables
By: sgaker on October 14, 2009
at 1:46 am
The comment that I found has stayed with me from Coach Summitt is “you don’t bring donkeys to the Kentucky Derby.” I wonder how often we hire donkeys for a thoroughbreds job and vice versa. Either way it guarantees failure.
She speaks with a lot of cliches, but this line is really, really good.
By: msansolo on October 22, 2009
at 9:34 pm