Food for Thought
Last month I was thrilled to participate in a six hour work shop with Tom Peters.
Like many other attendees, my first exposure to Tom was via his first book, In Search of Excellence, which he co-authored with Bob Waterman more than twenty years ago. A business bible and ranked “the greatest business book of all time”, In Search of Excellence, introduced us to the idea of Excellence as a daily business practice and source of sustainable competitive advantage.
One concept which has stayed with me has been that of Management by Wandering Around or MBWA. In my previous corporate life, a CEO with whom I worked was an absolute champion at it. Observing him ‘wandering around’ checking on the troops and the spirit of his team in a very non intrusive manner, always reminded me of this aspect of Tom’s book. It was not surprising that this particular CEO was very much in touch with the mood of his large team and fostered excellence throughout the organisation.
From a marketing perspective, Tom has also commented across the twittersphere, that the supposed modern phenomenon of giving away material for free, is actually not so new. Pre-release, they gave away several thousand copies of the first sections of In Search of Excellence, much to his publisher’s initial concern apparently.
But back to the workshop! Tom’s energy and passion, previously felt in his use of language, exclamation marks and fonts throughout his books and other written material, were apparent throughout. It was terrific to experience this passion first hand and to share in his insight and vast experience of life and management .
The Take-Aways
To distil the learnings of the day is challenging.
I particularly loved the stories about Nelson Mandela and Edward VII which strongly underscored how the so called soft skills of courtesy and genuine interest in people can be all powerful in overcoming great obstacles and building strong relationships. “Soft is hard.” says Tom.
However, as a marketer focusssed on the development, implementation and monitoring of sound business and marketing strategies – the following are my top three takeaways from our day with Tom.
1. Listening
Tom wants us to be obsessed with listening. Am sure he has previously said God gave us two ears and one mouth and we should use them in that proportion!
Tom believes listening is the ultimate market of respect, the heart and soul of engagement and the bedrock which underpins a commitment to Excellence. Listening, Tom says, is of the utmost strategic importance, is a proper core value and is trainable.
Inherent is the ability to not interrupt.
I left the workshop with a renewed resolve to improve my listening skills. (My husband is also pleased with this one! ☺)
2. Women Rule!
My second key takeaway is the influence of women in driving economic growth. HBR reported that globally women control about $20 trillion in consumer spending which could grow to $28 trillion by 2014. (Silverstein and Sayre, 2009)
Women represent a growth market twice as big than China and India combined. (W>2x (C+ I)* (Love the equations!)
Tom provided various statistics testifying that: ‘Women decide. Women save. Women spend. Women rule.’
He states: ”It would be foolish to ignore or underestimate the female consumer.”
3. The Ageing Tsunami
After working in aged care, I was familiar with the significance of the 65+ demographic. However Tom amplified its importance sharing several key statistics and insights.
He states from the 01 January this year (01.01.11) 7.5 baby boomers will turn 65 every minute, 10,000 per day, 4 million per year – for the next twenty years. What will be impacted – he asks? Everything!
From a longevity perspective – Tom presented a quote from Bill Novelli – “People turning 50 today have more than half of their adult life ahead of them.”
According to research, those aged 55+ are more active online than those under 55, and those in the 44-65 age group are the “new customer majority”. (Wolfe and Snyder)
As marketers though, Tom claims we’ve been ‘miserably unsuccessful’ in reaching this over 50 market.
So – how do your products and services solve problems for these market segments? Are you communicating appropriately to them? Opportunities abound.
These are just three, however food for thought is always the top take-away from Tom Peters. Thanks Tom.
Related Links
- The complete slide decks from Tom’s presentations in Australia are available at Tom Peters.com.
- Purchase Tom’s most recent book – The Little BIG Things – here.
- Tom’s workshop was organised by The Growth Faculty-‘bringing the world’s best strategic thinking to Australian businesses‘.
Having attended the conference myself this is a great overview of the workshop!!! My biggest takeaway would have to be his focus on ‘people and relationships’. Failing to recognize the importance of either is (as Tom himself would say it)’just plain stupid’!
Thanks Alex for visiting and your comments. It was wonderful to share the day with you. I agree. I particularly love Tom’s Seven Step Path to Sustaining Success – ie look after your people who in turn will look after your customers, who will look after the profits ..etc ..with the only measure along the way being Excellence. Have used this already in a presentation. Relationships with staff are as critical as those with clients – if not moreso – as it is the staff (prefer team) who delivers the exceptional customer service, builds customer relationships and represent the brand in all interactions. Powerful.