The What, Why And How Of Learning

In his book, Education is Freedom, author James W. Keyes recaps his learned business lessons for top management and CEOs at companies of all sizes. He covers:

Discovering what customers truly care about. It’s convenience, not products.
Leading during times of turmoil.
Developing the confidence to try again after a failure, and to maintain composure in the face of critical media coverage.
Forming strategic collaborations to rescue a dying company.

Plus, Keyes states that Education Is Freedom provides the “what,” “why,” and “how” of learning. He outlines the importance of education for all humankind and the power of education to change our world.

Because of his lifelong commitment to education, Keyes founded the Education is Freedom Foundation, which provides college scholarships for hard-working young students. In over 20 years since its inception, the foundation has helped nearly hundreds of thousands of students find their path to higher education.

Keyes also served as chairman and chief executive officer of Blockbuster, Inc., from 2007 to 2011. And in his book, he shares much about his time at Blockbuster and that company’s journey, including this important insight in response to my question to him:

Question: Fair or not, “Don’t become another Blockbuster” is often a phrase used to warn business leaders to not let their business become obsolete or to not miss an opportunity to change their business model. What do you want business leaders to know about why that phrase may be unfair or why Blockbuster’s journey is misunderstood?

Keyes: Fair…but for all of the wrong reasons. Most people leap to the conclusion that Netflix killed Blockbuster…or that the company’s inability to change caused its demise. Both are incorrect. Within the Blockbuster story is a rich set of lessons for every businessperson but it has nothing to do with the change to streaming technology.

The real story of Blockbuster is a story of the importance of cash flow and balance sheet management during times of macro financial disruption.

“You’ll find...in Education is Freedom...personal anecdotes from my own journey, and the experiences of friends and those throughout history who have successfully used education to change their own life and to enrich the lives of others,” shares Keyes.

“The book is not a memoir, but instead intended to provide examples from my life journey to show what is possible even with seemingly impossible odds. It is intended to inspire others to accomplish the impossible and to use education as their path to freedom.”

Keyes calls his “C-Suite Learning” as the heart of his book and a valuable road map to help readers form a path to his/her own learning journey. The C-Suite Learning is:

What to Learn

Change: embracing change and growing from adversity.
Confidence: the inner strength that makes us believe in ourselves.
Clarity: making the complex simple through communication.

How to Learn

Critical Thinking: the algebra of thought.
Curiosity: discovering the joy of wonder.
Creativity: enabling our inner child; this is intelligence at play.

Why We Learn

Collaboration: leveraging the power of others working together.
Cultural Literacy: growing from the richness of diversity around us.
Character: establishing trust in ourselves and integrity among all.

One of the key takeaways from the book for me is where Keyes explains that companies must find ways to have everyone embrace open and honest communication. He states that building a culture of success also requires:

Engagement – Team members must be in or out. Even those on the sidelines for any given play must be engaged, at least mentally if not physically. The team must be fully vested in collective success.
Communication – from the top, from the bottom, and from peer to peer—is fundamental to the collective success of the team. Team members must feel comfortable communicating openly. They must feel safe expressing their ideas and trusting each other to fulfill their respective roles.

“Information sharing and the proactive dissemination of knowledge among the team will contribute to the culture of mutual benefit. This environment will reward competency and the open sharing of best practices. These behaviors result in a culture that those on the outside can see and feel. They will notice a group, a company, and a team, that can accomplish any task,” explains Keyes.

Thank you to the book’s publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

Comments

6 Ways To Seek Feedback To Improve Your Performance In The Workplace

Getting feedback is an important way to improve performance at work. But sometimes, it can be hard to seek out, and even harder to hear. “Feedback is all around you. Your job is to find it, both through asking directly and observing it,” says David L. Van Rooy, author of the new book, Trajectory: 7 Career Strategies to Take You From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be . As today's guest post, Van Rooy offers these six tips for how to get the feedback you need to improve performance at work . Guest Post By David L. Van Rooy 1. Don’t forget to as k : One of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming things are going perfectly (until they make a catastrophic mistake). By not asking, you’re missing out on opportunities for deep feedback: the difficult, critical feedback that gives you constructive ways to improve. 2. Make sure you listen : Remember, getting fee...

Sample Of Solid Business Guiding Principles

I really like these 10 guiding business principles that San Antonio, TX headquartered insurance company USAA has lived by: Exceed customer expectations Live the Golden Rule (treat others with courtesy and respect) Be a leader Participate and contribute Pursue excellence Work as a team Share knowledge Keep it simple (make it easy for customers to do business with us and for us to work together) Listen and communicate Have fun Too many companies don't make it simple for their customers to do business with them. Is it easy for your customers to: Buy from you? Make returns? Get pricing and terms? Receive timely responses to their e-mails? Quickly get answers when phoning your company? You can find more examples of companies with impressive guiding principles in the book, 1001 Ways To Energize Employee s .

Effective Listening: Do's And Don'ts

Here are some great tips from Michelle Tillis Lederman's book, The 11 Laws of Likability . They are all about: what to do and what not to do to be a leader who's an effective listener : Do : Maintain eye contact Limit your talking Focus on the speaker Ask questions Manage your emotions Listen with your eyes and ears Listen for ideas and opportunities Remain open to the conversation Confirm understanding, paraphrase Give nonverbal messages that you are listening (nod, smile) Ignore distractions Don't : Interrupt Show signs of impatience Judge or argue mentally Multitask during a conversation Project your ideas Think about what to say next Have expectations or preconceived ideas Become defensive or assume you are being attacked Use condescending, aggressive, or closed body language Listen with biases or closed to new ideas Jump to conclusions or finish someone's sentences

The Benefits Of When Everyone Leads

It’s only January and the new book, When Everyone Leads , could likely be my pick for the best new leadership book of 2023. It’s that good. There’s still nearly a whole year ahead of us so we’ll see what other books debut. In the meantime, add this book to your must-read list. You’ll learn that: Leadership is an activity, not a position. Leadership is mobilizing others to make progress on the most important challenges. Leadership is interactive, risky and experimental. Leadership comes in moments. Leadership is always about change. When Everyone Leads , by Ed O’Malley and Julia Fabris McBride , presents a revolutionary approach to leadership; not based on position or authority, but an activity that anybody can undertake by learning to spot opportunities for improvement and taking the initiative to engage others. “It can be unfamiliar and uncomfortable, but in a culture where everyone leads, organizations start to make progress on their most difficult proble...

Good Sample Business Principles

I really like these 10 guiding business principles that San Antonio, TX headquartered insurance company USAA lives by: Exceed customer expectations Live the Golden Rule (treat others with courtesy and respect) Be a leader Participate and contribute Pursue excellence Work as a team Share knowledge Keep it simple (make it easy for customers to do business with us and for us to work together) Listen and communicate Have fun Too many companies don't make it simple for their customers to do business with them. Is it easy for your customers to: Buy from you? Make returns? Get pricing and terms? Receive timely responses to their e-mails? Quickly get answers when phoning your company? You can find more examples of companies with impressive guiding principles in the book, 1001 Ways To Energize Employees .

5 Tips For Generating Ideas From Employees

Your employees have lots of ideas. So, be sure you provide the forums and mechanisms for your employees to share their ideas with you. Hold at least a few brainstorming sessions each year, as well. And, when you are brainstorming with your employees, try these five tips: Encourage ALL ideas. Don't evaluate or criticize ideas when they are first suggested. Ask for wild ideas. Often, the craziest ideas end up being the most useful. Shoot for quantity not quality during brainstorming. Encourage everyone to offer new combinations and improvements of old ideas.

How To Avoid 8 Common Performance Evaluation Pitfalls

As the year comes to a close it's likely time for many business leaders to tackle the annual performance appraisal process. So, here is a good reminder from author Sharon Armstrong about how to avoid eight performance evaluation pitfalls . These are in what I consider is the best chapter of the book The Essential HR Handbook , that she co-authored with Barbara Mitchell. 1. Clustering everyone in the middle performance-rating categories 2. Overlooking flaws or exaggerating the achievements of favored employees 3. Excusing substandard performance or behavior because it is widespread 4. Letting one characteristic - positive or negative - affect your overall assessment 5. Rating someone based on the company he or she keeps 6. Rating someone based on a grudge you are holding 7. Rating someone based on a short time period instead of the entire evaluation period 8. Rating everyone high, to make you look good There's ot...

Use A Board Of Advisors

David Burkus often provides valuable comments to my various Blog postings, and he's a person who effectively uses a board of advisors, instead of mentors, to help him achieve success. "I've found that in my life, it was easier and more effective to set up a board of advisors," said Burkus, the editor of LeaderLab . "This is a group of people, three to five, that have rotated into my life at various times and that speak into it and help me grow. I benefit from the variety of experience these people have." LeaderLab is an online community of resources dedicated to promoting the practice of leadership theory. Its contributors include consultants and professors who present leadership theory in a practitioner-friendly format that provides easy-to-follow explanations on how to apply the best of leadership theory. Community users can download a variety of research reports and presentations about leadership and leadership versus management. For example, a pr...

Top Five Factors That Drive Employee Loyalty

A 2010 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management shows that job security is what matters most to employees. And, having that job security helps to keep employees loyal. Okay, that's really not too surprising during these times of high unemployment. Next on the list is benefits . The unstable economy, coupled with rising health care costs, make employer offered benefits more important than ever. Third on the top five list is an employee's opportunity to use his/her skills . When employees feel good about their jobs and their abilities, and clearly know they are contributing to their organization they remain engaged and loyal. In fourth place is an organization's financial stability . Compensation came in fifth on the top five list. Employee pay often is not the most important driver for employee retention. Despite study after study that shows pay is not the top reason employees stay with a company, research results like these often surpris...

Resolve To Find A Mentor In 2011

Having a mentor is one of the best things you can do to advance your career as a leader. So, decide today to secure a mentor who will work with you during 2011. Make that one of your New Year’s resolutions. A mentor can benefit leaders new to their leadership role and they can benefit experienced and seasoned leaders, as well. A strong mentoring relationship allows the mentor and the mentee to develop new skills and talents, to build confidence, and to build self-awareness. Proper mentoring takes a commitment from both parties and it takes time to develop and to reap the rewards of the relationship. Plan to work with your mentor for no less than three months, and ideally for six months or longer. When seeking out a mentor, think about these questions: 1. Will the relationship have good personal chemistry? 2. Can this person guide me, particularly in the areas where I am weakest? 3. Will this person take a genuine interest in me? 4. Does this person ha...

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog