Author: Gerald J. Leonard

Results

PofE 049: The Strategic Management Style of Harvey Mackay – Are You Sharkproof?

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"Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy, it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things." -Miyamoto Musashi

Background and Challenges Business Strategy

• Harvey Mackay is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Executive Program.
• In 1959, the 26-year-old Harvey purchased an insolvent company with 12 employees, three 28-year-old outdated envelope-folding machines and one printing press.
• Harvey Mackay’s management styles of strategic management and operations management has helped the company to grow to a $100 million business employing over 600 people.

Risks

PofE 048: Mary Kay Ash – Managing the Risk of Poor Skincare One Makeup Bag At A Time

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Background and Challenges

• Mary Kay Ash was unable to attend college without financial assistance.

• She sold encyclopedias door-to-door in the late 1930's.

• While working as a secretary at a Baptist church, she sold Stanley Home Products to provide financial support for her family. It took her one year to learn direct selling and receive the title of sales queen.

• She joined the direct-sales firm World Gift in 1952 after she left Stanley Home Products when the company promoted other men over her lacking her knowledge and talent.

Visualizing

PofE 047: Top 5 Advertising Techniques of David Ogilvy – A Copywriter’s Secret

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"Passion kept one fully in the present, so that time became a series of mutually exclusive 'nows.'" -Sue Halpern

Background and Challenges

• David Ogilvy left Oxford University in England to become chef apprentice at the finest restaurant in Paris.

• David had a knack for selling and achieved success selling the high-end cooking stove AGA door-to-door to French chefs in spite of the Depression in Great Britain. His bosses asked him to write a sales instruction guide at the age of 24.

• The manual’s success led to a position at his brother’s advertising firm of Mather & Crowther. In 1938, the firm sent him to New York City to study American advertising.

Leadership

PofE 046: Walt Disney 5 Qualities of A Leader

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"Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use."

–Charles Monroe Schultz

Background and Challenges

• Walt Disney was interested in art and drawing at an early age. At the age of 7, he sold small sketches and drawings to nearby neighbors.

• After he had returned from driving ambulances for the Red Cross in France during World War I, he pursued a career in commercial art with the production of short hand-drawn animated films for local businesses.

Books

PofE 045: Book Review: Let’s Get Real Or Let’s Not Play – Sales Training

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Let’s Get Real Or Let's Not Play

Premise:

The premise of “Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play” is that business development must be totally client focused. Customers want to buy and not to be sold a bill of goods. This is a paradigm shift or a new mental model that advocates a methodology where two companies mutually decided to work together with the goal of meeting the client’s needs while providing a profitable engagement for the service provider, trusted adviser or professional service organization.

Books

PSGS 011: Book Review: Optimizing Corporate Portfolio Management

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"Only as you do know yourself can your brain serve you as a sharp and efficient tool. Know your own failings, passions and prejudices so you can separate them from what you see." –Bernard Baruch

Premise:

  • The premise of "Optimizing Corporate Portfolio Management" is that resource allocation (time, money, staff, information and corporate assets) along with making smarter business investment decisions is critical to a business’s value creation processes. This book provides examples from American Express regarding what they've entitled investment optimization and how they have used the principles of allocating discretionary funds whether for marketing, sales or technology investments with the same investment category and the best projects compete for the same dollars.
Innovation

PofE 043: 42 Apps for iPhone That Will Increase Your Productivity – Part 4 of 4

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“Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done.” –Peter Drucker

Part 4 – My favorite apps, numbers 31 – 42:

31. Pandora: Pandora is an internet music app that allows you to listen to music from your favorite artist and also hear other artists that are in the same genre. The app has a free version which includes commercials and a subscription service for a low monthly cost that is commercial free.  Pandora allows you to create radio stations or music channels and is a great way to discover new music.
 
Innovation

PofE 042: 42 Apps for iPhone That Will Increase Your Productivity – Part 3 of 4

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 “Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine. It may make you feel like you're flying high at first, but it won't take long before you feel the impact.” –Barack Obama

Part 3 – My favorite apps, numbers 21 – 30:

21. HootSuite: The HootSuite app allows me to publish a single tweet to multiple social platforms with one click.  When I find a great story, blog post or quote I can share it using the Hootsuite mobile application. I can also schedule multiple tweets to be delivered at various times throughout the day or week so that tweets are forwarded while I’m meeting with clients or working on internal deliverables for my company.  This is a great way to share tweets during a vacation without sacrificing time with your family and friends.