Think About It… the e-book version

by Todd Youngblood

Once in a while a section of a book really hits home. Chapter 4 of Rudi Giuliani’s “Leadership” has nothing to do with sales, but then again…

Whatever you think of New York City’s former mayor, there is no question that some of his management ideas had a major impact. Anybody who has been to Times Square both “before” and “after” can attest to that.

As you would expect, it was not so much his philosophy of accountability, but more how it was implemented and executed that mattered. The NYC Department of Corrections provides a good example. Inmate on inmate violence was reduced 93% in 5 years and at the same time the number of corrections officers was reduced by 5% and overtime was reduced by 44%.

How? Data was collected continuously and a total of 592 performance indicators were calculated and reported weekly. Everybody had access to all the data and reports. Managers responsible for the various departments met at a regularly scheduled weekly meeting and were required to review all negative trends and their plans to address them. That’s it. That simple.

It worked, according to Mr. Giuliani, for several reasons. Everybody had unambiguous targets. There were a lot of targets. Quality of performance was public knowledge and constantly updated. (“Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide” AND “credit given where credit due”) Continuous, open discussion of all the issues and potential causes generated lots of ideas on strategy and tactics.
Personally, I think it’s the number of different performance indicators that makes the whole thing fly. I don’t know if 592 are needed for a sales team, but few of us look at more than 3 or 4. The “correct” answer is probably somewhere in between.

Here’s what “Hizzonor” would probably demand from his VP of Sales:

• Collect data regularly and reliably – preferably on a daily basis, but at least once a week – at a set time
• Measure at least 40 performance indicators that get at the core of selling your product or service.
• Publish those indicators to all
• Conduct a mandatory weekly meeting with your leaders to review and discuss the data and the trends

It’s worth a try. (and I really did enjoy the book!) (Follow the link and scroll down to get a copy.)