Look beyond the Obvious
A Blueprint for Transforming Managers into Leaders
by
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Throughout the ages, it’s the visionary or dreamer who sets the stage for the next technological breakthrough and their resulting benefits to mankind. It’s the visionary or dreamer who provides the technological foundation for history’s unprecedented resulting lifestyles. Here’s an old Economics question: How many people does it take to make a pair of shoes? Well let’s start with the producer of the ‘ultimate raw material’: The Farmer. The Farmer provides the leather, but first you need cattle; so you buy cattle; then you have to feed and care for the cattle. Where does the food come from and how did it get there? Where did the shelter come from? How was it made and from what? Who built the shelter and with what tools and equipment? Where did the tools and equipment come from?
Later, the transportation of the leather means cars, trucks, trains, planes and ships, associated employees involved in the manufacture and transportation of those goods and services. Where did the steel to build those cars, trucks, trains, planes and ships come from? How many people in the mill did it take to make the steel: The Engineers, Metallurgists, Steelworkers, etc.? You can go on and on, but I think you get the point: it’s a lot of people! So let’s look at technological breakthroughs from a different viewpoint. How many jobs did Thomas Edison create? Andrew Carnegie? Bill Gates? Henry Ford? John Deere? How many innovations came from these simple start-ups? How many businesses supporting these businesses were created? These visionaries or dreamers all had at least one thing in common: they acted on their vision, started the business and at the end of the day they created an industry. These are also some of the greatest examples of successful entrepreneurship.
This was all possible because these visionaries simply took a chance. Taking risks and ‘going for it’ is truly the American Way. They rolled the dice, risked it all and won big time! Did they make any money for their efforts? Absolutely, but their guiding principle was not profit for the sake of profit. Their personal prime directive may have been make money or enhance society, build their business or whatever, but before that could happen they needed to keep the front doors open. They understood this simple concept especially in those early years:
Revenue minus Expenses = ???
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About the Book
“If two people always agree, one of them is unnecessary,” Henry Ford once said.
He was on to something: The best businesspeople suggest alternatives to ideas and strategies. When practiced effectively, this can lead to innovations that dramatically boost sales.
Edward F. Schultz, a leading consultant to businesses both big and small, explains why conventional or group thinking results in conventional results--something no business owner wants. The key to lasting success is engaging in differential thinking, which will allow you to.
- retain top-quality employees;
- help customers achieve their goals;
- provide employees with the support they need to succeed;
- reduce inefficiencies and ineffectiveness; and
- achieve small, incremental goals on the way to your ultimate target.
Each chapter includes separate insights designed to address a different element of leadership, weaving together theory and practical application.
Filled with real-life scenarios on coaching employees and managers, this guidebook for owners, leaders and entrepreneurs will get you the bottom-line results you crave. But you’ll only get them when you Look Beyond the Obvious.
About the Author
Edward F. Schultz has more than forty years of national and international business consulting, engineering and project management services. He’s helped business startups, secured ISO certifications, and counseled companies on capital equipment justifications and plant relocations.