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Dr. John B. Izzo
To learn more about
John Izzo
visit:
www.theizzogroup.com
to order books
visit:
www.fairwinds-press.com |
the enlightened leader
Volume 23 - February
2008
Thank you for your subscription to the
enlightened leader we hope that it shares with you valuable information
and brightens your day just a little.
Reflections from Dr. John
Izzo
The
Most Important Decision Made in Every Business
One of the most important decisions
that are made in business every day is the choice of who to hire? Perhaps
no other single decision has a bigger impact on the success or failure of
an enterprise than who we choose to work for us. Arguably, this is true
from the most front line person to the most senior people. Having spent a
lifetime helping companies create great corporate cultures that can remain
successful over many years, I know the decision of who leads an
organization is particularly critical.
Take, for example, Synovus
Bank, which is one of the most profitable financial institutions in the
United States. Their CEO for almost forty years was Jimmy Blanchard and
under his leadership they were in the top 1% of return on investment to
shareholders of all U.S. corporations and were named by Fortune magazine
as the best company to work for in America. The story of how Jimmy was
named CEO is instructive.
Almost forty years ago Jimmy was a lawyer
in the legal department at the bank. The chairman of the Board was William
Turner. Turner now in his eighties told me about how the decision was made
to hire Blanchard as CEO.
“There were quite a few applicants for
the position who were more qualified than Jimmy to run the bank. They had
more experience, more operational expertise, and on paper would have been
better candidates. But when Jimmy Blanchard walked into a room, people
felt cared-about and loved. I remember thinking to myself-you can teach a
smart lawyer to run a bank but I don’t know how you teach someone to make
people feel cared about. So we hired Jimmy and never regretted a day
since. He learned how to run the bank but he made it successful through
relationships. It was his ability to win people's hearts that mattered
most.”
One of the intangible things we need to look for when we
hire people is their values. Knowledge can be learned but values rarely
change. This is as true at the front-line as it is for CEO’s. For many
years Southwest Airlines has made values the cornerstone of their hiring
process. They hire for values first. Herb Keller the former CEO once was
quoted as saying: “A lot of people can fly an airplane but only some of
them have a sense of humor.” In other words, technical competence matters
but if you want to be a great service business you have to hire people who
care about making other people feel good.
In my own business we
have always hired first for attitude. As an author who speaks at about
eighty corporate events each year, I have often heard clients say things
like “that speaker was great but we hated dealing with his or her office.”
We knew that the people who represent us to clients make the difference
between someone hiring us once or for a lifetime. One of the best
compliments I receive on a regular basis is when clients tell me: “Your
people are just so easy to deal with.” I always smile because I learned a
long time ago that you can teach someone to do the job, but you have to
hire for attitude and values.
John Izzo, Ph.D. is author of Awakening Corporate Soul and
Values Shift.
Tip for Employee
Engagement
Each
newsletter we are going to include an actionable tip for creating employee
engagement. We know that one of the best predictors of a highly engaged
employee is answering yes to the question-“My supervisor or someone at
work cares about me as a person.” But how do leaders let people know we
care about their lives and careers? Years ago we got a simple practice
from one of our clients-something they called the “first lunch” which was
where each new employee had a lunch with their manager in the first few
weeks with the goal of getting to know that person-to find out about their
family, their hobbies, their career aspirations, and the things that
really mattered to them. New employees loved it and managers were asked to
take good notes. The program was so popular that managers started having
“first” lunches with people who had worked for them for years just to get
to know them as people. A new client of ours told us that when he took
over as leader of a group of 35 people, he met with each of them for 45
minutes over a two month period to get to know them as people and to
inquire about their career goals and aspirations. Not only did people
thank him, but many of them told him that in twenty years of working for
the company, no leader had EVER sat down just to get to know them. So over
the next few months, have a meeting with each of your people just to get
to know them, take good notes and start asking about the things you learn.
What Will You Regret at the End of Your
Career:
What
will you regret at the end of your career? Over the past two years Dr.
Izzo interviewed almost 250 people from the age of 59-106 asking them to
reflect back on their lives and careers to discover lessons learned. The
result was his new book The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before Your
Die. Here are some interesting statistics:
-
91%
said they had not taken enough risks in their career;
-
43%
said that the most important career choices they made involved “taking a
risk and getting out of their comfort zone”;
-
55%
expressed regret at having been too focused on “career to the detriment
of family and personal life”;
-
Yet
22% said they had sacrificed family time for their career but felt the
sacrifice was worth the rewards;
-
78%
identified “relationships” as the greatest source of personal
happiness;
-
75%
identified “making a difference” as the greatest source of meaning in
their career-far more important than status, money or job
title;
-
81%
said that the most important factor in career happiness was “being true
to yourself by choosing a career that fit your true
interests.”;
-
When
asked “what did not matter in terms of finding happiness?” 84% said
“money beyond basic comfort” and 68% said “what other people think of
you”
'The Five Secrets' On Its Way to
Best-Seller...
Dr.
Izzo’s Book The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die is starting
to hit best-seller lists in Canada and the United States. The book is in
its fourth printing after being out for only thirty days! Many people are
buying the book as a gift for clients, as a gift for friend, and several
school systems are considering the book as required reading for Grade 12
students. Get your copy today and pass on the word to others.
Dr. Izzo's Bestseller is Reviewed with 'The Bucket
List'
'The
Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die' gets reviewed
along side the movie The Bucket List staring Morgan Freeman and Jack
Nicholson. Listen-up TV reviews the movie and talks with Dr. Izzo about
"the five secrets" in his newest best seller and the hit TV movie
- to view
(CTS
TV across North America)
Dr. Izzo on the Buzz Workplace in Leadership
Excellence Magazine.
Read
this article now - click
here
The Izzo Group's
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is produced and distributed by The Organizational Culture Group Ltd. to
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For further information on Dr. John Izzo, his work, publications,
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Thank you Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver!
We would like to thank all individuals who came out to
one of the Canadian book launches in January. It was wonderful to meet you
all and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your warmth, your
welcome and your undying love and support. In Toronto we had double the
crowd at the January 9th event. On the 15th in Calgary the book store sold
out and we ended up a #2 best seller across the country. In Vancouver 230
people RSVP's and well over 450 people packed the Vancouver Public Library
. We have to apologize for the lack of coffee, sweets and seating! Then
again, we fed a few homeless individuals, we heard a wise man speak of his
journey writing this book, we met new people (as we were sharing some
really tight space) and we all did some learning.... but then
again...that's what libraries were built for. Thank you so very much for
your support!
Upcoming Public Author
Events
Dr. Izzo will be in the following cities for Book Events for the
book "The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die".
These are open events and you are welcome to join
us.
Victoria, British Columbia
Saturday,
March. 1st, 3:00-5:00pm Chapters Indigo - 1212 Douglas St.
t.
250-380-9009
Halifax, Nova
Scotia
Tuesday, March 25th, 7:00 - 9:00pm the Lord Nelson
hosted by Frog Hollow Books 1515 South Park
street - 7:00 - 9:00pm
T. 902.423.6331
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Monday, May 12th,
7:00-9:00pm
McNally Robinson Books -1120 Grant Ave. T.
204-453-024
Saskatoon, Sask
Tuesday, May
13th, 7:00-9:00pm
McNally Robinson Books -3130 8th Street East (8th
Street at Circle Drive) T.306-955-3599
The Biography Channel DVD Series
The Five Things You Must Discover Before You
Die is available on DVD. The Biography Channel and PBS has made this
wonderful series available to you! visit
www.fairwinds-press.com
Opportunity to hear and meet Dr. Izzo
Dr. Izzo to Open 2008 Servant Leadership
Conference
Dr. Izzo will be the opening keynote speaker the annual Greenleaf
Center Conference on Servant Leadership in Indianapolis in June, 2008. He
will also present a day long pre-conference session. It is a great
opportunity to meet other leaders from great companies around the world
and a rare opportunity to hear Dr. Izzo at a public event
- go there!
Book Pick
Values Shift:
Recruiting, Retaining, and Engaging the Multigenerational Workforce 2nd
Edition
The second edition of Dr. Izzo’s book Values Shift was
released in the fall. Packed with new information on the trends of
shifting employee values and expectations as well as lots of practical
information on how to manage the different generations. Northrop Grumman
has purchased over 3,000 copies for their leaders this year alone. Click
here to order the book - order
now!
Amazon Business Book of the Year
A friend of mine Marshall Goldsmith, one of the world’s leading
executive coaches, wrote the Amazon best Business Book of the Year for
2007-What Got You here, Won’t Get You There. The basic premise of the book
is simple but career changing-that each of us has one or two
characteristics that hold us back from being more successful and that
almost everyone knows what that is-except for us! Goldsmith shows how to
seek and use feedback to enhance career success. Highly recommended! - click
here |
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In stores now!
Stephen Covey
said...
"No matter what your
age, you will with wish you had read it
sooner..."
Visit one of these retailers and pick up this title
today?
Barnes &
Noble
Borders
Chapters-Indigo
McNally Robinson
Amazon.com
Amazon.ca
Keynote
Appearances:
Information about Dr. Izzo's availability for keynote appearances
or for Media availability can be obtained by visiting Dr. John Izzo's
website www.theizzogroup.com/calender.htm
Upcoming Presentations:
February 2008
Feb.
6th - TELUS -Vancouver, BC.
Feb. 8th - TENET Healthcare - Dallas,
TX
Feb. 11th - Northrop Grumman, Los Angeles, CA
Feb. 12th
- GMAC - Las Vegas, NV
Feb.9th - Media - San Diego, CA
Feb. 13th - Northrop Grumman, Los Angeles, CA
Feb. 14th -
The Center for Org. Effectiveness - San Diego, CA
Feb. 15th -
MEDIA - Interview with Barry Kibrick - Los Angeles, CA
Feb. 18th -
Radio Interviews CKGL
Feb. 21st- Radio interviews WGBB-AM
Feb 28th - Interview - Toronto, Ont.
March 2008
Mar.
1st - Chapters Book event, Victoria, BC
Mar. 3rd - CHUM radio
Interview
Mar. 4-5th - Northrop Grumman - Baltimore, MD
Mar. 6th - Radio Interview
Mar. 7th - Mighty Peace
Teacher's Association, Grand Prairie, AB
Mar. 11th - HOLD Canadian Client
Mar.
14- 22nd - Costa Rica
Mar. 25 - Book Event at the Lord Nelson -
Halifax, NS.
Mar. 26th - Mackenzie Financial - Halifax, NS
Mar. 27th - Sunlife Financial - Miami, FL
Mar. 31st -
Northrop Grumman - Baltimore, MD
April 2008
April
2nd - Mackenzie Financial - Vancouver, BC.
April 5th & 6th - HOLD Canadian Bureau
April 8th
- HOLD Canadian Bureau
April 8th - 2nd HOLD Canadian Client
April 10th, Fraser Health Region, Langley, BC.
April 11th - Mackenzie Financial - London, ON.
April 14th - HOLD Canadian Bureau
April 15th - Mackenzie Financial - Toronto, ON.
April 17th - Kimberly-Clark Corp. - San Francisco, CA
April 18th - HOLD U.S. Bureau
April 22nd - Mackenzie Financial - Quebec City, Que
April 23rd - Automotive Industries Assoc. Gatineau, Que
April 25th - HOLD Unites States
Bureau
April 29th - Mackenzie Financial - Montreal,
Que.
May 2008
May
1st - AAOHN, Salt Lake City, UT
May 2nd - Mackenzie Financial -
Ottawa, ON.
May 6rd - CoreNET Global - San Diego, CA
May
7th - Northrop Grumman, Baltimore, MD
May 8th - HOLD Canadian Bureau
May
9th -Mackenzie Financial - Calgary, AB
May 13th - Mackenzie
Financial - Winnipeg, Man.
May 15th -
HOLD US Client
May 23-25th - HOLD Canadian Client
May 30th
- HOLD Canadian Bureau
May 31st - HOLD - Canadian Bureau
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