MailCom 2012 Lead Like A 4 Star General

MAILCOM 2012 - Washington, DC. - April 15-18

Course #: LD 248

Title: Lead Like a 4 Star General

Scheduled For: Monday, Round 4, 11:30-12:30 pm

Presented By: William L. Ware, CMDSM James P. Mullan, CMDSM Marlene O’Hare, CMDSM

Lauran Solvik


Lead Like a 4 Star General

• Analyze military operations as business operations and the commanding general as CEO.

• A case study for designing and implementing organizational strategies.

• Ten strategic lessons.

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10 Strategic Lessons 1. Determine Your Mission 2. Plan for Success 3. Stay Focused 4. Prioritize 5. Plan to Implement 6. Communicate 7. Motivate Your People 8. Manage Your People 9. Avoid Project Creep 10. Be Honest

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1. Determine Your Mission

• This is the ultimate goal of your organization – the purpose, the very reason it exists.

• The mission is not the same as the mission statement.

• Set Goals.• It’s a balancing act.• Knock them out.• Delegate when possible. Otherwise do it

yourself.• If you are handed an opportunity, take it.

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2. Plan For Success

• How are you going to achieve your mission. High-level, overarching planning.

• Attack the competition’s core.• Change is inevitable.• Accept risk.• Find the dominant vision.• What if the dominant vision is wrong?• What if you can’t find the dominant vision?

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2. Plan For Success

• Risk is inevitable.• Stick to your guns.• When the boss has a good idea – jump on it.• Planning is the discipline that gives you

flexibility.• Give it your all.• Remember what is important. Then think big.

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2. Plan For Success

• Take advantage.• Know your competition.• Don’t use a hammer for everything.• Don’t be seduced.

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3. Stay Focused

• Know and get what you need to succeed at your mission. Don’t wander into interesting but non-mission-critical territory.

• Fight distractions.• Keep your focus.• Focus on your main purpose.• Lose focus and fail.

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3. Stay Focused

• One step at a time.• Setbacks are opportunities.• Know what you need to succeed.• Get what you need to succeed.• Use what you have.

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4. Prioritize

• Do what you need to do for the success of your mission. Nothing else, no matter how productive, matters and will waste your resources.

• Make your choices and live with them.• Compromise.• It’s principles, not personalities.• If you got to have it, get it!

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4. Prioritize

• Remember the greater good.• Get what you need from your people.• Do what you need to. Ignore the rest.• Playing politics is stupid.

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5. Plan to Implement

• Train your people, equip your people, and arrange your support logistics.

• Adjust, adjust, adjust.• There are never too many plans.• Keep your options open – make one

decision at a time.• Planning is a team-building exercise.

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5. Plan to Implement

• Decide.• Follow-up.• Know the market.• Speed kills.• Manage risk or fail.

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6. Communicate

• To your people and to your markets. If you can’t communicate, you can’t implement.

• Know your stuff.• Be clear.• Lose communication and fail.• Learn from your mistakes.• You are the boss.

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7. Motivate Your People

• This is where leadership comes into play – getting your people to commit to your organization’s mission as completely as you do. You need to model the behavior you want and expect from your executives and frontline workforce.

• Start the way you mean to finish.• Talk isn’t enough – take action.• Stay positive.

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8. Manage Your People

• Discovering and developing talent, rewarding your solid performers, and handling the prima donnas.

• Give in gracefully.• Get the right person to work for you.• Friends vs. allies.• Support and move on.• Be right or be in charge.• Replace them.

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8. Manage Your People

• Micromanage.• Principles before personalities.• Choose managers to fit your mission.• Picking teams.• Manage up.• Delegate.• Be unselfish.• It isn't a debate club.• Stay calm.• Stay optimistic.

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Manage & Motivate Your People

• Don’t reinvent the wheel.• Match workforce to mission.• Delegate.• Keep your ego out of it.• Back up your people.• Embrace the madness.

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Manage & Motivate Your People

• Watch out for jackasses.• Care for your people.• Support your people.• Your people are your company.• Empower your people.• You first.

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9. Avoid Project Creep

• Closely connected to staying focused and prioritizing. Project Creep is insidious. During an operation, things develop that relate closely to the mission, so closely that you can easily confuse them with mission necessities.

• Don’t go astray.• One project at a time.

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10. Be Honest

• With yourself, with your bosses, executive team, employees, shareholders, and the markets at large. It is one of the oldest and most exhausted clichés but true nonetheless: honesty is the best policy.

• Take responsibility.• Be true to yourself.• Honesty is the best policy.

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10. Be Honest

• Step up.• Know thyself.• Own up.• Don’t waste time tooting your own horn.

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10 Strategic Lessons 1. Determine Your Mission 2. Plan for Success 3. Stay Focused 4. Prioritize 5. Plan to Implement 6. Communicate 7. Motivate Your People 8. Manage Your People 9. Avoid Project Creep 10. Be Honest

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Questions ?

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William L. Ware - James P. Mullan - Marlene O’Hare - Lauran Solvik

Comments ?



Thank You

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Contact Information

William L. Ware, CMDSMConsultant / Project ManagerNeotek Consulting106 Union AvenuePassaic, NJ [email protected]

Marlene O’Hare, CMDSMOffice Services SupervisorLinde North America, Inc.575 Mountain AvenueMurray Hill, NJ 07974908-771-1275 [email protected]

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James P. Mullan, CMDSMNational Account ManagerOce Business Services, Inc.Chubb & Son15 Mountain View RoadWarren, NJ 07059908-903-2869 [email protected]

Lauran SolvikNational Account ManagerThe Millennium Group106 Apple Street, Suite 207Tinton Falls, NJ 07724973-802-8172 [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]




MailCom 2012 Lead Like A 4 Star General

Leadership & Management

Transcript of MailCom 2012 Lead Like A 4 Star General