Leaders Must Reinvent and Destroy

I flew back from San Francisco yesterday afternoon. On the plane, I Iistened to Tom Peters' Re-Imagine - the unabridged version read by Tom. I was reminded why I like Peters - he delivers a great kick in the pants. I remember from a Peters book years ago that he wrote something like:

If you aren't doing something, every week, that could get you fired, you aren't doing your job!

I think he would amend that today to say EVERY DAY.

In Re-Imagine, he continues this mantra and develops a solid case why business and leader reinvention is not an option. I like this audio version because I enjoy hearing the passion and inflection in Tom's voice. I would recommend the unabridged version downloaded to your pod. Great brain food.

Speaking of iPod, we paid homage to the Flagship Apple store while in San Francisco. Honestly, it was not much more impressive than the store we have here in Seattle. It is still fun to go and fantasize about the next machine in my future. I think I am going to go ac/dc - that is, a desktop AND a laptop, synched together.

Back to Peters...Re-Imagine...He said the words "I imagine" a lot in the book. It was interesting and effective.

What can you imagine?

Are you up to something? Do you have an idea, a project, a way of working that you are just itching to try? We need to get the lead out or, as Tom says, we will be left in the dust.

I wanted to remind you of my invitation to PLAY FULL OUT - to receive a full scholarship (read "free") to my 2 Weeks to a Breakthrough program. Here are the details and you need to get your paragraph into me by Saturday. This is an amazing opportunity, so please join in.

Also, for anyone who wants to play full out and create something wonderful, I recommend joining the motivated group who will be attending my 2 Weeks to a Breakthrough program in January. Details here.

I snapped this amazing sunset from the plane on the way back to Seattle. The river in the background is the mighty Columbia, which borders Oregon and Washington.

 

Our trip to San Francisco was nice. I had a great meeting with my new publisher, Jossey Bass (owned by Wiley). I think I am going to like working with them a lot. They know what they are doing and they are still passionate about their work and each book they take on. I feel like I have true partners, which is pretty rare in this business. Here is a sneak peek at the cover of my next book. What do you think?

 

 

I have decided to participate in my own program (2 Weeks...) in January, too. I want to create a breakthrough - heck, I want MANY breakthroughs! I will be sharing my progress with the participants along the way. The goal I am thinking of tackling is:

I know that one of my special talents is helping managers and leaders grow and develop with discontinuous improvement (not just trickle change - big progress!). Working one-on-one or with small groups is great, but not always practical. Speaking to thousands is great, but not always as impactful as I would like. In person is great, but not always possible. Virtual tools are great and broaden my reach, but I need to improve the intimacy of these methods. Bottom line: I want to create and refine a plan for the next year that will broaden my reach and impact with leaders who want to make fantastic things happen.

I am still refining this goal a bit, but these are my rough thoughts for now. What would a home run look like in 2006?