The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk
Business:Management
Text LEARNERS to 44222
Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com
Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12
Episode #387: Arthur Blank - Owner of The Atlanta Falcons
Notes:
His Dad died when he was 44 years young, leaving his business to Arthur's mother. Arthur's mom took over and built a successful company. He learned to be principled and values driven from his mom. His mom always told him, "Principle matters." Arthur got fired from his job at Handy Dan in 1978. He didn't take it personally and founded The Home Depot with Bernie Marcus. At the original Home Depot headquarters, he and Bernie Marcus shared a bathroom between their offices. In the hallway outside the bathroom, they hang up press clippings. Not the accolades, or the awards won, but the negative stories and criticism. Why? You cannot have complacency or believe you are beyond reproach. Must always keep striving to get better. How did they duplicate the original Home Depot culture when they expanded beyond their first four stores? "You must always promote people based on them living the values of the company. Ahead of everything else." "The culture is critical." Ask, "Can they lead using our values?" --> Read the book, The War For Talent How did they maintained the culture as they acquired nine additional stores? Originally, it was an issue. "It was like changing the tires on a car as it was driving 30 miles per hour." "We had to self impose slowing down the growth." Must train the team on the culture "We didn't have money for training, but we did it anyway." To build a long term, sustainable business, you must focus on training. "You have to have a caring mentality. It takes time. I'm only interested in relationships. It's all about building long term relationships." Arthur tells the story of when he came to an agreement to buy the Falcons from Taylor Smith -- He booked a nice hotel suite, had dinner/wine, etc… He wrote on a napkin, “For Atlanta and the Falcons, $545 million. To the heritage and the tradition, in the past and the future.” ---> Taylor asked what you were doing and Arthur said “This is a bond between the two of us.” And further, “Important deals don’t get done on paper napkins, it had to be a cloth one.” → That napkin is displayed at the training facility of the Falcons and the team is now worth 5 times what he paid. "It was a win-win negotiation." In the lobby of your Atlanta offices, stands a custom bronze statue of a Sioux warrior in full battle regalia. He cannot move from his position on the battlefield -- he will stand his ground until victory or death. His chin proudly lifted and eyes scanning the horizon, he raises his bow, an arrow poised on the string. It’s entitled, Point of No Return. It depicts a time-honored tradition of Sioux Leadership. "You have to lead from the front." Arthur names all of your conference rooms after personal heroes (Kurt Hahn is one of them, he is the founder of Outward Bound) -- “To strive, to serve, and not to yield.” When he was the new owner of the Falcons, he walked to the back of the plane where the players were sitting and said, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to try to coach you, but I need to know, what can I do for you? What do you need?” (“The Best Think Tank Any Company Could Ask For) -- “That one hour flight was worth a dozen strategy meetings with the team’s executives or coaching staff.” (You need to have a front line obsession, Chris Zook -- Get to the people who really know. The ones closest to the action) Innovate Continuously -- Need non stop reinvention. Leaders need to ensure that the road is cleared of unnecessary speed bumps and overly stringent traffic rules. Too much bureaucracy will kill innovation before it has even begun. Top down management structure will always constrain people’s entrepreneurial spirit. --- The “Invisible Fence” style of management. “Hire people who are overqualified.” -- Arthur had lunch with Charles Lazarus one day, the founder of Toys R Us, and he said, “the hardest moments are when you have to look at a person who helped you get to $1 Billion and realize that person can’t help you get to $10 Billion.” “Treat every team member as a free agent” -- Never take people for granted. "They should be committed because of the culture, not the contract."567: William Ury - Negotiating The World's Toughest Disputes, Getting To Yes, Hiking Mountains With Jim Collins, And Thriving In An Age of Conflict
566: Jim Dethmer - Conscious Leadership, Radical Responsibility, Energy Audits, Being Fully Present, and Doing What Most Makes You Feel Alive
565: Noah Kagan - The Art of Asking For What You Want, Launching a Business, Handling Rejection, Working For Mark Zuckerberg, and Not Living a 'What-If' Life
564: Ariel Helwani - The Howard Cosell of MMA, Conducting World-Class Interviews, Feuds With Dana White, Leaving ESPN, & Dealing With Social Anxiety
563: Dr. Mike Massimino - A NASA Astronaut's Guide To Achieving The Impossible, Building Excellent Teams, Tweeting From Space, and Earning Your Dream Job
562: Nikki Glaser - Life as a Comedian, The Creative Process, Learning From Seinfeld, How To Respond When You Bomb on Stage, Roasting Robert DeNiro, & Telling The Truth
561: Bob Sutton - How Smart Leaders Make The Right Things Easier and The Wrong Things Harder (The Friction Project)
560: Dr. Barry Posner - Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Encourage Others to Act (The Leadership Challenge)
559: Marshall Goldsmith - The Power of Executive Coaching, How To Give & Receive Feedback, & Attributes of The Best Leaders (What Got You Here Won't Get You There)
558: Introducing Our New Book, "The Score That Matters," (With Brook Cupps)
557: Hal Elrod - How To Create a Morning Routine That Works For You
556: Morgan Housel - A Guide To Human Behavior, Telling Great Stories, Becoming a Reasonable Optimist, Writing Advice, Mr. Beast, & What Never Changes
555: Shane Parrish - Raising Your Standards, The Difference Between Nice & Kind Feedback, The Inner vs. Outer Scoreboard, & Turning Ordinary Moments Into Extraordinary Results (Clear Thinking)
554: Tim Urban - Becoming a High-Rung Thinker, Being The Boss of The Ideas In Your Own Head, Writing Wait But Why, & The Best Advice He's Ever Received
553: Eric Potterat - Mental Disciplines for Leading and Winning from the World's Top Performers (Learned Excellence)
552: Brian Johnson - How To Activate Your Heroic Potential, Develop Charisma, Become Intrinsically Motivated, Build Emotional Stamina, & Live With Arete
551: Greg Harden - How To Control The Controllables and Stay Sane in an Insane World (Tom Brady's Mentor)
550: Dan Patrick - The Art of Interviewing, Leaving ESPN, Working With Dave Matthews & Adam Sandler, Asking Better Questions, & Taking Care of Your Team
549: Dr. Sara Kuburic - Take Ownership, Accept Hard Truths, Discover Your SELF, & Change Your Life (It's On Me)
548: Nick Maggiulli - The Power of Compounding, Creating a Writing Practice, Building Your Career, & Proven Ways To Build Wealth
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