The Cranky Middle Manager Show #117 Managing With Maslow- Chip Conley

Posted on 25. Oct, 2007 by Wayne in Podcast

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Cranky Middle Manager Show #117

Welcome everyone, to the podcast that cares for your needs- survival needs, comfort needs and even the transformational needs. That’s right, listening to this show makes you cooler than everyone else, and we all know that’s what drives middle managers…the need to be cool.

Today we talk about Maslow’s Hierarchy, and I get to geek out with Chip Conley. He’s in no fewer than 3 national business magazines this month, so I guess we’re now just part of the slathering media crowd. Cool.

Show Notes

0:00 Welcome to the show. It’s dedicated to YOU- hey it worked for Time Magazine. Actually, if you listen to this show it’s because you aspire to manage your team and serve your customers at a higher level. It has to be, it sure ain’t for the quality of THIS show (guests excluded).

3:00 The quote of the week is all about making your mind hospitable…since Chip runs hotels, see, there’s a theme.

4:09 Welcome Chip Conley, CEO of the hotel chain, Joie de Vivre, and author of PEAK: How Great Companies. The point of the book is that you can use Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to run your business. What the heck is the Hierarchy of Needs, and where does caffeine fit in it?

8:09 How does all this help in a business where employees spend their time cleaning up after other human beings, turn over is high and most don’t speak English as their first language? Chip gives some great examples of how to use this practically.

12:30 Most employees leave not because of money, but because of a lack of recognition. The top level is Meaning…. what does it matter how you define what you do?

The trick is to move from a job, to a career, to a calling. How do you define YOUR job?

18:40 People climb that ladder pretty quickly. What initially looks cool starts to fade out for both employees and customers. Let’s face it, customer sat numbers don’t count for much over time. The ladder goes from Meeting Expectations to Meeting Desires to Meeting Unrecognized Needs.

22:34 Chip extends this to investors and how people invest their money… how does a company build value beyond mere economic ROI?

26:00 Who’s Chip reading?

Elements of Persuasion Maxwell and Dickman
Made to Stick Dan and Chip Heath

Cranky Middle Manager Meetup in Singapore….

Posted on 21. Oct, 2007 by Wayne in General

Hi folks…. just wrapping up my first trip to Asia and had a blast.  A couple of CMM listeners dropped me a line and we hooked up at Newton Circus food stand….. believe me it’s cooler than it sounds. All they do in Singapore is shop, make money and eat. At least I’m good at one of those.

Thanks to Ian Rennie and Sue Barker for making my trip memorable. You gotta love the internet

 

Ian Rennie and Sue Barker make my trip to  Singapore memorable. I love meeting listeners wherever they are.

Me in the Arab District, Singapore

Home tomorrow and lots more shows on tap.

 

The Cranky Middle Manager Show 116- The Personal MBA with Josh Kaufman

Posted on 17. Oct, 2007 by Wayne in Podcast

 Standard Podcast [35:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Cranky Middle Manager Show #116

Welcome to a very cool episode of the show. If, like me, you don’t have a college degree the world can seem pretty limited, but it ain’t. There are lots of ways to get smarter, besides simply listening to this show- surely the least expensive and painless option out there. Nope, you can try and get an MBA education without the MBA…… Josh Kaufman is, and he’s our guest.

Don’t forget you can subscribe to the Cranky Middle Manager Newsletter. Just send me an email with subscribe in the subject line, and you’re part of the cool crowd…. or something.

Show Notes

0:00 Welcome to a special show about do it yourself learning. It’s what this show is all about, and it’s only right that we dedicate it to King Mongkut of Siam. You actually have heard of him if you’ve ever seen The King and I, or stood with your hands on your hips and said, “etcetera, etcetera, etcetera” pompously. Oh you have so…..

2:40 The quote of the week is from Francis Bacon. Chew on a book- or a podcast or a blog. Here’s also a shameless plug for my book “A Philistine’s Journal, an Average Guy Tackles the Classics”. You can buy it from Me or from Amazon….. whichever you want.

4:04 Welcome Josh Kaufman, brains behind The Personal MBA. What is the Personal MBA and what’s it all about? How did he figure out the component parts?

7:38 What was the reaction of the B Schools? How about regular people and a word about the invention of sliced bread.

10:01 We start to go through his curriculum. It’s all books but that will change over time I’m sure. It start with learning how to read. Seriously. For a start, you want to check out 10 Days to Faster Reading then it’s all smooth sailing after that.

15:49 a short discussion about Peter Drucker’s book, The Practice of Management. What did Drucker bring to the party? Just about everything and why there’s a Cranky Middle Manager Show and not more cranky middle managers.

He also plugs Erika Andersen’s book, “Growing Great Employees”. You can check out our conversation with her here.

20:00 Another book we’ve mentioned on the show is “Purpose, The Starting Point of Great Companies” and we’ve spoken to its author, Nikos Mourkogiannis as well.

24:35 One of the disciplines that people often fall down on is Business Acumen. What don’t managers know that they really should?

30:15  What’s he reading now that might make his list some day? Believe it or not it’s a recording from the 1950s. The Strangest Secret is by Earl Nightingale.  And watch for Business Mental Models…a Personal MBA future project and a CMM exclusive. Check out www.businessmentalmodels.com

I’m off to Singapore…

Posted on 12. Oct, 2007 by Wayne in General

Hey kids, by the time you read this I’ll be winging my way to Singapore for my first trip to Asia, courtesy of the Day Job. I have been in touch with a couple of listeners over there… if you are going to be in Singapore between now and Oct 21, drop me a line. You can email me or ding me on Skype (wayneturmel)

Won’t be posting much between now and then although the next show will go up on time.By the way, if you’ve missed it, don’t forget to check out Episode 113- the Special Tech Edition.

Learn stuff and save money…doesn’t get much better than that gang.