Excellence in the New Year with Tom Peters

Happy New Year from the On Brand podcast! To celebrate this fresh start to an exciting new year, we have one of our favorite guests joining us once again—the one, the only Tom Peters! Tom is the “one and only” of many things when it comes to management thinkers but he’s the only guest who’s appeared four times on the On Brand podcast. Tom shared how to kick off a year of excellence this week on the On Brand podcast.

About Tom Peters

Called “the Red Bull of management consultants,” Tom Peters is a leading business management guru and founder of the Tom Peters Company. He continues to be in constant demand for lectures and seminars. In 2017, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Thinkers50 and the Jack Covert Award for Contribution to the Business Book Industry from 800-CEO-READ. Peters is the bestselling author of seventeen books, including In Search of Excellence (with Robert H. Waterman, Jr.), which is often cited as among the best business books ever written. His latest book is Tom Peters’ Compact Guide to Excellence.

Episode Highlights

“Same message 20 times. I refuse to give up.” Tom wrote this inscription to me on the inside cover of his 20th book—Tom Peters’ Compact Guide to Excellence. “With my very first book, I put excellence on the field. The message is still fundamentally the same.” However, in these challenging times, it's a message that’s as relevant as ever.

80% of people don’t feel connected to their jobs. “The effective leader can instill engagement,” Tom explained, noting that the most important thing leaders do is hiring and promoting the right people. “It’s not easy but we can do things to make it easier.”

Mayo Clinic has the right idea. Among the attributes they look for in new hires are the number of times someone says “we” vs. “me.” This isn’t new. As Tom said, “It started with Dr. Mayo in nineteen-effing-fourteen!” If you missed my recent interview with Dr. Richard Winters, head of leadership at the Mayo Clinic, be sure to check it out now.

What brand has made Tom smile recently? Tom took a long pause before providing us with a great smile story. Granted, that smile came from the general direction of the bathroom. “Whenever you open a new roll of toilet paper … you can never get that first piece off. Well, Cottonelle has figured it out.” Tom and I both think they should join us on the On Brand podcast to unpack their toilet paper excellence!

To learn more, go to tompeters.com.

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Until next week, I’ll see you on the Internet!

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