Following is part two of the transcript of the “In the Spotlight” interview with Pete Luongo, author of 10 Truths About Leadership. In his signature fashion, Pete speaks frankly about some key issues that managers and leaders must address to lead their people and their organizations to higher levels of success. Picking up where we left off in part one of the interview:

TSG: Talk about the difference between “rules” and “standards of excellence.”

Pete Luongo: “Rules are for the weak and uncompromised standards of excellence are for the strong.” That’s Truth #5 and I can’t imagine it being anything more straightforward than that simple truth. As Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman tell us in First Break All the Rules, “creating a culture of compliance strangles an organization of its flexibility, responsiveness, and most importantly, its good will.” I believe it goes even deeper than that. Anything that gets in the way of our imagination, ingenuity, and creativity is non-productive. Standards of excellence are about expectations. What is it we want from our organization? It’s simple! At the Berry Company we were only interested in two things: selling lots of advertising and satisfying every customer. Anything that got in the way of those two objectives was not valued. As I so often said, “the solidarity of intent fills the team with the strength of knowing its purpose.” All 2800 employees knew that every day they woke up their focus and responsibility was around accomplishing those two objectives. It’s about embracing simplicity and making certain everyone understands their role in meeting and exceeding these expectations.

TSG: What qualities have you found to be effective indicators of greatness – or potential for greatness – in evaluating prospective employees?

Pete Luongo: It’s not about greatness. It’s about finding the right match. Truth #1 says, “Past Performance Predicts Future Behavior” and that is the answer. What are those qualities, those behaviors that are required to perform a certain task? Once they are determined, it’s simply about finding those people who bring those qualities to the relationship. To be very specific, when we were rebuilding our sales force we knew that our best salespeople were possessed those attributes of competiveness, commitment, character, capacity to learn, and passion. Our challenge was that through the selection process, we only brought those people into the business that possessed those same types of behaviors. Assuming they found their sweet spot we know they had a high probability of being successful. It really is that simple! Knowing that you can’t change people is a precursor to effective selection.

TSG: What do you think leaders are doing better today – as a whole – than they were doing 10 or 20 years ago?

Pete Luongo: I’m almost embarrassed to say this, but I’m not sure we are better today than we were 20 years ago! I’m convinced we’re smarter and certainly more technologically advanced, but there is so much greed, so much winning at all cost that it’s taken its toll on every aspect of society from youth sports to our Fortune top 50 companies. Organizations and individuals are struggling with the question of how do we not compromise our core values as we chase the endgame, both individually and collectively, and personally and professionally. We all know the right things to do but l question the courage of leadership today to do it the right way!

TSG: What do you believe is the greatest challenge that leaders today must overcome in order to achieve long-term success in their organizations?

Pete Luongo: The answer is incredibly complex but it has to start with a fundamental belief that our individual legacy as both leaders and human beings will be willingness to make a difference in other people’s lives. It’s about unconditional love! It’s about helping our employees find the courage within themselves to lead others and dismissing the belief that leadership is the unwanted burden of a privileged few – but rather it’s our most basic birthright. The deeper we drive leadership in an organization and the more we can distribute ownership throughout, the greater chance we have of being successful both individually and collectively.

TSG: You’ve got this book out there now. What else are you doing to spread the message?

Pete Luongo: It’s like any business – it’s about distribution! It’s about getting in front of more audiences. It’s about building a learning series. I’m convinced that while there are a lot of theories, models, etc. out there, not many thought leaders have been at the edge of the cliff and have implemented a model that not only has universal application, but also works! It’s a story that needs to be told and I’m convinced that we will get the exposure necessary to share The Leadership Pledge.

TSG: One last question: When you stand in front of a group of leaders as a keynote speaker, obviously you can’t work a miracle in 60 minutes. What is the take-home value you’re trying to deliver in that setting?

Pete Luongo: My message is this: As leaders and employees we’ve all got to accept accountability and responsibility for our actions. Only when we understand and accept our roles and responsibilities in each relationship can we be successful. The Leadership Pledge defines those responsibilities, but it must be up to each of us as individuals to recognize that only when we’ve learned to accept ourselves can we learn to accept others and in the context of differences and similarities, find better ways of coping as a behavior organization.

TSG: That’s a good message! Thanks, Pete, for taking the time to participate in this interview.

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For more information about Pete Luongo:

Peter A. Luongo retired as President and CEO of The Berry Company in August 2003. His career at The Berry Company spanned more than 33 years. During his last nine years with the company, Peter was instrumental in guiding Berry through a period of record sales growth, numerous contract acquisitions and the perpetuation of the nearly 100-year-old company as an industry leader and “a great place to work.” Since retirement, Peter has dedicated himself to sharing this unique approach with audiences all over the world. His powerful message transcends business transformation, emerging technology, product innovation, corporate vision statements and strategic imperatives.

Posted under In the Spotlight, Leadership Development, Organizational Excellence

A couple of months ago, I highlighted Pete Luongo’s book, 10 Truths About Leadership, on this blog. Full of simple, practical lessons, I recommend the book for anyone in a leadership or management position. I recently had the opportunity to ask Pete some questions about his background and the 10 Truths for our “In the Spotlight” interview series. Following is part one of the interview transcript:

TSG: You retired from The Berry Company in 2003. Did you have in mind that you would write a book when you stepped down?

Pete Luongo: It was probably the last thing that I thought I would ever do. Not even on the radar screen. When l retired I had a full plate with accepting a teaching position at the University of Dayton, teaching strategy in our MBA program along with serving as United Way Campaign chairman and accepting two positions on boards. And speaking was about seventh on my list of priorities. But as the requests for me to share The Leadership Pledge with organizations increased, l kept hearing that I needed to write a book so that we could get the message to a much broader audience. A good friend, Marty Grunder, who had written a book, kept insisting that I do the same and he introduced me to his publisher and I guess the rest is history. Richard Hunt came to hear me speak and encouraged me to write a book and I spent the next 10 months writing and we published September of 2007. As I look back on the experience it was one of the most meaningful things that I ever accomplished. Not only has the reception been overwhelming but more important it allowed me reflect in a much deeper way about the influences in my life including growing up without a father, my faith, the many setbacks in my professional life and most importantly those special people who took time to care about me. It is a story that I believe needs to be told – especially in a time when greed and self-indulgency have put a strangle hold on not only our business climate but our society.

TSG: You admit that the lessons in your book – these 10 truths about leadership – are relatively simple. Yet there’s no question that collectively, we as leaders desperately need to hear the message. Why is it that something so basic is so often overlooked?

Pete Luongo: The focus on winning is the short answer, and it gets in the way and clouds our judgment as leaders, coaches, teachers, peers, employees, volunteers, parents, and friends. We all tend to over-manage relationships when outcomes are in doubt and absent a code of conduct we seek short-term solutions which are not sustainable and impact long-term relationships with customers, employees and investors. We learned that The Leadership Pledge was that code of conduct – that set of mores – that provided us with the discipline to define roles and responsibilities and gave us a very simple approach, not easy, to execution. In working with so many different organizations including college athletic programs I can honestly tell you that there is no lacking of strategic plans, vision and mission statements, etc. The problem is execution! And when you do not have a track to run on, we become so vulnerable to short-term solutions and eventually the train wrecks that we are seeing today.

The solution was the five steps that make up The Leadership Pledge: people, support, expectations, feedback, and accountability. lt became quite clear that recruiting folks that had a high probability of being successful, giving them the tools to do their job, making certain there was a clear understanding of expectations, and providing honest and meaningful feedback defined the roles and responsibilities of all managers at Berry from the president to the first level manager. It was then and only then we could ask our people to accept accountability and responsibility for their performance. It’s simple, it’s just not easy.

TSG: One thing I love about the book is your vulnerability and your admission of mistakes – you didn’t just come off the starting line as a brilliant, perfect leader. What was the real “ah-ha” moment that led you to shift your focus and practice the kind of leadership you write about here?

Pete Luongo: I’m convinced that all of us have to go through that one epiphany in life that brings a new level of understanding to what we already know and helps us rebalance our priorities. Mine was the moment I realized that the only time we realize our dreams is when we help other people realize theirs. l had been on a very fast track in my career and had really never faced or confronted failure. My passion for winning – success, if you will – became such an obsession that it almost destroyed me and everyone else around me! And sadly in many instances it was the people that l cared about the most. It was then that l began the journey looking for a better way. If you’ve read the Celestine Prophecy I’m sure you’ll agree that the most compelling message is that there are no coincidences in life. I’m convinced that people come in and our lives and whether or not we pay attention has huge implications on our lives. It was during this difficult period that l was exposed to Vince Flowers and Charley Hughes who shared with me the behavior-driven philosophy which is at the core of our model. It was Vince and Charley that convinced me that l had to learn to accept myself before I could ever accept others. That was the “ah-ha” moment, and no longer being held hostage by the need to please others allowed me to free up my instincts and devote myself to making a difference in other people’s lives.

TSG: You achieved some tremendous success at The Berry Company. What are you most proud of?

Pete Luongo: That’s a tough one to answer. We faced some very difficult times when the company’s survival was at risk. Being part of that turnaround as executive vice president/COO and president/ CEO has to rank at the very top in terms of accomplishments. Those can be measured in terms of contract acquisition and capturing 95% of the business that changed hands in that 9 year period. Growing the independent line of business from 75 million to 450 million while enjoying employee satisfaction levels that ranked us at the very top of all corporate America – 98% of 2800 employees said they were proud to work for the company – and achieving net income objectives each of those years were measurable success stories. But, what I’m most proud of is perpetuating a legacy of a company that enjoyed success in whatever metrics you choose to measure while creating an environment where employees felt valued, respected, and part of something special.

TSG: One of the light bulb moments for me, when reading the book, was when you wrote that motivation is a personal responsibility. Traditional thinking is that a good leader has to motivate his or her people. You came to a different conclusion. Talk about that.

Pete Luongo: It’s one the great debates today in leadership and coaching circles and I’ll have no part of it. Personal motivation has to come from within. Accept my definition that your level of motivation is in direct proportion to the pleasure you receive from whatever you do. It really goes back to the hiring process and whether or not we’ve put ourselves in the best position to maximize our god-given talent. For each of us, finding our sweet spot or our strength zone as my friend John Maxwell describes has everything to do with our ability to be motivated. It’s about finding our purpose in life and approaching it with passion. Motivation simply provides the energy. As l so often tell the college coaches that I work with “you can make them more than they are but you can’t make them something they are not.” We can provide the environment, the stimulus but motivation has to come from within. It’s the inspiration that we as leaders are accountable for and that is simply caring about our people. We all have deep within us the need to be cared for and loved. And when we become more human as leaders and express our love and appreciation for individuals we become the leader that people respect, admire, and respond to. It’s a difficult step for most of us because we are afraid it exposes our vulnerability. I would argue that it exposes our uniqueness as both leaders and human beings. Any time we influenced anyone in any aspect of our lives l can assure you we did it with our heart, not with our head.

TSG: #1 on your Leadership Pledge is “Recruit, Hire and Retain.” Recruiting is practically a science in itself, it seems. What is the key to success in that arena?

Pete Luongo: Making it the HIGHEST priority in your organization. It has been a real shock to me since I’ve retired and have had the privilege of working with so many different organizations to see the lack of attention paid to the hiring process in both time and resources by senior leadership. It is NOT an HR function. It belongs to everyone starting at the top. And while there are there is no question there is a “science” to it and there are plenty of consultants our there teaching those techniques it all becomes meaningless unless it starts at the top. When it’s important to the boss it becomes important to everyone else in the organization.

TSG: A hot topic these days is employee engagement, and you write about that. What advice do you have for a leader – whether it’s a department manager or a corporate CEO – seeking to create an environment that fosters employee engagement?

Pete Luongo: l believe it is vastly underestimated and overlooked. While much has been written about employee engagement, how many organizations truly practice it? Far too many decisions continue to be made in corner offices and boardrooms without the advice, counsel, and input from the people that count the most – those employees that are touching the customer every day. We introduced the Upside-Down Pyramid back in the early 80’s when we began our journey to help our employees understand Truth #3: “Effective Leaders Manage Support Systems, Effective Employees Manage Themselves.” It begs the question, how can I ask to do your job unless I give you the tools to do it? As leaders it tests our listening skills as well as our willingness to engage our employees in finding the answers.

To be continued…

Come back for part two of the interview transcript on Thursday, August 28, where Pete answers questions about confronting poor performance, standards of excellence, hiring the right employees, and his perspective on what leaders are doing better today than yesterday, and the greatest challenges leaders must overcome to achieve greater success in the future.

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Peter A. Luongo retired as President and CEO of The Berry Company in August 2003. His career at The Berry Company spanned more than 33 years. During his last nine years with the company, Peter was instrumental in guiding Berry through a period of record sales growth, numerous contract acquisitions and the perpetuation of the nearly 100-year-old company as an industry leader and “a great place to work.” Since retirement, Peter has dedicated himself to sharing this unique approach with audiences all over the world. His powerful message transcends business transformation, emerging technology, product innovation, corporate vision statements and strategic imperatives.

Posted under In the Spotlight, Leadership Development, Organizational Excellence

Following is part two of our “In the Spotlight” interview with best-selling author (Never Eat Alone) and popular keynote speaker Keith Ferrazzi. We closed part one with an unanswered question for Keith about the relevance of relationships in the midst of a slow economy, so we’ll pick up there…

TSG: The economy is a little slower right now, and a lot of attention is focused on the bottom line - cutting costs, increasing sales, etc. It may not seem like the ideal time to talk about relationships, but you say it’s the perfect time to talk about relationships… why is that?

Ferrazzi: A downturn in the market calls for a new sales approach - one that maximizes the value-add of genuine, lasting client relationships. For many salespeople, this is an entirely new skillset, and it’s the one that will keep them making sales and finding new leads when everyone else is sitting around twiddling their thumbs and worrying.

I have a new talk centered all around “Relationship Selling in a Soft Market” and the learning objectives include:

• Going beyond just a sale by finding unique ways to be generous and helpful to the people you work with
• Being a connector - introduce your clients and buyers to the people you know that they want to know
• Turning current clients into ambassadors who will generate new business
• Maximizing market share by forging rich, personal relationship with clients
• Using existing networks to find new clients and warm up cold calls with instant intimacy

TSG: Speaking of speaking, I know you’ve been doing a lot of that since your book came out a couple of years ago. What types of audiences do you feel you can help the most?

Ferrazzi: I’ve been coaching clients and speaking all over the world to corporations and other associations, changing the way people think about work, the workplace, and success.

The audiences that seem to most need and “get” my message are often sales and client-facing groups that see the immediate positive impact of what I teach in their relationships with their clients. Their ability to see how relationships matter in their professional lives ultimately helps them apply their personal values in the workplace.

TSG: One of your keynote presentations is titled “Breaking Down Silos” - and it’s described as fostering a spirit of cooperation and making it easier to achieve customer satisfaction and corporate goals at the same time. That’s a magical formula! What are some of the practices you advocate in that presentation?

Ferrazzi: “Breaking Down Silos” increases participants’ ability to lead teams and collaborate together in today’s ever-changing, matrix-driven world.

Deeper internal relationships bust silos, because people adopt a greater level of transparency while simultaneously holding each other accountable for measurable results. Busting silos means the entire firm works together to satisfy customers - and unsurprisingly, that means greater success and clearer, more meaningful external messaging.

TSG: In addition to speaking, what else have you been up to since Never Eat Alone?

Ferrazzi: I’ve been working on my next book.

TSG: Can you give us a sneak peek? Title? Content?

Ferrazzi: Who’s Got Your Back? - which teaches readers how to build the ironclad, high-trust peer-to-peer support networks that can vault both individuals and companies from mediocrity to major success. It’s out in May 2009.

TSG: Can’t wait! You can write about how to achieve major success, because obviously you’ve done it - youngest partner at Deloitte, youngest Fortune 500 CMO, CEO of several successful companies, best-selling author… What keeps you going? What are you aiming for now?

Ferrazzi: I am driven by a desire to help people. I always have been, and I hope I always will be. That drive surely comes from an upbringing of scarcity. I had incredible parents who fought hard to give me the ingredients for success despite the fact that we were poor. As for my next professional goal, I’m hoping my new book will allow me to touch even more people than Never Eat Alone.

TSG: Sounds great. Thank you very much, Keith. This has been an enlightening interview and we appreciate you taking the time to answer some of our questions. While we’re waiting on your next book, can you recommend any books that you might be reading right now?

Ferrazzi: Right now on my nightstand are How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds and Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.

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We hope you’ve enjoyed this two-part “In the Spotlight” session with Keith Ferrazzi. If you would like more information about Keith, check out his profile on The Speakers Group’s site at http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/Keith_Ferrazzi, or contact us with any questions. Thanks for reading!

Posted under In the Spotlight, Leadership Development, Motivational Speakers, Organizational Excellence

Welcome to the first installment of The Speakers Group’s new interview series titled “In the Spotlight.” We’ll be featuring Q&A sessions with a variety of in-demand business speakers and gurus, along with some up-and-coming thought leaders with equally valuable expertise and content.

To kick things we off, we have Keith Ferrazzi, author of the bestseller, Never Eat Alone, in the spotlight. Keith is renowned authority on building relationships, and he shared some great insights with us in our interview. Following is part one of two.

TSG: For starters, let me ask about the title of your book, Never Eat Alone. Having read the book, I know exactly where the title comes from, but has anyone ever mistaken you for a nutritionist or a health guru because of it? It kind of sounds like it could hold the key to losing 20 pounds.

Ferrazzi: People more often mistake the book for a book on dating than anything else…

TSG: And I’m guessing that it’s also mistakenly labeled a book on networking, a word that you’ve said you hate. You’re quick to point out that you’re not a networking expert. Tell us about your aversion to the word networking, and about the true emphasis of your work.

Ferrazzi: Networking often has a negative connotation to it. People think it’s disingenuous and tactical, all about “what can you do for me?” What I talk about is approaching people in the spirit of “What can I do for you?” It’s relationship building, interacting with personal and professional contacts alike on a much deeper level than most people are accustomed to. That’s the kind of relationship that delivers the greatest success. That’s core of what I practice and teach in Never Eat Alone.

TSG: Talking about relationships might sound a little “soft” or touchy-feely for some in the business world, but you have a keynote presentation titled “Relationships for Revenue Growth.” Where do relationships and revenue growth intersect?

Ferrazzi: With increasing commoditization of products coupled with costs pressures, the depth of the relationship with the customer is one of the only differentiators that gets you through the door and keeps you there these days when you’re in a client-facing role.

It’s the power of relationships that can help you grow your company’s success – whether by connecting with new markets, developing new products, or increasing productivity. Having great products isn’t enough anymore on its own. You also need the ability to bring unique value to the relationships you have with your clients, beyond the business transaction.

TSG: We’ve talked about relationships… Let’s go one step further to intimacy – something you talk a lot about. What do you say to someone who has a more standoffish nature and may be afraid of crossing the line of inappropriateness in business relationships?

Ferrazzi: I fundamentally believe business relationships should also be personal ones. The most powerful relationships – the ones that create results – are ones where you are able to have a personal connection or bridge with the individual. Otherwise you’re just conducting transactions, like a machine. There’s no trust there. One of the core principles to a great relationship is intimacy. When someone’s standoffish it usually means they’ve had experiences in their past that’s made them distrustful. So be patient, set the example by opening up a little, draw them out slowly – and when you do win them over, you’ll have a friend for life.

TSG: You have something you call a Relationship Action Plan. What is that?

Ferrazzi: A Relationship Action Plan is a tactical and strategic guide to empower a person to take control of their careers through mutually beneficial relationships. It involves identifying and building relationships with people who can help achieve career and life goals, building and broadcasting unique personal brands to stand out in the crowded marketplace, lining up friends to help, approaching and engaging mentors, and finally, creating a dynamic personal board of advisors.

TSG: And if a professional adopts your relationship management strategies, what are the potential benefits he or she might expect?

Ferrazzi: Faster progress toward goals, a bar for success that is constantly raised higher and higher, increased employee loyalty, productivity and retention, growth in the client base, growth in revenue, faster course correction thanks to rich mutual support – I could go on and on. And on another level, the reward is overall greater life happiness. Being yourself and having in-depth relationships in your professional life means work is a lot more fun. And that happiness circles directly back to success – when work is fun, you and everyone you work with is going to be a lot more committed. It’s infectious.

TSG: What if an entire organization promotes your relationship management strategies throughout all of their teams or at least their leaders – what kind of results might they expect?

Ferrazzi: All the benefits above, multiplied exponentially.

TSG: Another system you teach is Executive Relationship Management. Can you explain that a bit?

Ferrazzi: ERM guides senior executives in developing an actionable plan to increase the stature and success of their firm by strengthening relationships with its most important constituencies – customers, prospects, partners, influencers, and employees. Clients find answers to questions such as: Where do I find the time for outreach? Who to start with? How can I make a meaningful connection?

TSG: The economy is a little slower right now, and a lot of attention is focused on the bottom line - cutting costs, increasing sales, etc. It may not seem like the ideal time to talk about relationships, but you say it’s the perfect time to talk about relationships… why is that?

To be continued…

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Cliffhanger! Check back one week from today, on Tuesday, August 5, for part two of our interview with Keith Ferrazzi. We’ll learn more about relationships, and we’ll also ask Keith about what keeps him pressing on, what he’s reading, what we can expect from him in the future, and more.

More information about Keith Ferrazzi is available from The Speakers Group.

Posted under In the Spotlight, Leadership Development, Motivational Speakers, Organizational Excellence, Speaker News

Did you catch the recent CNBC series, The Business of Innovation? If so, you might remember former Microsoft manager and author of The Myths of Innovation, Scott Berkun, as one of the resident thought leaders - a.k.a. “The Provocateur.” (FYI: You can view executive summaries of each of the five episodes on CNBC’s site here.)

You can currently find Scott serving as a discussion leader for Harvard Business Online, joining the ranks of thought leaders such as Marshall Goldsmith, Gary Hamel, David Silverman, Bill Taylor and others. His inaugural post this week (July 14) is an intriguing one: “Why Innovation Is Overrated.”

When he’s not writing, Scott is bringing his signature fresh insights on innovation and creativity (surprisingly, there are some STALE insights on innovation and creativity) to business meetings and conferences nationwide as a keynote speaker - a “kick-ass speaker,” he would add. Want to bring “The Provocateur” to your next event? Learn more about him by viewing his profile on The Speakers Group’s site here: http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/Scott_Berkun.

Posted under Leadership Development, Organizational Excellence, Speaker News